Funny the couple that hunt my land in NJ had notes attached to their stands explaining that the adjacent property, a group home for troubled teens, didn't want us trespassing. They left their phone number saying they wanted to speak with neighboring land owners. I called fully prepared to explain they were the ones trespassing and were dumb enough to leave me enough proof to prosecute.
Didn't go there. The man I spoke with explained they found ladder stands on another part of their land and for insurance reasons felt a need to let neighboring owners know no weapons were allowed on the property. He said if it's a short track go get your deer but leave the weapon on the line. If it looks like a long track just call him and he would join in.
Figured it was a plus plus. Permission to retrieve deer and knowledge of a 60 acre sanctuary right next door because no hunting is allowed for liability reasons.....
Yes, I'm used to dealing with delicate issues. I was one of the founding members of SWMNV, a suburban archery group trying to use archery to deal with our over populated suburbs in northern VA. We ending up in situations where one neighbor was naming deer, feeding them, and treating them like pets where the next neighbor wanted us to use nuclear weapons if necessary to get rid of the deer costing them tens of thousands in landscaping cost not to mention the deer/vehicle collision damage.
Most of these properties were 5 to 10 acres and a few smaller depending on location. When we were asked to support a property, we would first, in street clothes, knock on the doors of neighbors and explain what we were doing to help their neighbor. We would first ask if we could hunt there property as well and if not, ask for tracking permission. We carried tracking permission forms with us as well as program information.
Over the years, I found out that most folks are quiet respectful of their neighbors rights even when they disagreed. Of course, there were a few that would yell in our faces and try to harass us in the field.
I'm hoping this is simply the neighbor himself, or someone to whom he had given permission that simply didn't now exactly where the property line is. More likely, it is someone who simply didn't know who to ask given the previous owner was absentee.
The situation at our farm was quite different. It was owned by a paper company who leased hunting rights to some hunters from the city. They were only there on a few weekends. Because it had a ROW through it, it became a "park" for local kids with ATVs. One local bully actually told folks he had an agreement to control access during the week (not the case) and would organize dog hunts during the week. When confronted by the lease holders, he simply told them that he lived there and they didn't and nothing they could do could stop him from hunting there during the week. He then tried to scam them into giving him permission to control access during the week. They did not. He tried to sweet talk us when we bought it but fortunately we had talked to the previous lease holders. When we would not back down and immediately sent him a registered letter notifying him of the change of ownership and that any previous agreements he had were void, he started his bullying. We next made friends with other large tract holders adjoin us and found he was bullying them as well. Folks who were not resident were worried he would set their cabins on fire since he made references to that. Others would tell him no, but take no action when he ignored that given his reputation.
Bullies are bullies regardless of age. This guys was in his late 60's I would guess. We put up fences and gates and they would be torn down. It was hard to point fingers because he would simply get the kids to do it since they wanted access to "their" ATV park during the summer. We filed a trespass notice on him, his son, and other folks we found that were his associates. His next move was to kill a bunch of young bucks, strip the loins and hams, and hang the carcasses on our fence posts. We then got the game warden involved. Fortunately, the day the game warden paid him a visit he was drunk, got in the game wardens face, and pretty much said that he didn't care who owned the land, he had been hunting there since he was a kid, and nothing the game warden could do would stop him. Well, even though the game warden did not have enough evidence to charge him for poaching those bucks and hanging them on our fence, he decide to make the guy is pet project. For the next year or so, the game wardens followed this guy his dog hunting club. They were watched closely and cited for every violation. It became clear to folks in that club over time why they were in the spotlight.
It took us about 5 years of constant vigilance, reporting, and prosecution where we had evidence to stop both the poaching and ATV trespass. The ATV trespass was just a matter of time. There is not much law enforcement can do with kids of parents don't care, but it was a simple matter of time. Eventually kids out grow ATVs and move on to sports, girls, and cars. The keep was keeping the next generation from using it. The first generation felt like we were taking something from them. For the next generation, it was simply a place they couldn't go. More interesting was that once we started to get law enforcement involved (making sure we did not respond in kind) and got a few prosecutions under out belts, all of the large tract neighbors became much more confident and began standing up to the bullying as well.
I doubt any of this changed the actions of the bullies. It simply redirected their poaching ways to softer targets. So, if it turns out my new retirement property has a real poaching problem, I can handle it. I'm simply not going to jump to that conclusion. I'll apply the level of response necessary to solve it. Less is better. Most folks are not a problem. I've already met a few of my new future neighbors and I plan to meet more as time goes on.
Thanks,
Jack
