Do you share your land with people outside of your family/owners

[wiscwhip]

What I find really amazing is the number of guys who have posted that they have folks who hunt(or want to hunt) and those people won't lift a finger to help with habitat work. I help out anyone I know who asks, as long as I don't have prior commitments and I don't even think of asking to hunt those places, as I know the situations and most are overhunted as it is. I have been invited a couple of times in the past, but have declined for that very reason. 3-5 guys already on an 80, I don't want to be that crowded on someone else's place(even though some public land has 2 or 3 times that during gun season, which is why I stay away from those areas), and especially if it means I might take a deer off those properties that one of their kids might have had a chance at. I would rather see the young ones take a deer knowing I helped improve the habitat for those deer than to shoot one myself. Maybe I'm the stupid one?!?:confused:

 

[West Branch]

Wisconsin is selling off select pieces of land like this, provided they are just another average piece of land. Meaning if they are not considered "critical or endanged" habitat for some certain species or some type of area of "natural interest". No point in keeping them if the taxpayers can't use them, might as well charge a private party taxes to own them as opposed to leaving them on the state tax rolls.

Most of the public land near us is county owned "memorial forest" land and is mainly managed for timber and I am pretty sure it can't go up for sale unless a law changes. There are a couple hundred acres of tax-forfeit land owned by the state that could potentially go up for sale.

 

[wiscwhip]

If none of the private owners around it will allow access, how do they intend to log it?

 

[West Branch]

Depends on who the logger is :D. Most landowners will allow temporary access/easement. Then the landowner usually gets a nice cleared road they can use to access the county land. There are different local loggers who get pretty much all of the work in certain areas of the county.

 

[wiscwhip]

That makes sense, I suppose in the right situation, a landowner could maybe get a small fee for allowing the access for the logging operation.

 

[West Branch]

Here is a screenshot of public land highlighted over a good chunk of our surrounding area, our place is pretty much in the center. Each square is a 40 except for the weird squished ones near the top which is the township line. Roads aren't showing, but only a handful of 40s border main roads. It is rare for a landowner to have access to less than a couple 100 acres here with a combo of land that they own and public land they can access, with maybe one or two neighbors also being able to access.

 

[buckvelvet]

My brother does bring some big gay guy from Nebraska, but I knew that was the deal way back when we bought.

Wait, the big gay guy is hunting deer or your brother? :)

 

[buckvelvet]

My cousin & I run the 15 acres behind our house that adjoins swamp/river bottom state land for miles but its pretty skinny, maybe 150 yds wide but miles long. I've done what I can in that little space of our private but I'm just not a these are MY deer kind of person. That mentality annoys the hell out of me, their a public resource, get over yourselves.

I have 120 acre access via my wifes side of the family and the place is a deer magnet, its nothing to see 40 in a few hours time. I have Myself, my cousin, FIL, wifes uncle, some others hunt it. No one gets jealous, animosity, hunting is supposed to be about making good memories, enjoying time in the woods, not MINE or YOURS is bigger ya know? Anywho off my soapbox.

 

[BuckSutherland]

Wait, the big gay guy is hunting deer or your brother? :)

Well I used to think he was deer hunting, but then I have never seen either of them get a deer unless it is a roadkill. This is going on like 10 years. Imagine Nebraska Steve's horror last year when we told him not to come up cause the deer hunting was so shitty. At least our DNR is keeping his wife and kids together for one more year.

 

[bueller]

I have a good number of friends that are willing to help me with whatever in exchange for deer hunting access. Problem is our lack of acreage. We are already pushing our limits and my two little ones aren't even of hunting age yet. Wish I could welcome everyone interested but it just isn't possible. With that being said a large majority of my projects are completed by me, myself, and I.

The last couple years I have been going with a group of guys for 2nd firearm season in IL on public land. I really enjoy the ability to roam in comparison to being restricted on our small acres. And it's fun as heck doing it with a group that would overwhelm our private land.

 

[sandbur]

Facts like these (home range of does and what happen when you shoot 2 of your 3 mature does) are news to most hunters. I myself was asking this same question 6 years ago. 'If I have the best habitat and food, and I shoot all the does on my place will more move in?'

Shoot all you want, Brooks. We will move all of our excess does from 221 over to 222. I can direct you to the guy who can tell you about the excess.
You two need a good discussion.

 

[bat man]

My cousin & I run the 15 acres behind our house that adjoins swamp/river bottom state land for miles but its pretty skinny, maybe 150 yds wide but miles long. I've done what I can in that little space of our private but I'm just not a these are MY deer kind of person. That mentality annoys the hell out of me, their a public resource, get over yourselves.

I have 120 acre access via my wifes side of the family and the place is a deer magnet, its nothing to see 40 in a few hours time. I have Myself, my cousin, FIL, wifes uncle, some others hunt it. No one gets jealous, animosity, hunting is supposed to be about making good memories, enjoying time in the woods, not MINE or YOURS is bigger ya know? Anywho off my soapbox.

If I saw 40 deer per sit I would have complete strangers hunting. Public resource has nothing to do with it. Supply and demand more the issue.

 

[SD51555]

If I saw 40 deer per sit I would have complete strangers hunting. Public resource has nothing to do with it. Supply and demand more the issue.

Bingo. Apples and oranges.

It's one thing to not share because somebody wants to keep that big buck they saw all to themselves. It's entirely different if someone is not sharing because they are trying to protect the rebounding herd by not shooting deer; themselves included.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

I keep my deer hunting circle on my land somewhat tight since there's only so much room to have a relatively high quality hunt. Maybe a half dozen close family and friends - most hunt with me, but a few have the open invitation whether I'm there or not. Turkeys and small game are different though - the circle of hunting friends gets bigger for those hunts. I look forward to a northern Wisconsin late season hunt chasing grouse and rabbits with old college buddies and a cabin full of dogs more than most things.

But my hunting groups generally stay the same whether I'm hunting with friends on my land or on a public land hunt out west. I like being around people with the same general mindset and goals as me. Usually the guys willing to lend a hand planting trees when you make a last minute call are the same ones who will gladly put their hunt on hold when you need a hand packing out an elk, mulie or antelope. It's gotta go both ways or it doesn't work.

 

[biglakeba$$]

Today I told my friend that we dont have room this fall for him and his son for gun season.

My nephew is stepping up, so it really sux to cut out close friends, but it had to be done.

We now have myself, my son, my daughter, my Dad, my nephew, and a noobie nephew. All on 120 acres....... Its too much, but pretty damn tough to tell family to get bent...... Ugh. Its way too much on the land during gun season, but I have no choice.

 

[willy]

In the past we(Dad, Mom, wife, and I)have shared our land and we will continue to do so. It is in three parcels. The largest is 120 acres with less than 10 dpsm in the area. It is however the best habitat in miles(the area is heavy ag, whole sections of it, ditch to ditch)and the deer flock there during the brown its down, road poaching season. This year we are working with a local chapter of disabled vets and are making it disabled vet hunting area for pheasants, turkey, and deer. Dad and I are making box blinds this weekend for the vets to use. I plan to make a wheel chair accessible platform but haven't figured out how to make it on the cheap and tall enough to see over NWSG. My dad, himself a vet will still be able to hunt as well a neighbor boy my dad mentors. I may occasionally hunt it for pheasants along with a friend(I've only hunted it 2 times each year for the past 5 years). I live 2.5 hrs away and my folks still live on the farm.

Dad has talked to the neighboring land owners telling them what we are doing with our farm and they have agreed to not grant permission to anyone during the firearm season. One of them is even donating silage 2 wagons to put a platform/blind on that will mobile and work for vets who can climb stairs. All they own is cropland surrounding our farm and the fence sitters are numerous around this farm. So far the fence sitters have been legal and no problems but road poachers have driven in while dad has been in the stand. I do suspect a couple of the fence sitters to have scouted our land when my folks are not around and they have numerous cameras sitting on fence posts on property line. They used to have them facing ours but we communicated to them that was not going to continue of something might happen to them. They have since been placed facing towards the other properties. Dad and I finished planting the cedar screen around the non road facing portion and will do the same to the road property next spring. Most of the screen is 15" tall except what we planted this spring, more like 15"(300 yards of a 1.25 mile stretch).

On the other 2 farms, an 80 and a 50 we have a much higher deer density but also a much higher mature deer sighting/killing. On these parcels we hunt it exclusively with archery and rifle and then share with a couple friends the muzzle loader season, and then have a disabled vet and his dad hunt does during the late antlerless season as well as a cousin, and family friend and two kids. We try to take 8 does off of the 80 and trail cam pics and actual recon says we need to start taking more does off of the 50. Our rules/management plans/goals must me followed when hunting these two farms.

Growing up on the 120 acre farm Dad would give permission to people who asked for pheasant if we weren't hunting or going to hunt it at that time they were asking for. Deer were a rare sighting but in the past 20 years the habitat work Dad and I did has started paying off huge. We now have a resident flock of 30 turks and dad has a couple does with fawns that call the place home as well as a buck or two.

"Build it and they will come" could have been coined for my folk's farm for wildlife as there was no habitat and little wildlife 30 years ago and now there is an abundance.

We like to share what we have. The vets who have hunted and will hunt have already put their work in for U.S,, pun intended and our friends who hunt either work on the 80 and 50 or allow me to access their property for outdoor adventure as well. The disabled vet's father comes to work for 2-5 days each year just for therapy value. This next year I am going to take him muzzle loading for his Bucket list wall hanger. If he don't get one we will continue till he does.

In a nutshell, one has to have given something to get something off our land. They appreciate it as much as we appreciate it.

 

[buckvelvet]

If I saw 40 deer per sit I would have complete strangers hunting. Public resource has nothing to do with it. Supply and demand more the issue.

I just meant no matter how crazy some people get to F over their neighbor you still can't control where the animal is going to go ALL the time. They are wild for a reason.

Well we have lots of deer, I can drive around for 30 minutes at dusk and see well over 200 deer in a square mile.

 

[bat man]

Well we have lots of deer, I can drive around for 30 minutes at dusk and see well over 200 deer in a square mile.

I will hook up the trailer and be over this evening. That is a bunch of deer. According to my DNR supplied graphics they should all be dead by spring. Land can't support that many.

 

[buckvelvet]

LOL! Yeah that particular pocket of I would say 3-4 miles has a bunch of deer as its a congregated woodlands and lots of ag mixed in.

 

[West Branch]

I just meant no matter how crazy some people get to F over their neighbor you still can't control where the animal is going to go ALL the time. They are wild for a reason.

Well we have lots of deer, I can drive around for 30 minutes at dusk and see well over 200 deer in a square mile.

I knew of one area like that in East Central MN where people would easily see 150+ deer in a small area with a short drive back in 2005 or so. But this was in the end of April and beginning of May and they were coming out to alfalfa fields that were just turning green. Still saw decent numbers in July and August but not close to as many. Heard that a farmer in that area hit 20+ fawns making his first crop of alfalfa on a few 100 acres. That will cut back on recruitment :eek: