Worst neighbor

Howboutthemdawgs

5 year old buck +
Just found out my new property shares 6/10 of a mile with an outfitter. Im beyond bummed and a little upset at the agent. I asked him point blank if any of the neighbors outfitted and he played dumb. He’s local and he knew good and well. I HATE outfitters as a neighbor. They only have one thing in mind, a paycheck, they care nothing about managing the area. This goober has a whopping 8 point minimum in an area that can consistently grow really big deer. Gonna see how it goes and not get too invested until I see if I can even hold any decent deer.
 
not all outfitters are bad, might be worth your effort to get to know the guy, and get a feel for things as well as maybe even work together,
as any time you have land bordering another, you run into issues at items about recovering deer that run onto each others lands if things don't go perfect!

some time sits better to try and stay positive and give them a chance than get worked up over something that may not happen!
and getting to know them at least helps you both know where you stand on things,

I always used to say, having a GOOD neighbor is priceless!
be glad if you have one!

as when you have a bad one, life sure isn;t as enjoyable!
I know this all too well !
My old neighbor died at my one place 3 yrs ago, and the new one's have been a nightmare, hate wildlife, constantly calling warden to complain, always shooting all hours of day and night, letting dogs run wild, even encouraging them to chase game off there land!
SO< trust me, I get this topic all to well unfortunately in a different way maybe, but no less a lot of unneeded aggravation!
 
not all outfitters are bad, might be worth your effort to get to know the guy, and get a feel for things as well as maybe even work together,
as any time you have land bordering another, you run into issues at items about recovering deer that run onto each others lands if things don't go perfect!

some time sits better to try and stay positive and give them a chance than get worked up over something that may not happen!
and getting to know them at least helps you both know where you stand on things,

I always used to say, having a GOOD neighbor is priceless!
be glad if you have one!

as when you have a bad one, life sure isn;t as enjoyable!
I know this all too well !
My old neighbor died at my one place 3 yrs ago, and the new one's have been a nightmare, hate wildlife, constantly calling warden to complain, always shooting all hours of day and night, letting dogs run wild, even encouraging them to chase game off there land!
SO< trust me, I get this topic all to well unfortunately in a different way maybe, but no less a lot of unneeded aggravation!
So I actually called earlier to introduce myself. Nice guy and obviously I didn’t let on that my disdain for outfitters. At the end of the day a turnstile of hunters shooting 2 and 3 year 8 pointers is never going to jive with me. I just hope I can scratch some good hunts to overcome this blight.
 
On the bright side your neighbor has a vested interest in keeping trespassers out of the area.
 
yeah and again could be worse
what if the bordering neighbors were just a bunch of meat hunters filling as many tags as they can with ANY legal deer?

at least most folks I know that are paying an outfitter are not really looking for small bucks, even if allowed, most tend to be wanting something bigger, so might not be as bad as you think?
 
On the bright side ... he should have regular activity that will disturb the deer on his maybe pushing onto yours. Culling the 8 points not a bad thing either.
 
On the bright side ... he should have regular activity that will disturb the deer on his maybe pushing onto yours. Culling the 8 points not a bad thing either.
I appreciate the optimism cause I don’t have a ton right now!
 
just wondering if you happened to ask any of the bordering land owners before buying if they leased there land or hunted or?/
I know when ever I talk to folks looking for land, I always suggest to them to talk to neighbors first, you can learn a lot from neighbors, from there mind sets to ?? with a little time spent talking to them!
I Know its too late now, but was just wondering
and maybe can help someone else in the future!

and again, you might be in better shape than you think, pending the outfitters and how many actual hunters they get a yr and there mind sets,
I know a lot of outfitters, some are pretty good and many lease lands just to GET them, and many never get hunted at all or very little
then there is always the perks, of maybe them also doing land improvements and food plots, helping make your land into a better place
you didn;t mention how many acres your land is, but maybe you can make a good section of it into a sanctuary, and benefit from there pressure!
stay positive, big bugs make it thru every yr even on heavy hunted public lands, they never get em all!

make your side of the fence better and odds are the rewards will come!
 
just wondering if you happened to ask any of the bordering land owners before buying if they leased there land or hunted or?/
I know when ever I talk to folks looking for land, I always suggest to them to talk to neighbors first, you can learn a lot from neighbors, from there mind sets to ?? with a little time spent talking to them!
I Know its too late now, but was just wondering
and maybe can help someone else in the future!

and again, you might be in better shape than you think, pending the outfitters and how many actual hunters they get a yr and there mind sets,
I know a lot of outfitters, some are pretty good and many lease lands just to GET them, and many never get hunted at all or very little
then there is always the perks, of maybe them also doing land improvements and food plots, helping make your land into a better place
you didn;t mention how many acres your land is, but maybe you can make a good section of it into a sanctuary, and benefit from there pressure!
stay positive, big bugs make it thru every yr even on heavy hunted public lands, they never get em all!

make your side of the fence better and odds are the rewards will come!
I tried to do all the due diligence I could with what I had to work with. I even asked the agent and I feel like he played dumb. If it wasn’t for a casual conversation with the local fish stocker today I wouldn’t know. I’m crying over spilt milk now. All I can do is make the best of it and if it doesn’t live up to my expectations sell it and try again
 
  • Like
Reactions: 356
First, congratulations on the new land. I am working to develop a cooperative in our area, and am facing some challenges from one neighbor who lets his dogs run free. Last year the dog busted deer as soon as I got to the stand. I'd much rather have an outfitter who 1: Wants deer on the property 2: Has an 8 point minimum (whereas our state has a seven "four on one side" which means lots of 6 and 7 point 1 1/2 year olds with potential are taken) and 3: Due to frequent hunting, moves the oldest, wisest and largest deer to my property.

Good luck with the property, and I truly hope this works out well for you in the long run.
 
If he’s that bad come to terms with only being able to control the controllables and use the pics from his website to help sell your ground and move onto the next…
 
First, congratulations on the new land. I am working to develop a cooperative in our area, and am facing some challenges from one neighbor who lets his dogs run free. Last year the dog busted deer as soon as I got to the stand. I'd much rather have an outfitter who 1: Wants deer on the property 2: Has an 8 point minimum (whereas our state has a seven "four on one side" which means lots of 6 and 7 point 1 1/2 year olds with potential are taken) and 3: Due to frequent hunting, moves the oldest, wisest and largest deer to my property.

Good luck with the property, and I truly hope this works out well for you in the long run.
Thanks and the 8 point minimum doesn’t bother me, obviously I’d rather see an age or score minimum, but what bothers me in the endless stream of hunters who are more than likely willing to crack a legal buck to get their monies worth. It wouldn’t so much bother me if it was just three or four guys hunting the property settling for whatever. Kentucky has a one buck limit and say they all get a buck they are theoretically done. There is a new group of guys every week. I’m seriously considering putting up a high fence on that one side if it gets bad. I share 6/10 of a mile with them so it would be costly and probably wouldn’t solve all my issues.
 
For several years I pastored a church in the Ozark. A member owned 5000 acres, of which 2500 acres was farmed, 1200 was pasture and 1300 was timberland/savanna that was rented to an outfitter (who leased a total of 4200 acres). Two other church members owned smaller farms adjacent to the this (both were much smaller, IIRC, one had 160 acres and the other about 70). Both small land owners talked about how all of the hunting activity pushed deer on to their property. Back in 2014 I toured the outfitters lease with the owner. The outfitter had several nice food plots (all clover), water stations and cameras everywhere. The big deer were truly nocturnal on his property and bedded on the smaller neighbors plots. That is why I mentioned point 3, the oldest, wisest and largest deer spent time off the pressured property, but enjoyed the benefits the outfitter provided at night and during the off season! This may be a blessing in disguise. Keep us posted with the results next season!
 
For several years I pastored a church in the Ozark. A member owned 5000 acres, of which 2500 acres was farmed, 1200 was pasture and 1300 was timberland/savanna that was rented to an outfitter (who leased a total of 4200 acres). Two other church members owned smaller farms adjacent to the this (both were much smaller, IIRC, one had 160 acres and the other about 70). Both small land owners talked about how all of the hunting activity pushed deer on to their property. Back in 2014 I toured the outfitters lease with the owner. The outfitter had several nice food plots (all clover), water stations and cameras everywhere. The big deer were truly nocturnal on his property and bedded on the smaller neighbors plots. That is why I mentioned point 3, the oldest, wisest and largest deer spent time off the pressured property, but enjoyed the benefits the outfitter provided at night and during the off season! This may be a blessing in disguise. Keep us posted with the results next season!
That’s encouraging! And thank you!!! I’m truly not trying to get down but when i poured my life savings into something to hopefully kill big deer news like this is a gut punch.
 
Thanks and the 8 point minimum doesn’t bother me, obviously I’d rather see an age or score minimum, but what bothers me in the endless stream of hunters who are more than likely willing to crack a legal buck to get their monies worth. It wouldn’t so much bother me if it was just three or four guys hunting the property settling for whatever. Kentucky has a one buck limit and say they all get a buck they are theoretically done. There is a new group of guys every week. I’m seriously considering putting up a high fence on that one side if it gets bad. I share 6/10 of a mile with them so it would be costly and probably wouldn’t solve all my issues.
don't waste your time and $$ on a fence, if deer want to get to the other side they will
I managed a farm that yrs back the state came in and added a 8 ft tall fence around a 50 acre crop field for the farmer that claimed excessive crop damage(brother was also working for the agency that paid for the fence, HUMM LOL) that was in the 1960's
any how, I seen SO many deer jump that 8 ft fence it wasn't even funny, they got so used to just jumping over it, over the decades, that as time passed, and sections of the fence came down from tree's falling on it or what ever,
deer would still JUMP over the fence even if a opening was 10 ft away
it just didn;t bother them to lump over it,
when I first started doing food plots on the property, i THOUGHT it was going to be great having that fence in some sections and be EASY to funnel deer to where opening were/missing fence sections or removing them

but like Is aid, they just jumped it like it wasn;t there, and could care less if I opened a section up, they jumped it where ever they wanted when they wanted!

the other DOWN side of the fence IMO< is, at the ends of the fence you will have hunters sitting on the other side waiting for deer to get over , you;'d be almost helping them! as SOME deer will naturally use them as easy places to get past things, younger one, does with fawns and come fall, bucks tracking does!
SO, I'd suggest not using a fence unless your going SUPER tall with it, past 8 ft any how!

and again, if this outfitter is ANY good, he will not have tons of hunters using the same spots and stands, as if they did odds are they won;t be that productive, and again, most all hunters I know that ever booked a hunt are NOT after any legal buck, there paying a price to get s buck bigger than they can on there own!, so they most likely will be targeting 120+ class bucks only, and many will EAT a tag over punching it for a small buck, unless MAYBE last hour of last day!
booked hunts cost too much $$ for most to shoot small bucks!
SO, I think you will be fine, even if he has more hunters than a normal land owner will, that pressure will keep things on your side of the land where pressure is lower, just keep what they need handy, food water and cover/safety!

any how food for thought for you!
 
Find out if your neighbor charges a premium for a kill many charge a weekly rate to hunt and a kill premium based on score. Weekly rate to hunt maybe $1200 a week a kill premium may start at $3500 this is a better system for him and you it insurers lesser bucks are left to grow. If he isn’t using it perhaps he would if he see’s the $$$ and jumps on board.
 
Last edited:
don't waste your time and $$ on a fence, if deer want to get to the other side they will
I managed a farm that yrs back the state came in and added a 8 ft tall fence around a 50 acre crop field for the farmer that claimed excessive crop damage(brother was also working for the agency that paid for the fence, HUMM LOL) that was in the 1960's
any how, I seen SO many deer jump that 8 ft fence it wasn't even funny, they got so used to just jumping over it, over the decades, that as time passed, and sections of the fence came down from tree's falling on it or what ever,
deer would still JUMP over the fence even if a opening was 10 ft away
it just didn;t bother them to lump over it,
when I first started doing food plots on the property, i THOUGHT it was going to be great having that fence in some sections and be EASY to funnel deer to where opening were/missing fence sections or removing them

but like Is aid, they just jumped it like it wasn;t there, and could care less if I opened a section up, they jumped it where ever they wanted when they wanted!

the other DOWN side of the fence IMO< is, at the ends of the fence you will have hunters sitting on the other side waiting for deer to get over , you;'d be almost helping them! as SOME deer will naturally use them as easy places to get past things, younger one, does with fawns and come fall, bucks tracking does!
SO, I'd suggest not using a fence unless your going SUPER tall with it, past 8 ft any how!

and again, if this outfitter is ANY good, he will not have tons of hunters using the same spots and stands, as if they did odds are they won;t be that productive, and again, most all hunters I know that ever booked a hunt are NOT after any legal buck, there paying a price to get s buck bigger than they can on there own!, so they most likely will be targeting 120+ class bucks only, and many will EAT a tag over punching it for a small buck, unless MAYBE last hour of last day!
booked hunts cost too much $$ for most to shoot small bucks!
SO, I think you will be fine, even if he has more hunters than a normal land owner will, that pressure will keep things on your side of the land where pressure is lower, just keep what they need handy, food water and cover/safety!

any how food for thought for you!
You must have some amazing deer maybe go out for track and field events we have an 8 foot woven here have never seen proof of deer going over the top maybe it was observed there were trees down on fence making it lower .. then again in mn if one gets in a fence enclosure the DNR will issue a depredation tag no questions asked , depredation tags allow removal 24 hrs a day with or without lights must use full copper bullet's and call DNR for pickup
 
Maybe the neighbor does very well and wants to expand. That should make your property VERY valuable to him and you can get a great payday selling for multiples of what you could get otherwise? Living next to something you feel ruins your place is just going to bother you until you find a better/less stressful situation. Just my opinion which is worth less than .02 cents due to inflation.
 
You must have some amazing deer maybe go out for track and field events we have an 8 foot woven here have never seen proof of deer going over the top maybe it was observed there were trees down on fence making it lower .. then again in mn if one gets in a fence enclosure the DNR will issue a depredation tag no questions asked , depredation tags allow removal 24 hrs a day with or without lights must use full copper bullet's and call DNR for pickup
I don't think there anything special, but maybe since the fence has been there for so long, that generations have passed with them jumping over it?? I started on the place in the early 90's and they were going over it like it wasn't there, I was very surprised too by the way, I thought WOW< that should keep many out of fields and such, but, to my surprise, it didnlt even slow them down,
I should also add this place was over run with deer and the only crop field for many miles surrounded by a few thousand aces of heavy forested land, so the added desire for easy food maybe motivated them more?? WHo know's
but my experience with 8 ft fence there , says it doesn;t work very well!
 
Top