Found out a little about what I'm up against.....

[pass-thru]

Our property back home sort of forms the point of a triangle between to busy 2 lane roads, in a densely populated rural county. It's just under 100 acres. 10 acres planted pine along the highway, 30 or so of hay fields, 1 acre micro plots, 2.5 acre pond, the rest predominately oak and poplar forest, thinned out 12 years ago.

A couple hundred acres across the main road frontage was clearcut 15 years ago.

Our largest neighbor on the backside is an out of town landowner that's been in their family hundreds of years. Close to 200 acres. 20-30 acres of mature loblolly that they plan to cut soon. 25 acres of mature oak. The rest was 100 year timber that was clear cut 10 years ago. The tremendous boos from all the cutting is starting to peter out. The far side of their property is a small river at the bottom of a steep ravine.

I had beaver trapped their a couple years ago where beavers were damaging their new planted pines. I spoke to them about trapping them again this year next month some time and they were eager to get out the large colony that is there now. Will always be beavers on that river. I had talked to the landowner who is elderly and doesn't hunt.

Sunday I got a call from the son-in-law who runs the hunting. They're not going to wait on the beaver...they have somebody who would set that day despite 5 inches of rain the previous night....lol.

Anyway he said they have 7 guys that hunt the place. State has 3 buck limit. They shoot 20-25 deer every year. If it's brown it's down. He said they have not killed any great bucks. Every year there are usually a couple nice ones that show up on my trail cam.

I almost feel like throwing my arms up. If I could me with him maybe I could show some photos and stuff and talk them into to some sort of QDM. As it is, I didn't even bother over the phone.

 

[LA man]

U are most likely wasting your time talking to them, but theres a slight chance they will listen

 

[treefarmer]

I had a brown/down neighbor I had nicknamed "Spike" because that's what he shot every year. I would stop by to chat if we got a nice buck and show him the 8 point buck we had taken and let him know it was 2 1/2 years old and it only takes an extra year to get to 8 points and maybe it was one that was let go last year. I'd also comment on filling our freezer with does. It may not have been the only reason he changed but it didn't hurt. After a few years he began to say he was an 8-point or better hunter but at times he did take smaller bucks. I'd also compliment him on any nice deer he had taken and make the same comments about it being a small deer a year ago.

 

[BlountArrow]

If I could offer a little encouragement I have a piece of property that my family owns that is sometimes in a similar situation. The property is total about 130 acres but actual huntable property away from a couple houses puts it more like in the 110 acre range.

I'm fortunate to have a neighbor to my left that does practice QDM and he does lease a good amount of land that surrounds us. However, I deal with poachers/trespassers every year. I know that anyone hunting the backside of my property is killing anything they want and most likely doing it anytime they want. There are a lot of road hunters on the backside of my property and the property that borders our back end. It is discouraging to say the least.

HOWEVER, for the last 2 years my brother and I have both taken a mature buck off of this property. If the conditions are right these "brown and downers", trespassers, and poachers that hunt/poach the perimeter of my property sometimes push deer inland towards my family farm. The main thing I do is keep the pressure off the deer on my own place as much as possible. I also try to keep the habitat inviting which might mean food plots some years, allowing fields to grow up, etc. I know you know all this as I've read several of your posts, but this has been the recipe of success for us in places where the pressure can be tough. Do I think the deer are hunkered down on my little 100 acre patch never venturing out? Of course not. However, I have found that if I keep my place as inviting as possible I can still have success. I almost literally, never set foot on the interior of my farm after August until November arrives.

 

[Football Hunter]

U are most likely wasting your time talking to them, but theres a slight chance they will listen

Cant hurt to talk to them

 

[catman529]

Maybe I am thinking wrong, but why not keep the thickest part of your property a sanctuary and maybe the deer that survive the neighbors property will grow old in your woods because nobody will bother them in there.

 

[TheRealSpurhunter]

Same situation here its really discouraging to stop in the neighbors and see their trophy 1.5 year old bucks. Im glad they got some meat but the next weekend they will kill another 1.5 year old buck. WHY? Because they have 3 buck tags.

I understand the frustration for guys wanting to practice QDMA, but I don't understand why so many frown on guys that want to hunt their own way? If it makes them happy to shoot 3 1.5 yr old bucks, and they are not poaching or breaking any other laws, why get worked up over it? To REALLY manage the deer herd, you need far more property than 100 acres or your prone to neighbors that will continue to hunt and enjoy THEIR style of hunting, and in turn infuriate QDMA neighbors.

 

[landman]

Well neighbors can make or break a place
Usually the first thing clients ask me about .

If it's your land I would say throw the food to it
Suck the deer from them
It works very well in most cases you can even
grow over without planting trees
JMO