Found a stand and feeder, now what?

[cowadle]

treat the person how you would want to be treated if you were in his shoes.

 

[Bocephus123]

treat the person how you would want to be treated if you were in his shoes.

I agree but then again people probably won’t respect your wishes if they have been hunting it.

 

[dennishoddy]

I like the note idea.
You might even get to talk with the person and may find out he had permission and could be an old man in his 80's and you two end up being friends .
You just never know.

Do not treat the ordeal like something illegal until you hear the rest of the story.

I’m with this ending. Leave a note, your phone number and keep the owner out of it. Work it out without creating bad feelings.

 

[Bocephus123]

I’m with this ending. Leave a note, your phone number and keep the owner out of it. Work it out without creating bad feelings.

Put the stuff at what you think is the property line..leave your note put up some no trespassing signs..even if you have to post on trees. That way they don’t show up opening morning thinking they are going to hunt! No need to be ugly but people will walk all over you. We had a spot in mcalester 350 acres. And never fail every year someone would come walking through and the closest house was probably a mile.

 

[Preacherman]

As a land owner I can't stand trespassers. They know they don't own the land so stay off. Rant over,
In your situation 130yds is a long way off from the property line.

 

[Ahall]

The approach I have taken as a land-owner is to take the property and leave a note explaining that I have it, and if they want it back, how to contact me.

I state that if they do not contact me by a date in the distant future, it will be considered abandon and be disposed of as I see fit.

I also point out that their equipment on my property demonstrates trespassing, and intent to hunt/trap/fish whatever the equipment indicates, and they do not have permission from the landowner to do that.

Photograph what you found and the condition you found it in before moving it.
Photograph where you left the note relative to their property.

Chances are they will never call, and if they do, it was probably an honest mistake regarding property lines by another hunter leasing property.

 

[bigred1]

The approach I have taken as a land-owner is to take the property and leave a note explaining that I have it, and if they want it back, how to contact me.

I state that if they do not contact me by a date in the distant future, it will be considered abandon and be disposed of as I see fit.

I also point out that their equipment on my property demonstrates trespassing, and intent to hunt/trap/fish whatever the equipment indicates, and they do not have permission from the landowner to do that.

Photograph what you found and the condition you found it in before moving it.
Photograph where you left the note relative to their property.

Chances are they will never call, and if they do, it was probably an honest mistake regarding property lines by another hunter leasing property.

But....he's not the landowner.

 

[Buck98]

You mentioned the previous owner passed away. There is the possibility the stand and feeder belongs to someone who had permission for them to hunt. I would leave a note and ask them to contact me then explain to them that the situation has changed and if that doesn’t solve anything then I would talk with the game warden and ask for a solution or what recourse you have.

 

[HoLeChit]

I would take the approach of going and talking to the neighbors in a friendly fashion. It’s probably them. It might be someone who received authorization to hunt on the land years ago, and the landowner forgot. Who knows. But going and talking with the people, introducing yourself, and updating them on the situation will likely give you a better outcome than calling law enforcement, the land owner, or moving stuff that could be theirs.

I remember as a kid there was a property caddy corner to our 1 acre lot that was a 20-30 acre piece of land. Had a nice farm pond on it with lots of fish. The house on the property was rented out occasionally, but not often or for very long. I think in the 10 years we lived there the rental house was occupied maybe 24 months. So when nobody lived there, I would go and fish that pond almost every day, assuming the water wasn’t frozen. I remember sneaking my shotgun out of the house and going dove hunting on that land when mom left me at home alone. I flew my kite there, and just wandered around with my dog. I never had permission. Technically I was trespassing and poaching.

If I am being completely honest with myself, if I owned 20 acres at the end of a rough, secluded road, didn’t have many neighbors, and there was enough unfenced land for a lease next to me, I likely wouldn’t let it go to waste either. Landowner hasn’t been around in years, nobody visits or uses the land, yeah, I would probably go shoot a squirrel, bird, or deer in it, take the dog on a walk, or go fishing. That being said I would also be happy to revisit property lines and go back to staying off the property if someone showed up and said they were leasing it or owned it, as I have no right to be there.

 

[OkieMoe]

Got a new lease this year and after setting up my second stand near the back of the property I found another stand and feeder laying down. Prob 50 yards from mine. There are no fences to the east of me and this is near the NE corner of the property. The previous land owner passed away and I am leasing it now from his daughter who is the new owner. I suspect it is the neighbor to the east who lives on 20 acres, but only guessing based on stand and his house location.

I’m tempted to be nice and leave a note asking to “please take your stuff next time, this land is leased etc”.

I don’t think I want to take it down and keep it.

Unsure if this land has ever been leased before.

What would y’all do?

My brother and I are inheriting multiple farms and parcels of land. While searching for an old pickup, I ran across a very nice setup on one of the properties. I'll put a note on it tomorrow or sunday asking them to contact me. Im not hunting it. And unsure if they had previous permission or not. But will explain the new ground rules. starting now on. This guy has two elevated stands one for morning sun and evening. with a feeder and trail cam in the middle.