Neighbor Deer hunting in my backyard??????

My neighbor owns land that extends behind mine and has a perminant deer stand exactly 100 yards away from my back yard. Although we are not in the city limits we are in a residential area with 20 or so houses within a 1/4 mile from his stand. He is a nice enough guy and never much for talking but he has a giant rebel flag he hangs over his garage door so not someone I generally feel on the same page of beliefs with.
I saw his daughter standing in the tree stand all day so I assumed she was hunting something? I have lived here for 6 years and see deer in a field every now and then about a mile up the road but I have never''not even once'' seen one behind my house so the location of the stand seems very pointless to me. Anyway, my 13 year old nephew was here today from out of town and I promised him he could shoot my Mac10 when he visited (he was very excited and had been waiting all year). We waited around for the neighbor to leave the tree stand all day but it was coming time for him to go home so I told him he could go ahead and shoot it. I have a tall hill on 2 sides of my land (80-100 ft. tall) so I shoot in complete safety.
About 10 seconds after we fired my Mac the neighbor pulls up on a 4 wheeler and yells at us for making noise whyle his daughter is trying to hunt ''are you blind,can't you see we are hunting deer?'', he said. Like I said before,he has always been nice and I know how important getting a deer is for someone but I also wonder if he realizes that everyone is not going to stay in their house and not make a peep just because he put his deer stand behind their yard,''especially this time of year when family visits''.
I siad I was sorry and I just wonder what everyone thinks,especially deer hunters? Keep in mind that I am a target shooter, not a deer hunter and I was not even aware it was deer season. I see someone in a tree stand all day in a location no deer ever travels and didn't actually know what was going on for sure in my defence. My wife feels that we are going to go in our yard and do whatever we want and he should not expect the neighborhood to be quiet and she has never liked that he put the stand directly behind our house where our 5 year old daughter plays and our reer windows are? So.............

The heck with him. It is your yard and I would do as I please.

Geeeez........................ I feel for you !!! I have dealt with rednecks before. No fun my friend. There may be no easy answer here my friend. Do not show weakness though. I personally would open up with one of my AKs every day for a while.............

I wouldn't worry about it. I deer hunt next to a guy who shoots a lot too and expect to hear some noise. It's your property so you can do as you wish. Same for his but he was out of line coming at you like he did.

You did good trying to be respectful of his deer hunting. Next time, shoot sometime during mid-day when the deer don't move much. Save the quiet time for mornings and evenings if you like.

BTW, that was painful to read. Try paragraphs next time.

I hunt deer and have people that shoot near my farm. Is it annoying, yes. But as long as they don't shoot towards me it's their land to do what they wish on. Tell that guy to piss off.

I hunt deer and the neighbor and his kids shoot all the time.

Nothing I can do about it except when they do not use the proper back stop. Last year they started target shooting but the only problem was my stand was down range with me in it. Bullets started wizing by with me yelling for them to stop firing. One bullet clipped the leg of the stand so I fired one round back to the side of where they were standing.

They stopped firing and took cover and started yelling at me. We had a breif confrontation until the sheriff came driving up. They were sighted for reckless discharge of a fire arm. Their father appologized later and the kids that were shooting lost their guns for the year.

Now they shoot with a proper backstop and I am friends with their dad. We also help each other with our hunting setups.

It's your property, and you are under no obligation to put your life on hold due to whatever he decides to do on his property. If he doesn't like it, tell him to move his stand then, as it's clear that his stand isn't in a remote enough location to guarantee him uninterrupted hunting, and that's not your problem in the least. Guy's a dick and thinks that his recreational activity takes precedence over your recreational activity.

I'm curious though, how much property he has, that he is hunting so close to your yard?

Should have said, "Are you blind? Can't you see this is my property and I'm shooting my Mac10?!?"

Good Luck.

Check your county ordinances to see if any apply to this situation, I'm also told if you get a bag full of human hair from the barber shop and scatter it around the deer won't come near it. And have heard that if you get a load of tiger/lion poop from a traveling circus this will also keep deer away. Spread the hair and/or poop 3-4 days before season opening. I'm not adverse to deer hunting but if they are that close to your residence the deer are doubtlessly used to human presence. This to me isn't hunting, just killing for the sake of killing. No challenge or sport to it. My father has a corn feeder 150 yards from his house but will not hunt or allow hunting on his property for that reason.

I think your neighbor was out of line.

I hunt deer, but I don't expect people on surrounding properties to change their routines for me or other hunters.

Tell him to go pound sand. You were in the right to do what you did.

Tell him to go jump in the lake.

You're in the right 100%. If he gets worse about jumping all over you for shooting on your land time for some tannerite.

Exactly!!!

Yes, in the practical world he's a goofball and he should go piss off. But in reality officers, county attorneys, and judges get some pretty screwed up perceptions of things. Doing this more than once could be stretched into a hunter harassment charge. I'd call you local Sheriffi's Department and/or Game Warden and ask what they think. It's their opinions that matter.

i would wait till the next time you see his kids hunting from the treehouse and go yell that they are disturbing your wifes sleep if they take a shot.

Im a believer that meeting asshole with asshole works

Been in a similar situation myself. I offered to shoot mid day so the neighbor could hunt during peak hours. I hunt as well so am not looking to disturb his hunt. Also since we have to live next to each other I figure it will be much more peaceful if we are not pissed at each other all the time.

This is why I never put a deer blind within 100yds of a property line. It leads to situations like this.

Before I let this get in to a long, drawn out, angst filled relationship with the neighbor, I would see what I could do to make the neighbor want to move the stand themselves.

Go talk to them. Take a pie.

I had a neighbor across the road that had cussed me for 15yrs for my shooting habits. With one friendly gesture this summer, he now thinks the sun rises and sets on my shoulders and even brought his deer rifles to me this year for me to zero them for him.

TRG

His land, his right. Your land, your right.

Your yard you do what you want in it, I hunt see damn near everyday

Your yard, your rules.

A couple of my Neighbors hunt deer around where I live, but I shoot groundhogs in my yard and my dad's yard. It has been going on for over 20 years with problems with the hunting, or my flying of a Confederate Battle flag .

point out that you are shooting a mac-10 next time he yells at you.

No always. Here in MN you can't hunt within 500 feet of a "corral containing livestock" without permission. You could hunt out of the same tree your whole life but if a neighbor within 500 feet decides to pen his goat in the wrong place you are SOL. Like I say, check your local laws.

He was definitely being a dick with an entitlement mentality. He has no right, legal or moral, to expect all his neighbors to give up their livelihoods all day while he's "hunting", and bitch because somebody won't.

I hunt in a few areas. One gets a bit more traffic nearby than the others. I've had folks run their huntting dogs through the area while I was sitting in my stand. I've had folks run through the area on fourwheelers. It's public land, so I can't complain if it's where I have chosen to set up for the day.

He could try to teach his daughter the art of scouting locations and finding more secluded hunting areas, if he wanted to really make a hunter out of her. And if he was really worried about scaring deer, he wouldn't have jumped on a fourwheeler to come and talk to you.

He was out of line, but let's see. If his stand is 100 yds from your backyard, and there are 20 houses within a quarter mile of his stand, unless you got the worlds biggest backyard then those houses are roughly that close to you also.
So let's make a firing range of it?
Regardless of legality, I'd say the crappy neighbor race will be tight between you two.

I agree you need about 3lbs of tannerite.

I agree with Dreadedboost!

When you interfere with someone's quiet use and enjoyment of their property they can file a nuisance claim against you in civil court. What would be considered normal use of your land and what would be classified as an annoyance to your neighbors depends on the law of the State and conditions of the area/land.

Now, is "deer hunting" considered quiet use and enjoyment of property? That's an open question.

Good relations between neighbors is pretty critical, because a bad relationship with neighbors can lead to disputes and headaches. Using your backyard for target practice during deer season is an annoyance to your neighbors and they may see it as an interference with the use of their land for hunting. I think you'd be wiser at least during rifle season to travel to a private range if you wish to do some target practice.

Society comes with benefits and burdens when you're apart of it. You're living in an area with other people and you need to give them some consideration. If you said you were sorry than I would leave it at that as I'm sure your neighbor will and wouldn't shoot off rounds during the rest of deer season on your property. Your land "yes," but he has his land as well and you both are entitled to its quiet use and enjoyment from the annoyances of eachother. Doesn't sound like you're a bad guy or anything and don't take this post as being critical of what you did, but I think when you consider it then you'll probably avoid doing it again in the future. Good luck.

In IL gun season is only a couple of weekends a year. If it was one of those weekends then i would wait. If it was bow season,which is like 4 mounths long, and he complained id just laugh and keep on doin what i was doin. Or do what 22mike said

I would not feel guilty..you waited around most of the day for them to either bag a deer or give it up for the day(you tried to do right by them) Do they expect your Nephew to miss out on shooting when who know when the next oppurtunity might come up for him?? They can be back up in that tree stand the next day if they desire. I wont even get into your rights as a property owner.

I am a deer hunter and have a range in my back yard. Where I hunt (which is in another part of the county) every once in a while i get someone nearby going to town on 1 or more firearms right at the end of the day. It annoys me however they are on their property and as far as I know they are shooting in a safe direction. So I have no say so as far as I am concerned. I try to keep from shooting on my range near the end of the day, just in case another hunter is hunting near by. Although I did have a guy come complain to my wife while i was hunting this Saturday for shooting Thursday afternoon. (1st complaint in 10yrs of shooting) Not sure if he was a hunter but he was really ignorant about it and threatened to call the law and get a petition up. I already know i am within the Law and county regulations so too bad for him. I wish he would have left some contact info so at least I could talk to him, but he refused.

Sitting in a tree stand all fucking day is not hunting. You can meet him in the middle by buying a suppressor for your Mac now that you have a valid excuse.

only thing i have to ask is what the game laws are considering distance from dwellings? Here its 450ft from any building with a firearm. May want to check into the local laws and inform your neighbor about the laws if the stand is inside the distance your state deems.

Id talk to the guy, who knows may end up with a shooting partner

I would have said sorry to shoot the MAC and instead would have broke out the AR and did some mag dumps. Then told him to fuck off.

Absolutely.... and I consider myself a moderate redneck (up the rebels) & hunt in my back yard and shoot varmints when necessary....I do not expect my neighbors (even the FIB Cityidiots that moved here) to put their lives on hold for me nor will I for them....

On the other hand a person has to be reasonable....you don't make lots of noise after 10PM or before 9 am if you can possibly help it...people should make reasonable accommodations
for their neighbors.....and take into consideration extenuating circumstances.

You gave the neighbor several hours of undisturbed hunting that was more than enough....

I've heard that in some European countries it is considered "good manners" to have sound moderators/suppressors on your weapons so you don't disturb folks when shooting...and so their governments actually 'encourage' such devices rather than making prohibitive rules that discourage ownership and use.

yea like 3lbs of it, that will get him going.

Holy Wall of Text!


I support both of you in your rights to do what you please on your own land. You to target shoot and him to deer hunt.

FWIW if its safe to target shoot in the neighborhood then it is certainly safe to deerhunt from an elevated tree stand in that same neighborhood.

Suburban deer are used to smelling people, dogs, gasoline/oil, smoke, ect.

it's war baby.

I am not sure I would start shooting back, not a good idea, everyone has guns good way to end up dead, I would have just called the Sheriff, one of the first rules to shooting is know what is behind your target, they shouldn't have even been shooting that direction knowing a hunter was their.

I am a deer hunter, I say you have the right to do what you want on your land, any time you want, but to be nice I would only shoot during the middle of the day between say 11am-2pm. If the neighbor doesn't like it he can move his stand some where else.

Get your share of the meat he gets on your land!!!

not always true. check local laws on "hunter harassment" during hunting seasons, if one makes noise while another is hunting/trying to hunt, were you would disturb their hunt, you can literately be ticket and fined for interrupting a hunt by the DEC. i hunt for food and food only, but i am also an animal lover. so, i can see both sides of this law. i dont know your local laws, but in NY one must be 500ft to discharge a fire arm. so unless they are bow hunting. in NY they would need to move the stand. best thing to do is probability walk over on a sunday and have a honesty conversation with the guy about what happened and how to prevent it from happening again. no one should feel like they are unable to do as they please on their own land. if the guy is still an asshole, then make it a hobby to shoot a few rounds a couple times a week. educate yourself when its hunting season. dont shoot during "his time" then when deer season comes to an end, go right back to shooting a couple times a week.

I very much agree with this above statement.
At the same time it is hilarious that you let that girl sit in a tree all day and when prime movement time is approaching, you open up .

This.

As a hunter that spends a lot of time in a semi-residential area while hunting...I hate when someone decides to fire up the chainsaw on a 20 degree day and just saw away. Its gotten to the point that sitting out in the stand throughout the day is pointless because people will just do as they please even if they see Im out. I know, I know, their land, they can do as they please...but you dont hear me firing off my guns at 3am or blaring loud satan music while their kids play in the yard. Its called common courtesy. If anything, Id say you shouldve gone shooting around lunch...if the dude still drove up and caused a fuss, then Id tell him to pound sand.

If I was your neighbor, I would have talked to you about how and when I wanted to plant my daughter in a tree so close to your land. He didn't do that though so....

If I was in your shoes OP, I would have told the neighbor the situation with the kid and the gun he's been waiting all year to shoot. If the neighbor still didn't 'get it', then there isn't much you are going to be able to help him with HIS PROBLEM.


Communication. It isn't hard.

I'm unclear on whether he was mad about the noise, or about the shooting. Are you SURE none of your projectiles left your property?

It may not be the case in your situation, but where I live every city dwelling moron who bought two acres thinks he has a rifle range.

Traveling circus....

Sorry, I may just immortalize your words. Something about what you typed just sounds so damn funny....

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