Post by sublimelyoblivious on Dec 8, 2010 11:37:27 GMT -5
In May of this year, my husband and I came across a property that we fell in love with. After jumpi9ng through about a thousand hoops, we were able to snatch it up before it was forclosed on. It an even longer story than that, I will try not to bore you too much, but the first visit to the home we saw a HUGE tom turkey, vultures soaring and several hawks and scissortails (love those little guys! 
) ANYWAYS....we decided to steal the property and we finally have.
My questions arise from this:
My new place is 12 acres...and that is great for me, as I hope to farm it...(and I will, as soon as I am done building my house) It is crossfenced 6 +6 for pasture, the previous owner rented it for beef cattle.
TO ME, it seems pretty damn gamey. We gun hunted bunnies and squirrel, less so on the squirrel, but we busted at least a dozen bunnies in an hour...So question 1.) is that pretty gamey???
OK, now the eighbors are a family that have lived in this rural town for AGES...their last name is the name of my street, they have 118 acres, and lots of cattle. I have yet to ask them if I can hunt it.
behind me is about 30-40 acres but the people who rent it are POACHERS! I learned this one day while working on the house a few weeks before turkey opened, and they were firing over my fence at about 12 turkeys...I called the cops, but quickly realized it wasn't going to do anything at all. They haven't shot over my fence since then, but it does concern me.
Next to my pasture, is about 30-40 acres, also cattle pasture with around 40 head of beef. The guy running it is the uncle of the family that we bought the property from. He seems OK, although I am sure I am not his favorite person, all things considered, but his land has to be as gamey as mine....he does not gun hunt on his property, being a bit small for that, and he seems more ethical than some in the area...he DID however tell me that he would shoot a vulture if it was bothering his cattle...he said they will come down to the afterbirth of his cows after calving, and they are a pest. ( I disagree, but hey, I don't run cattle) but he said that he doesn't think folks in the area would shoot hawks....I worry though....
So question 2.) if they shoot a vulture, what prevents them from shooting a hawk?
This is a rural community and the folks seem to all know each other (population 1500 or so) and I am an outsider. I have made NO attempt to get to know my neighbors aside from the uncle, and I wonder the best way to approach them. I definitely want to talk to people who share fencelines with me, as I feel that hawks could care less about property boundaries and I should at the least get permission to retrieve my bird, if not hunt there.
Also, the uncle said he loves the bunnies, etc. he sits and counts deer, turkey, and game, he just enjoys it. I wonder if the neighbors are very much the same, being that their main business is hay and cattle, they could care less about much else....
I don't want to step on toes, or make enemies by admitting that I would like to annihilate their bunnies, and wish I had more squirrel...LOL. But at the same time, I feel a bit weird about announcing to every neighbor that I am a falconer, although i am sure they will figure it out.
The thing is that I know that the bunnies are on my land, but I cant reasonable hunt that everyday...I will need more places or I will run every bunny to the next field and my bird will want to follow...
so long story I guess, but I wonder what advise is to be had about approaching old timers about crossing the fence, and how often you could hunt such a small place.
I was hoping that between my town lot (about .5 acres) and the new place, that would serve well for training and initial hunts...but after that, I am thinking I may have to move on to conservation land, or get really brave about making new friends! LOL...
Comments welcome, sorry I have a problem keeping anything short! LOL
Misty
) ANYWAYS....we decided to steal the property and we finally have.My questions arise from this:
My new place is 12 acres...and that is great for me, as I hope to farm it...(and I will, as soon as I am done building my house) It is crossfenced 6 +6 for pasture, the previous owner rented it for beef cattle.
TO ME, it seems pretty damn gamey. We gun hunted bunnies and squirrel, less so on the squirrel, but we busted at least a dozen bunnies in an hour...So question 1.) is that pretty gamey???
OK, now the eighbors are a family that have lived in this rural town for AGES...their last name is the name of my street, they have 118 acres, and lots of cattle. I have yet to ask them if I can hunt it.
behind me is about 30-40 acres but the people who rent it are POACHERS! I learned this one day while working on the house a few weeks before turkey opened, and they were firing over my fence at about 12 turkeys...I called the cops, but quickly realized it wasn't going to do anything at all. They haven't shot over my fence since then, but it does concern me.
Next to my pasture, is about 30-40 acres, also cattle pasture with around 40 head of beef. The guy running it is the uncle of the family that we bought the property from. He seems OK, although I am sure I am not his favorite person, all things considered, but his land has to be as gamey as mine....he does not gun hunt on his property, being a bit small for that, and he seems more ethical than some in the area...he DID however tell me that he would shoot a vulture if it was bothering his cattle...he said they will come down to the afterbirth of his cows after calving, and they are a pest. ( I disagree, but hey, I don't run cattle) but he said that he doesn't think folks in the area would shoot hawks....I worry though....
So question 2.) if they shoot a vulture, what prevents them from shooting a hawk?
This is a rural community and the folks seem to all know each other (population 1500 or so) and I am an outsider. I have made NO attempt to get to know my neighbors aside from the uncle, and I wonder the best way to approach them. I definitely want to talk to people who share fencelines with me, as I feel that hawks could care less about property boundaries and I should at the least get permission to retrieve my bird, if not hunt there.
Also, the uncle said he loves the bunnies, etc. he sits and counts deer, turkey, and game, he just enjoys it. I wonder if the neighbors are very much the same, being that their main business is hay and cattle, they could care less about much else....
I don't want to step on toes, or make enemies by admitting that I would like to annihilate their bunnies, and wish I had more squirrel...LOL. But at the same time, I feel a bit weird about announcing to every neighbor that I am a falconer, although i am sure they will figure it out.
The thing is that I know that the bunnies are on my land, but I cant reasonable hunt that everyday...I will need more places or I will run every bunny to the next field and my bird will want to follow...
so long story I guess, but I wonder what advise is to be had about approaching old timers about crossing the fence, and how often you could hunt such a small place.
I was hoping that between my town lot (about .5 acres) and the new place, that would serve well for training and initial hunts...but after that, I am thinking I may have to move on to conservation land, or get really brave about making new friends! LOL...
Comments welcome, sorry I have a problem keeping anything short! LOL
Misty
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