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Lost my private spot, now in need.

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    Lost my private spot, now in need.

    Well, it finally happened.

    I’m not even sure how to explain the situation I’m in without getting really long winded. Couple that with my general inability to be brief, and this could get dicey. I’ll give a shot at being concise.

    My FIL’s property has had a shift in the rules, apparently. Generally speaking, there were no real restrictions on hunting down there. It was a ‘mi casa, su casa,’ situation. The only thing that was really asked was to put in a little time for property maintenance and let someone know when I was headed down that way. Easy stuff. This year, there’s a twist. A friend of the family (I think, I don’t know the guy – but he’s a nice dude) expressed a bunch of interest in hunting there. And, unlike me, he has the ability to get to the place on a regular basis. He’s put in a bunch of work down there to make a spot for himself.

    Worth noting, he’s put in a bunch of work with regard to hunting. For himself. He’s not down there doing a bunch of property work (and, disclaimer, neither am I).

    Now, today I had a conversation with the FIL’s wife about the ‘rules,’ and it basically summarized like this: There’s only 1 killable deer according to her (I’ve counted 5 mature bucks at one stand), and the other guy gets to hunt as much as he wants to kill that ONE deer before I get to go, because ‘that’s fair, he’s put in a lot of work.’ Kicker, he doesn’t bowhunt.

    Please, read that again. Initially I was absolutely incensed. But, here’s the deal – it’s not my place. They own it, it’s their rules, and I need to be cool with that. So, I am. But, there’s now no reason for me to go. I can’t make a schedule and there’s nothing for me to hunt if this other guy is at all successful. And hey, I wish him the best. Carry on smartly, sir.

    What this unfortunate situation has left me with is no place to hunt. I live in Arlington, smack in the middle of the DFW metroplex and I’ve never hunted public land. I understand that it’s now way too late for me to do meaningful scouting and make a comprehensive, well-informed plan for opening day. But, I don’t want to miss it. If anyone read my ‘Dear Dad’ post a couple of years ago, opening day is the most important hunting day, for me, for a lot of reasons.

    Here’s my plea to the green screen – is anyone familiar with public land hunting areas up here within about an hour’s drive? I’ve looked at TPWD but can’t find anywhere that allows whitetail hunting. My search strategy may be flawed, though. Anyone help a brother out?

    -LaS.

    #2
    Man, that's rough. Especially since it's family.

    Have you looked at Cooper WMA or Tawakoni?

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      #3
      You talked to his wife but have you tried to have a sit down, meaningful conversation with your FIL?

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        #4
        Decatur grasslands.

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          #5
          Originally posted by HoustonHunter View Post
          You talked to his wife but have you tried to have a sit down, meaningful conversation with your FIL?
          This as well. I would think this could change your hunting season here.

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            #6
            Could you hunt for a doe? Maybe, pigs or turkey?

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              #7
              Why not give it a solid go during bow season?

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                #8
                PM sent.

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                  #9
                  Grapevine maybe?

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by HoustonHunter View Post
                    You talked to his wife but have you tried to have a sit down, meaningful conversation with your FIL?
                    Believe it or not, his standing order is, 'don't kill her favorite deer.' I plan on talking to him about it, but I have to figure out the best way to go about it. The real consequence of this is that neither me nor my wife now has a reason to be down there. She doesn't like it unless we're fishing together, and if I'm not hunting or fishing with her... But, i can't make the conversation sound like a threat. I'm just not hopeful, but yeah, this is on the radar.

                    Originally posted by Bort View Post
                    Could you hunt for a doe? Maybe, pigs or turkey?
                    I was actually thinking about this on my lunch break just now. Yeah, I think I'll still do this. I'd love it if there were turkeys, but there aren't any down that way. Pigs abound, though.

                    Originally posted by bigbad243 View Post
                    Why not give it a solid go during bow season?
                    FIL's wife specifically said, 'wait until other dude kills a deer before you go.' My thought was to get in all my hunting during bow season and kind of deal with the rest as it comes. But, she seems to not care. He gets a deer. I wait.


                    Also, here's the best part that I didn't mention in the initial post. I spent a good portion of last winter organizing a nice little spot for me to put up a stand. I tractored it out, put up my stand, game cameras, all that. The new guy's 'spot' is about 60 yards from my spot, facing my stand. You can literally see my small cut plot and treestand from where he'll be. Again, I don't begrudge the guy anything because he HAS put in a lot of work. But, he did move in on a place that was basically already primed.

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                      #11
                      I feel your pain man, I've got relatives with several sections of land, I hunt on a place that belongs to a friend, his family and mine have been friends for generations. My in-laws are so afraid that I'm gonna want something from them, then they're upset when I don't. Can't get my head around it, quit trying years ago, I do what I do, they can do whatever it is that they do.

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                        #12
                        Sounds like it's time to pay for a hunt. Maybe at Buff's place.

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                          #13
                          sounds like they put friends before family and i wouldn't want to mess with a small spot that some dude was rifle hunting.

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                            #14
                            LBJ Grasslands. A few guys on here hunt that land. Also start looking at Texas draw hunts if its not to late. It at least gives you a chance. Sorry to hear it man. I'm just South in Stephenville from you. LBJ has a thread on here as well. Find it and ask those guys to lend a hand. I'm sure they will.

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                              #15
                              Originally posted by IowaHunter View Post
                              Sounds like it's time to pay for a hunt. Maybe at Buff's place.
                              This definitely crossed my mind. I spoke to my wife (ironically, hunting down at my FIL's place, and hunting in general, has caused us some tension before. But, when this came up she was/is genuinely bummed for me) about the situation and she kind of agreed that if I could schedule out one or two hunting trips per year, that might work out, too.

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