I've never been one to rant here on TBH but this one really has me ****** and I'd like to get yalls opinion on how I handled it and how you would of handled it. I really strive to get along with all of our neighbors but there always seems to be that one that gets a little too opinionated in our choice of what we consider a trophy, or insistent about what I can share on TBH about our property and what we see on it.
My Dad owns a few ranches and a couple small farms that I manage the hunting portion of. I find the right hunters, handle the contracts, collect lease payments, fix anything that breaks and do whatever it takes to keep everyone happy. We have a 110 acre farm in Fayette county that has produced some exceptional bucks in that specific area.
We purchased the farm in the summer of '18 and only hunted on it a few times for one season. From then on it has sat without being hunted. It was my dads get away place to think and get away from Houston. This past summer my dad told me get to work on leasing it for the '22 - '23 deer season. It backs up to the LCRA land and hunts fairly large despite the acreage so we decided to get 2 hunters for X amount or if one hunter wanted it for themselves, then he/she could do that.
I did not want to advertise it due to having a few very seasoned bowhunters in mind that I feel would be completely trouble free and would let the deer mature and produce some real trophies.
We have a neighbor that owns roughly 30 acres that somehow found me back in '18 and we started to text back and forth. He's a very serious bowhunter that puts the work in so I've always valued his knowledge of the country. He sent me some alive and kill pics of some very impressive bucks and did ask that I keep them to myself. Until now, I've never shared the pics. I recently talked to a fellow TBH'r that fits what we're looking for in every way. The lease isn't cheap so I figured that I'd send him some pics that would help explain why it's priced the way it is.
Without dragging this story out too much further. My guy that I sent the pics to asked someone that he works with if she knew a certain guy in one of the pics because he thought it was her brother. She confirmed that it was and added that area does produce big bucks. I guess he was fact checking, which I can't blame him for that.
So this morning I get a text from my neighbor saying that "my guy" is sending pictures to people that he privately shared with me. From there the text got kind of nasty and I ended it by telling him that "my guy" did not share the pics but did inquire about a certain individual in one of the pics and if that area did indeed produce big bucks.
I feel that I have honored his request from 2018 not to mention (up until now) or show pics on TBH (which I won't). He's worn my ears and eyes out on what he thinks WE should be hunting and what he considers off limits even though we own the land and Texas owns the deer. He literally has taken away any interest or fun for my family to hunt next to him. He used to send me pics that he somehow obtained of grown men and younger kids with their bucks (from that area) and typically ridicules them because the buck was not old enough. etc etc etc
My questions are this... If you were going to lease your place at a higher than usual lease price, knowing that it can and has produced big bucks, would you share pics with the interested individual?
Am I wrong for sharing pics with an individual that I'm serious about bringing on next year?
I did not tell this individual not to share the pics. He's a very private person that does not care to create drama or tolerate it. He just loves to bowhunt big deer and I believe he was just fact checking me. Which again, is perfectly fine with me.
Lastly. How would you have handled this?
I'm human and I have my faults but I also try to be beyond fair and honest to ANYONE that leases from me.
Please give me your thoughts, no matter what direction they go in.
My Dad owns a few ranches and a couple small farms that I manage the hunting portion of. I find the right hunters, handle the contracts, collect lease payments, fix anything that breaks and do whatever it takes to keep everyone happy. We have a 110 acre farm in Fayette county that has produced some exceptional bucks in that specific area.
We purchased the farm in the summer of '18 and only hunted on it a few times for one season. From then on it has sat without being hunted. It was my dads get away place to think and get away from Houston. This past summer my dad told me get to work on leasing it for the '22 - '23 deer season. It backs up to the LCRA land and hunts fairly large despite the acreage so we decided to get 2 hunters for X amount or if one hunter wanted it for themselves, then he/she could do that.
I did not want to advertise it due to having a few very seasoned bowhunters in mind that I feel would be completely trouble free and would let the deer mature and produce some real trophies.
We have a neighbor that owns roughly 30 acres that somehow found me back in '18 and we started to text back and forth. He's a very serious bowhunter that puts the work in so I've always valued his knowledge of the country. He sent me some alive and kill pics of some very impressive bucks and did ask that I keep them to myself. Until now, I've never shared the pics. I recently talked to a fellow TBH'r that fits what we're looking for in every way. The lease isn't cheap so I figured that I'd send him some pics that would help explain why it's priced the way it is.
Without dragging this story out too much further. My guy that I sent the pics to asked someone that he works with if she knew a certain guy in one of the pics because he thought it was her brother. She confirmed that it was and added that area does produce big bucks. I guess he was fact checking, which I can't blame him for that.
So this morning I get a text from my neighbor saying that "my guy" is sending pictures to people that he privately shared with me. From there the text got kind of nasty and I ended it by telling him that "my guy" did not share the pics but did inquire about a certain individual in one of the pics and if that area did indeed produce big bucks.
I feel that I have honored his request from 2018 not to mention (up until now) or show pics on TBH (which I won't). He's worn my ears and eyes out on what he thinks WE should be hunting and what he considers off limits even though we own the land and Texas owns the deer. He literally has taken away any interest or fun for my family to hunt next to him. He used to send me pics that he somehow obtained of grown men and younger kids with their bucks (from that area) and typically ridicules them because the buck was not old enough. etc etc etc
My questions are this... If you were going to lease your place at a higher than usual lease price, knowing that it can and has produced big bucks, would you share pics with the interested individual?
Am I wrong for sharing pics with an individual that I'm serious about bringing on next year?
I did not tell this individual not to share the pics. He's a very private person that does not care to create drama or tolerate it. He just loves to bowhunt big deer and I believe he was just fact checking me. Which again, is perfectly fine with me.
Lastly. How would you have handled this?
I'm human and I have my faults but I also try to be beyond fair and honest to ANYONE that leases from me.
Please give me your thoughts, no matter what direction they go in.
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