Our lease is divided into specific hunting areas assigned to each hunter.

Two areas are conducive to dove hunting and have been open to all lessees.

We have a hunter who bow hunts deer. I don't think we've had one before. His hunting area is the only one that is in the dove flight pattern (the other has a small pond).

Dove and Deer Bow seasons overlap during October.

What would be reasonable restrictions to allow dove hunting without disturbing deer bow hunting?

How do other leases handle this?

When does he see the most deer? Morning or evening? Relegate your dove hunting to his slowest time of day.

I think he doesn't want shooting during bow season. That is a bit unreasonable since it would change the history of what has been allowed.

From what I've observed, shotguns in the dove field don't seem to bother the deer. I would think a compromise would be to hunt dove freely during September & only if he is not at the lease bow hunting during October.

There are mixed opinions on how noise affects deer. I've watched deer from my blind and heard shots so close I jumped but the deer didn't flinch.

Dove hunting is my favorite, so I may be biased.

Set a schedule that way he could Atleast know if people were hunting nearby or not. May not be an issue if he lives out town and only hunts weekends then you could hunt doves mon-wed or something. If lots of members want to hunt doves then I'd say its his loss but should have been disclosed earlier

How far is his stand from where yall will be Dove hunting?

I say you take him dove hunting and get him on your side then he will hang up that bow.

The dove field is on the border of his hunting woods. It is close enough that the activity and shooting would spook deer. We would be less than 100 yards from where he hunts.

We did offer to have him join us. We'll keep working on that.

Sounds like he didn't ask the right questions when he leased if he's the only bow hunter. If the dove hunting was the norm in the past then I would continue hunting dove where the dove are.

give him the option to swap areas with a rifle only hunter that also hunts dove.

either that or pretend you were him... what would YOU want???


OR one (or all) of the dove hunters could let him hunt their area.

I agree with this. When he joined the lease, he should have been aware that the lease also allowed dove hunting, and in what areas.

Rick,

He wants to keep his area.

My area is the other that has dove, but not as many as his. I wouldn't want anyone hunting dove there if I was in my blind deer hunting, but it wouldn't bother me on the days I'm not there.

Your last suggestion is great. I have a second lease within 10 minutes of the first one & would welcome him to hunt it if he was there during a good dove day. My 2nd lease has been much more productive (for deer) than the other area anyway.

I may try that - after taking your disclaimer into consideration. :-)

Sounds like he didn't ask the right questions and/or wasn't provided the information when he signed up. I would not be happy if there were people dove hunting around my blind during deer season.

I enjoy hunting both, but I pay the money I pay for deer hunting, not dove, so deer hunting becomes the priority. Especially if you all have your own hunting areas and cannot hunt other areas.

I think that most deer hunters would have a problem if the rules restricted them to only hunt one area of a ranch, but everyone else could come in their area and shoot multiple shots 100 yards from their stand.

Think of it this way. You are a rifle hunter and dove season opens back up in December. Do you want someone shooting dove 100 yards from your feeder? What if you aren't coming up until Friday...do you want them shooting Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning before you get there?

On our place, the dove hunters have to work around the deer hunters in October.

txshntr,

I agree completely. However, our lease has always allowed dove hunting in the defined areas. Until the bow hunter, it never was questioned and wasn't an issue.

I respect his right to say he paid to bow hunt & doesn't want interference. There has been some major ranch work in my area and I know first hand how it can spoil a deer season.

We're just trying to come up with a mutually agreeable solution. If push comes to shove, it is his area without a doubt.

Offer to buy him out or let him buy you out. If he knew this land was used for dove then he should accept the fact he is the newcomer. Or let the land owner make the call.

It's not at that point. We're just trying to accommodate both sides & seeking opinions.

A group of us manage the lease because the landowner doesn't want to be involved with the details. We don't get any financial breaks but we do get to do a lot more work.

We vote on such things at the beginning of the season because everyone's money is the same color. Mutual agreement of the rules.

In this instance, if there is a feeder in the 'dove area' it could possibly be considered baiting. The area in question would be off limits for dove hunting for the entire time the feeder is operational plus a period of time after it runs dry.

If there are Doves flying to the feeder it could still be considered baiting because you would be hunting birds trading between their roost and a baited area.

Course, I been wrong before...

When does the lease renew?

Can you hunt any other animal in someone else's area, like turkey?

How would the others feel if he does all his dove hunting in their area?

Y'all sound reasonable, so it might not end up being much of an issue

I think you are giving deer too much credit for inteligents. I had quail hunter pass by my stand with dogs and a jeep. Deer spooked and when they passed they came back. Deer only have two things on their minds, food and reproduction. Only when they are acosted do they switch on their survival instinct.
Haven't you been in a stand and hear a rifle fire, deer looks up then goes back to browsing.

I have seen deer come into a pond that I was dove hunting and seen deer come back in after the quail hunters go through. I have also seen deer see a jeep at 600 yards and run out of sight two ridges over. Also, I haven't seen a mature deer stick around when something is disturbing his woods. Most mature deer are already inherently difficult to hunt, I don't like to have an added excuse as to why I am not seeing them

If it was leased to him as a deer lease then I would say the dove hunters aren't allowed in the area. I would imagine he got the leftover spot since he is new on the lease.

If prior to paying his money you guys pointed out that those specific areas are used for dove hunting and he had an option to set up in a different position then he will need to compromise for some type of agreement.

Deer should take priority if the lease was presented to him as a deer lease first type arrangement.

Thanks for all the input.

Two of us have a separate lease about 10 minutes from this one. We have not hunted dove there, but we see them a lot in the trees and there are some ponds. We can plant sunflowers this spring & invite the others to join us there in September.

If our scouting shows that the present area is superior, I'm pretty sure we could negotiate using it opening week.