Lying neighbor

First of all let me say that I don't get nearly as worked up as I used to about what my neighbors around me are killing or not killing. Deer hunting is supposed to be fun if you can't have fun then I think you should quit. So my neighbor and looongtime family friend and I had an agreement to lay off the young bucks here. Kinda if you shoot it you need to mount it type deal for the last 5 years. But for the past 3-4 years I've suspected a lil foul play. He always shoots the 1st decent 8pt he sees. Usually it's a top end two year old. No big deal if he misjudges a deer here and there. But today he opened his mouth and told me about the 2nd buck he killed last year and forgot to tell me about. So I begin to probe him and he began to dig himself a hole. He's basically been killing as many legal bucks as he's been allowed and been lying to my face the whole time. I have a 10 year old nephew that I always take hunting somewhere else because of our agreement about attempting to grow the best bucks we can. I told him today that I just won't be able to believe anything he says anymore about deer hunting and that expect to hear a few shots this year from my side of the fence from my nephew. I'm not gonna risk our lifetime friendship over this by any means but going forward things are gonna be different. Anyone else dealt with circumstances such as these.

If he is hunting on 1,000 acres it is no big deal -------------- if it is 50 acres, that's different.

LOL, sounds like he really didn't care about you telling him how he should be hunting his property and just placated you to get you off his back.

How am I telling him how he should hunt his property when he came to me with the proposal to be very selective. I don't care about the deer just don't appreciate being lied to.

Have a similar situation happen this year. An acquaintance and I entered the Texas Public Hunt Draws together for last five years; usually without any luck. This year we got drawn for three hunts, talk about lucky. However, the acquaintance informs me that his wife will not let him go. As a result, I will hunt by myself which is ok just no one to split expenses with. However, I feel like he screwed all the others hunters that entered the drawing. Yes, the state can go through a second drawing but that isn't as efficient as it could have been. Needless to say, we won't be hunting together in the future. Lesson for me is I am the one who introduced him to the Texas Draw system so I did not choose my associates well.

Don't let this happen to you

Interesting fact left out, but I am with you now. Obviously, the agreement is void. Shoot all you want that is legal. Maybe your nephew can get his limit as well.

So he's hunting his property and your hunting yours? Is this correct?

If so, I understand he is not living up to his word. I would have a talk with him about him milsleading you. Tell him you feel a bit played and just move forward. Tell him to shoot whatever he wants and you will also. And happy hunting.

Just get it out in the open and move forward and go by the laws of texas and not his word.

Seems deer antlers bring out the worst in some otherwise fine folks.

Unless he thinks you're dumb as a fence post I'd bet he knows you know he hasn't been honest and lived up to y'alls agreement.

That or he might forget what he does routinely. Maybe early onset dementia or alzheimers or as simple as something in the water.

Wouldn't get wrapped up around the axle over it, do your thing on your place and he can do the same.

Outside of him breaking state/county harvest rules, I wouldn't give it much thought, plenty of deer to go around.

I’d just be pissed that he’s a bald faced liar.

The hunting/shooting is nothing. The lies are everything.

Sounds like he wanted you to lay off the deer so he would have more to shoot.

Neighbor? Heck, I've got relatives that won't follow the mgmt plan on our own place.

It sucks that the guy is shooting middling deer, and tops it off by lying to you. If you're not on board, just say so, but a 'long time friend' shouldn't have to lie.

Exactly. He wouldn’t be a friend of mine any longer. I’d rather someone tell me “FO I’ll shoot what I want to” than lie about it. At least that’s honest.

Agree, it isn't the killing that would bother me so much , it is the lack of ability to trust a mans word, it was a gentleman's agreement, a mans word. Some seem to put more weight on that than others.

Yep, I will only be lied to once. I would never lose a family friend over deer or hunting but I would if I feel I'm being purposely mislead. Trust is everything in a friendship.

Be nice when you see him but stay clear all other times. He has a different agenda than what was agreed upon.touhg call it's his place and he can do what he wants.

I suspect the man proposed that to you in an attempt to make his harvested deer larger. I wouldn't trust him for anything after this if I were in your shoes and would consider him as slimy as pond scum.

How many lines did he cross? You may never know.

Someone lies to or about me, I'm totally done with them. It happened to me on THF. I can no longer trust him.

What he hangs his tag on is his business as long as it is legal game. Not sure why anybody would get upset, If I have a tag in my pocket, I (not you) will decide what I do with it. Since when does hunting for meat or just the enjoyment become a bad thing? Why the obsession with big antlers or old bucks? That is not why I or anybody I know hunts. Just my 2 cents worth. Feel free to disagree but in the end nobody has the right to tell someone else what LEGAL game to take even if there was a previous agreement.

While I agree about the dishonesty being uncalled for, chock it up to a life experience and move on. Lots of liars out there and you'll never get away from all of them. It is what it is.

A man whose word can't be trusted isn't a man worth knowing.

Very common scenario. Antler derangement syndrome. I know a guy that, if you found a 7 year old Saskatchewan bruiser, the kind of deer that looks like there's a large oak tree growing out of his head, would say "Don't you think we should give him another year?", and then he'd make arrangements as quickly as possible to get his family out there to shoot it. He's on my lease.

Small property "agreements" among owners regarding trophy deer management never work out, human nature being what it is.

The deer being killed wouldnt bother me. Lying to me would end our friendship. I wont tolerate that.

Obviously this says quite a bit about his character and I would be quite peeved as well. Unfortunately he can do whatever the heck he wants within the confines of the law

I would just tell him any agreement you had is null and void and move on. No need to even explain it unless you feel the need as a courtesy, or better yet just move on anyway.
Chalk it up as one of life's many lessons.

I wouldn't bother telling him anything....you stated in an earlier post its about a "mans word", if he's willing to break it he's not much of a man, nor is he worth knowing.

Couldn't agree more. I have several tags and I enjoy deer hunting and I enjoy harvesting animals and eating them. I am all for proper land management but I really get turned off by the overly obsessive trophy hunters.

Like I said early on, "not worth getting bent around the axle". Life is way too short and too many real issues out there for me to take non-useful umbrage on someone not living up to their "verbal agreement" on harvesting of whitetail bucks. Disappointing maybe, but not irreparable in my estimation. Your kid being diagnosed out of nowhere with cancer at age 2 and fighting for his life for the next 5 years of life; that is another whole ballgame entirely. I guess it's truly about perspective for me.

A few different groups managing a few small properties is possible for herd improvement, but unlikely. I bet it is easier to agree and then go ahead and do their own thing. Is that what he did?

[quote=Rustler]Seems deer antlers bring out the worst in some otherwise fine folks.

You Sir just pretty much summed up the bottom line on most issues with deer hunting and leases today. I have witnessed a number of folks turn into someone different when they step onto a ranch to hunt - some will give up their entire character in order to kill a deer