I’m buying some property that I’d like to control the hunting on. My neighbor has an elevated stand just inside his property that overlooks my field. I want to block his view of seeing deer or at least getting a good enough view to shoot onto my property. I’m looking into many solutions, one of which is to string up a fabric camouflage netting or something to block the view from the stand.
I’d like it to be inexpensive, but effective, and withstand the elements. I know hunters use netting or burlap for concealment, but I want to learn options. I’m sure solid tarps will get tattered in the sun and wind so I suspect a more open fabric would be better (but I don’t know)
What material can I use and where can I get it?
I’m also open to other suggestions. I will be sending him a letter (don’t have his phone number) informing him of my wishes to not have him shoot into my field.
Have you looked at the regulations related to discharging a firearm across property lines in your state? Do you have some reason to believe your neighbor intends to shoot onto your property? They may have put the blind near the property line to have a better shot into their property or for the ease of access along the fence line or who knows what. Basically I’ve seen plenty of blinds put up near property lines for whatever reasons.
I don’t know the state laws on this, but I suspect it wouldn’t deter them. 30yds from their stand into my property are two dead coyotes. I’m pretty sure they shot them from the stand on their side. I have no proof, of course, but their property is 15 acres of yard and horse stables and mine is 50 acres of trees and fields. I don’t think they set up the stand on the corner just to shoot into their yard and stables.
IANAHunter, but I have thought about how to screen my brother’s 2-acre property from public view —and I am pessimistic about blocking the view of someone in a hunting stand.
My initial thoughts are:
Discuss with neighbor — tell him in a non-confrontational way that you’ll be posting No Hunting signs and installing some trail cameras.
Post many hi-visibility signs along your property line
Install multiple trail cameras
After that, you might:
3. String a basic 3-ft. wire fence along the property line by the hunting stand, to serve as a psychological barrier.
A hunting stand on the edge of a property can be the most responsible position. It makes it easy to keep the line of fire out of adjoining properties, and shooting down is safer than level shooting. But since your neighbor seems to have shot coyotes across the property line, you will need to tell him to respect your boundary.
Build a hunting stand on your property immediately across from his hunting stand. Populate with a dummy with binoculars. Add a trailcam focused on his stand.
Better yet, build a child’s play area directly under the stand so he’s shooting over it, every time. Get one real camera, and a lot of fake cameras, and point them all at the blind.
Only a guess, but that would put off most people, I expect.
This tells me he is an asshole. He left dead animals on your property without asking your permission to remove them. I would have contacted the sheriff at that point.
Just so you know, I am all for hunting when done properly with common courtesy. Not asking premission to hunt animals on your land is disrespecful regardless of the law. Leaving dead animals on you property is totally obnoxious and rude. And very likely illegal.
It is possible they shot the coyotes on their property and the animals ran onto yours before dying.
I don’t know what the fabric is (nylon probably), but those giant banners hung on buildings sound like what you need – they have cuts to allow wind to pass through, and are clearly built to withstand the elements. Then you just need to erect 20-ft posts to hold it & hope it doesn’t blow onto his property and cause damage because he may be a little cranky about this giant billowing curtain visible for miles.
A friend of ours lives on property posted NO HUNTING, NO TRESPASSING, but surrounded by people who hunt. Before sunrise each morning during deer season he walks his property borders banging a pot and yelling. He’s been threatened with lawsuits, but so far they’ve only been threats.
In Texas, firing a projectile into someones property, or entering their property without written permission is a jail able offense. My cite is “Lone Star Law”.
I would start by just chatting with the neighbor. Maybe invite him over for dinner, get to know him, and mention that you don’t want him shooting into your property at some point. To be clear, I’d do the invitation even without the hunting issue – I think there are a lot of benefits to knowing the neighbors, and being on good terms with them.
If he keeps horses, he may have practical concerns around coyotes. It’s possible that a fence between your properties would be the best mutual solution. I suppose that would cost even more than netting close to his stand, but it might be the right solution, even so. It might also fall on him to pay to fence his property.
But if you erect some fencing, a fence that says “private property, no hunting” is a pretty strong signal to any other hunters who might be in the habit of roaming your land.
Unless you screen off your whole property, it seems like he could just move the blind past the screen to once again have a clear view into your property. But if the bind was moved, that would certainly seem to indicate that they want to see into your property. Setting up some wildlife cameras to point at the blind may help you figure out what’s going on.
I also agree that there’s a possibility that the coyotes may have wandered onto your property after being shot. If they were shot on his property with small caliber ammo or not hit fatally, they may have wandered onto your property trying to get into the forest. He may be in that blind for the purpose of shooting any coyotes that cross from your property into his.
There is a fence between the properties and I’ll post some signs when we’ve closed in a few weeks.
Letters of introduction to all of my neighbors are in the envelops. I mention that: “My plan is to continue the farming it as has been done for the last several years. I also will likely be hunting on the property throughout the year.”
Landscape fabric is pretty cheap and made to withstand at least some UV exposure. It’s not very strong but does come in long rolls for easier installation.
Hmmm. Thanks for the suggestion to my specific question. I do kindof like that idea and had not considered that. I can maybe reinforce it with courses of wire across poles.
How about green fencing netting (I’m not entirely sure that’s what it’s called, but you can see it here.
It’s the sort of thing they put around tennis courts, and is very popular in some places for providing privacy cost effectively (eg I noticed it’s used a lot in rural Italy). And it looks ok too, as the green blends in with the environment (unless you live in a desert).