Property Ownership of Lakeshore and Duck Hunting

Dang thats really smart. I doubt many guys are doing that.

Youbetcha wrote:

Dang thats really smart. I doubt many guys are doing that.

Ran into 1 other hunter in all the years of doing it. Key is find lakes with public access, lots of cattails and obviously we need ice. I have hunted relatively large lakes with not a single house on it and you can walk for hours. Typically I just walk the outside edge of the cattails and let the dog do the work. One year I shot more raccoons than pheasants I absolutely couldnt believe it. I actually ran out of shells and didnt shoot a single bird one day LOL

As a note, harassing someone who is in the process of legally hunting or fishing is a violation in itself. If you are being confronted by a Karen always contact the conservation officer and report them. It’s important to use the phrase hunter/angler harassment.

We had Karen-type harassment by a self-appointed neighborhood watch woman who called in every gunshot as being directed at her property in order to deliberately harass hunters. After repeated incidents she was hit with a fine and warned that if she continued she could be labeled a serial offender and her next offense could include both fine and jail time. That finally shut her up.

blackbay wrote:

Check the county website and look for the GIS map. That will show property lines.

Bad idea. These GIS maps are for reference only and they do not represent surveys. They can’t be relied on to actually determine where a boundary is on the ground.

As a case in point the gis for my county shows my property boundary on the east side running through the western 2-3 feet of my neighbor’s shed. We have had the property surveyed and in reality the property line is about 3 ft west of his shed wall.

Youbetcha wrote:

Dang thats really smart. I doubt many guys are doing that.

I do it every season. Provided that the ice is frozen and thick enough to walk on. Just walk the edges where the cattails are. Later in the season once we get some snow and some colder weather, its very effective. Last year it wasn’t. Never got any snow and never got that cold. Plus the ice was crap.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>blackbay wrote:</div>
Check the county website and look for the GIS map. That will show property lines.

Bad idea. These GIS maps are for reference only and they do not represent surveys. They can’t be relied on to actually determine where a boundary is on the ground.

As a case in point the gis for my county shows my property boundary on the east side running through the western 2-3 feet of my neighbor’s shed. We have had the property surveyed and in reality the property line is about 3 ft west of his shed wall.
Funny thing I pull up my house on OnX Hunt and the GIS site and my property line goes through the middle of my neighbors garage.

Yeah GIS show two feet of my house are missing and I own two feet of my neighbors house. Our houses are like 30 feet apart.

A guy was walking the frozen cattail edge of the lake at my parents one time about a hundred feet from their house. I told him ah hell no. He said he could be there because its water. I said well you sure as hell cant park on their field approach and walk across their yard to get there. Lake has no public access. He thought he was just gonna keep hunting all the way back towards his truck. He was pissed when I told him to unload his gun and walk back across the field with me to his truck or I was calling the DNR.

Jeremy that is a pretty bold move by that guy to do that. What a jerk. I have only done this on lakes with public accesses thankfully there are plenty. One lake has a ton of islands on it and I made my way to those and I can basically guarantee it was never hunted before at least not for pheasants. Jumped a massive buck and a bunch of pheasants many times.

Bucks off islands or in cattails? Maybe both?

Youbetcha wrote:

Bucks off islands or in cattails? Maybe both?

I would imagine they would use both.

Youbetcha wrote:

Bucks off islands or in cattails? Maybe both?

Sorry, I was referring to pheasants. Not deer. The ponds aren’t froze enough when I hunt deer.

I got a nice rooster two years ago walking the frozen cattail edge. I need to try it again this season.

I’m beginning to think I shouldn’t have given away my secret LOL

Youbetcha wrote:

Bucks off islands or in cattails? Maybe both?

When it’s all froze heck yeah you can get best of both worlds.

We started walking frozen cattails in the 70s. Gotta make sure they’ll hold a person though. They tend not to freeze as solid a open water ice. Good idea to walk the outer edge.

Netguy wrote:

Good idea to walk the outer edge.

That is what I always do. It can be sketchy getting out to good ice though.

When our lake is low we could hunt the cattail edge all season long. Always the best spot. Dnr fixed a washout years back now there is 20 feet of 2 foot deep water all along the edge.

Youbetcha wrote:

Bucks off islands or in cattails? Maybe both?

My dad has cameras on our trail in the cattails to see if the otters are still around. There is bucks on the camera all the time. Showed me pictures just this morning. Unfortunately they are all small.

Netguy wrote:

We started walking frozen cattails in the 70s. Gotta make sure they’ll hold a person though. They tend not to freeze as solid a open water ice. Good idea to walk the outer edge.

Been there done that. You step on a soft spot and go in up to your di**. Ruins the day quickly.

I let the dog plow through it instead and walk outside the cattails. Again, only if its froze good. Quite often they just don’t freeze very well even with a cold snap.

I don’t remember the last time I kicked up a deer out of the cattails. In my experienced, they aren’t in it because its just too thick. I’m sure a deer would go in there, I just haven’t seen it.

gimruis wrote:

Quite often they just don’t freeze very well even with a cold snap.

Or if you get heavy snow early then its a death trap!

Yep. No rooster is worth stepping into deep muck. I steer clear of it until I know its solid.

yes deer do go into the cat tails, swamp bucks.. we have seen them and lost them in them too.. smart buggers sometimes..

Mike Schulz wrote:

yes deer do go into the cat tails, swamp bucks.. we have seen them and lost them in them too.. smart buggers sometimes..

I once watched a big buck walk toward me all the way across a huge swamp. He got to the edge and must have scented me or something literally backed up and crawled all the way back all I could see was his antlers. He was big for a reason.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Funny thing I pull up my house on OnX Hunt and the GIS site and my property line goes through the middle of my neighbors garage.

Riverrat wrote:

Yeah GIS show two feet of my house are missing and I own two feet of my neighbors house. Our houses are like 30 feet apart.

OnX and other apps are just rehashed GIS data overlaying maps or sat images. The problem is these are NOT accurate to a survey degree of accuracy. So you can’t use them to determine a boundary with any accuracy.

So just be careful, just because the app shows you that you can put up a stand in that tree by a fenceline, you may have actually crossed the surveyed line and you may be tresspassing. Don’t try to get cute and split hairs, obviously in some areas it’s clear where the line is that everybody abides by, but be aware that GIS is not a survey.