This land is your land, it is not my land

After a morning hike up to the grassy slope, my husband and I discovered something interesting under the tall tree at the top of the hill.

There appeared to be a plastic hunting lookout facing North with two chairs inside.

Soon after, our neighbor stopped by to show us some images from a cam he has set up in his forest. Lo and behold, images of wandering hunters, bears, elk, possum, and deer. 

When we got down the hill, there was a man who introduced himself. He informed us that he is a hunter and that he has always hunted in our forest and would like to continue.

I had a little problem with that and grilled him like a schoolboy.

"Do you drink when you hunt?"
"When exactly do you hunt?"
"How long is hunting season?"
then
"I have a bit of a problem with it. I have small children. I know people who have died in hunting accidents."

In the meantime, he was offering to take my husband through the forest, on fishing trips, on hunting trips, etc.

When your desire to do something new clashes with your ideals, which road do you take?

I was so mad. Are there going to be random bullets whizzing by us on our own property? Our idealistic version of our American dream was being shattered right before our eyes.

Here is a perfectly nice, responsible man wanting to hunt on our land that we worked hard to acquire, to kill beautiful creatures that I want to peacefully coexist with.

In the meantime, our neighbor clearly showed us that people will be there whether we agree to it or not.

Another neighbor suggested we barter for the meat.

In the end, we called and put an end to it. Please remove your hunting stand from our picnic spot. No trespassing signs will come up. Soon.