I just called a reneged on a "deal" I made last night. Guy called the house asking for permission to access the river so he could hunt coyotes. Iowa has a screwed up law that allows the public to hunt and fish on "navigable" waters (to the normal high water mark). Unfortunately they don't signify what waters are navigable and their definition is something like "able to float a boat 6 out of 10 years in normal water conditions". Anyway, this is *constantly* creating a stink between adjacent landowners and folks who think once they get to the river they can just run anywhere.
I allow people to walk in and fish on my stretch of property and I first told the guy he could cross my land to get to the river. Got to thinking about it overnight and it got to working on me. There's really nothing significant to hunt, that side of the road, on my place. The two land-owners above me (several hundred acres) keep their ground for family and friends. I have full access to one anytime and to the other by permission. Ice on this river is notoriously unsafe and there's no way he's going to be able to hunt without trespassing on somebody's dirt. Finally decided to the whole thing didn't pass the smell test. On reflection I could see nothing good coming of this. Found his number, called and backed out..
No particular point to this except.. I wish I thought better "on my feet" sometimes. Ever have those "things" where you think, "Wish I'd have done that different."