Am I being selfish?

Well, head on the chopping block here but I'll give an opinion based on what I have had happen and seen.

It IS a tough question, regardless if friend or relative. If just allowed in on such a short notice two things will come to pass IMHO.

One, they wont get the true education one should get from a "mentor" (which you would be, wanted or not)and two.......they would be in there EVERY season, most likely and perhaps not wanting to put any effort or time into the project even then.

It's a tough situation a lot of us have faced.

While I would suggest that you simply explain the situation and offer to show him more of the area and hunting during LATE season since added people would possibly be an interference AND the fact that he or she NEEDS to understand that "hunting" is more than just going out and sitting in the woods.

Hand in hand, and one I hope don't honk off too many people here is that a lot of people put deer and deer hunting before friends and family and having seen such RUIN a family locally I only hope to offer a bit of a warning to that all remember this is a HOBBY, and past time, and while the quest for trophy antlers is a fine and wonderful thing, letting IT CONTROL your life and decisions can easily cause long lasting hard feelings and or damage to a family.

Sharing my woods "cost" me for sure and limits my ability to sit where I desire and feel the odds are best and that turned into .......more people coming in once that door was opened.

True, I am not a "trophy rack hunter" however while few would understand, my hunts ARE trophies to me and with the number of people also hunting increasing....my desires to hunt and satisfaction I get from going decreases.

Do I wish I had this small property all to myself again? Yes, absolutely.
Would I share it again giving the situation all over again? Yes, absolutely.

Perhaps, and just perhaps what I have to offer is simply thoughts on not allowing this to be a situation that is a simple yes or no for this season, but instead some thoughts about making this person another fellow hunter you would be proud to have in your stands who "gives back" as most good people do. Within such all would find it a Win/Win situation.

Not a lot of help am I? lol! If I was in your shoes, I would simply put forth effort to welcome the person (already in your family and not going away) into your woods BUT simply explain that for OPENING WEEKEND plans are made, work is done, and while you are "excited" to take them out, they must understand that AS YET they do not understand your own feelings about work and time and money spent planning for this weekend and tell them YES........you can hunt, but NOT THIS WEEKEND.

Any kind of "no" is hard for some to take, even a partial yes is but IN TIME they will hopefully understand that it is MORE THAN........just going out and whacking something to be a hunter.

MUCH more time is spent preparing, planning, practicing and dreaming than is spent actually hunting and for me and mine, there is no icing if not baking the cake first. My own son was part of my hunting as a youth but once the time came that he was old enough and strong enough to put up his own stands, field dress his own deer he was no longer interested unless I did it all for him. He no longer hunts.

Tough call, I know. Been there done that and I still don't have a "yes or no" answer.

God Bless

If I were you, I'd offer to help him get into the sport next season. That way, you can show him all about the hard work that goes into it in the off-season. Plus, you might just get some help!

I'm having a similar situation as you. My dad, uncle and I have hunted a particular property for the last 10 years, we got in good with the owner and even got him into deer hunting at age 70. I had a conversation with him the other day and asked if he was ready for the season to open, he said yes and also revealed that he couldn't believe how much fun it actually was. The property has been in his family since he was a kid and he didn't ever deer hunt because he thought it would be really boring. Anyway here is the backdrop, we hunt this property opening morning every year and out of the last five years I can count on one hand the number of times my uncle has been out hunting on this property. Two years ago (he didn't hunt last year) he went out opening day, shot at a little four point and missed because he didn't sight in his gun, and then didn't hunt the rest of the year, (pretty much his mo most years), minus the missing. Anyway my dad and I put in lots of time, effort, and money into getting good setups and stand locations. We play the wind to our favor and take deer hunting pretty serious. Now all of a sudden, my uncle who barely hunts has a new buddy from work that he invited to come out opening day, (I don't think this dude has ever hunted before because he had to go buy a new gun to go out.) needless to say I'm pretty ticked, but I'm keeping my mouth shut because I don't own the property. Anyway about 5 years ago, I asked if a friend that hunts, but doesn't have a very good spot, could come out to the property. My dad and uncle both said yeah that's fine as long as the owner is OK with it. I asked and got a resounding yes (he wants as many deer killed as possible) so my friend came out the second weekend, notice I said SECOND WEEKEND. He ended up shooting a deer and my uncle was P'd off (edited can't use the real word), (pretty much the same situation in my eyes but I doubt he sees it that way).

Sorry to ramble, as Steve said this could be a touchy situation with family members, my uncle who used to do everything with my dad has pretty much had nothing to do with him, so this has been brewing for a while. They used to go coon calling quite often, and last week he actually had the nerve to ask my mom to order a new light for his new buddy and then preceded to ask if he could use my dad's light until the other got there so they could go coon calling and didn't ask if dad wanted to go, Pretty Crappy right. I have pretty well lost all respect for my uncle and if it were up to me I would tell him to go take a hike with his new buddy and leave us be.

If it were another weekend other than opening weekend I may not be as upset, but that's not the case.
If I were you, to keep tensions low and let him go (unless you can't stand being around him), and since he is obviously a newbie, put him in a gar hole and make him sit on the ground with a shot a doe only restriction. Then check his passion for the hunt, and willingness to help get things setup the next off season.

The average Joe has no idea what it take's to manage a farm for deer hunting. I feel your pain as I do 10 acre's of food plot's on our 150 acre's,(lime,fertilize,weed control, replant's,mowing), trailcam's, treestand maintenance, (Over 20 on my property) keeping record's and sighting log's of deer on property and trying to keep buck doe ratio in line. Selective harvest of buck's letting immature buck's pass. I do let a couple of friend's and a couple of family youth's hunt. But all are aware of my goal's. We do not shoot immature buck's period. (They know this going in.) Break my management rule's and you won't be back. Family member's are a touchy subject and best left up to the individual. We all had a mentor at one point in this sport we love so I guess the question is do you want to be that guy in this case. If so let him know the work you put in and share your management goal's with him. If he can abide by your goals and objective's then let him hunt. If he can't then have him find another property to hunt.

Make him earn it next year. Tell him if he helps with all the work leading up to opening day then he can hunt with you. If he decides to help you next year you can instill your management ideas into him. Make sure he understands the "rules" on what deer he can shoot. And do you know if he is a good shot? Wounding one of your big bucks will be worse than killing one. You need to make sure he can get the job done when the time comes.

How much practicing in shooting has he done this fall? Is his gun even reliable?

Whose farm is it?

Woah lots of replies lol the farm belongs to my dad and uncle. They got it when my grand parents passed away. Nobody else in my family hunts. I was the odd one in the family and for awhile my uncle almost wouldn't let me hunt out there until he realized how much it meant to me. I've pretty much taught myself everything I know about hunting. I wasn't lucky enough to have much of a mentor. My father helped me when I was younger and did whatever he could to get me a deer but since he wasn't a hunter, we pretty much went at it blind for the first few years. As for being a mentor to him I would love to do that. However I feel like I'm doing that right now with one of my best friends. He's spent over 500$ on hunting gear this year alone and I'm the only place he has to hunt. The farm is only 62 acres. I think what I'm planning on doing is letting him know he can go out as long as I am with him and just letting him take a doe this year. If he wants to help next year with scouting food plots hanging stands and what not then we can go from there. Also I'm mostly a bow hunter so the fact that he is asking a few days before gun opener doesn't really bother me. I'm not sure how well he shoots or if his gun is really a deer gun. I'm letting my friend use my 870 the next two weeks or else I would have loaned it to him.

I'd say it is up to your dad and uncle if he hunts their farm, where he hunts on it, when he hunts it and what he is allowed to shoot.

Yes, you're being selfish.