Hunting Permission

[Kyle Lancaster]

I appreciate everyone's thoughts. I actually had 2 real estate agents looking for leases for me this past year. I figured with all of the real estate market drying up, that people would be willing to lease. Nothing turned up. (1 guy was a hunter, so he may have found a honey hole and not passed it on?!). I do live in wine country and have approached a couple of vineyards about herd control, but no luck yet. Sounds like, as with most things, hard work and perservance will prevail. Thanks folks for your thoughts!

Kyle

[longbowman]

I made up an actual contract form that I present to the landowner stating that I will respect his property completely.  This includes no driving on the property with any kind of motor vehicle.  When they see you're serious they take it serious too.  I have more than 600 acres of private, posted land that my son and I have exclusive permission to hunt.

[rascal]

A lot of good suggestions and methods here and most of them I use myself but you hit the nail on the head with one word...perseverance is key.  I let everyone know I hunt I let them know Im responsible and often that leads to opportunities down the road when I least expect it.  If I happen to encounter a land owner with a promising peice of ground I will compliment them on the habitat, talk about crop damamge, trespassers etc.  Letting them know I understand the problems they face can lead to open gates without me even asking.

[Chris Shelton]

yea those vineyards are tough down south there.  As dad says, they are a bunch of "yuppies" that like to avoid using hunting as a managment tool.  And I have to agree, as soon as we go across the bride there are deer EVERYWHERE, and that is simply crazy.  Some really dandy bucks too, just standing on the side of the road.  IDK could just be that the grass is greener on the other side

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

The migrant field workers in the vineyards of California hunt whenever they want and as much as they want, regardless of permission. I've seen it time and time again and the rangers are spread too thin to do a darned thing about it. I don't ask vineyard owners for permission because generally the hunting is all but wasted near the grapes... It seems the game laws up in my neck of the woods pertain to the law abiding citizens only!  

[Chris Shelton]

WHY does that not suprise me . . . I dont think that is a problem in VA, especially since the deer act as though they have never seen a hunter before!

[TxAg]

I envy some of y'all. We have to pay for it...And it gets expensive. I can't complain too much b/c we have a lot of targets running around, but it is something I have to consciously budget for.

[Ragnarok Forge]

I work for my hunting.  We have tons of government land with decent to great hunting.  If I find a spot that holds a lot of deer or elk, I stop in an offer to work for hunting rights.  Bucking hay, branding, fence work, put up a shed, you name it.  I always swing by at Christmas with smoked salmon or another nice gift to say thanks.  Hard work opens a lot of doors.

[fido dog]

In my situation...MY situation There is a golf course being torn up by hogs. They actually got a helicopter and shot over 160+ in a day....that's a problem. They come in from ranch land from the north and there's NO sign of them quitting. They have done THOUSANDS of dollars worth of damage.

I just got home from hunting tonight. I didn't see a darn thing. Although last weekend I saw a couple of big black ones. I gave a report the next day of that. The whole Idea is to get rid of (or control) them. They appreciate when I go goofing off out there and I let them know. Sure....I would like to kill one, but the bigger picture is to HELP them. They are thankful for my efforts and I can be there any night I want.

4:21 AM......signing out.

ZZZzzzzzzz........

[Plumber]

just ask,   if you see land you want to hunt go ask. I passed by a farm every day for a year wishing I would have land like that to hunt.One day they had a yard sale so I stopped  to see whats for sale.the lady an I started to talk.Hunting came up. an she said I could hunt there anytime I want. Nobody hunts here just kill me a deer or two an take care of the place.here I drove by this place a ton of times an never thought to ASK!!! Its the classic case nobody ASK the pretty girl to the dance SHE must have a date. an on dance night there she sits at home.because NOBODY ASKED!!!! dont miss your chance at the pretty girl!!!!!

[jcar315]

Others have touched on many key points. Present yourself in a positive light when you go meet the landowner (1st impressions are lasting) Treat his land better than your own (park where they want you to / lock gates etc) always stay in touch and talk to the owner when you see them (emails for owner who doesnt live on the land and  stop by and chat if they do live there) and I have made a habit as others have of offering some sort of gift (my 12 year old daughter makes great zucchinni bread and we always give my on land owner and his wife some and they LOVE it!)

You can't do enough to nurture and build on a relationship with your landowner. I have hunted one farm for nearly 10 years now and the owner and his wife are in their mid 80's and I must say that over that time we have built quite a close relationship and my life is the better for having them in it (all started when I was talking with a client at work about hunting and he said "Go see my Dad he has a farm."

Plumber is spot on: don't even hesitate to ask for permission. The worst thing they can say is no.

Another tip: If you have some land but no house is there and you don't even know who to ask for permission don't let that stop you. Most states have some sort of on-line "tax map" sort of web site that allows you to punch in an address and up pops the tax map for that road with a list of who owns what, how big the piece is, the layout of the property lines, and the address they get their tax bills at. This has helped me too in the past.

Don't wait for hunting season to ask either!

[jr1959]

Be persistent but not a pest.  20 years ago a local farmer granted me permission to small game hunt but no deer hunting.  It seems he liked seeing the deer while working the fields.  I respected his request even though I knew some local maggot trespasers deer hunted the property.  I asked again the nest two years while sharing some venison saugage with him with the same result.  Finally while chatting the following year he asked "well are you going to ask me do deer hunt again"  I didn't quite know how to respond and he said let's go out to the barn where he produced a huge shed that he ran over while disking the fields.  The shed curled up and pierced his sidewall on a brand new tractor tire.  I think it cost him about $4oo. The farm has produced a lot of deer and memories over the years.

[Otto]

Do not, repeat, DO NOT stare at the farmers daughter.

[dave19113]

I used to go 2 potential land in the spring summer (mostly farm area) and offer to get rid of ground hogs for em.  After seeing my good conduct, I would ask about deer hunting. normally I would get a yes..... But always make sure to give the land owner venision or a part of whatever you hunt....They tend to like that.....