Tips for asking property owners

[nic53]

I'm looking for more hunting land and am curious how everyone goes about asking property owners for permission to hunt on their land? Stop and straight out ask? Call? Make a deal? Suck up for awhile then throw it out there? Any tips to sucker them in will be greatly appreciated!

[deadeye]

I'm saying this only to be helpfull, not meant as a slam or anything.  Maybe you need to adjust your over all attitiude towards the landowner.  Using the phrase "sucker them in" isn't going to get you on to many properties.  As a landowner, it turned me off.  I hope it was just your expression and not how you actually feel.

[Go Big Red!]

1. Be polite and respectful.
2. Ask well before the season.
3. Dress like you were going to church; no hunting clothes.
4. Follow up with a thank you note regardless if you get permission or not.
5. See #1.
6. See #1.

[nic53]

I'm saying this only to be helpfull, not meant as a slam or anything.  Maybe you need to adjust your over all attitiude towards the landowner.  Using the phrase "sucker them in" isn't going to get you on to many properties.  As a landowner, it turned me off.  I hope it was just your expression and not how you actually feel.

I understand how it came off like that to you but no its not like that it was an expression kinda bad one i guess. I have a couple properties i hunt and i am very thankful to the owners. They are like family to me cuz without them i could not do what i love.  

[spear foot 1]

If granted permission it never hurts to stop by the land owner and drop off a meal of fish or a pound  of vension or even something from your garden to show your appreciation. As a hunter and landowner this goes along ways.

[beeker]

we used to bring tins of cookies, and if we could find out what they drank a bottle/case of their choice.
 letters don't work.

 if you see em out in their yard. drop in and drop names of other land owners who gave permission is good. my aunt/uncle know everyone where we pheasant hunt and dropping thier name usually gets us in (if we dont' already have permission).

[rofferneil]

You can write an appropriate and friendly letter. Mention your all queries in that and send it. Your letter may request a date/time when you can talk in person, or you can make arrangements by mail or telephone. Do so at the landowner's preference.

[ray634]

What turns me off to hunting requests is showing up at supper time and just asking to hunt right out.
If you want to hunt my place you need to come at an appropriate time, identify yourself properly, let me know how you came to be here-- friends recomendation, passing by,researched the area,etc--then ask for permission.
Chances are if you do this in a respectful way I will open my property to you and may even give you some tips about where to hunt. If not, you likely will hear that I already have some one who hunts this property.

[Onin24Eagle]

We've never had anyone ask, but if they did the answer would probably be no.  I guess it depends on what you're hunting for.  There are certain things that are nuisance animals to us and we probably would encourage people to come in and cull them out by hunting or trapping (coyotes, beavers, coons).  The problem for other species is that we have a large family and someone is usually out there if a season is open for bear, grouse, deer.  Besides, there's miles upon miles of state land all around us and if you're willing to hike a bit there's a good chance you wouldn't run into any other hunters.

But that's up north.  Down south it's a different story.  Not too many places with "miles and miles" of state land.  I hunt turkeys with my in-laws near Winona, MN.  They go down every year but I only go every other year.  I have a story to tell that may help answer your question.

We do hunt private land down there.  The landowner has about 1000 acres, mostly pasture.  We always hunt in the spring during season "F".  Every fall, my brother in law would call down and make sure we got penciled in for that season.  About 5 or 6 years ago he called and was informed that they were no longer letting anyone hunt their property.  "I'm sick and tired of people not cleaning up after themselves" he said.  My brother in law thanked him for letting us hunt there in the past and tried to change the topic by asking how his daughters were doing and how many grandkids he had now.  (this is from actually taking time to talk to them and making a point to do so every time they had gone in the past, this is how he knew how many kids he had and what their names were)  Anyway, they got into some friendly chit chat on the phone and the landowner suddenly says "Wait a minute, are you the ones that send the big gift basket every year at Christmas?"..."Yeah, that's us!"...."Well why didn't you say so when you first called?  You guys can come any time you want!"

Long story short, for the past 5 or 6 seasons we are the ONLY people he lets on his property....and we still send a big gift package every Christmas.

[Bobby Bass]

Several years ago when scouting for new bass water to fish I went looking at a small private lake with no public access. I knew there was no access when I got there but there was a lot of cabins with flat yards leading right to the lake. I was figuring that most of the lake residents just launched their boats from their yards. It was still spring when I was looking around and driving slow. An older gent was checking the mail at his roadside mailbox and I stopped to chat with him. He was a crabby old cuss and flat out told me that there was bass in the lake and no one was going to give me any access to the water. He was pretty short with me and sent me on my way. I told him thanks and started to drive away. I got about a hundred yards down the road and I saw some motion in my rear view mirror of the old Duster I was driving. I stopped and looked in the back seat to see a cat. I figured it was the old man's. I backed up to the mail box and tooted my horn. The old man shuffled back to the road and was about to lay in  to me when he saw his cat in the back seat. He reached in and pulled the cat out and I put the Duster back in gear. He mumbled something about it being OK if I wanted to try the lake and I could use his yard. I fished the little lake once or twice a year for several years after that until the old guy passed away. Place was sold and I was politely told by the new owners it was private property. Sometimes it just takes plane luck to get into places.

[JohnWester]

What turns me off to hunting requests is showing up at supper time and just asking to hunt right out.
If you want to hunt my place you need to come at an appropriate time, identify yourself properly, let me know how you came to be here-- friends recomendation, passing by,researched the area,etc--then ask for permission.
Chances are if you do this in a respectful way I will open my property to you and may even give you some tips about where to hunt. If not, you likely will hear that I already have some one who hunts this property.

what area, and what's a good time to stop by? 


(kidding)