RE: Deer hunting in Connecticut
Speaking from experience, the best way to get private land access in CT is to develop a relationship with the land owner.
Don't expect to simply knock on a door in November, dressed in camo with permit and rifle at the ready and hope that a person, who doesn't know you, will agree to let you run around with a loaded rifle a few hundred yards from his / her house. It means you have to work at it. Unless you are related, by blood or marriage, it helps if someone introduces you to the land owner. So make sure, that people are aware that you are looking for access. My vet is helping me get access to a small parcel (landowner is tired of deer damage but does not know any hunters and is leery about letting people she doesn't know to hunt her property - the vet who I have know for years is vouching for me). It means that you build a relationship with the land owner. Be polite if you are rejected. Stop by when it is not hunting season. Send them an X-Mas card. Do him favors like helping at a tag sale, stacking wood, etc.
After you get permission, don't abuse it. This year I didn't take a buck because I was asked not to. Other people are not as considerate. One of the places I hunt, the land owner did not let a guy hunt anymore after he used permission given to him as permssion for a few of his buddies (whose permits were also filled - I am not sure how many deer they took).
In short, private land access in CT is not easy to get and not easy to keep, but it can be done.
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