geterdun

hello,
i was wandering if anyone has any private land in or around MD. I currently hunt public land but do not like it because i dont feel that i can create a "connection" with the land b/c everyone else has access also. If i could find some private land, that would be ideal. I have no problems helping out around a farm or household in exchange for hunting opportunities. I just love the woods and would love agood piece of landto get toknow real well. Please, any possbilities will be well considered, thanks for any responses.

brent G

bigcountry

Brent I give you an A for effort brother. Here is what I suggest. Its alot of work but works sometimes. Go to Harford or Baltimore or Carroll country. Carroll or Hartford or Cecil would be better. Get you a public land map. It tells owners and phone numbers. Start pounding the pavement. Explain you will help them harvest or clear. Thats all I can suggest. I got a neighbor that does this with good success but he takes his bushhog over and does alot of work for that privaledge. I need to get busy doing that in the Hunt Valley area.

hillbillyhunter1

Good luck, but I must say that sometimes public land is easier (and better). You just have to be willing to do what most won't and that is walk. Get a way from the areas that everybody goes and you might be surprised. work harder and get a bigger reward. have an adventure

NavyDeerHunter

Brent--
It's tough. Here in Southern Maryland (St. Mary's county) I spent days and days knocking on doors, offering to help on the farm doing any type of labor they needed and also offered 50% share of any harvest. I also offered to only bow hunt. Nothing, nodda, zero, zip. Not one single person would agree to let me hunt. Why? From what I'm learning most of these farmers now "reserve" their farms for family and friends, but more often than not they already have it leased out to a local hunting club. It's business for them.
I got lucky with a buddy that has a small 15 acre plot that backs up to about 400 acres of private land that a company owns and I was able to get permission from them to hunt. I also have a couple of great public hunting places to choose from so I consider myself fortunate indeed.
Good luck to you in your quest. It's tough, but keep pluggin away and something will come up.
All the best,
Craig

Lanse couche couche

Darn, things sound bleak in Maryland. Thirty years ago one of my cousins made a similar prediction for Illinois, but I thought he was just plain crazy.However, I can see things starting to go downhillthere, too.
The big business side of hunting, especially deer hunting, now often rears its ugly head.

bigcountry

Well, I don't blame them but hunting clubs started this. They started giving 100 dollars to hunt farms. And then it became competitive. And now it goes up to 3K-5K a year for some clubs or groups. Thats insane. I won't hunt MD when I get that pushed out. I will go up to Canada and crowd thier woods.

Garminator

All good posts. The way I see it, in the next 10-20 years, you'll only have executives hunting b/c the average working man will not be abl to afford it......

trailer

Now wait a minute.. Canada.. Don’t bother making the trip, we have puny deer up here and you’re going to have to wrestle with the Polar Bears if you get a deer...

Lanse couche couche

You can't blame a farmer if he jumps at an offer of several thousand dollars to hunt his land. You can't blame the folks who lease the land for protecting their investment by posting it. Unfortunately, hunting has become a business in that regard.But, if land has such value for hunting, folks are less likely to clear cut it, or turn it into a parking lot. That's why i view the current deer hunting craze as a mixed blessing.

_Dan

There is also 14' of snow and it is precicted only 7 deer will survive in all ofCanada.