RE: How should I ask someone if I can hunt on their property?
My family has a 120 acre farm. For years before my dad bought it there was no posted signs and everybody hunted it. We posted the land 10 years ago. Everybody in the area who used to hunt it has at one point or the other asked to hunt it. We are always pretty welcoming to letting archers hunt the farm. Gun season is a different story... We do have a few standing rules that the hunters must abide by. Take ethical shots and track your butt off if you hit one. We had one guy hit 4 deer in one season and never found any of them. We found 3 during rifle season this year. The main rule is if you are going to hunt you better be available to cut wood for my dad. Believe it or not but this actually deters quite a few people. Also, you DO NOT mess with another person's stand. Everybody who hunts the farm must talk to each other to get the general vicinity where the other people are hunting.
Anyway sorry to ramble, but as long as you are sincere and can offer some help to the farmers, even if they say no they will be open to being asked again. If you are a dick then you should forget about it.
One other thing you might want to ask is: Is the farm posted and patrolled randomly. If it is, offer your services of walking the farm to help out.