ive kind of become a master at this. I have been doing it since i was a kid. I live in the suburbs so you get a lot of various reactions. I have had people yell at me and i have people praise jesus that someone has come to shoot the deer out of their Garden.
First thing, Dress nice, dont dress like a big ole red neck trying to hunt. Dress like a professional( dont wear camo). Second thing, be prepared to answer various questions. People tend to want to know the seasons, how you will hunt (stand, ground) you will have to help decribe this to some of them. Always and i mean always try to promote how safe and experienced you are. Be nice at all costs! and just cause one place says no doesnt mean there neighbors will. Also, when you ask dont say can i hunt. Introduce yourself, shake there hand. Then tell them you are a local hunter and you are wonder what there thoughts are on hunting in there neighborhood or this part of the county. Right there you asking them how they feel about deer hunting with out asking them for permission yet. This will help you not seem so straight forward. Then if there for hunting ask them if it would be ok to gain access to hunt there property. Always offer meat from kills and such. Also if you have a kid try to promote that you want to educate your children to hunt so they want fall into bad habits like drugs and such, people like that too. Trust me, be professional, some people will want to think about it, so if you have business cards, give them one. The more clean cut and professional you appear the better. I recently wanted to gain a few more spots to hunt, since a big lot around here is 5 acres, i went out and asked 15 houses. 4 didnt answer, 4 said no. 2 are thinking about it and 5 said yes. that took me 3 hours last sunday. I had two people cut me off in the middle of me shpeal and say things like when can you start and i have been waiting for someone to shoot the deer. Also, a good way to do decide is look for property damage. Where i live if they have deer neating up to keep the deer our of there garden its about a 50 to 70% chance they will let you hunt, doesnt always work, but hey something is better then nothing.