Hiding from more than whitetails
07-16-2005, 07:57 AM
#11
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Durant Oklahoma Durant, OK
Posts: 109
RE: Hiding from more than whitetails
I know the majority of the land owners in this area and used to hunt on thier land for a couple of hundred for me and my son.But hard to compete in the area I live in when people are paying 1500 dollars a person to hunt small tracks.
And then go to the local coffe shops and listen to the landowners gripe because their land was trashed by the people who leased it.
I do alot of side work for these people but can't compete with the all mighty dollar when it speaks louder than I do.And as it is know a days Dollars speak louder than any freindship or side jobs or hay bailing you can do.Plus everybody round bails around here and uses tractors to move them no more square bails.
And then go to the local coffe shops and listen to the landowners gripe because their land was trashed by the people who leased it.
I do alot of side work for these people but can't compete with the all mighty dollar when it speaks louder than I do.And as it is know a days Dollars speak louder than any freindship or side jobs or hay bailing you can do.Plus everybody round bails around here and uses tractors to move them no more square bails.
07-16-2005, 09:51 PM
#13
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 227
RE: Hiding from more than whitetails
bubba
I feel your pain! I live near Muskogee and for years I have seen this change from handshakes to greenbacks. Sometimes you just have to adapt and overcome. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Where there's a will there's a way , etc. All these phrases apply. I know public land is not usually everyone's dream hunting area, but there is approx. 16,000 acres in the county to the west of you that is wildlife department land for public hunting. Sometimes you have to work a little harder than the next guy on public land, but the oppurtunities are still there, especially during the rut. Also remember that the larger leasers are also looking for larger areas to lease. I have killed several big deer on small tracts ( 40 acres or less) that the "lease guys" usually overlook.
My dad always said "the bucks are where you find them" What I've told a lot of people is this "You don't need thousands of acres to kill big deer, just 20 or 40 in the right spot." Those kind of places are everywhere , you just have to find them.
BTW, Tishomingo WMA is public land, over 13,000 acres. It's pretty close to you also. ALSO, the largest nontypical killed in Oklahoma was shot with a recurve(i think) on "Tish" . It's not the official state record because it was shot before the Cy Curtis program began(which I disagree with, but oh well), but it is the largest. I think it scored 247 and some change.
Anyhow, just keep a positive attitude and be willing to work a little, and you'll find a place to hunt. And if it is private land, try to establish a good personal relationship with the owner. Look out for his interests all you can , and he'll be much less likely to sell out to the big lease groups.
Good Luck!!!
I feel your pain! I live near Muskogee and for years I have seen this change from handshakes to greenbacks. Sometimes you just have to adapt and overcome. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Where there's a will there's a way , etc. All these phrases apply. I know public land is not usually everyone's dream hunting area, but there is approx. 16,000 acres in the county to the west of you that is wildlife department land for public hunting. Sometimes you have to work a little harder than the next guy on public land, but the oppurtunities are still there, especially during the rut. Also remember that the larger leasers are also looking for larger areas to lease. I have killed several big deer on small tracts ( 40 acres or less) that the "lease guys" usually overlook.
My dad always said "the bucks are where you find them" What I've told a lot of people is this "You don't need thousands of acres to kill big deer, just 20 or 40 in the right spot." Those kind of places are everywhere , you just have to find them.
BTW, Tishomingo WMA is public land, over 13,000 acres. It's pretty close to you also. ALSO, the largest nontypical killed in Oklahoma was shot with a recurve(i think) on "Tish" . It's not the official state record because it was shot before the Cy Curtis program began(which I disagree with, but oh well), but it is the largest. I think it scored 247 and some change.
Anyhow, just keep a positive attitude and be willing to work a little, and you'll find a place to hunt. And if it is private land, try to establish a good personal relationship with the owner. Look out for his interests all you can , and he'll be much less likely to sell out to the big lease groups.
Good Luck!!!
07-16-2005, 10:27 PM
#14
Super Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Southeast Central Illinois USA
Posts: 6,969
RE: Hiding from more than whitetails
Kev., you can yell as much as you want. It isn't the sameeverywhere. Come to my neck of the woods and you might get lucky enough to hunt perhaps on one tract of land for free. But I doubt if you will have it to yourself. I do know a few landowners who refuse to lease because they don't believe in it. But most in my area already have relatives or friends who hunt their property and don't want any more hunters on it. I am lucky enough to have 3 different landowners allow me to hunt, but a couple of others have permission as well.
What is really ruining hunting is the quest for record class bucks and thedollar valueof a big buck to many hunters.
What is really ruining hunting is the quest for record class bucks and thedollar valueof a big buck to many hunters.
07-18-2005, 02:52 PM
#15
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Columbia, Md.
Posts: 1,211
RE: Hiding from more than whitetails
bowfanatic, that was funny as chit!!!!!
bubba, I feel for ya. Problem with my neck of the woods isn't leasing but selling. They're building so many dang houses around here I get dizzy thinking about it. I have had at least 4 areas that I had permission to hunt on be sold for developments and I have another one that the owner is in the process of selling. I might get another season out of it. I have also had two owners tell me that I wasn't allowed to hunt on their property anymore because they were sued by other hunters who were injured while on their property. How about that for a load of cr@p?! What kind of hunter would sue a land owner nice enough to let them hunt for free because they fell out of a tree? (Hey, I'm a poet and didn't know it)
Ayway, over the past 4 years I have started hunting public land which I am lucky enough to have a lot of within an hour of my home. I have gotten very familiar with most of it and have seen some really nice bucks. It gets a little crowded during firearms and m/l season on the weekends but I hunt during the week and am usually the only one out there. If you have any public land, give it a try.
In my only defense for kevin1, I have worked for the land owners before and that used to work out but it does seem like the all-powerful greenback is more enticing than my sweat these days.
bubba, I feel for ya. Problem with my neck of the woods isn't leasing but selling. They're building so many dang houses around here I get dizzy thinking about it. I have had at least 4 areas that I had permission to hunt on be sold for developments and I have another one that the owner is in the process of selling. I might get another season out of it. I have also had two owners tell me that I wasn't allowed to hunt on their property anymore because they were sued by other hunters who were injured while on their property. How about that for a load of cr@p?! What kind of hunter would sue a land owner nice enough to let them hunt for free because they fell out of a tree? (Hey, I'm a poet and didn't know it)
Ayway, over the past 4 years I have started hunting public land which I am lucky enough to have a lot of within an hour of my home. I have gotten very familiar with most of it and have seen some really nice bucks. It gets a little crowded during firearms and m/l season on the weekends but I hunt during the week and am usually the only one out there. If you have any public land, give it a try.
In my only defense for kevin1, I have worked for the land owners before and that used to work out but it does seem like the all-powerful greenback is more enticing than my sweat these days.
