NY Bowhunter

Here's the situation-
I've hunted this piece of property for 5 years now (sweet piece of land 500acres). It borders the golf course where I work and I just happened to stop over and ask one day and he granted me permission. There are 2 other people thatgun hunt on it but usually only the first 2 days of gun season and Thanksgiving Day and that's it. So me and a buddy of mine pretty much have the place to ourselves.

Well my buddy is suggesting we should get 3 or 4 guys to come up with a chunk of money to offer to him to lease the land and be able to post it. He's afraid people are going to start to migrate on the land with the way hunting land is these days.

I have no problem with the money issue. I'd pay him a some cash to secure his land for hunting rights if I knew it would go smooth. But my concern is why open a door that doesn't need to be opened. I can see my buddies point but on the flipside if we make him and offer all of the sudden he starts thinking or maybe changes his mind about us hunting there all together or who knows what. I'm more inclined to leave well enough alone.

The other problem is we're not really on first name basis with the landowner. He is an older gentleman that lives the secluded private kind of life. I go over to give him venision, I've helped clean up after big storms, plowed the driveway, etc.... but all in all I see him maybe 5 times a year.I get the impression he is the kind of guy that doesn't really want to be bothered. Nice guy, butjust very private.

What would you do? Offer him some money to be able to post it and secure our spot or take are chancesour have it the way it is now??

SW Iowa Hunter

I would leave well enough alone. Sounds like the type who doesn't care about the money very much. He may love the idea, or hate the idea, he may hold out for more money or ask the other people if they want to up the offer.
I am with you sounds like you have a good situation and until it changes I would let it go on as it is. It would be alot different if you had some idea what he would think of the idea.

rybohunter

I wouldn't bring it up. Leave well enough alone.

kevin1

I agree with them , don't rock the boat . You've got a tasty parcel to hunt , and if you catch others trespassing to hunt you can always ask them to leave . Your host sounds like the kind of guy who is reaching out because you've been kind to him . Asking to post his land is likely to make him change his mind . Older people can be funny that way sometimes .

BobCo19-65

I think your friend makes a good point, especially if you think the owner may give others permission to hunt the land. We have been in the same situtation in the past. Whata lot of landowner's want is help with taxes and an insurance that they will not be liable if a hunting accident happens.What I would do would be to thank him for his past jenerousity andtell him that your friends have talked it over and would like to help him pay for a portion of him property taxes. In return ask him if you and your friendscan have exclusive permission to hunt his property andPost the land as such (your cost). If you don't want to ask the owner for the burden of signing the signs, get a rubber stamp made and stamp the signs. Also have your friends sign a waiver of liability for the land owner.

TeeJay

Bobco has a good point...but i would leave it alone untill ya start getting some other presure

jamiebuck

i would have to agree with everyone ! i would leave it the way it is

Champlain Islander

Yup it is always a catch 22 situation. The way land is being gobbled up and posted I don't know if it is worth waiting for the ax to fall. On thing for sure things will change over time. It always does and usually not to our liking. Some landowners just don't want to be bothered with all the details and don't want to be the center of any controversy. I guess I too would sit tight and closely watch what is happening. I think you are absolutely doing the right thing by plowing him out and helping with storm cleanup. The more effort you make along those lines the better standing you will be in to keep it as it is. As time goes on and some guy with a ton of bucks comes up to him and looks to lock himself in and you out the landowner might just tell him that he keeps his land open to a few friends and he isn't interested in ending that. All this works if he isn't hurting for cash and you need to judge all of that. I live in Vt and the state has always been an open hunting state, meaning that if any property wasn't posted then you could legally hunt it unlessthe ownerverbally told you to leave. A couple of years ago the state decided that anyone who put up a tree stand, either a permanent or even a temporary hang on, needed permission from the landowner to hunt. Many landowners knew people were hunting on their land but didn't mind unless there was a problem. When asked for permission it was too easy for lots of them to just say no. I am still able to hunt on most of my spots but I think that law did result in some land to be off limits. If you do decide to make an offer to the guy then I would hope you would talk with the other couple of guys who also enjoy the spot. I would hate to be them and get shut out.

atlasman

The only bad part is if you wait and see what happens you may end up walking into a bunch of POSTED signs yourself. If another group of guys beats you to the punch you are screwed. The woman who has cut my hair for the last 16 years has extended family that owns TONS of primo property. I have asked her just about every time my butt hits that chair for hunting permission. She has always said she doesn't have a problem with me going there but her family would never allow it. Well, guess who changed their minds when a bunch of guys offered them $2,000 for hunting permission last year [:@] If I had taken the initiative and just offered the money myself I would be hunting there instead of those yahoos. I don't like the idea of paying for land to hunt so it never crossed my mind but when I look at the big picture I often wonder if I should have.

I FINALLY got permission from her this year to hunt at her parents property and the neighbor farmer's land. She said there are 2 young kids that are the only ones allowed to hunt there and they killed 9 deer last year...........should be a good deal.

finner