Mike Hill

Well I don't know about where you come from but if I recieved a letter asking me permission to hunt my property I would put it in the trash. If a man or woman don't come up to me shake my hand and look me in the eye I don't want them around. You can sure tell a lot about a person from their hand shake and the look in there eye. A letter seems like a cowards way who don't want to look you in the eye. Thats how I'd do it. Mike

fshafly2

I have received letters asking permission, and they don't get consideration. I vote for the personal approach - dress conservatively, don't interrupt any work going on, tell him a 20 second bio on how you (a stranger) are NOT the slob hunter this farmer has dealt with in the past (afterall, there you are there asking permission),limit the scope of permission (yourself only would be a good start or you would hunt only on weekdays - get the idea?), and offer to do work will help your case. Seeing is better than reading, imho...
-fsh

drstalker

That's all fine and dandy Mike,and I respect that.I come from a couple areas here in Illinois and both places are quite a bit different.Do I apreciate a hand shake ,a look in the eye and honesty ,you bet, but my hunch is some of the folks in this busy part of Illinois would rather be left alone to tend to their fields.Down state my kin folks and others will give you the time of day and share a few words with ya,but up here it's a bit different,it's like the old saying "time is money and money is time".And another old saying that I will throw out there too,is this"it's better to try andd error that to not try at all"or Nothing ventured nothing gained.Not to mention too if some of these folks saw a big ole ugly sasquach like myself walking up their drive I'd probably get a bullet in me or bitten by a rotweiler

drstalker

Well here are the results of my sending out letters and stamped return envelope...out of twenty,5 returned no such address(PO Box),)1 a phone call from a local that stated he had a animal friendly farm and doesn't allow hunting,2 or three stating that they already have hunters,one letter stating they didn't allow hunters at all,1 that said that they where renting from farmers,and one that owns a apple farm that wants me to hunt and kill coyotes, and will entertain the idea of me hunting (for a fee)deer this fall.He took me around his properties and also invited me in,I couldn't believe the monster bucks that he had taken from his property over the years.One reason he wants the coyotes gone is that he had chickens eaten by them,and he has released pheasants on the land.Also I wanted to add,most or all of these folks really liked my letter ,and liked my non intrusiveapproach,I was pleasantly suprised.This weekend I will check many other properties around here and mail out some more.I also am sending out thank you letters to all that responded with my phone number and adddress again and inviting them over any time and offering my labour again.Just thought I would share.

SuperRedHawk

Man, that's great. At least you got your foot in the door with one guy. Start out with the yotes and get familiar with the guy. Maybe he'll let you hunt for free eventually (even if you are a hideous beast ). And even if he wants to charge you something, sounds like it could be worth it.