Keeping Landowners happy
 

It seems like land is harder and harder to come by. Hardcore and I own a bit, and then we hunt some land that we don't own. The land that we don't own is in a very desirable location, so we are always trying to keep our landowner happy, he heats his house with wood, so every year we get a few loads of wood to his house. Today was the day that we went out and cut a few pickup trucks full of wood. Our landowner was very happy. He only allows us to hunt his land and we are very thankful! Here are some pictures of our day, Hardcore cuts and I load. I am TIRED tonight. Who knew hunting could be so hard;). Anyway, just wondered what you'all did to preserve your land to hunt on?

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

You forgot about the 4 packs of hot pepper cheese deersticks we gave him and the 4 beers he "made" us drink with him tonight.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Amen hoytgirl and a great reminder to us all.

I keep my landowner in bologna from my harvests not to mention I pay for all the seed etc for the food plots I plant not only for myself but for him. I took him out on his land yesterday for rifle.

He's afraid of heights so I set stands to accomadate that. Yesterday after the hunt we were talking and he thanked ME, I was flattered, he told me if it weren't for me, he'd give up hunting. The last buck he shot that hangs on his wall, (only one) I pushed to him.

I try to take care of him, I love the spot and have exclusiveness as well.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

hoytgirl

You don't look like you have been working THAT hard.;)

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

By the way your truck has Germ code in it;) I did the code for testing the transmission, good luck!!!
Nice job cutting wood!!! I do the same for my Dad, Hoyt Girl the picture could be a posters. It is

HCH I do not know how you pulled it off[&:]

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

I usually give the landowner a deer or 2. He is part Indian but doesn't hunt and won't eat beef. Between me and the kids we usually have a deer or two to spare, but this year the kids didn't fare well so I had to stiff the guy.;)

I told him I'd make some jerky for him. He understood about the deer. Said someone else gave him a couple.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

LOL Germ the truck has been excellent except the damn tranny went 2 yrs ago on my way back from a Canadian bear hunt; nowI know why.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Oh Snap!

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That is really awesome that you helped him get a buck!!!!!

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Why I own a Ford and a Dodge!!!
I could tell some stories about what we did not count to get the reject rate down, LOL

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

I give the landowners sausage, a Christmas gift and offer to help do chores. To be honest I've found that the landowners I hunt want to be visited more than anything else. But I don't have it exclusively to myself any longer.....a guy started renting a house from the one a few years ago and hunts too.

You are right about it not being easy finding new land and sometimes keeping what you have to hunt. Land changing hands, daughters getting married to a hunter, etc. is making it tough.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

we give people i dotn know how many pounds of sausage and money for exclusive hunting rights here but you better believe that no one and i mean no one else will go in there

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Everything I can or anything they ask. It's important.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

I always offer my help, I send Christmas Cards and sometimes I'll send a giftcard for the family for dinner or something similar. I usually take out some sausage and maybe tomatoes and cucumbersduring the summer..

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Around here there is a MAJOR problem with too many deer; especially in the suburbs. I see so many of my fellow hunters and my customers who are strickly "buck hunters". With the situation that exists here, that is usually NOT the way to approach the problem.

As a matter of fact, several of my landowners have noticed that I hunt to the end of January and continue to take deer - mostly does. One landowner challenged the other hunters last year to shoot more deer. If they don't change their approach, they may loose favor with the landowner.

On the properties that I hunt (4 of them), they are all wealthy landowners and don't want anything but the deer population reduced. Shrubbery alone for these people runs into the tens of thousands of dollars. Crop damage is valued at $400-500 per deer per year. At that rate I personally saved the farmer over $5000 last year.

I know that this is a unique situation, but it is very real. And, I just thought I'd share this approach for those who may have similar 'problems'. I know many hunters in this area who have lost their properties because they were spotted giving does a 'pass.' Some property owners will warn you, others will just tell you to take a walk if you're just a buck hunter. This doesn't mean you can't take a nice buck, it's just that they won't put up with you not taking does.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

You are right Len. This landowner wants some does shot so I buy doe tags for his county and take 4-6 every year off of his place. We like the huge deer pop on our land so we don't shoot does very often but with this guy we do. He also likes the fact that weare a husband /wife hunt team and that we don't hunt big game or deer with firearms.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Absolutely LEN, and a great point. People frown more on trophy hunters then they do on hunters who will help their situation.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Funny this was brought up about trophy hunters. I didn't want to start a big debate on here, but the land I hunt, the owner and I just had this conversation.

I took a nice buck off of his property last week. He came over to look at it and commented how nice it was. He knows I take whatever deer is legal, does ,buttons or bucks. He told me that he hates trophy hunters. He feels that hunters should take what deer they get a chance at and not hunt antlers. He felt hunters should be concerned with filling the freezer not bragging about big antlers. He gave me the impresion, that he would refuse trophy hunters permission to hunt.

I think many landowners feel this way.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Ive always given a couple sticks of salami from the deer i take on their land they like thator bale hay this year i ran combine i grew up on the farm so i was use to it the land owner got sick and i always offer to come help so i got a call one night and its the landowners brother(they farm together) so i ran combine for a couple days they basicly said no matter what i can hunt their ground forever

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

The first year that I hunted on the spot that I hunt now, I bought the landowners a $50 gift certificate for his favorite restaurant, for Christmas. My wife works with the landowners wife, and this is how I got permission to hunt there. I mailed the gift certificate to them with a very nice Christmas card, (I mailed it because I know that they would not take it if I gave it to them in person, thats just the way they are) When they got it iin the mail, his wife came to work the next day, and was very angry at us for thinking that I had to give them something for letting me hunt on their land. She told my wife that they would not take it and that if we didnt take it back, that that would be the last year that I would be hunting on their land. This brings up a question, what would you have done if you were in my shoes?? I tookk it back, against my will, but I know that this woman was very adament, and she meant it. The only thing that they ask of me, is that I hunt the gun season with the landowner. He had given it up, becouse he didnt have anyone to go with, and he didnt like the iodea of going by himself. If we dont get anything durring gun season, I make sure to get them a deer with my bow. That tickles them to death.:D

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Any land that i ask permission to hunt on the owner gets either a pack of elk meat or a bottle of homemade wine, sometimes both. We own a fair chunk of land and let people hunt on and have had just about everything. Christmas cards, meat, bottle, one fella shoulder mounted my buck for free but the all time best is the guys that i elk hunt with. They show up at my place and park their trailers in the yard at the end of august just when we are 2nd cut haying and gettin primed for harvest. Yep this year we had the lil guy mowing lawn, i was hauling bales, rob was hauling grain for my dad while he was combining and les is a journeyman welder so he was ripping out every peice of farm equipment we have and welding up any breaks. I tell ya these boys worked like dogs for us this year but yet were always the first to offer help. Think they actually enjoyed helping out and it seemed to bring us closer together, not meaning to sound weird but was alot more besides an elk hunt for us, working as a team etc and to look back at what we could do in a day was amazing. Can't beat slave labor :D

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Well....where to begin.....

I have exclusive rights to hunt the land I hunt. I also ONLY bowhunt. That's the only way I'd be in the properties I hunt, anyways. My honey hole is partly pasture land (No horses for a couple of years, though). I make a trip around the pasture once a year to clear deadfalls...limbs...vines and such from his fenceline. I also give he and his wife a gift certificate to a nice restaurant. The other landowners.....I just went to, last night, and hand-delivered Moravian cookies and a nice card. I spent a little time with the ones that were home.....and I'm GOLDEN for next season.

By ALL MEANS show these people respect. I'd pay THOUSANDS of dollars to be able to hunt their land.....and it costs me VERY little to show my appreciation. It's simply hard to put into $$ amounts what the priviledge is worth.

Jeff

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Some of the land I hunt is right around the corner(but borders)from my golf course. My landowner has about 6 acres of actual lawn that he cuts (takes him forever). He's no spring chicken either. So I offered to have one of my guys come over on a weekly basis with our rough mower which is a 12 ft. pull behind rotary mower. What takes about 2-3 hours for him we knock off in about 20 minutes. We're over there cleaning up limbs or trees that get knocked down from storms, winter damage etc..... Try to make it where he doesnt' have to do any physical labor outside. I'm the son he never had:D

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

NY...I forgot about that.

My landowner's family cemetery is adjacent to our home. We keep the outside of the fence area mowed for him all Summer. It takes us 15 extra minutes on the rider.

Jeff

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

The majority of landowners around here don't hunt, and they don't care whether or not you're killing big deer, they want you to kill 'em all. I've heard it alot, "you see it, you kill it".I sure dont shoot everything I see, but I'm not generaly very selective. They go bananas over deer steaks, so I give them some steaks and loins all throughout the season, so they see that I'm giving a season long effort. Between the 3 guys that hunt it, we'll end up with 6-10 deer a year, so nobody's going hungry.

..and the fact that it's my brother-in-laws family helps too.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Seems like we're all in pretty much the same situation and we do the right thing to show appreciation.
I personally give half of every deer I kill to the land owner. Tomorrow I'll deliver freshly cut back strap and breakfast sausage to one owner with a promise of jerkey and summer sausage once I get it done. As with everyone else, I also offer to help with any/all chores.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

WOW. I wish we had the same predicament up here. Fact is we just don't have anywhere near that kind of deer population and being only 1 hr from the large stinking city of Toronto hunting access is getting harder and harder as alot of property is bought up for weekend retreats and they typically hate all hunters.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Hoytgirl, thank you! I tried to make a point like this on another thread and kinda got taken as bitter. If folks would at least make an effort in a relationship to the landowners, finding property to hunt would be easier. I am a landowner, and get completley disgusted when people just show up and ask to hunt and fish. Most of the time they live in town, and happen to see the place and don't even introduce themselves. The fact of it here is, most of the time no one asks, they just sneak in and go. I had a whole week of running out trespassers last week. There were 3 of them, and none of them knew the others were there...can you say "lawsuit"? I am happy to hear that ther are hunters with ethics still around. Wish there were more around here!

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Since i am into animal dammage control,i usually introduce my self and ask them about coyotes or skunks.sometimes beaver.I trap for free for a year or two and get to know the farmer.Now that he knows me,i ask about shooting a turkey in the spring,Then a deer in the fall.Some say shoot all i want.Others have grandkids and I understand.Some guys arround here were wondering how i do it,I tell them,and they say im kissing up to them and They wont do that.Whell, I am kissing up to them.

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Don't sweat the bitter stuff. What your saying is needed. Be carefull. You have the rights, but these kinds of people are the kind to try and get back at you and yours.

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My family owns quite a bit of land so we understand what landowners go through.We also own a bit ourselves. Because of this we always make it a priority to take care of those who allow us to hunt their land.Ithasbeen enjoyable and fun to hear what others do for their landowners.There are a lot of really cool and responsible people on this forum and this thread just confirms how awesome thebowhunters on this site are. It is an amazing privilege to hunt other peoples landand it MUST be handed as such. Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your land.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

Thanks! My husband is busy farming with his dad on all the different tracts. For here we are considered large farmers, 1200 acres total, but it's spread out in a 50 mile radius. Not easy to keep up with. Folks we know in the area have kids and relatives that do hunt. We usually have to know them to grant access. It helps us keep "unwanted" folks out by letting someone we trust hunt. It's funny, the ones we let hunt, they come to us and complain about trespassers now. We just tell them "we gave it to you to hunt this year...handle it!" Now they understand what we deal with. We have had a handful of lawsuits against us for someone getting hurt on our property. It makes you wary. With all our farm land, we actually lease a place 3 counties over to have an uninterrupted hunt. We are in the middle of the urban sprawl in NC.

RE: Keeping Landowners happy
 

I didn't read through all the reponses,and I'm sure it's been mentioned... but definitely include them on your Christmas card list.

I also show up in the spring and offer to help work assembling grain bins, work on combines, or anything else I can do. I take them deer meat any time they get low as well, and I had my main landowner and his wife over for grilled backstraps this fall.