Hi guys,

havent been on the deer forums in a while, mainly cuz ive been out hunting lol. I was recently informed that the 100 acres i hunt on for deer will be sold in the upcoming year, and I now need to find a new property to hunt on. Getting permission for this one was easy, since my uncle is one of the owners of property. Now im faced with the task of finding a new property to hunt on. Alot of people just say ask as many people as you can and eventually someone will say yes.

I guess this would be ok, but im 15 years old and cant drive yet, and my parents work so i dont gotta ride there and back. I need to get permission on a property that is close so that i can walk there and back.

I have maybe 4 or 5 properties close by that would be decent for deer hunting, so i was wondering if you guys/gals had any tips on how to get landowners to give permission. Alot of people say dont show up in camo, with a rifle slung on your back lol...i know this but wat else do you guys do?

Would it help mentioning i hunt with a bow? any tips are greatly appreciated ..thanks in advance

Mike

BTW i posted this in the deer hunting forum but not any replies yet lol...so i thought id ask you guys cuz u can probly help me out lol..thanks alot in advance

Always permission in writing!

Find one place you want to hunt and that you KNOW HAS EVERYTHING YOU WANT. Let the land owner know that you are interested in bow hunting. Tell him you would love to help him a couple of days a month and maybe more during the summer when you are not going to school. Bring some toilet paper for the land owner because he may load up his pants when he hears that you are offering him a hand. From there you may get other permissions with out the offer of help. But concentrate on the first place and make him understand that by being there when you say you are going to be there that you are a serious young man and that you are serious about respecting him and his property. If its the perfect property then do not take no for an answer, ask more than a couple of times.
Good luck and go for it!

Show up in a nice Pair of blue jeans, nice shirt and a clean coat. Don't show up looking like a rough rider with holes in your pants and such. Just ask and be honest. Tell them you bow hunt and have no plans to gun hunt, most people are OK with bows, but are scared of a stranger running around on there property with a gun. Also explain you plan on hunting alone and you have no intentions on dragging out your friends, that can sometimes help. Good luck and let us know what you find!

Jason is right about everything he says. As Reb said when the deal is sealed and you've helped the owner for a few days then write up a formal permission and ask him to sign it to be carried around when you hunt.
If he land is big enough and there is swamps, coniferous and deciduous trees, a stream, hills, bush, apple trees, corn, etc then you only need one place. Do some research, some land owners have land all over the place. Where I hunt, one land owner has about 6 areas that are huntable.

When I was a kid, living on the farm, my city buddies found a farmers pond outside of town. It was full of big blue gills and cat fish. They described how they had to outrun the farmer on his tractor when he busted them. I went there one day and started weeding one of his 40 acre bean fields. When he asked me about it, I just said maybe he might let me fish that pond a few times when I got the beans weeded. I had the run of his place for 30 years.

On thing that I forgot to say is make sure you ask the Landowner! Here in NW Ohio alot of people are moving out into the country and buying two and three acre lots in front of a woods. Then when people ask they say no because they know that if you knew who owned it you would not be asking them, so they say no to keep you away from there house when in the short they are not even the owners. It's kinda hard for a kid, but I always go to the courthouse and look up the rest estate tax and make sure who the owner is before I ask the wrong person and get led the wrong way. On time I found a woods to hunt and asked the owner who did not live close buy the woods for permission. But a guy had a small three acre lot in the woods and had a house. He heard me shooting some squirrels and came busting out on his ATV with a gun making all kinds of threats and waving his gun and such and said he would be ******ing me off his property. I told him he would have to call the law. He looked at me with a blank stare and said he would, then paused and asked why? I said for harassment and assault. He said assault? you have not assaulted me? I said, I know, you have assaulted and harassed me, and you better get off Dave's land before I call the law. He proceeded to cuss me out and then left in disgust, It was a priceless moment!

Thanks alot guys, im gonna try some of that stuff like helping the farmers around the property right as soon as the weather brightens up a bit...kinda funny lol i got 6 replies from you guys in 2hrs, and on the deer forum i still have no replies and its been there the whole day,..in short thanks alot

Mike

PS ill be sure to let you know how it goes

No problem Mike! This is a great place to chat. There is a good group of guys on here and I think we are all good guys to get info from. Tonight is a good night and we are posting alot, but most of the time we don't ignore questions unless we think someone is trolling.

really can't add much....all good advice by the guys.. be respectful....be persistent. good luck.