RE: I Can't Believe This ...Crap!
 

It's not too late to rebel fellas(well , maybe it is in Texas;)) , dig your heels in and say "Hell no , I refuse to pay that !" .

If you go to enough doors and keep knocking you'll eventually find somewhere . Refuse to be ripped off , it works . If you absolutely "must" lease then at least be a smarter shopper . If one place is too much go to another until you find what you're looking for . Once you find a good spot that isn't currently locked up ask the landowner for a long term lease instead of an annual one . Think 20 years down the road and be prepared to pay for it or become a public land specialist . Publics can be surprising if you're wiling to do what it takes to get the most from them . Do like me , study topo maps at sites like TerraServer and find the smaller overlooked publics that others don't use , monster deer hide in amazingly small areas . Bigger publics can also yield great hunting if you just go deeper than the weekend warriors , most get very little traffic during weekdays for example . I personally love blind hunts , and doing some cyber scouting can put you where others don't or won't go . Buy a deer cart and a lightweight climber and get out there , the worst you'll lose is some weight .

RE: I Can't Believe This Shhi.....Crap!
 

I am knocking on doors but I am in an area that I am not too familiar with. How do you recommend that I find the right guy to talk to.

Do you just go to the nearest house to the land you are intrerested in and hope it's the owner?

RE: I Can't Believe This Shhi.....Crap!
 

My solution to the dilemma of ready access to hunting ground was to go in debt and buy a small patch of woods in southern Illinois. I also have permission to hunt another several hundred acres of land in the same area. However, i do feel sorry for people living in heavily populated areas where the price of land is outrageous and there are fewer people willing to let you hunt on their land. However, I agree with kevin that putting some effort into looking for folks that will let you hunt can pay off. You can buy plat books at any county courthouse that show the owners of every piece of land in the county. With that info, you can then start knocking on doors and asking. You will likely be told no a lot, but, you just need one yes.

RE: I Can't Believe This Shhi.....Crap!
 

I feel for ya. 10 years ago, I didn't ever recall seeing land leased in Kansas. Now Dept. of Wildlife and Parks manages the hunting as an economic tool. I don't blame the landowners for leasing. It only benefits the non-hunting landowners.

I blame the Wildlife and Parks for letting it happen. Many, many poor decisions. Mostly all politcally decided with money initiatives.

I have hada few spots that have been leased away from me. Luckily there are still a few farmers that still let me hunt with any money exchange, by helping them out every once in a while. WhetherI help the farmerround up cattle, or set up irrigation. That's the way it should be, to get permission to hunt.

RE: I Can't Believe This Shhi.....Crap!
 

I'm with yoy on this one CamoCop I will pay even more than that if I can found a place close so I did not have to drive 100miles just to hunt. huck the is not much I well not pay so I can hunt within 15 or 20 min of home that means more time for the family and with a season as long as Alabama's that means a lot.

RE: I Can't Believe This Shhi.....Crap!
 

Kevin1 that idea soundsgreat except for the fact that if you say "hell no" there is a line of people behind you saying"hell yes" because of the shortage of land. Trust me Indiana and the area I hunt inSoutheast, Va/Northeast, NCmight as well be different worlds when it comes to land and hunting. Most leases are not landowners they are corporations (timber companies) and we all know what drives them. So if you are fortunate enogh to get a good lease and they raise the rates onyou upon renewal you have no power, it is pay or give up the land. And as hard as it is to find land most simply pay. There is no smart shopping usually because of the limited land and # of people looking.Kevin1 you areabsolutely right about the public lands and it is surprisingly easy to find some prime honey holes.As I find more and more public land I plan on eventually phasing out my club memberships except for my Eastern Shore honeyhole(giant deer) and an occasional guest visit at friends clubs.

RE: I Can't Believe This Shhi.....Crap!
 

Interesting thread...I have seen both sides...I am fortunate enough that my family owns 3 farms in eastern NC...full of game...they are farmed, but we also manage the wildlife...its a great feeling to take friends there and see them kill their first deer, quail, duck, turkey, squirrel..whatever...I'm 50 and enjoy bringing others into the sport of hunting and fishing....Part of the experience is also cooking what we kill....

I also travelled quite a bit when I was in the corporate world...and have lived in 3 different states...Where I had to get out and find a place to hunt...If you put in the time and get to know the locals you can usually find a good place to hunt...Public lands can also be good...if you find the areas that aren't overcrowded....Fortunately I grew up farrming and working on farm equipment, so I bring a little more to the table than the average guy...If you start looking 2 weeks before the season...You will be left out....I have no problems with landowners asking for lease money...What is charged usually doesn't even pay the taxes on the land and most landowners have had bad experiences with slob hunters....So, if you don't want to pay...don't but don't blame the landowner... Would you let a stranger use your car for a month and bring it back low on gas, in need of repairs and a good cleaning???

The facts are that in the Southeast we are loosing tons of land each year due to develpment...Farm land outside of areas like Charlotte, Raleigh and Norfolk are being bought each and ever day for this purpose...It will be much tougher to find good land to hunt in the next 20 years....If you love to hunt it might be time to start looking for land to buy...As my dad used to say "They aren't making anymore land" and "A good farm only comes up for sale once in your lifetime"...He has been dead over 30 years...But these words still ring true.

RE: I Can't Believe This Shhi.....Crap!
 

Maybe its just the part of the country where I grew up, but I don't recall any incidents of landowners having bad experiences with slob hunters, and I haven;t had any either. I think that a lot of damage to fences and fields done by drunk teenagers on 4-wheelers/4-wheel drive trucks gets blamed on hunters. Ditto for people going out into the country to dump trash. I'm not saying that hunters don;t do bad things occasionally, and I'm sure that some folks here will be happy to tell us about them. However, if you take a close look at many of the claims made by people about damage to property or other transgressions, it is usually attributable to folks other than hunters or legal hunters.

RE: I Can't Believe This Shhi.....Crap!
 

Lets just say that we have....many times...and they were "hunters"...But I guess that should be another thread and I'm not sure open forums are the place to hang our dirty laundry.

RE: I Can't Believe This Shhi.....Crap!
 

When trying to get access to private land it's pretty much a numbers game , you knock on doors or approach the landowner in his yard(better) and politely ask to discuss it with him . Once you get a yes they will frequently reccomend you to fellow landowners , especially farmers . Offer to do some labor or snipe varmints for them , sometimes that can be worth more to them than cash .

My entire point was that you don't have to be one of the "say yes to any price" drones yourself , there are alternatives if you look for them . I've hunted many places totally free of charge , public and private , before I finally bought a house with a small amount of acreage . Other than a $4 per day entry fee at a local national forest I haven't been out any money , and I can get a season pass to that forest for only $25 . You seem to be making the same mistake that many others do in thinking that private land is the only good land , and that's just not true . Yes , I'm aware of the differences between hunting here and Virginia , that still doesn't preclude you from being more enterprising than those who just roll over and pay up . You don't have to be in a hunt club to hunt . Believe it or not they don't control all of the good land . You can still hunt for free or very little if you just look around , if I can so can you . Those who give up might as well start saving up to buy land , and where you live that may be even harder than finding a good lease . Start using your noodle instead of simply breaking out your wallet every year , yeah , it can be tough at first , but once you master saying no it comes a lot more natural . Let the suckers pay to hunt , as they crowd the private ground they're just driving more deer off of it every year . Guess where those deer go . ;)