dstubb

I told everyone about this last year but for those that missed it here it is. Not many people are aware of this, which is very surprising. In the state of Ohio there is a program called the Cooperative Hunting Program. The program is for landowners who for whatever reason would like hunters to hunt there property. To get a list of these landowners you have to contact your local DNR office and request that they mail out a list for whatever counties you are interested in hunting. Last year i got 2 farms here in SW Ohio. One was 42 acres and the other was 55 acres, both were very nice spots but today i landed the mother load spot. 385 acres close to my house. There will be allot of people on this list who no longer participate due to some idiot hunter who trashed there land or something. But just keep calling and eventually you will find some really amazing, nice people who will allow you to hunt. It's crazy when i ask these people when the last time was that a hunter contacted them, usually the response is 2-3 years ago i had a guy call me but he only hunted a couple times that year and i never heard from him again. It boggles my mind that people don't know about this. Also it always helps to offer some help around there farms or to offer venison. Anyway if you live in another state than Ohio you may want to check with your DNR office to see if they offer something similar to this. GOOD LUCK!

Siman08/OH

Seems interesting

wis_bow_huntr

I think thats a good program Ohio has going, not sure if WI has a program like that or not. I will have to check into it.

Lanse couche couche

I checked that out a couple years ago. Got one person who had withdrawn from the program years before and another guy who quit doing it because he got flooded with requests to hunt his ground. But, like you said, i guess that if you keep trying you will hit paydirt.

fastetti

Man, I wish Illinois had something like that. Unfortunately, I think with the quality deer here and being so close to Chicago most landowners get begged for someone to hunt there ground. I'll give Wisconsina shot with that too, I guess you never know.

Thanks for the idea. Good to see hunters trying to help our "landless" hunters out.

Lanse couche couche

I wish that Illinois would lease private land and open it for public hunting like they do in South Dakota. Would be nice to see all that deer permit and hunting license money go for something besides fixing potholes in Chicago.

dstubb

Ohio is no sloutch when it comes to quality deer fastetti. I have called over 25 different people on these lists and all of them are shocked that i am calling them. You would really be surprised at how few people know about this program.

Frank in the Laurels

I have found that the vast majority of properties listed are very out of date and highly inaccurate. Most of the properties have either changed hands or have been leased. Also, the properties may not be anywhere near the address listed. I've checked at least 25 or more of them and have never gotten permission to hunt any of them or have found out that the old timers who owned them have died and the property has changed hands even within the family and I've had a lot of contacted landsowners simply never reply back...so in my opinion it's not the program that it was 10 years ago..

dstubb

That could just be bad luck for the counties you were calling. In two years i have gained three properties fairly easily. I did run into a few people who no longer participated. It's a the law of averages, the more you call the more you will get. For me it's totally worth it to sit down for a couple hours one each year to get a new place to hunt.

drdi

I own a farm in Ohio and I signed up for the program several years ago. There are some really nice benefits to the landowner as well. It's all free too. I got a package with nice metal signs for posting my property bounderies. This allows the local game warden to better look out for tresspassers. Although we still have problems from time to time, amazing how a visible presence from the game warden, even if just a time or two a year, helps cut down on poaching.

I do get several requests every year which I do refuse because I already have a core group of 4 hunters (1 neighbor and 3 from out of town) that I allow to hunt. Plus my own family and the occasional friend. But who knows, if one day the out-of-town guys quit coming for whatever reason, I may have space open up for someone new.

And to the folks looking for property to hunt, I would be much more impressed with a personal visit and offer to do some farm work than a letter in the mail. Offering to do some varmit hunting first, might also get you an in and while I don't have room for deer hunters right now, if I knew someone through past experience from coyote, groundhog, raccoon hunting, they would most likely have first shot if a spot openned up.