Contacting farmers to use their land for hunting

J

joshua9578

New member
hey guys, i have yet another topic to gain your knowledge on. i live in toledo,ohio and have just started hunting deer in this area a couple years ago. i hunted when i was younger in west virginia, but due to a family fued over land after a death in the family i dont go down there much any more. back to the subject, since ive started hunting up here i have only been a piggy back hunter. my dad is out of the picture and was never much of a hunter anyways, so i have no hand me down knowledge or spots. i always go hunting with friends, friends friends, or my girlfriends dad. i would like to do as they do and take on some responsibility of my own and contact some farmers to see if i could use their land for scouting, preparing, and hunting. every piece of land they hunt on is some relation to them or a good family friend. ive brought up using them to get in contact with someone, but they act like theyre protecting gold. since there is plenty of farmland around toledo, this seems like a good option. i just dont know how to begin finding someone. i have seen deer in certain fields, but im not sure if i should just go up, knock on the door, then ask them to go back and hunt their land. another thing that i was thinking of is a dnr or park office. do you guys think that they would be able to get me started? any input is appreciated. you guys have never steered me wrong. thanks.
 
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Plat book and a trip to the county recorder's (or equivalent in your area) office will get you the owners name. Start knocking on doors after that.

I doubt you will have much luck. Too much liability and leasing have just about ended the free hunting just for the asking on private ground. Give it a try and see what happens, but be looking for some public areas too.
 
Mom and pop mornin' breakfast restaurants and feed stores are 2 good places to find the land owners. I am a Mormon and this past sunday, in church, I asked a fellow church member / farmer if I could please come shoot a deer during season. He said I could only come shoot one if I was tryin' to kill ten of them buggers!
Brent
 
Join a hunting club. In Ohio it will set you back about $200 the first year and $100 thereafter. Probably have a nice fishing pond available also. I have close friends and family who have land and b/c of the liability no one has offered. I insure a couple farmers who will complain from sunup to sundown about livestock loss due to coyotes then shy away from the topic if I start to mention hunting them.

If they will let me watch their kids/borrow their truck it seems like they would let me hunt on their property if they were going to let anyone. Good luck. I gave up and joined a hunting club.
 
It can be tough, but by no means impossible. The above ideas are good ones, and there are many more ways to meet folks who might let you hunt or fish on their property. I use my job as a delivery driver for a building supply company to meet farmer/rancher folks and rural home owners. My success has been fair in aquiring new spots, and every one is worth a million bucks.
Don't be shy, and even if a landowner turns ya down, be friendly and ask him if he knows any neighbors who might let you hunt. Lots of times it's hard just finding the name and residence of the owner of property that you're interested in.
Also sometimes the owner wants the deer for himself, but might not mind you shooting quail or ducks a couple weeks later. Use any oppertunity to get your foot in the gate, and offer to share your game with him if he's interested. Good luck, we all need it these days. jd
 
Permission

The best way to gain permission(and keep it) is to help the farmer. Show up during hay season. Or show up after deer season in the winter(normally when farmer's work on their fences), and offer to help the farmer run his fence, or repair his fences. First ask to hunt varmints, and develop the relationship over a year or two. Put in a few days of labor for the privledge to hunt on their ground. Believe me it is tough for farmer's to find a person who will help them out, and work hard while helping them. That is what a farmer really appreciates.

Put yourself in his shoes. What would you do when hunters always show up a week before the season starts, and asks permission to hunt??

Any sweat you invest will pay substantial dividends. Take a year or two, and get out there. Especially in hay season. It will work. Tom.
 
As previously mentioned, the offer of some help goes a long ways with folks, or perhaps the offer of a hindquarter if you're successful (Not to mention a little surprise at Christmas, etc). Also let it be known that you are an ethical and safe hunter, and know not to leave gates, etc open, that you know where any livestock may be, etc. Also, how you plan to hunt - I know some farmers in this area that are OK with gun deer hunting, but not bow hunting...simply because they've pulled a tangled up aluminum arrow out of a jammed combine or mower. An OK to try to sneak up on some geese in the field does NOT mean it is OK to come back with 3 friends and dig pit blinds in the field! It will be like any sales pitch - you must be prepared for much more rejection than success, and to follow through on any promises!
 
A lot of good advice. I might add, when you are talking to landowners let them know you have had the Hunters Safety Course. Also take a copy of a liability statement. You can find them on some of the DNR sites. They simply say the farmer is not responsible for you or hunting accidents. As stated above, offer work for the use of his land.

Around here the farmers hang out at coffee shops and general stores. May check with the local farm supply stores or Grain Elevators. Most of our farmers here close do not hunt, and want all wildlife eradicated:D

Good luck
Lonny
 
Last time I went knocking I took two 5lb boxes of shrimp and when asking I meantion I had 5lbs of shrimp to give the first farmer that would consider giving permission to hunt. After getting the first I continued until I found a second the same way and both farmers like seeing me now, I do help when I can plus I still bring seafood around for them a few times each year. Anyway it worked for me, before that knocking on doors was no good at all.
 
All good advice above. Especially the liability form. There`s been many cases where a landowners after giving someone permission to hunt has ended up in court being sued by some idiot that got hurt during his hunt. Nothing ruins your day worse than being a gift-horse and getting slapped in the whazoo.As a landowner,I can tell you,once you get permission to hunt, the fastest way to get escorted off most landowners property is to show up with your buddies you have`nt got permission for. Thats experience talking, I woke up one morning and thought I was in the middle of a DMZ.Unless previously talked about if a landowner gives YOU permission that means you.
 
Georgia has a statute limiting liability to the land owner. Even so, about the only permission you're likely to get free is to hunt hogs. Everything else will be a lease and most is already leased.

Besides that, it's public land or hunting clubs. I hunt WMA's but then, the way I work, I can usually hunt during the week when I have several thousand acres all to myself.
 
thanks guys, these all sound like good tips. i especially like the shrimp trick, haha. i understand that a helping hand would go a long way, and i look forward to helping any farmer that would open his land to me. i wasnt planning on starting my search until the spring sometime. it would look alot better if i showed up on time for work, and not play. i am a member of a gun club, but everyone i have talked to there goes out of state to hunt either canda or down south. like i said earlier if they do know of something around here they seem to protect it like gold. so i have kind of lost hope of finding a lead at the gun club, everyone who stays around here to hunt anything is only interested in birds. ill figure it out sooner or later. thanks again guys.
 
public land is always available, thats why its public. its just from every hunter i know i have heard it can get ugly hunting public land, gettin into who is hunting where and stuff like that. i could be wrong, i have never tried public land so i am just going off what i have heard. does anyone have any experience hunting public land?
 
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