Thanking Landowners......

[Skychief]

Thought I would post a note on thanking those who let us hunt their ground. I don't want this to come off as "preachy" by any means.

I was fortunate enough to kill a beautiful Tom this past Thursday on farm that was "new" to me. I sent the landowners (husband and wife) a thankyou card, a photo of my turkey and me, and a gift certificate to a restraunt. In the card I wrote how much I appreciated their kindness.

To my suprise, they called me upon recieving the card and so on and were full of turkey and hunting related questions. I took the time to answer all that I could and they told me how much they appreciated MY thoughtfulness and the card, photo, and certificate.

While I did not send these for any other reason than to show my genuine appreciation, I recieved much more. They insisted that I come and hunt again for turkey as well as deer.

In any case, try to remember to take time to show your appreciation to those that could have said "No" or leased their ground out, etc, etc. It takes little time and can be rewarding on both ends.

Skychief.

 

[Stumpkiller]

You really want to show support offer a weekend in the summer to help straighten/repair fencing or clear brush. THAT will show your appreciation.

 

[luieb45]

In my area getting permission on hunting ground is pretty much impossible unless you are willing to pay big money for it. I only can hunt on my family's farms since they don't lease the ground to any hunters. In this area farmers lease their ground to hunters for thousands of dollars for hunting just for one season. Out of state hunters will pay big money for hunting oppurtunities and buying timber ground which is why an 80 acre farm with 60 acres of timber goes for $4000 an acre or more. These "out of staters" occupy all of our hotels in the area every deer season and chase out the hunters that are native to this area. This is a condition which plagues Illinois and I pray that it will someday stop and I will be able to politely ask for hunting permission and not be turned down. These "out of staters" and people from the big cities of Illinois like Chicago even pay for dove hunting on public land and buy out the spots so that people like me can't get a spot at the dove shoot. I am sick and tired of all these people as you can see. :shake:

 

[BrownBear]

I really like the idea of the card and gift certificate over and above anything else you can do. We welcome labor on our place, but my wife would even more impressed by a dinner out now and then. Somehow the wives get overlooked in all the talk about private land, but they have a stake in the well being of the land, too.

Good for you!

 

[Skychief]

You really want to show support offer a weekend in the summer to help straighten/repair fencing or clear brush. THAT will show your appreciation.

You are right Stumpkiller. I have split and delivered a ton of firewood as well! :thumbsup:

 

[Skychief]

luie b....I don't blame you one bit for being tired of that. We have some of the same here (though nowhere near the extent of W Ill.).

I have lost several hunting spots to leasing. Generally those leasing the land are from other counties (with big cities)with plenty of money to burn, so to speak.

Thank goodness there are still some landowners that will warm up to those of us without the money or will to play the "leasing game"!

 

[Flint311]

I agree! We paid good money to lease the farm we hunt, with about 18 years to go on the lease. But, we still check in and give the wife a ham, etc. during the season (the only one that ate venison has died). Over the last 20 years, we've become family members and friends. Time well spent, for our time spent well....

 

[Skychief]

That sounds great Flint!

I hope nobody takes any offense from my comments here. I mean absolutely none! Again, I just wanted to tell how my landowners appreciated a bit of thoughtfulness......

 

[napolean]

Where I grew up in Kansas the hunting was great and the landowners were generally great about granting permission. My buddies and I were always showing our thanks by sharing our harvest and our time. We kept wire, staples and tools in our vehicles. On our favorite ground the owner had our phone #'s and did call on occation.
Where I live now you thank the land owner in advance by filling his outstreched hand, It is NOT a reasonable amount. This for everything from Dove to Deer to feral pigs.
Jon D.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Luie, because of your young age, its difficult for you to get around. However, visit the Grain Elevators in the county and meet the men and women who are actually doing the farming. Talk to people at the local Farm Bureau Office. Never hesitate to talk to the local Agg. Extension service offices about finding places to hunt. And, believe it or not, your local Conservation Police officer can also put you in contact with land owners who will let you hunt. And, talk to your class mates at school who live on farms. They hunt, too, and they resent the out of towners closing out so much land to hunters by leasing adjoining farms.

You can't blame local land owners, for accepting thousands of dollars for a hunting lease. When most of your ground is woods, not tillable soil, its very difficult to pay the taxes on the whole farm with the little net income that comes off the farmed ground. Selling lumber may bring a bit of money, but it takes 20 years or more for trees to grow big enough to be of interest to logging companies. No way does the money paid for the logs pay the taxes on that ground for 20 years.

We have a similar problem with so much farm land locked up in land trusts, with owners living miles away. They have Bank Trust departments run the farms, hire the labor to farm the land, and pay the bills. Some Lease agreements provide that the tenant farmer has the right to decide who hunts the land; others do not. Its worthwhile sitting down with the Trust department at your bank, and asking about landowners who will let you hunt the land.

The Biggest complaint I hear from landowners about hunters is that people- particularly those out of county folks-- simply Trespass on their ground, and don't bother to ask for permission at all.

That is how NO Trespassing/NO Hunting signs go up around here. They like to be asked, so that, as one farmer told me, they know exactly who is on their land.

I get the same comments from the trust officers, and in conversations with the Conservation Police officers, Sheriff's deputies, and State Police officers, who respond to calls about trespassers during Hunting Seasons.

I have offered to share my bag with the landowners. In one case, the farmer was happy to take a pheasant I offered. In other cases, they declined. I sent them Thank you cards, and delivered a nice bottle of wine.

Today, the suggestion of giving them a gift certificate for a dinner for two is a very good idea.

I also clean up the farms of trash as I hunt the edges, finding the farmer's burn barrel when I return to put the trash in. And, I stop to report the conditions I found- particularly if something seemed amiss.

One time, the farmer was not home when I came in from the hunt, so I called him from home later that afternoon to tell him of the problem I saw. it turned out he was aware of it, but thanked me for telling him. I also offered to help him with the heavy work, but he said he would simply take the end loader on his tractor out, and move the stuff.

Don't just visit the farmers the week before hunting season. That tees them off. If you want to hunt the ground, talk to him during spring planting. He might need some help then. Or he may need some help over the summer, working on fences, or cutting brush, or trimming trees. Labor is expensive. Free labor is appreciated more than you can know. Mowing his lawn while he is out catching up on other work may just be the "help" he needs.

 

[rabjr]

Thought I would post a note on thanking those who let us hunt their ground. I don't want this to come off as "preachy" by any means.

I was fortunate enough to kill a beautiful Tom this past Thursday on farm that was "new" to me. I sent the landowners (husband and wife) a thankyou card, a photo of my turkey and me, and a gift certificate to a restraunt. In the card I wrote how much I appreciated their kindness.

To my suprise, they called me upon recieving the card and so on and were full of turkey and hunting related questions. I took the time to answer all that I could and they told me how much they appreciated MY thoughtfulness and the card, photo, and certificate.

While I did not send these for any other reason than to show my genuine appreciation, I recieved much more. They insisted that I come and hunt again for turkey as well as deer.

In any case, try to remember to take time to show your appreciation to those that could have said "No" or leased their ground out, etc, etc. It takes little time and can be rewarding on both ends.

Skychief.

Mine gets a whole deer butchered and packaged of course.

 

[BrownBear]

...butchered and packaged of course.

That's an important distinction! Most of these folks are so busy, the last thing they need is a big ole hunkameat that needs labor.

I still laugh about my neighbor in the Southwest. He had the knacker slaughter two steers and haul them off for processing- one for him and one for sale.

The guy who was to buy #2 backed out. A little cussing, but with some figuring and re-arranging it seemed he might be able to get it all in his freezer.

Meanwhile the guys hunting our place got permission from him to hunt there too, and all of them got elk. They were so grateful to my neighbor that they had one of their elk cut and wrapped for him at the same packing house.

When my neighbor showed up to collect his beef, he had a large elk waiting too!!! Filled the whole bed of his truck and sagged the springs pretty good, too. :rotf:

He ran home with all the meat, then had to drive back to town to buy another freezer.

 

[rabjr]

:rotf:

I have a nice 10'x 12' Cooler/butcher shop because 3 of us and a couple of friends were hanging up so many deer every year. Hell I didn't hunt this year except for prudence because of my op but the guys still hung up close to 20 deer this year. You can blindfold my Uncle and me and I swear we can butcher, debone a deer in no time. Thats clean, no silver skin, fat or anything but solid meat. So the very least I can do is hand some meat over to the land owners. :thumbsup:

 

[Vaino]

Started hunting when 10 yrs old {1942} and didn't know the difference between private or public land and this "freedom" lasted 'til approx. 1960. Slowly but surely as the younger generations took over the farms, "No Trespassing" signs became more predominant and so we asked if we could hunt land that we had hunted for many years w/ permission, but the "new owners" usually said "NO". We then switched over time to solely hunting public land and do so to this day. Really can't blame the farmers...."hunting leases" are quick money so why should they be any different than most people? The "blather" about "city slickers" doing all sorts of damage to their property is an anecdotal excuse for "quick money" or selfishness because in the area I hunted early on, hunters were nearly non-existent but the "No Trespassing" signs still multiplied. I'm so grateful that large tracts of land in Wisconsin are public w/ some corporate lands also open to hunters. We're headed towards the "European" model where the hunter buys a license only to hunt and then has to buy the game he's shot. To me, this is a very artificial scenario akin to hunting "game preserves" in this country. In not too many years hunting will be available only to the rich and landowners....Fred

 

[tg]

There is much to be said for showing our appreciation for the privilage of using other folks property for our hobbies, it has been more difficult as time goes on to achieve permission to do so in many areas, often from outside pressures on landowners, I lost one area last fall that has been avaiable to me for over 40 years due to family management changes, cherish what you have and do whatever you can to preserve and pass it along,it is fast becoming a scarce commodity in some places.

 

[roundball]

try to remember to take time to show your appreciation to those that could have said "No" or leased their ground out, etc, etc. It takes little time and can be rewarding on both ends.

Completely agree...been doing something very similar for two landowner/farmer families every year since the '90's.
Spring it's big 4 quart baskets of strawberries from a big local strawberry farm...summer its gift certificates to a steak house or seafood place they like...Christmas I deliver a big honey baked ham, and gifts for the family members, etc...the places I hunt are small woodlots...but they're surrounded by other large tracts of land which get very little to no hunting pressure resulting in excellent hunting opportunities.

These local, very down to earth people are "rich" owning land like they do, and no question have been very generous to let me hunt there every year.

Good thread...

 

[luieb45]

Your suggestions won't help me too much because that isn't the problem. It's not that I don't know all of the farmers because my grandpa is a farmer and I know all the local ones from when I would be around him as a kid. Then my other grandpa was very well known in the area and would have no problem getting hunting permission when my dad was a kid. Farmers are just getting greedy and are willing to lease their land to out of staters. I have a few friends that hunt but they face the same problems that I face and I don't hunt with any of them because they only deer hunt and aren't allowed to hunt by themselves. I am gonna except what I have as far as deer and turkey hunting. Last year I did have permission on a property next to my uncle's farm in Bowen. That was just dove hunting and I probably could rabbit hunt it if I wanted too. If I wanted to change up my squirrel hunting I could probably hunt my grandpa's neightbors ground for early squirrel hunting because he has people hunt from Bloomington for deer. If my local hunting oppurtunities fell through I could always go a ways south to my all of my cousin's farms. He has one in northern adams county which has tons of deer and recently got a farm in Pike county which as most of you have heard would have tons of deer on it.

 

[Flint311]

I posted a little ways down, but this may help some gain access. We made a contract with the farmer, specifically stating we will not put "nails, screws, etc. into trees", this helps them be able to sell the wood for timber. Also, we will not hold them responsible for any accidents while afield. This is one reason so many don't allow people on their property. If they accept $$, and lots of it for the rights, this may open them up to more chance of a lawsuit. Just a thought.... Flint

 

[paulvallandigham]

Talk to the Farm Bureau people. Let them know how difficult is for local KIDS to find a place to hunt near them. Make them aware of the problem. Most farmers are like your family, and if they see a problem has developed of their own making, they will take steps to fix it. See if you can't get an article printed in the local Farm Bureau newsletter asking for help for local kids.

Around here, we have very active Pheasants Forever Chapters, and active Friends of the NRA chapters. There are also Ducks Unlimited, and Quail Unlimited chapters around, altho we have very little to NO local quail or duck hunting. You live over on the river, so you may have both.

All these groups have projects to encourage and help young people become responsible hunters. They all have contacts with land owners, and can help you find places to hunt.

Without living in your community, I can't give you specific advice. I am trying to get you to learn to think- outside the box if you have to. There are lots of ways to solve this problem you seem to have. Don't just go down my posts and say,"No, that won't work", No, I can't do that, etc. Get a petition signed by all your friends and have several of them join you with your grandfather attending a Farm Bureau member's meeting. Ask to be allowed to speak, and present your petition to the Farm Bureau officers.

Its the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.

 

[KyFlintlock]

Way to go man, that is what they DESERVE!!!

I have an old couple that own a place where I hunt and the husband is almost bed ridden and doesn't leave the house much. As a thanks for letting me deer hunt this winter I went over on a saturday and grilled them Lunch (chicken and deer loin) and then ate with them. The wife made a big ol pan of cornbread and when she was cutting me a piece, she actually cried! It sure meant a lot to them, and to me!

Good folks deserve it fo' sho'!!!!!!

Keep up the good work and good luck
Wess