I have a new private land that I am able to hunt this year. I split wood for hunting rights. We have a mutual understanding of rules and regulations. He has several stands along with a blind. I will be adding my stand and blind to the mix. I follow all of his rules and regulations. I have split about 8 or 9 cords of wood for him. I will be doing lots of other odds and ends. I have made a great new friend and some one who I can look up too. The land owner is not just a lease that I am able to hunt on. He has become some one who I am close to now. I try to help him as much as I can. My hard work and effort to make his winter a little easier is paying off. I am glad I got to meet this person. I am writing this in hopes that some one can follow what I do. I tell him when I am coming to the land. He will tell me what stand is good for wind direction and mark it on the map. He has several horse trails that people use and his family walks the land. I stay where I am at no matter what is happening. The other rule is to mark my spot with orange so people know where I am at. We have each others number incase any thing happens to us. We can call incase of emergency or if we got a deer. I have to split at least 17 cords of wood for him in the winter and stack it. It is a small price to pay for hunting rights. If any one is as blessed as me I hope they follow all the rules that the land owner sets in place. Do all you can to show them that you are grateful. You may have a new best friend out of the deal. happy hunting and be safe.
Nicely put! I know one of the landowners where I hunt like Jack Daniels and Homemade venison snack sticks!
Both you are going about it all wrong. :p Take care of Mrs. land owner. A happy wife is a happy land owner. Much harder for him to kick you to the curb for any reason when the wife is in on it... We do a his and and hers gift basket every year. His includes stuff like: Leather work gloves Knives Leatherman Flash lights Summer sausage , cheese cracks Steaks Gift certificate to home improvement store / farm supply Hers includes stuff like : Smelly candles Girly gift cards "house warming items" Assorted chocolates Kitchen stuff Gourmet coffee / hot chocolate We deliver a couple weeks before Christmas every year. Also try to help out if and when I can. Time is more valuable to me at this point in my life. 3 boys and a wife doesn't leave me much time for my hobbies.
Wow Keith I'd keep you on board to if that's what you do for him! That's a lot of wood to split if you ask me and I thought I was hard done bye,LOL. You put me to shame, the most I had to replace was 24 feet of 4 strand barb wire and 6 poles that the moose took down while crashing through his fence. I have offered a lot though,but have never been asked for any thing. Good on ya!
Here's my story. . Back before the massive age of computers… Or my age the "dinosaur" age as I like to call it. We had to do things the old fashioned way. I would travel past this farm on my way home from work each day. Occasionally i would see a deer or two on this mans land. Right after deer season one yr. a fellow employee who also travelled that way home from work, came up to me one morning and said he had just almost hit the most massive deer he had ever seen. This employee was a non hunter and we all know that non hunters think every deer is the size of a moose. I asked him how big were the horns. He replied by showing me a two and a half ft. spread and a foot and a half tall with his hands. I thought "yeah ok" to myself and let it go. Two days later another employee came up to me with a carbon copy of the story the first employee told me…….Hmmmmmm…. Maybe there is something to this i thought. That day after work I went there and walked in where they had both seen the Ginormous deer. OMG…… His tracks in the snow were longer than my glove. I found trees the size of telephone poles ripped to shreds. I began my plan to access this property. As I said computers were not like they are today and my work had to be done in person. What made it difficult was that the farm was in two different towns. I spent many days at the two town halls researching this farm. When I was done I knew everything including the floor plan to his house. I knew what he paid for the farm and how much tax he pd. every yr. I knew who all of his family members were. I knew a lot. Now spring rolled in and i was riding around the farm with my girl showing her all the property lines' neighbors land ' how much they owned ect,ect,ect on an on… It was time to meet the man himself. He happened to be out on his tractor as we rode by. I asked her to walk up with me while I introduced myself cause a pretty girl always helps. We went up to him and I introduced us. I told him I had been researching his property for 4 months. He thought i was a land developer and immediately cut me off and said his land was not for sale. I said "sir you don't understand" I work right down the street and see deer on your land and was wondering if maybe next season I could bow hunt here. Oh a bowhunter says he. He tells me he's not opposed to hunting and lets a couple guys on his land but that he already had enough people hunting there. I was crushed but understood that it was his land to do as he chose fit. I began to tell him of my hrs. researching his property. I had a manilla folder with every document I could find out about his farm and began to show him about public information free to anyone for the asking. I told him I no longer needed the folder and that he could have the info I had obtained on him. I thanked him for his time and began to walk away dejected. " He stopped me "hey fella I'll sign your permission slip for you to hunt my land" he said. I almost jumped outa my skin. Yessssssss I'm in. Only 1 thing though son " NOBODY Hunts behind the house. Guess where the monster lives? I hunted my first season there yrs. ago and took a nice 8pt. I sent the family a Christmas card at christmas and offered them some meat which he declined. Later in the dead of winter I went to see him at the farm. I gave him a thank you card with a fifty dollar gift certificate to the local butcher. He opened and read the card in front of me and I think he even had a small tear in his eye and thanked me saying no one had ever done anything like that for him before. I've been hunting that farm for yrs. now and consider their family my friends.
Keith you got it right brother. Its more about what you can do for others than what they can do for you. Wished more people saw it that way. If so things would be a lot easier for us all.
I am glad that I am not the only one who takes care of the land owner. I find more gratification putting the work in and talking with the land owner. Than just paying some one to hunt there land. I have learned a lot from the land owner and we are now good friends. He walked through all the stands on sight and talked about where we will put mine. I am excited for this year and cant wait to get out there.
My father has told me that he would strap a case of beer to the garbage can a couple times a year. Never did they not take something he put out for pickup. But 17 cord is a ton of work and enough to heat my parents house for 3 years or so. Luckily I have access by marrying into the family.
You are lucky! It is hard work but to be safe and come home to my family is priceless. The land owner has a boiler and heats his house with the wood. I use a splitter its not that hard but work is work.
I generally buy my land owner lots and lots of hunting equipment each year. He's kinda a gear junky. I also try to take real good care of his wife
Full cord he cuts the wood I split. I split about 10 this year still had some left over from last year. His house caught fire so he didn't use much last year.
Lucky for me the land I hunt is owned by my father in law. And lucky for me again he really likes me.
people like that. youll get along. im the same too when it comes to hunter and landowners. dont cross the line with em as well as they wont cross you
My brother-in-law, father-in-law, and I hunt on private land. The guy that owns it has let us hunt there for 3 years now. All we do is provide him with meat, and keep poachers out. This is urban property. It's a spot that no one thinks to hunt, and yet we have 3 8 points, 1 11 point, and a few 6 points that come in. I've got some more rural spots, but last year I joined my brother in law and father in law in this urban hunting thing. Main thing is every year we make sure we're still good to hunt. We provide him meat, and we keep the area clean. We only use bow. He hasn't had any issues and enjoys the meat.
