No place to hunt??

[Sniper66]

Many people I talk to have quit hunting or say they would love to hunt if only they had a place to go. Some years ago my brother and I had access to 1200 acres of prime Ozark woods. We hunted it for about 10 years. It was full of squirrels, turkeys, deer, coons....even some quail. Abruptly the owner said he didn't want us to hunt there any more. In spite of numerous phone calls and visits he would never give us a reason, saying he had other plans. So be it. That event taught me a lesson about all my eggs in one basket. Since then I have worked very hard to find private land to hunt on. Most of the public land near me is unproductive, overrun with too many hunters, and unsafe. As a result of networking with anyone and everyone I meet about hunting opportunities, I now have permission to hunt on more land than I could walk in a lifetime. The locations vary from 20 minutes to 7 hours drive from my house. My two favorite locations are one and two hours drive respectively. The 3rd favorite is 5 hours. I've actually never been to the 7-hour location, but I have permission if I ever summon the resolve to drive that far. So, I'm curious what you all have done to assure a place(s) to hunt? Would love to hear your stories, especially stories about how you have found places to go. I'm always interested in new ideas. By the way, I have never paid to hunt on these places.

 

[Jason_W]

Many people I talk to have quit hunting or say they would love to hunt if only they had a place to go. Some years ago my brother and I had access to 1200 acres of prime Ozark woods. We hunted it for about 10 years. It was full of squirrels, turkeys, deer, coons....even some quail. Abruptly the owner said he didn't want us to hunt there any more. In spite of numerous phone calls and visits he would never give us a reason, saying he had other plans. So be it. That event taught me a lesson about all my eggs in one basket. Since then I have worked very hard to find private land to hunt on. Most of the public land near me is unproductive, overrun with too many hunters, and unsafe. As a result of networking with anyone and everyone I meet about hunting opportunities, I now have permission to hunt on more land than I could walk in a lifetime. The locations vary from 20 minutes to 7 hours drive from my house. My two favorite locations are one and two hours drive respectively. The 3rd favorite is 5 hours. I've actually never been to the 7-hour location, but I have permission if I ever summon the resolve to drive that far. So, I'm curious what you all have done to assure a place(s) to hunt? Would love to hear your stories, especially stories about how you have found places to go. I'm always interested in new ideas. By the way, I have never paid to hunt on these places.

I grew up spoiled. My parents owned 10 acres that abutted 100s of acres, the owners of which didn't care if people hunted them. That was northern Vermont. When I moved to coastal Maine as an adult, there was still so much lumber and paper company land that there was more open hunting ground within a stones throw than I could ever explore in a lifetime. The deer hunting was crap, but the grouse hunting was amazing.

Now, my wife's very lucrative career brought us to a very hot, bleak, dry, and particularly soul crushing part of California and I'm at a loss. I have no idea how or where to get started again. A private hunting lease isn't in the budget, and public land horror stories (over crowding, shady people and their illegal pot grows, and plain old territorial D-heads) abound. I also have no idea how to hunt the local game species. How does anyone ever hit a quail? About a million of them seem to explode out in all directions at the same time (though I have seen some that were just begging for a skillet shot ).

 

[jmr40]

I hunt mostly public land in North GA. Mostly big tracts of wilderness ranging from 20,000 acres to 100,000 acres. Turkey and black bear are plentiful, deer less so, but depending on the exact area there are enough. I've gotten used to being able to walk all day and never get to the property boundary. Once I'm 1/2 mile or more from the road I never see another hunter.

I occasionally hunt some private property, usually from an elevated stand where I know the exact time and place deer will walk out of the woods. My success rate is about 100% in such places, but I don't get the satisfaction I get from hunting the mountain wilderness.

 

[browningguy]

I've got a rich friend with 8000 acres, that's plenty for me. Find a rich guy, be nice to him, even better would be a rich widow.

 

[Moparnut]

I've got a rich friend with 8000 acres, that's plenty for me. Find a rich guy, be nice to him, even better would be a rich widow.

8000 acres???? If I move can I go with you?
Here in AR we have a lot of land to hunt private and public. Public gets pretty crowded, however, if go you go deep enough you get find some monsters. Private is hit or miss. Most people seem to know they have it and keep it just for themselves and close friends/family. Others have let me hunt their land but, more than a few times someone else has went and tore up something or went to areas the owner has asked I stay away from. Usually the owner will just declare that no one can hunt there after he/she has problems. I always respect someones property rights. It's usually other folks who screw it up for the rest.

 

[Wisco]

Buy land. Lease land. Beg.

I've done the first two. If you shop around, there's odd little parcels of 10-20 acres that can be bought very cheaply - non-buildable land is usually dirt cheap.

I also have access to thousands of acres of tribal land to hunt, although I don't do it often - most of the times I've gone I spent more time calling the sheriff on trespassing non-tribal hunters than actual hunting.

Hunting private property is a privilege and a very generous gift from the owner if you're allowed to hunt it for free.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

In 1969 I bought 160 remote acres in the Ozarks. I built my house there in 1999. It lies in a valley with a year round stream running through it. Because of the topography, anyone who wants to access the land south of me has to go through my property. As a result, I have about 2,000 acres to hunt on.

 

[Patocazador]

I belonged to a club for 22 years that leased 6600 acres. We had 30 members. No guests were allowed except members of your immediate family. We had lots of room and lots of deer but it was a trophy club and no bucks could be killed that scored under 115 gross. Doe tags were numerous so no one went hungry.
Eventually, I got tired of 'grocery store' deer hunting and started hunting public land. It was more of a challenge and I still managed to get 2 to 7 deer/year. I don't like the tags that you have to draw or preference points but it is REAL hunting not pick and choose.

If you put in the effort and the time, you can be successful with hunting on public land.

 

[Officers'Wife]

I've got a rich friend with 8000 acres, that's plenty for me. Find a rich guy, be nice to him, even better would be a rich widow.

8000 acres as in 12 & 1/2 sq miles? And to think we managed to keep a quality employee on the strength of having 21.6 acres to hunt on.

 

[Klint Beastwood]

One of the big perks about western hunting here is all the public land that is huntable. a lot of issues ive seen people gripe about on this side, in nevada, new mexico, cali, and arizona are thinking theres no deer in areas that are isolated desert areas. Some big ol muleys are in those spots if you know where to look and do some research. I rarely see other hunters in the spots i go. if its hard to get into and you cant merely get in with a truck, that eliminates most the a-holes in the area and theres land for 10s of miles. Archery season i hunt closer to the roads in some areas. never come across to many bowhunters before, surprisingly.

 

[browningguy]

8000 acres as in 12 & 1/2 sq miles? And to think we managed to keep a quality employee on the strength of having 21.6 acres to hunt on.

Yes, and with a private runway and hanger so we can park his jet inside if it rains.

 

[red rick]

I just bought 120 acres of land with a 9100 acre state forest on both sides of me .

 

[BearBrimstone]

Most of the private land in my area is posted no hunting now, but that wasn't the case as recent as 10 years ago. I don't know about everyone else, but my family started putting up no hunting signs because they got tired of people hunting without asking first. Land not being posted doesn't mean that manners should go out the window.

 

[red rick]

I am thinking about renting mine to a couple people for the deer season only , but I just don't know if I want the liability . I am going to rabbit hunt it after deer season with family and friends . I hope it has rabbits . I am also going to get with the DGIF , they are looking for land owners for a quail program . They have really disappeared around here .

 

[SoonerMedic]

I've been very blessed to have had a member of this forum reach out to me to offer hunting on two of his nearby properties of 40 and 80 acres. Each property has rules to which I am more than happy to abide by as he is not charging me to hunt on either of them, and they aren't strict rules. They're simple requests and they were instantly agreeable to. I might be out of a 40 acre plot next year after he has seen the trail cam pictures I've posted lol

I've also been given permission to hunt another 40 acre parcel of land from a guy whom I got to know through work. He said his family doesn't hunt on that property and that if I wanted to I was more than welcome to hunt it. They also have approximately 170 acres about 1/4 mile east of the 40 acres they've given me permission on. I haven't been given outright permission to hunt it, but from the way he talks, he sounds as if his family really doesn't hunt all that frequently which may mean that I could potentially have access to another 170 acres sometime in the future. Time will tell.

I feel like I've been lucky to have been offered what I currently have, and I think attitude and willingness to abide by the rules have a lot to do with what people will and won't allow you to do.

 

[Sniper66]

I grew up spoiled. My parents owned 10 acres that abutted 100s of acres, the owners of which didn't care if people hunted them. That was northern Vermont. When I moved to coastal Maine as an adult, there was still so much lumber and paper company land that there was more open hunting ground within a stones throw than I could ever explore in a lifetime. The deer hunting was crap, but the grouse hunting was amazing.

Now, my wife's very lucrative career brought us to a very hot, bleak, dry, and particularly soul crushing part of California and I'm at a loss. I have no idea how or where to get started again. A private hunting lease isn't in the budget, and public land horror stories (over crowding, shady people and their illegal pot grows, and plain old territorial D-heads) abound. I also have no idea how to hunt the local game species. How does anyone ever hit a quail? About a million of them seem to explode out in all directions at the same time (though I have seen some that were just begging for a skillet shot ).

Jason,
You answered your own question...........shoot quail !!! All of us started out shooting at the whole covey as it explodes and not hitting anything. With experience you learn to ignore the flock and pick out the best singles. You also learn to note where the flock flys to so you can pursue them. Quail rarely fly far. And they make fine meal.

 

[ccoyle]

Back in California, I was blessed to own 5 acres in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and I had permission to hunt the 15 acres adjacent to mine. Just big enough to get my one deer per year and a turkey or two. But then I took a job across the country in a state I never visited before, much less lived in (though my ancestors are from the area, ironically enough). On my new salary, I can't afford even a modest club membership, and I have no idea where to go on the public lands (and everything seems backwards here, what with the deer being thick down at lower elevations, just the opposite of California). My 'networking' efforts have so far yielded just one associate whose club allows guests for a reasonable fee, but they have a one-and-done policy for guests (for which I certainly can't fault them), and one SC deer doesn't exactly take up a lot of space in the freezer (but I am thankful for even the one deer, as well as the associate, who has done everything he can to help me out within the limits of his club's rules). My job is in a city, and to keep the commute reasonable I chose to live in a suburb, so I don't have any farmer friends living next door. I'm still hoping to run into someone who needs a few garden-raiding deer thinned out and maybe also has a pond that needs some fishing pressure, but it hasn't happened yet. So shout out if you need some deer and/or bluegills culled.

 

[Captcurt]

Unfortunately the seasons on our public land is a lot shorter than on private property. We have 150,000 acres of National Forest 7 miles from the house and lots of public land around the lakes, but the season and bag limits are different. We had a 400 acre lease that was surrounded by government on 3 sides. I could take a doe on the lease but buck only on the public land. Makes a lot of sense.

Bag limits differ from zone to zone. I can take 4 deer in my zone 3 and 2 more in another zone, but only 2 can be bucks. A legal buck has to have 3 points on one side, but in zone 2 you can bust anything because it is in a Chronic Wasting Disease area. You have to be a Philadelphia lawyer to get through our Game and Fish Regs.

 

[Patocazador]

A legal buck has to have 3 points on one side, but in zone 2 you can bust anything because it is in a Chronic Wasting Disease area. You have to be a Philadelphia lawyer to get through our Game and Fish Regs.

Fla. has confusing rules for its management areas. You have to read the brochure of every one to find out the seasons, bag limits, species allowed, and weapon that can be used. The season can be open in a management area after the general season surrounding it has closed.
In most areas only bucks with 3 points on a side are legal but coastal areas allow 2 points/side. Kids can kill bucks with 5" spikes.

 

[Sniper66]

Some good posts here in response to my OP. Much of the public land, from what I read here and my own experience, may be difficult to access unless you have a sturdy constitution and can walk a few miles. It took 3 major foot/ankle surgeries to get me moving, so I'm not able to take on long treks. So I search for land where the owner is willing to let me drive around the place. Here's what I do to find places......networking, networking, networking. I talk to anybody and everybody who knows a guy, who knows a guy. My phone conversations go something like, "Hi, my name is Tom. A friend of yours, Joe, gave me your name and number...." and it goes from there. I always ask if it's OK to call that person and use the referring party"s name when I call. I have found that almost everyone is willing to talk and be helpful. Really, almost everyone. If I get turned down some of the folks will refer me to someone else. After I've hunted a few times and they see that I'm an OK guy, they will refer me to some of the neighbors. I help with chores when I can and send gift baskets at Christmas time. Some of these folks have become friends. I have established relationships with these folks. Not simply because they let me hunt, but because I like them and I love the land. I behave accordingly. I hope my dialogue helps; it is meant to help.

 

[zb338]

A lot depends on the State you live in. Some States simply have no worthwhile public land.
Others have thousands of acres. You can try to find a club who has a bunch of guys like
yourself; they pay money to rent land from farmers/landowners and hunt there.
Zeke

 

[buck460XVR]

Here in Wisconsin, access to productive hunting land is the biggest obstacle most new hunters face and is the number one reason many veteran hunters quit hunting. While we have quite a bit of good public hunting parcels in the state, those closest to the high population areas are pressured heavily as are those areas within large parcels in low population density areas, that are close to roads and hunter/logging trails. Many folks do not have the time, or do want to take the time, to travel several hours and then spend the rest of the day searching for an out of the way spot that other folks won't bother to walk to.

I am fortunate to have several parcels of private land I can hunt, and to have hunted the large parcels of local public land for half a century. On the public land I have learned where other folks tend to go and where they do not. This is my secret to success, much more that the amount of game sign in the area, especially during the gun deer season. The private land access is because of friends and family, and I feel very privileged to have access to it. In the instance of non-family land, many times it takes spending a few days every year helping the farmer out or doing some work on their house(still cheaper for me than paying for a lease). Years ago when I was a kid, very little land was posted and finding a spot to hunt was simple and easy. Now, hunting, like many other types of recreation, has become a sport of those with deep pockets. Good hunting land costs more per acre than good Ag land. Many long time productive farms are worth more for the price of hunting land than the money they make from milk,beef and crops, and I see no change in the future. Hunting is no longer something does to feed their family, but simply another sport for recreation. For the most part, one can buy good beef or a Butterball for less than what a pound of venison or a wild turkey breast really costs you in the end. As such, the price of hunting is going to be what the public is will to pay based on demand......and right now hunting is gotten to be a prestige sport, with big antlered bucks a badge of honor. There is a price for that.

One cannot be afraid to knock on a door and ask and have thick enough skin to go to the next farmhouse after having the door slammed in their face 30 times previous. One needs to somehow show their appreciation to the landowner when they get permission, either by offering to help, offering some of the game harvested or at least with an appreciative note in a Christmas card every year. One also needs to responsibly take advantage when they have access because as many have experienced here, you never know when that privilege is going to come to an abrupt halt.

 

[Captcurt]

Some good posts here in response to my OP. Much of the public land, from what I read here and my own experience, may be difficult to access unless you have a sturdy constitution and can walk a few miles. It took 3 major foot/ankle surgeries to get me moving, so I'm not able to take on long treks.

I hunted the NF for a few years but when it took me 2 1/2 hours to get a small buck back to the truck I said no more. I was back in an area where no ATV's were allowed so I hooked my climbing harness onto him and drug back to the truck. We're talking a mile to a mile and a half in terrain so steep that he passed me a couple of times. If I kill another one over there he will be close to the truck.

 

[buck460XVR]

I hunted the NF for a few years but when it took me 2 1/2 hours to get a small buck back to the truck I said no more. I was back in an area where no ATV's were allowed so I hooked my climbing harness onto him and drug back to the truck. We're talking a mile to a mile and a half in terrain so steep that he passed me a couple of times. If I kill another one over there he will be close to the truck.

This is one reason I became selective about what bucks I shoot on public land. The farther back I go, the bigger the buck is gonna be. Big buck way back in, I walk out and get help. Small buck close to the truck at the end of the season, is a no brainer. Used to be years ago when one had to rely on a compass and their woodsmanship to find a spot they discovered way back in during preseason, there were fewer folks that got very far from the road, or there was a trail of surveyor's tape leading to a tree in the middle of a swamp. Nowadays, most everyone has a GPS on their phone that rivals the best Cabela's sells. Lately, I find folks walking by me while I'm on stand, staring at their phone while trying to find those spots. Many times as they disappear from view, a deer or two will come sneaking back towards me they never saw.....

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I live on 10 acres in rural NE Kansas and have permission from my neighbors to hunt the 160 acres next door and the 160 next to that. But the deer population in our area here took a pretty hard hit from EHD a while back and the numbers are still down.