Nuisance animals?

[Atroxus]

Let me give some background before my question. I am wanting to learn to hunt, but what I have read about hunting on public lands is not very encouraging. I know someone that can teach me to hunt, but I have been wondering how to go about getting permission to hunt private land, without having to pay a lease. (I want to hunt for food only, not for trophies) I got the idea of maybe asking landowners if I could trade varmint removal service a 1-2 days a month year round for permission to hunt deer/elk during appropriate hunting seasons. I found a list of small critters that are mostly legal to hunt year round.(list pasted below) I am looking for feedback from landowners as to which critters(if any) on this list you would consider enough of a nuisance to want someone to come kill them for you. Also would any landowners consider this an equitable arrangement, assuming I am polite, well behaved, leave the land as good or better condition when I leave than when I arrived.

Bobcat
Sept. 1-Mar. 15, 2010
Cannot be hunted with dogs
Pelt must sealed by WDFW

Raccoon
Statewide: Sept. 1, 2009- Mar. 15 2010
Closed on Long Island within Willapa National Wildlife Refuge

Fox
Sept. 1-Mar. 15, 2010
Closed within Mount Baker-Snoqualmie, Okanogan, Wenatchee, and Gifford Pinchot National Forests, and GMUs 407 and 1410

Coyote*
Year round
Hunting license required. Cannot be hunted with dogs

Cottontail rabbit and Snowshoe hare
Sept. 1-Mar. 15, 2010

Crows
Oct. 1-Jan. 31, 2010
Crows in the act of depredation may be taken at any time.

Mountain beaver
Year round
Hunting license required.

European rabbit
Year Round
Hunting license required.

Gopher
Year Round
Except mazama pocket gophers

Gray and fox squirrels
Year Round
Except western gray squirrels

Ground squirrels
Year Round
Except golden-mantled and Washington ground squirrels

Moles
Year Round
Hunting license required.

Nutria
Year Round
Hunting license required.

Virginia opossum
Year Round
Hunting license required.

Porcupine
Year Round
Hunting license required.

Shrews
Year Round
Hunting license required.

Spotted skunk
Year Round
Hunting license required.

Striped skunk
Year Round
Hunting license required.

Voles
Year Round
Hunting license required.

Yellow-bellied marmot
Year Round
Hunting license required.
Note: Olympic and Hoary marmots are protected.

 

[ArmedBear]

Not sure about WA, but I have enjoyed hunting public land, myself.

What do you hear that's not encouraging?

 

[Atroxus]

Have heard/read a lot of horror stories about running into morons/poachers, or just plain jerks on public lands. Also have heard that competition for animals on public lands can get pretty fierce unless you go really deep into the woods. I also like the thought of hunting someplace with limited competition and limited chances of being shot by some **** that shoots at every rustling bush.

 

[Atroxus]

Oh I almost forgot. I am saving right now for a hunting rifle either .308, or .30-06. I have not decided which yet, but I am hoping to have enough by next deer/elk season. I was wondering is .22LR CCI Minimag HP sufficient for varmint hunting up to/including coyotes until I get soemthing bigger?

 

[bad_aim_billy]

Have heard/read a lot of horror stories about running into morons/poachers, or just plain jerks on public lands. Also have heard that competition for animals on public lands can get pretty fierce unless you go really deep into the woods.

Really depends on how much land you have to work with. Out west, public land can mean hundreds of thousands of acres, some of it no vehicles permitted (the way to go, imho), while in other parts of the country, public land can mean a few thousand acres of heavily hunted woods where you're ducking for cover while Billy Bob shoots wildly at ol' mossyhorns.

My advice would be to hike and camp as much as possible from April-Sept, in areas you think might not get hit very much in hunting season. That way, you get a feel for the land and what game it might have. Also, going in really far is often not necessary. Really depends on how much traffic an area gets.

 

[hub]

I know someone that can teach me to hunt, but I have been wondering how to go about getting permission to hunt private land, without having to pay a lease. (I want to hunt for food only, not for trophies)

Well I say don't to be too shy about it. There still is a lot of good people in this world willing to help a new hunter out. Find a good area in the off season, find out who owns it and go ask them nicely. It helps if you know someone or have a reference. Simple as that. I wouldn't try to feed them any B.S. and let them know that honestly you just want to hunt for food.

I don't know about pest control, you could mention it but see if they have anything around the place you can help them out with. I'm thinking a older farmer that burns wood in a outdoor furnace might need some wood cut/split, or stacked. Maybe help them clear a fence row, stack hay in the barn whatever. Just ask. To me someone taking the time early in the season to politely ask and is willing to help me out a little would get the OK way before someone who showed up opening morning asking. I would be kinda leery about saying OK to someone I've never met, talked to, who just walked up and wanted to go out and hunt that day or the next. They don't know you, what kind of person you are, if your safe, or if you got any damn sense, etc. It's a lot easier to just say no to a complete stranger, I think one of the biggest fears is that someone will get hurt and they will get sued.

If or when you get permission ask for written permission and be willing to give them your info, name, address, phone number. Also be sure to ask them if they have an rules to follow, who, when, where, what and how much you can hunt. Do as much as you can to not be a nuisance that way maybe you can return in following years without question.

 

[hub]

Sorry for being so long winded but I do have some personal experience, several people in my family have some good hunting land and I've seen a lot of askers get the OK and several turned away.

Just a few weeks ago at the beginning of gun season some young kid, a freshman in high school came up to me and my step dad while we where processing a deer in his garage and asked to hunt. I really expected him to say no but he said yes if the kid brought his parents out to talk to him first. I asked him why and he said "I remember when I was his age and had no where to hunt, maybe when he is my age and has some land he will remember too and return the favor." It turned out the kids step dad was one of my good friends in high school uncle that I've known since I was little. He actually let me come out to his place with my buddy when I was in high school to turkey hunt but had lost his land in a divorce a few years ago.

My uncle is a grain farmer, he has a ton of land and doesn't hunt. Deer are bad for his crops and he would let just about anyone hunt if they ask nicely.

On the other hand my stepmothers dad who has a pretty big farm will only let family hunt, if that.

What I'm getting at is just don't get down and take it personally if they say no, just move on to the next potential spot. Eventually you will find a good spot, probably sooner than later.

 

[bejay]

would doubt the landowners have much of a problem with the animals you listed, your best bet is just start asking and im sure there is plenty of people that will say yes, hub gave some good advice dont get discouraged if they say no and just move on to the next one if you start awhile before season you shouldnt have much problem getting permission to hunt several different places.
as per public land you might give it a try also and check out some spots some of it may be hunted heavily but some spots just are not hunted much. around here the public land closer to bigger cities is usually hunted heavily, but public land in the more rural areas near small towns is usually not hunted that much.

 

[Art Eatman]

You can hunt varmints on public lands all year around, in many areas. When it's not deer/elk season, few people are anywhere around. And hunting in the off season--or just exploring--lets you determine where people go or don't go during deer/elk season: Vehicle tracks. Trackless generally = no or few people.

I've often hunted people: Find some hunters doing a walking hunt and work to get ahead of them a mile or so in a likiely game get-away path. Let them serve as unwitting beaters for me.

 

[ArmedBear]

Also have heard that competition for animals on public lands can get pretty fierce unless you go really deep into the woods.

A quarter mile isn't that deep, and all that "competition" drives the animals to you. 90% of "hunters" seem like the laziest SOBs on the planet, and "hunting" must be the excuse they gave their wives for buying those ATVs. "We didn't see any deer at all!" doesn't necessarily mean "lots of competition." It often means "we buzzed around on our ATVs for three days and didn't see any deer right by the roads."

Seems like you want to kill varmints, anyway. That's not the "competition" people talk about.

I actually like hunting pheasant with others around. They stomp all over and drive the pheasants into relatively predictable, focused spots with cover, where my dog can find the birds. There's a convenience store I often stop into after hunting one spot. The owner asks if I got any birds, expecting to hear "No, there aren't any out there!" like he heard from the last 5 people or groups. It's fun to chuckle and say, "Yeah."

 

[Atroxus]

Thanks for all the good info. I was mainly thinking of varmint hunting as a means to an end of getting permission to hunt private land. I think I may take some of the advice though and use it to scout public lands during "off-season" and see if I can find some good spots to hunt deer/elk when the time comes.

any reason(s) I should not be able to use .22LR for small game?

 

[schlockinz]

Just check the regs.

FWIW, I don't think I've ever been turned down to bow hunt someones land, and I've always offered to help with chores on the land throughout the year. Also, I asked if the owner was willing to walk or drive the property with me so I could see all the lines and he told me where the deer crossed and hung out, worked out pretty well for me.

 

[Eaglecreekbrewer]

What's likely to get you further than asking to do more hunting, i.e. varmints (unless he has a real issue) is manners, responsibility and work. Offer to help out with fences or hay, make a polite offer for say, 40 hours of work for access to hunt big game. Most of these guys respect someone young willing to work for their keep. And you may just end up with a life long connection for a few weekends a year. Especially if they are getting up their in the years, those hay bales get heavier every season.

 

[bad_aim_billy]

A quarter mile isn't that deep, and all that "competition" drives the animals to you. 90% of "hunters" seem like the laziest SOBs on the planet, and "hunting" must be the excuse they gave their wives for buying those ATVs.

Hear Hear. Cracks me up when I see these guys with their $35k trucks and ATV's in the back, wildly trying to make it to elk camp, while I'm all alone in the no-vehicles-allowed area seeing game.

 

[dakotasin]

the best advice i can give to someone in your situation not in my state is to wait until after the first of the year, and track down a game warden or two. invite them to lunch, on you, and just have a conversation about where, how, legalities, boundaries, etc. also, the warden will know who wants hunters, who does not, and who to steer way clear of.

after your intel gathering w/ the warden, start looking up the land and people he directed you to.

after your first round of 'interviews', send the warden a $10 gift certificate to a restaraunt or buy a coffee for him. call him again and start picking his brain again, ask more questions. be very clear about wanting to do it within the letter of the law.

if you follow thru, you will have plenty of access, and believe me, you could have a lot worse friends than a game warden.

if all that fails, buy a plane ticket out here and get some tags, and we'll do a public land hunt. i also hunt private land, but enjoy public land hunts 10x more. certainly not as easy, but tons more fun.

last, while landowners may appreciate your efforts to remove vermin, they would much rather you helped fix fence, or pick up rocks in the field, etc. they view the varmint shooting more or less as a priviledge, not unlike big game hunting.

good luck!