Knocking on doors
Massachusetts
Still knocking on doors, still coming up empty. I shave, tuck my shirt in, stand up straight. Doesn't work. Came back around to one house where two years ago the lady told me her minister hunted the property. How can I compete with that? Well again the other day she told me the minister still hunted there. So I had an epiphany--I'm becoming a minister. Wife was initially thrilled that I might actually have some redeeming quality. Then upset when she figured out I was doing it to get hunting spots.
As a parallel strategy, I'm offering ten Bowsite Points to anyone who has a suggestion about how to get these landowners to say "yes." When you accumulate 100 Bowsite Points, you're automatically enrolled as a Bowsite Elite member, with all the attendant benefits and privileges.
Just to be clear, there's no such thing as Bowsite Points or Bowsite Elite. As far as I know. Just some crap I made up.
The number one reason I have gotten not to allow me to hunt was they have kids that play back there. I did however get a few yeses back in the day but the land wasn't that great. It has been a long time since I've knocked on a door. Jeb you are a riot!
Knock knock knockin on rich folks doors...
Jeb, do you have any young, cute, well behaved, innocent looking children? Try bringing them with you when you knock on doors. Not sure it will work but it just might help the person answering the door to see you as a responsible parent rather than just some random hunter that's gonna shoot at anything that moves.
If you don't have children that fit that description maybe you can rent some for a day...
Bruce said what I was thinking. I've largely found, that if I ask someone when with my wife, they are far more willing to at least entertain it. If it's just me, it depends on the town, west of Fitchburg I've had ok luck, east of that point... Not so much.
So... If you have a spouse Jeb, bring her :)
I've heard folks suggest a well written card with your approach to hunting and the value hunting has or perhaps overall safety record it has can be left with the person.
That all said, it doesnt work all the time. Once in CT, not trying for permission, but still this is great...
My wife and I were getting out of the subaru forester we had at the time. We were getting camo'd up for a hunt that afternoon. Parked on a cul-d-sac in a well to do area about to hunt private watershed land (well, it may be public but you have to "draw" a permit to get access). My wife and I are chatting and getting things together, and this woman comes back from a walk. She's like 20yds away turning into her yard. We are trying to be nice and wave. As we are saying "Hi" she just grumpily shouts "I dont like hunters" puts her head down and runs inside! So, on that one - no one is getting through :) ha ha ha!
It nothing short of a major project getting permission. You literally can bang, call, or mail out flyers to a hundred landowners until you get one bite. On the north shore it brutal. To many horse lovers that think your going to kill their horse. And then there's the one that really frosts me........."Hey no problem .....let me check with my wife." Kiss of death there. To many anti's out there, to many people just don't understand hunting or the benefits of it, to many people like the pretty deer................but have no problem buying meat at the store.
"Hey no problem....let me check with my wife"
Translation: I don't want you hunting my property but I'm not brave enough to tell you that unless I'm hiding behind my wife.
Bruce you are 100 % correct! LMAO!
Great responses, ten points to everybody. Will I've even tried bringing along multiple spouses, no luck.
Jeb, you are the _________ of bowsite....(plug in your favorite late night personality, kimmel, colbert, fallon, o'brien, letterman...) great stuff.
To the subject at hand: I asked for permission only once in town (in my early days of hunting)... I have since been blessed with inlaws property.... best experience .... old timer... WW2 vet... lived in town his whole life... great stories...loved to share the history of town... I always dropped off venison and pies on all major holidays... he showed me pix of him shooting a native stick bow in the south pacific in WW2.... here is the kicker. ... I asked him for permission to hunt his land in 2002.... I was the first hunter to ask persmission to hunt his family's 40+ prime acres in town!... he would kick people off his constantly for DECADES.... just because they didn't ask.... I was younger, handsomer, and skinnier back then.... and had a young family in tow that would deliver the holiday treats with me....not sure I could get away with that today! Good luck, Jeb.
Yup. Guys can't grow a set.....
Jeb, multiple spouses only works in Utah.
Today I stopped in at a place and my "no" was due to "I hunt it." Actually have gotten that several times. That particular "no" doesn't bother me at all. At least it makes sense.
My best luck (which is still one in a hundred) is older men, often times they get it and are okay with it. But more often than not, "sure, let me just check with my wife." over and over. And "but I have kids..." Of course you do....
But you did not ask for stories, you asked for tips. My other tip is to be prepared with info: The legality (including setback laws). The safety (your effective shooting range, and maybe a stat about zero hunting accidents with bow other than tree stand accidents, and bowhunt ed. course, and shooting downwards into the ground, and the fact that you never see any deer anyway, etc.). The liability clause of Mass states that the landowner can not be held liable (MGL Ch. 21 ยง 17C). And what you do with the meat, and how badly we need hunting to keep them off the roads and out of your pretty gardens... Anyway, I keep all this at the tip of my tongue when speaking with "maybes" or when a guy goes back to talk with his wife, maybe it gives them something to think about. You are just trying to increase your odds from 1:100 to 1:75 here....
All good tips, thank you. Interesting about old men. I've said on here before that the only two "yes's" I've gotten have been from old men. And I think it's because they're from a time when common sense was more common.
I think I've learned another thing: leaving a card or a note requesting a phone call is pointless. I haven't gotten a single phone call, even to be told "no." Seems like it has to be face-to-face. To be told "no."
Let me write down one more thing. Some time ago I described a guy whose hunting vehicle was a mini-van, and I said he was a genius. That's true, but I think there's room for improvement. Recently I rode in an electric vehicle. Totally silent. Probably hard for some of you guys in western MA (closer to America) to imagine, but here in Zone 10 a lot of the time you're hunting pretty close to where you park--because it's the only option. With this electric vehicle you can roll up in full-stealth mode, not alert the deer, and all the suburbanites won't feel threatened. It's a win-win.
I've actually had a few hits by running an add in a local paper. "Got tick problems, shrub damage, give me a call" etc... Most of my properties have been by asking and then word of mouth from satisfied landowners.
I used to keep this to myself for fear of too many people showing up in private spots but I don't care anymore.. you want to have alot of private propertys to hunt? when you knock on the doors tell them you ONLY want to hunt the coyotes,,,,, tell them you have other spots you will hunt deer but here your only after coyotes which remind them eat all the cats and little dogs left unattended and in some cases attended with their leashes on..
after they get to know you thats when you ask if you can take a deer,,,, make sure you tell them you will not shoot any deer that have young with them and if they have a special buck who visits their bird feeder he also will be spared,,,, you need to be specific that you only want a deer for a winters worth of meat and you need to make them feel comfortable with their decision allowing you back there,,, I also tell them if they want I can field dress after I get in the woods and if I'm removing anything I can have it in a tarp and fully concealed from neighbors and family because alot of homeowners are concerned with what their neighbors will think you need to cover all the bases.
killing coyotes is what opens the doors,,, most home owners are nervous of coyotes....
you want extra brownie points which could get you more property's,, you call or swing by after a snow storm and make sure everything is alright maybe shovel out a walk way---> you do that and you are golden!
Very interesting, thank you
Jeb, what towns are you hoping to hunt in?
Brookline. But the setback is killing me. Kidding aside, kind of you to ask Jimbo, but I don't want to give the impression that I'm on here trolling for spots. Was just looking for some general advice, which I've appreciated, and having fun hearing some good stories. Hunting for spots is almost as exciting as hunting for deer, it turns out. I got a good, solid "no" at one place last night, and as I was driving out three deer were standing in the yard laughing at me.
Wow! Talk about your tough towns to find room to hunt... Brookline is pretty well developed. I wish you luck... if you do find a spot, you'll be sitting pretty.
It won't happen in my lifetime but unfortunately pay as you go like in Europe or some states out West is the future of American hunter.
Be persistent. You will get a million "no's" before a "yes" but its still worth it obviously if you harvest an animal. Gets to be a second full time job though it seems. The predator control thing works fairly well but the generation of landowners now seem more stubborn on their decisions. No matter how you explain or plead they are usually firm with their "NO". If you get someone beating around the bush or needing to ask the significant other assume its a "NO". Call the DCR ask if they have been contacted by anyone complaining about invasive wildlife in your area or anywhere for that matter and to leave them your info to relay to any landowners looking to cull some deer. Email works well because people are more willing to entertain an electronic request then a written request. At least you should get more feedback even if it is another "NO".
