Gift ideas for landowner
Whitetail Deer
Trying to come up with an idea for a gift as a thank you to a rancher. I barely know him and he has a huge ranch with cattle so I guess a nice steak is out. Ideas?
Cash.... He can buy himself something he really wants .
No shortage of work to be done on a ranch/farm. Offer a day or three of hard work. Loading hay, repair work, painting his barn, etc. The offer will probably go further than any actual work.
Pies, pastries, a bottle of wine or a gift certificate to restaurant or farmers co-op maybe.
I tap my own maple trees cook it down and bottle it. I just sent a couple gallons to a friend in WY who gives it as gifts to ranches he hunts said they just rave about it. I have had same results with ranch owners that I hunt on.
Smoked salmon from the PNW. Really hard to come by in Wyoming.
As a landowner myself...I would recommend doing a project or chore for them. And make sure it's something you are confident in doing. Do not offer doing something that the landowner might have to instruct you on. If you want to make an impact, then do something start to finish! If you are an electrician and notice something he needs done. Then say to him that you noticed it and would like to come out on a specific weekend and do the job. And make it clear to him you know what you are doing and don't need him around to help.
If you have no specific skill set then come out and weed around his buildings. Bring your weed eater and tools and mower and get his place looking fantastic. I promis THAT will go way farther than a bottle of liquor or any food you could give him. Because you just gave the guy back some of his time to go do what he wants, and not what needs to be done!
Growing up on a ranch and seeing this from both sides, it's always nice to see somebody come out and get their hands dirty with us. Then you know they're down to earth and have an idea of what it takes to keep a ranch up and going. This is more of a gesture than a thank you. Of course not everyone is able to go buck bales all day or fix fence or ride horse. Syrup sounds good too.
I have had great success using two things......1.) The direct approach 2.) Sincerity....and it follows Jingalls comments rather closely. I let them know much hunting means to me, and how much I appreciate their permission to hunt on their property. Then I simply tell them the truth....that I would like to do something for them. In the past, it usually involved a few hours of putting up hay. In more recent years, it has been mowing a lawn, tilling a garden, cleaning out a barn, cutting down some dead trees, or planting some new trees and fencing them off. In all of the times that I have offered to help, the vast majority of times the landowner has leaned towards a little "sweat equity" versus a good bottle of libation......I am sure experiences will vary.
If he drinks, another vote for a nice whiskey.
Jingalls also has a good suggestion but as he mentioned, don’t make an offer you can’t stick to. If you suck at fixing fences, don’t offer to help. Likewise if you have limited spare time and want to use your time hunting, not working, you will want to consider a one time gift. If you offer to work and every time he asks for help, you are busy doing something else, your offer may turn into the thing that gets you booted off the property. Also, help can turn into a project that requires way more time than anticipated. If, for example, you are an electrician and you offer to rewire his house, you may end up doing a job for free that requires too much time and is worth way more than the hunting access. It is really important to come up with a set even trade like a day of hunting is equivalent to a day of work. I will say, If you can trade work, as jingalls said, it will go a lot farther than a one time gift especially if you get along with the landowner and do a good job.
im a landowner, and I will tell you anything is appreciated, but I would say cash is king. maybe a 12 pack of beer with an envelope in it containing a handwritten thankyou note with a little cash. I promise that will go a long way
My usual thank you gift is few pounds Widmer medium aged Brick cheese, 8 year old cellar aged cheddar cheese , and some Colby cheese along with a bottle of Wisconsin cranberry plum wine, a sampler 12 pack of Lienenklugel beer and stick or two cranberry / cheddar summer sausage. Oh and a sampler of Oaks chocolates for the Mrs.
Thank you from Wisconsin
Lobstergram.com (if they are still around) has never let me down. Nobody expects a live lobster (with all the goodies to go with it) being delivered to them. Excellent service when I used them and I always got a delighted response.
We've always given a bottle of Crown when we show up. The dude loves it and his wife only lets him buy Wild Turkey (when she let's him drink).
After we leave, we always order him something while we are driving home, to show up to him a day or 3 after we are gone. Be careful withe the seafood suggestions unless you know he likes it. Some people are allergic to shellfish, and some people just don't like salmon. Also be careful with the "labor" gift. If we showed up to our ranchers house and started mowing his grass and cutting his weeds, he probably kick us off and tell us never to to come back. Some people are very particular about their own yards Farm Ranch whatever.
True story: I once hunted on a Widow's property when I was about 25. She was about 45. She was lonely and we gave each other a gift on the first night and the second night and third night of the hunt. Sometimes that's all it takes.
I usually give a gift certificate to the place he eats breakfast everyday! Where I hunt 8 or 10 farmers/ranchers get together everyday for breakfast after morning chores. When I am there hunting I buy the whole table breakfast a couple times and before I leave I buy a gift certificate for $100 and have the girl give it to the guy who lets me hunt the next morning when he comes in!! I am only there for 15-20 days and if a hand is needed around the place I help but the gift certificate seems much appreciated. Shawn
Shake his hand and look him in the eye!
JuanPablo - Do you think that widow would be interested in a lease? Lol.
In CT if a landowner grants permission they are held harmless if a hunter gets hurt on their property. I would avoid a cash gift for that reason. Most have appreciated the gesture whenever I have offered to do some work with my limited skill set. I usually get them a package from Omaha Steaks.
Juan Pablo: Hope you didn't get the gift that keeps on giving.
Nope. The gift ended on that trip. She got married soon after to a rich guy. That's been 10 years ago. Bet she still looks good though.
I give my landowner a big bottle of good canadian whisky every year, he always feels bad for taking it, great guy
O&H Danish Kringle from Racine, WI. You can order on line and they will ship to the house. It's amazing. Order an apple and pecan. Not all landowners drink. If I gave my father in law a bottle of whiskey he'd hand it right back to me. But he loves when I send him Kringle. Just trust me on this one. Google it, order it and you're good to go!
Crusader—don’t give away our WI friendly gifts! Next thing you know, you’ll have some FIB moving in on your action gifting Kringle & squeaky cheese curds!! ;)
How about some choice cuts of game meat?Of course I wouldn't give away my backstraps or tenderloins...
Duke, EVERYONE deserves the opportunity to try Kringle! Even fibs
I like to send them something unexpected after I leave. I have sent people high end knives, multitools, flashlights..not sure what else. I try and make it something good....meaning expensive! If it's something that I would highly value....I figure they would too. I go to a lot of trouble to find something I think they will both like and need. I like to spend $100 minimum.
A little out of the box:
This past year, after the Kansas landowners wife loaded us down with canned goods for the 3rd year in a row , I sent her a bunch of canning jars via Amazon. They were very well received!! Growing up a country kid, I'm well aware of how possessive country women are of their Ball canning jars!
And I send a card with a Lowe's gift card every year also, since every homeowner can use them!
Decent quality pocket knife. Never knew a rancher to not have use for one of those.
We always leave our land owners cash. We put it in an envelope and leave it in the mail box or on the door at the house. We are pretty generous I guess, we usually leave 2-3 hundred for a weeks hunt. We also help out whenever the opportunity arises. I caught a horse that got out once and was trotting down the road. He was pretty friendly and I got him to come to me with an apple. I used my jacket around his neck to lead him back. The rancher was very grateful!!!
Cash is always good!
Sometimes buttering up a rancher will backfire. I gave several gift cards for restaurants to on and she reminded me for the next 5 years I didn't owe them anything and I could always hunt. Giving whiskey to someone who doesn't drink or is a devout Christian might go the wrong way as well. I still think the restaurant gift card idea was a good one though..
The farm I rabbit hunt on I have always given something. The original owner died and his Stepson took over the duties of running it. He is a bowhunter. I have given him a good knife and other things I will call stuff. A couple of years ago he mentioned he was interested in traditional archery and I directed him where to look. The next year he still hadn't gotten around to getting one. So 2 years ago I got him a Samick Journey (his draw is 30 inches), 2 High Performance Strings that I made, a dozen arrows that I made, and set the bow up for him. 6 of the arrows, I put Zwickey Deltas on with broadhead adapters, got them to spin true on those 6 arrows, numbered them to match, and sharpen the broadheads. I also gave him 2 shooting gloves, arm guard, and a bow stringer. He hunted with it last year and had a blast doing it. Last year I gave him a quiver. This year I gave him a RADA Knife sharpener (to sharpen his broadheads) and set up a recurve for his buddy. See if you can find out what the man really likes or is interested in, in a non-conspicuous manor. Might be something as easy as Home Made Cookies or something you never thought about because you didn't know. It is like the farm I rabbit hunt on. I learned about this farm 41yrs ago because of a girl I worked with, her father NEVER wanted anything from me, but I gave it to him anyway. His Stepson, I still get to hunt it because of "ONE DAY". I was courteous to him, when I thought he was going deer hunting and told him I would hunt the other direction from where he was going. How much does it mean TO YOU to hunt there? What are you willing to do because he LET YOU. I know it is not the answer you were looking for but maybe an idea how to find out. DANNY
I once gave the landowner a gallon bottle of Jack Daniels because he liked to have a drink in the evening.
