Permission On Private
Colorado
Heard Chairman Howard allude to his desire of starting a program to, "Teach young hunters how to approach landowners for permission to alleviate pressure on public" awhile ago at a meeting. I've never understood why more people don't do it. My Dad started me out banging doors in Kansas with him chasing quail and pheasant as a young boy. He always offered some form of labor. Most told us they saved it for family etc, some declined the offer and let us hunt, and some had me shoveling stalls while they had coffee with Dad.
While things have changed with many landowners turning to outfitters, I still figure a tank of gas should get at least one new piece of land to hunt on, and I always offer some electrical labor in exchange. I was up in an attic running switch legs for new ceiling fans in the house for the lady who let me hunt my buck last weekend and was wondering what everybody else does. I get the feeling that it's becoming a thing of the past, but I hope I'll be drinking coffee with a landowner one day while my kid shovels horse stalls.
I used to have permission on 6 contiguous ranches for plains deer hunting and 6 contiguous ranches for elk. All but one are now leased to high dollar outfitters. The one where I still have permission, I keep by helping cowboy for a few days a year. But now even he is starting to charge, though not me....yet...
Best strategy seems to be to take a kid when you ask permission.
My experience looking for a place to hunt pronghorn in SE CO has been: leased, leased, leased, family only, leased, calling the cops for trespassing even though all you did was walk up the driveway to ask permission, leased, leased, damn city slickers, leased, trespass fee, leased.
maybe start by asking permission to hunt coyotes. Kill a few coyotes, drop of a little Christmas goodie, and come back year after year, and access for big game becomes easy. Worked for me and I now have permission on lots and lots of private.
Vanish you must be pretty scary and have a terrible sales pitch. Pronghorn is the easiest animal to get access for in SE CO. Good luck in your future attempts.
Money talks. If you owned 10,000 acres or so, and an outfitter offered you $10,000 or more for hunting rights, versus getting nothing and let a bunch of us hunt it free, what would you do? It’s a supply and demand issue. These days the demand is pretty high.
My daughter is pretty dang cute, she's going with me next time I knock on doors...
Eddie, just send her up to the door in a little hunting outfit while you wait in the truck. Have her ask, "Hello sir, I'm just learning to hunt and wondering if you would let me and my dad hunt deer on your property? I'll bake you some cookies!"
I've had pretty good luck starting at least 1.5 hours from a major city like Pueblo, CoSprings, FoCo etc. I think a tank of gas once you're in the area is about average for one piece of land. Don't be afraid to go back year after year. Sometimes the lease ends, other times they begin to take your offers of labor serious. Bowhunting helps.
Most landowners ask folks to shoot multiple Pronghorn if they're gonna allow it. They hate them getting in the winter wheat. Always get a laugh out of that one.
Also, my wife picks up permission the first go around after numerous attempts on my part often enough that she laughs about it. Women and kids certainly get the sympathy card.
Vanish- Don't ask wearing a stick of camo. Use your humor to show them you're a real person and you understand the situation. Humility goes a long ways. Not that you don't have it, but you're doing something wrong if you can't get permission for goats. Good luck and don't give up. It's worth it.
