This land is your land, this land is my land

[OhioOutdoorsman]

Since this forum gets the most traffic, I wanted to post a discussion thread on private land access.

I have the priveledge of hunting fairly regularly on a overgrown farm that is owned by a guy who lives out of state. I hunt the land mainly with his son and another good friend. The landowner comes up once of twice a year and when he does he wants to have the land to himself, which I think is reasonable. Its his land. However, he often comes up at the last minute, causing me to have to cancel trips for which I had scheduled off work. His son feels terrible about this.

We have put several treestands on the property, but not given the landowner anything to say "thank you".

Should I pay the landowner to hunt on the land? Should I make approved capital improvements to the land as a way of saying thank you? If I do either of these two options, is it reasonable for me to expect future access to the land?

Should I just take things as they come and find another place to hunt when the landowner comes up?

I'm just looking for some guidlines for ettiquette when I comes to hunting on another person's land.

How have other city boys like myself gotten access to private land without leasing? Is this a lost cause?All of the suburbs in the area are teaming with deer, but no hunting is allowed. (Although they hire sharpshooters.) I grew up in a small town, but don't know anyone with a large plot of huntable land anymore. Buying land to hunt is really expensive and hunting leases here run $20-$30/acre. To be honest, I'd rather spend my money on a nice guided trip, it'd be a better value.

I know this is an issue for lots of Average Joe Hunters like myself..........

[Brent]

You might reach an agreement to where you make some advancement/improvements to the property in exchange for a season of hunting. He does own the land so what he says goes, unless you sign a lease and are bound by the paper. I would think owner and hunter could reach an agreement. Seasonly or Yearly gifts are a way to stay in goodstanding. Show them that you appreciate their land, and you should get respect back.

I give a bit of meat, fix fince, run cattle, or any other odd job the land owner needs done. Most of the time when I go to a field I take some fence staples and a hammer just incase I see a wire that needs to be hung back up. If the wire is broken, I make a note of it and come back the next day to fix it. Just doing little things like this seams to work well for me and the farmers. More than once I have replaced a post that was old or down. Just let him know what improvements you have made. This has always worked for me, I get free land to hunt on, and he gets some free labor.

[Yooper]

Ohio-
I feel for you. I've been on the other side of that equation so perhaps I can help. My family owns farmland and I am the only hunter in the family. When I went off to college, I gave some friends permission to hunt there with the express knowledge that when I came back, I had right-of-way.

Of course, things got out of hand and more than once, I came back to find guys all over the place and my hunting was ruined. That's another story though...

Here's what I asked of my friends:
1. Keep the place clean
2. Fix anything they saw needed fixin'
3. Respect what I asked of them

Sounds to me like you're doing it right. I wouldn't bend over backwards too much because in the end, the landowner has the right to be there when he wants to. I'd look for a back-up location for those times when he throws a monkey wrench into your plans and not give it it a second thought.

If you do decide to offer to improve the land, talk it over with the owner and get his imput. Sounds to me like the biggest issue is communication as he's not talking to you enough about what his plans are. Let's say you offer to make a food plot. Maybe get him to go to the land with you and talk about locations? The more you talk, the better off you'll be.

And I'd avoid offering to pay for access. If the owner asks for money, then discuss it. The fewer leased land issues we have in the hunting world, the better.

[OhioOutdoorsman]

Thanks for the advice. I only hunt their a couple times a year when I'm with the landowner's son. There are public hunting areas nearby, and to be honest the hunting is probably just about as good. The only reason I like hunting private land is nicer stands and safety during gun season. I agree on the leasing. I wish they would have some programs here that provided incentives to farmers, etc to open their land to hunting.

I really wish the burbs would open hunting. The two largest bucks I've ever seen were in developments in the burbs. Non-hunters can't understand how I possibly come home after a hunting trip empty handed when they see deer every night in their back yard.

Then they open the parks to sharpshooters and PETA types film the massacre and create more ill will towards hunters, because most people think hunters are like the sharpshooters. Its all very fustrating.