Hunting private ground in your state

[holder171]

How hard is it to get permission to hunt private ground in your state?

Here in Iowa there’s not a ton of public ground so it usually pays off to do some door knocking and try to pick up some private ground to whitetail hunt. I’d say I have a 10-20% success rate getting permission when going door to door asking to deer hunt. If it’s for turkey hunting I’d say it’s a little higher and if it’s for coyote I hardly ever get told no.
My family also farms around 8000 acres that I have the hunting rights to, so I get put on the other end of the question yearly as well. If it’s for bow hunting I say no due to me hunting it, gun season I’ll let one group go each season but only on stuff I don’t bow hunt, pheasant hunting I try to let everyone go that asks me since I don’t do that.
So how hard is it to get permission in your state? I’m sure like in Iowa it might depend on what you’re hunting, but I’m interested in hearing the responses.


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[Dexter Grayson]

In Oklahoma I would say very similar to your situation. Except waterfowl, big money in waterfowl.

 

[Boarmaster]

Next to impossible in Florida my state of residence. My primary hunting state is Alabama. Since we don't live there or know any farmers there it would be very difficult. Over the last 30 years we have always found leasing worked best for us in both states to consistently have long term quality opportunities for places to hunt.

I lived in SC from 1991-2000. I got lucky and had a customer that was a farmer and he gave me permission to hunt on his farms. I was told by locals I was very lucky to have it with him as he never gave anyone permission or leased to hunters. He told me later why he didnt. I minded my manners and stayed out of his way out there. Evidently others before had not. He got great deals and service on trucks he bought from our families Ford Store.

I hunt as a guest on my cousins farm in Ohio every year. He comes south to Alabama every year to hunt.
He only comes for a week but he knows he is welcome to come any time I am there.

 

[Tjdeerslayer37]

pretty darn tough here in michigan. heck, ive been half heartedly looking for a lease this year and cant find anything worthwhile.

 

[Dos Perros]

I would wager my success rate is higher than 20% but I just don't ask very often. Kansas has a lot of leased land so that cuts down on the places to even try to ask.

 

[spur60]

Really hit or miss here in SD. I usually go about 1 for 5 in asking permission for waterfowl; worse success during peak migration. What's funny is for me it's been 10 times as hard to get permission for ducks as it has been for rifle deer. Find a farmer that hates deer and keep some good bourbon in his shop.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

Here in Ca. hunting private property is very easy, as long as you own it. Other than that good luck. I have only been given permission one time. It was on a farm in central Cal. The only reason I got permission is because he had large cooler boxes that were having cooling issues , so I spent a week doing repairs. He let me hunt the property three time. The next season, turkey, it was no go.

 

[wiarcher]

Here in Wisconsin it depends on where you are and what you are hunting. Odds are not very good if you are gun hunting deer, but you have a better chance if you are turkey hunting in the spring.

 

[badgerboy]

How hard is it to get permission to hunt private ground in your state?

Here in Iowa there’s not a ton of public ground so it usually pays off to do some door knocking and try to pick up some private ground to whitetail hunt. I’d say I have a 10-20% success rate getting permission when going door to door asking to deer hunt. If it’s for turkey hunting I’d say it’s a little higher and if it’s for coyote I hardly ever get told no.
My family also farms around 8000 acres that I have the hunting rights to, so I get put on the other end of the question yearly as well. If it’s for bow hunting I say no due to me hunting it, gun season I’ll let one group go each season but only on stuff I don’t bow hunt, pheasant hunting I try to let everyone go that asks me since I don’t do that.
So how hard is it to get permission in your state? I’m sure like in Iowa it might depend on what you’re hunting, but I’m interested in hearing the responses.


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Interesting thread. Out of curiosity, how many people hunt 8000 acres? That's a lot!

My family in WI is very open to others hunting on our farm. My uncle and grandma both will allow access for Turkey or deer to pretty much anyone who asks but only to certain areas/parcels as well.

Out of state trips, success rate less than 10% but still worth it for me as have had success on those private places.

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[holder171]

Interesting thread. Out of curiosity, how many people hunt 8000 acres? That's a lot!

My family in WI is very open to others hunting on our farm. My uncle and grandma both will allow access for Turkey or deer to pretty much anyone who asks but only to certain areas/parcels as well.

Out of state trips, success rate less than 10% but still worth it for me as have had success on those private places.

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Being farmers a lot of that 8000 acres is tillable so it’s a lot of just wide open fields. The 8000 acres is spread out over the county. I have about 5 farms on the 8000 acres I consider good to deer hunt. I’m the only one bow hunting the ground. The gun groups I let hunt the stuff I don’t hunt are usually pushing some creeks and maybe a little bit of CRP. I’m the only one calling coyotes on the 8000 acres but I let a group run dogs through some of it. As far as pheasant we have about 4 good chunks of CRP and I’ll let one group hunt that each week on a first ask basis. Turkey hunting I don’t really get asked much but I’ll let buddies hunt it when they want.
Iowa farmers seem to be pretty open to letting people hunt as long as they haven’t had a bad experience with past hunters or someone’s not already hunting it.


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[TSAMP]

I'm in iowa. I haven't asked permission in awhile. It seems 90% of inquiries come from folks asking to lease it to hunt, not just permission for a day or week. The lease request always come off as Intrusive to me. I'm sure it's their way of showing they are serious.

Beings I hunt the response is always no. if you just asked to hunt for the day odds are high I'd say go ahead though. Depending on my plans.

 

[jayhawk]

Depends on what your hunting. Squirrels, doves, rabbits, and coyotes are pretty easy to get permission for. Deer and Turkey forget it.

 

[Geewhiz]

In montana for elk its pretty close to 0% from my experience.

 

[Moto_917]

I’m in CA and the chance of getting permission to hunt private ground is slim to none. The odds get a little better if you know the landowner or the landowner’s friends/family. I have a buddy who is a cattle rancher and let’s me hunt his 10K acres without having to ask, and another buddy/coworker with a lot more ground than that who refuses to let anyone hunt besides family. If the guy who lets me hunt cut off my access tomorrow, it wouldn’t bother me a bit or change a thing. We‘re fortunate to have a lot of public land out here, even though there’s a lot of hunters eating tag soup.

I have distant family outside Polk City, Iowa that farm a LOT of ground (from what I recall) and I always wondered how the land access/hunting culture was out there.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

Virginia here, still seems pretty easy to get permission around where i live, i got several pieces of private I deer hunt, plus all the public so i havent had to ask for permission to deer hunt in forever. I have picked up two small pieces to squirrel hunt with my dogs this year. Same people would probably let me deer hunt to, but not worried about it cause the deer hunt and i got my own spots as well etc.

Treat your neighbors good, and be a good neighbor and thing seem to work out

 

[SuperDUECE22]

Interesting thread. Out of curiosity, how many people hunt 8000 acres? That's a lot!

More than you think, and 8000 acres may be a lot in certain areas of the US but in some areas the game densities are very low and 8,000 acres can seem very small.

I have permission for almost 23,000 acres in my neighboring state for deer, coyote & bird hunting. Alot of this is tillable and/or pasture ground so it doesn't all equate to hunting ground. Only problem is rifle tags are 10–15-year Waite but at least I can archery hunt it almost every year.

 

[Squirrel Master]

Unless you have friends or family with land, or own your own land, it's as easy as your pockets are deep here in Texas to be honest. But you're gonna pay pretty much anywhere here.

 

[gabenzeke]

I'm in Iowa and my experience hasn't been positive. I'm generally not brave enough to ask. But the few times I've asked it's been a resounding no. I do have a cousin that farms, but it's in an area without a lot of deer and their farm doesn't have a lot of deer habitat even if there were a lot of them. Pheasant numbers have been down, so I haven't bird hunted there in years, but when we did you'd only occasionally see a doe.

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[roadrunner]

Money talks in NM. Easy if you have the coin to either barter access with dollars or buying a LO voucher.

 

[holder171]

I'm in Iowa and my experience hasn't been positive. I'm generally not brave enough to ask. But the few times I've asked it's been a resounding no. I do have a cousin that farms, but it's in an area without a lot of deer and their farm doesn't have a lot of deer habitat even if there were a lot of them. Pheasant numbers have been down, so I haven't bird hunted there in years, but when we did you'd only occasionally see a doe.

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I’m about as introvert as they come, but realized the more doors I knocked on the easier it’s gotten to ask. I’ve never had anyone be a dick to me or anything; if it’s a no it’s usually just because someone already hunts it and I thank them anyways and move on to the next house. After awhile ya kind of get a script in your head of what you’ll say to them and I think that’s why it gets easier to ask.


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