Door knocking

A couple years ago, I was a college freshman, out hunting in an unfamiliar area w/ a buddy. No dog. Driving down a road, we saw a couple roosters run into this little spot, so we stopped across the road at the nearest farmplace to inquire. To us at the time, it was an older gentleman, maybe 60. "Sure, that's mine. You can try to get 'em if you give me 5 minutes to get my gun & my lab & go with you!" Needless to say, we didn't turn him down. It took about 1/2 an hour to hunt his spot & my buddy & I each got 1 of those roosters. The landowner took a couple shots. He then drove us back to his place, offered us sodas & took a photo of us w/ our birds & his dog. He was truly happy that we'd been successful & that he & his dog had the opportunity to hunt a little. And he taught 2 teenagers a lesson on how to be a nice guy. I can still see several images from that little hunt vividly, 33 years later. I'll never forget it.
 
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A5 Sweet 16 said:
A couple years ago, I was a college freshman, out hunting in an unfamiliar area w/ a buddy. No dog. Driving down a road, we saw a couple roosters run into this little spot, so we stopped across the road at the nearest farmplace to inquire. To us as the time, it was an older gentleman, maybe 60. "Sure, that's mine. You can try to get 'em if you give me 5 minutes to get my gun & my lab & go with you!" Needless to say, we didn't turn him down. It took about 1/2 an hour to hunt his spot & my buddy & I each got 1 of those roosters. The landowner took a couple shots. He then drove us back to his place, offered us sodas & took a photo of us w/ our birds & his dog. He was truly happy that we'd been successful & that he & his dog had the opportunity to hunt a little. And he taught 2 teenagers a lesson on how to be a nice guy. I can still see several images from that little hunt vividly, 33 years later. I'll never forget it.
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That brought a smile and memories --
1. "Faulty math..." Freshman a couple years ago - 33 years later? Well written. Got to pay attention when A5 talks.
2. Similar experience -- First trip to SD 1996 - not doing much good on public so we started knocking on doors. Elderly man answers, I make our spill about looking for places to hunt pheasants, he asked me if I had a guide. Puzzled I said No Sir. He says, You do now, let me get my shotgun. He only had 3 sections so he called his relatives and got us access to their property too. After a couple of years we started staying in their house, his wife cooked breakfast and dinner, cleaned and froze our birds. 15 years passed and they sold most of their land to the state so its now public and moved in town to assisted living. The people I have met in my pursuit of pheasants have enriched my life and provided great memories. In a few weeks I get to visit with them again.
 
I almost hate to share this, but in the spirit of the sport, I'll pass it along. My buddy and his dad have a sizeable ranch in western South Dakota. He looked at me like I was crazy and said he had no idea that people hunted Sharptail grouse. Granted, I am able to get permission to hunt via my friend, but it opened my eyes that with so many folks protective of deer and pheasants, permission to hunt grouse can be a nice segue in building up that long term, mutually beneficial relationship. Note the last phrase - mutually beneficial. Landowners are essentially bestowing their greatest asset unto us as hunters. Treat the access accordingly.
 
Amazing stories, fellas!! We might be crazy about pheasants, but its the connections with the land, the dogs and other people that provide so much intrinsic value!
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
A couple years ago, I was a college freshman, out hunting in an unfamiliar area w/ a buddy. No dog. Driving down a road, we saw a couple roosters run into this little spot, so we stopped across the road at the nearest farmplace to inquire. To us at the time, it was an older gentleman, maybe 60. "Sure, that's mine. You can try to get 'em if you give me 5 minutes to get my gun & my lab & go with you!" Needless to say, we didn't turn him down. It took about 1/2 an hour to hunt his spot & my buddy & I each got 1 of those roosters. The landowner took a couple shots. He then drove us back to his place, offered us sodas & took a photo of us w/ our birds & his dog. He was truly happy that we'd been successful & that he & his dog had the opportunity to hunt a little. And he taught 2 teenagers a lesson on how to be a nice guy. I can still see several images from that little hunt vividly, 33 years later. I'll never forget it.
Click to expand...

As I was halfway through reading this one, I thought it was going to say, "give me 5 minutes to get my gun and my lab" while you sat on his front steps, he slipped out the backdoor and got the birds himself.
 
dakotasj said:
That brought a smile and memories --
1. "Faulty math..." Freshman a couple years ago - 33 years later? Well written. Got to pay attention when A5 talks.
2. Similar experience -- First trip to SD 1996 - not doing much good on public so we started knocking on doors. Elderly man answers, I make our spill about looking for places to hunt pheasants, he asked me if I had a guide. Puzzled I said No Sir. He says, You do now, let me get my shotgun. He only had 3 sections so he called his relatives and got us access to their property too. After a couple of years we started staying in their house, his wife cooked breakfast and dinner, cleaned and froze our birds. 15 years passed and they sold most of their land to the state so its now public and moved in town to assisted living. The people I have met in my pursuit of pheasants have enriched my life and provided great memories. In a few weeks I get to visit with them again.
Click to expand...
That's really great, to have as farmer go hunting with you.I found a place yesterday that had a lot of roosters, but saw no sharptails, no huns. The farmer was a good dude.I get on some good farms, when I hunt by myself.
 
This is a great topic, and one that everyone can learn from.
First a caveat- I do hunt in an area where a lot of people know my family and that does open some doors. Not always. But I have amassed a lot of great pheasant cover over the last several years and made some good friends doing so. But here are some of my personal rules and techniques.

- I try and hide my damn license plate when I pull in. Not to be shady- I have to live in the metro of Des Moines for work, and I sense as soon as they see that county plate there is already a strike against me. I never lie about where I'm from, but always mention where I grew up and how so they know I can close gates, etc. Eventually the "where you from" question pops up and I try and start an image before it does.

- I NEVER, EVER, EEEVVVER pull a man off a tractor.

- I prefer to talk in person so I can be measured up properly, but if phone is required I never call after 8pm or during a meal hour. Like me, they don't answer unrecognized numbers anyhow.

- If not hunting that day, I always ask if they'd like a call at that time or if I can go out any time. 50/50 response interestingly.

- Always confirm boundaries and any other rules they may have.

- Dog sits in the front seat nicely and illustrates I do take things seriously.

- Try and keep a treat in my pocket for the farm dog.

-Never make a sexist assumption that the male is the owner. A couple places I hunt are owned by the wife and she makes all the calls on it.

- When I get turned down its usually because they/family hunt it. I ask how they've done and compare notes. After chatting awhile I have had people say I could hunt after the holidays or similar.

- When turned down with a softer 'no', I'll mention I may ask again in the future, and have always been invited to do so.

- I print a business card with my contact info on it, as they should know how to reach me since I can reach them. Need to add my vehicle info to it.

- About once a week I listen to the WHO Radio farm show, just to have a sense whats going on out there. I never pretend to understand agriculture but it does help to keep a conversation going with "I was reading somewhere..." I do care about whats going on out there.

- I don't offer money as 1- I can't afford to, 2- Most farmers could buy/sell me with the amounts of money it takes to farm now, and 3- I don't want to set forth an idea of pay to play and have IA turn into SD.

- I am also a beekeeper, and the following summer I drop off a jar of honey as a thank you and then ask about the following year. Its a good conversation starter and seems really appreciated, as well as makes me memorable.

These are the ones that come to the top of my head. I've gotten to where I enjoy the challenge of getting/keeping acreage to hunt nearly as much as I do the hunting itself. And the people in the country are largely great people.
 
Forgot to answer the original post. Most people I've already contacted don't give much a damn about the Covid, buit I simply step back a ways from the door and keep my 6 feet. Most are elderly.
 
Always a challenge to gain access to private ground.

When I was a kid (I'm 49 now), my dad would drag me with him up to the front porch thinking a kid would tip the odds a little. He also believed in the "hide your big city license plate" theory.

Memorable story: 7-8 years ago I was coveting a quarter of CRP across from someone else's land where we had permission. My plat map showed a name that I could not connect with a phone number. One year a posted sign showed up with a phone number. That's pretty rare in Kansas. Our day was full, but I wrote the number down for the future. Later in the year I called and was able to get permission for a particular day from "Joe". When approaching the end of the field a truck stopped to wait for us. With confidence, I walked to window of the truck and said "Hi, I'm Matt, are you Joe?" It wasn't. "Martin" was mad and wanted to know why we were hunting his ground without permission. I apologized profusely, pointed at the clearly visible sign with the phone number, and told him that Joe had given me permission. He calmed down a little but we still moved on from that field. There was no boundary confusion. Turns out Joe was watching the land for an out-of-state owner who had sold it to Martin without telling Joe. Joe was no longer authorized to give permission, but he didn't know it. Martin let me hunt the next year. Then the CRP contract expired and now it's a wheat field...

Back to the general topic, I ALWAYS send a handwritten thank you note early in the following week. I have no idea if it makes a difference. I don't want to "wear out my welcome", so I usually only ask a landowner for one day per year. I also want to be remembered when I call next year.
 
Ask around when in the bars, restaurants, gas station and see if they are any locals who want to get out hunting. Many can't for lack of vehicle, gas money, shells. Our first "in" was from a cook that desperately wanted to get out but had been cooking part time and hauling grain part time trying to get by. He took us directly to a couple coveys roadside and then called his farmers he worked for to get access to a couple old building sites. Worked great but he had to work the weekdays so we were at a bar Sunday night with him buying dinner/drinks and he hooks us up with a farmhand who takes us out the next day. We went through a lot of flat pasture most of the day but hit a few honey holes at the end to fill out. Turns out we spent 4 hours checking cattle he was responsible for but he made sure we got out birds. After getting to know his local family we would ask if any kids wanted to ride along/hunt with us. There was often a kid old enough to shoot but too young to drive who didn't have chores in the middle of the day while the family was out combining. They always knew were to go and who was a cousin/uncle/hunter friendly and we would send them door knocking for permission.
 
berettadouble said:
This is a great topic, and one that everyone can learn from.
First a caveat- I do hunt in an area where a lot of people know my family and that does open some doors. Not always. But I have amassed a lot of great pheasant cover over the last several years and made some good friends doing so. But here are some of my personal rules and techniques.

- I try and hide my damn license plate when I pull in. Not to be shady- I have to live in the metro of Des Moines for work, and I sense as soon as they see that county plate there is already a strike against me. I never lie about where I'm from, but always mention where I grew up and how so they know I can close gates, etc. Eventually the "where you from" question pops up and I try and start an image before it does.

- I NEVER, EVER, EEEVVVER pull a man off a tractor.

- I prefer to talk in person so I can be measured up properly, but if phone is required I never call after 8pm or during a meal hour. Like me, they don't answer unrecognized numbers anyhow.

- If not hunting that day, I always ask if they'd like a call at that time or if I can go out any time. 50/50 response interestingly.

- Always confirm boundaries and any other rules they may have.

- Dog sits in the front seat nicely and illustrates I do take things seriously.

- Try and keep a treat in my pocket for the farm dog.

-Never make a sexist assumption that the male is the owner. A couple places I hunt are owned by the wife and she makes all the calls on it.

- When I get turned down its usually because they/family hunt it. I ask how they've done and compare notes. After chatting awhile I have had people say I could hunt after the holidays or similar.

- When turned down with a softer 'no', I'll mention I may ask again in the future, and have always been invited to do so.

- I print a business card with my contact info on it, as they should know how to reach me since I can reach them. Need to add my vehicle info to it.

- About once a week I listen to the WHO Radio farm show, just to have a sense whats going on out there. I never pretend to understand agriculture but it does help to keep a conversation going with "I was reading somewhere..." I do care about whats going on out there.

- I don't offer money as 1- I can't afford to, 2- Most farmers could buy/sell me with the amounts of money it takes to farm now, and 3- I don't want to set forth an idea of pay to play and have IA turn into SD.

- I am also a beekeeper, and the following summer I drop off a jar of honey as a thank you and then ask about the following year. Its a good conversation starter and seems really appreciated, as well as makes me memorable.

These are the ones that come to the top of my head. I've gotten to where I enjoy the challenge of getting/keeping acreage to hunt nearly as much as I do the hunting itself. And the people in the country are largely great people.
Click to expand...
I like that, don't offer money.I th totally disagree with,"pay to play", its hurting the sport, and making it elitist, and selective. I disagree with the,family hints it", excuse. No, some farmers won't let anybody they dont know, set foot on their land. I dont hear that too often, but occasionally. In my opinion, it's a crap shoot, roll the dice.They usually dont like to bs, but some do, so it helps to have the English accent down.
 
Goosemaster said:
That's really great, to have as farmer go hunting with you.I found a place yesterday that had a lot of roosters, but saw no sharptails, no huns. The farmer was a good dude.I get on some good farms, when I hunt by myself.
Click to expand...
He actually rarely hunted with us as he couldn't walk thru the heavy grass, but would block and pick us up at the end of section, bring us back so we could hunt the other side back into the wind. He and his wife were a hoot - mid 70s. Went into a barn with him once and there set a big Harley. Puzzled again I had to ask if he rode still. Said he and the wife had ridden it to NOLA and back recently. Couple of years later it was gone. Lots of other stories about them I'll save for next time.
 
Golden Hour said:
I almost hate to share this, but in the spirit of the sport, I'll pass it along. My buddy and his dad have a sizeable ranch in western South Dakota. He looked at me like I was crazy and said he had no idea that people hunted Sharptail grouse. Granted, I am able to get permission to hunt via my friend, but it opened my eyes that with so many folks protective of deer and pheasants, permission to hunt grouse can be a nice segue in building up that long term, mutually beneficial relationship. Note the last phrase - mutually beneficial. Landowners are essentially bestowing their greatest asset unto us as hunters. Treat the access accordingly.
Click to expand...
I totally agree. It just takes one hunter doing something stupid, to have a farmer close off the farm. There are thousands of pheasant hunters, and very few unlawful types, but they are out there.
 
matto said:
Always a challenge to gain access to private ground.

When I was a kid (I'm 49 now), my dad would drag me with him up to the front porch thinking a kid would tip the odds a little. He also believed in the "hide your big city license plate" theory.

Memorable story: 7-8 years ago I was coveting a quarter of CRP across from someone else's land where we had permission. My plat map showed a name that I could not connect with a phone number. One year a posted sign showed up with a phone number. That's pretty rare in Kansas. Our day was full, but I wrote the number down for the future. Later in the year I called and was able to get permission for a particular day from "Joe". When approaching the end of the field a truck stopped to wait for us. With confidence, I walked to window of the truck and said "Hi, I'm Matt, are you Joe?" It wasn't. "Martin" was mad and wanted to know why we were hunting his ground without permission. I apologized profusely, pointed at the clearly visible sign with the phone number, and told him that Joe had given me permission. He calmed down a little but we still moved on from that field. There was no boundary confusion. Turns out Joe was watching the land for an out-of-state owner who had sold it to Martin without telling Joe. Joe was no longer authorized to give permission, but he didn't know it. Martin let me hunt the next year. Then the CRP contract expired and now it's a wheat field...

Back to the general topic, I ALWAYS send a handwritten thank you note early in the following week. I have no idea if it makes a difference. I don't want to "wear out my welcome", so I usually only ask a landowner for one day per year. I also want to be remembered when I call next year.
Click to expand...
That's a good point.Don't over hunt it.I rarely hunt a farm more than once a year.
 
As far as asking a local to go.Yes, I have done this. Most times, they dont have a license. So there's that. Secondly, they like to scout for antelope and deer, and only road hunt for pheasant. So there's that. But yeah, you can take a guy out.The guys I've taken, were not all that squared away, so there's that...
 
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