Finding New Land

[jshively]

Now that the season has ended - I am starting to look ahead to next year.  I would like to add some new hunting areas to the mix - and am curious to hear from the forum if anyone has any methods that work best for them.  I have already exhausted the friends and family route - so it will be mostly driving around and knocking on doors.  The main goal would be to find an area that would allow me to bring my daughter hunting more - so should I bring her along?  Lord knows I have trouble telling her no - maybe landowners will as well.  Thanks in advance.   

[Kywoodsman]

Might as well bring her along if she will be hunting the land with you. It can't hurt. Plus like you were saying it's alot harder to tell a kid no then some adult you don't know. A prime example of exactly how that works is when you get asked to buy girl scout cookies. How many of you all on here can actually walk by a bunch of girl scouts in front of the grocery store when one of them walks up smiling and says, "hey mr., do you want to buy some girl scout cookies", and tell them no? Not me. I spent fifteen minutes digging through my jeep once trying to find change to buy a box of girl scout cookies cause I had no cash on me and I had just got mobbed by 15 smiling six year olds with cookies!  Man, those cookies were so good! 

[Kywoodsman]

In all seriousness though, probably one of the easiest ways to find new land would be getting on some country roads and just driving. If you drive by some property that looks like it might have some potential and want to know more just jot down the address from a mail box and log on to an aerial photo website such as terra server and key in that address to see what it looks like. After you find some properties that look good you can try looking to see if your state has a website that lists property ownership and such, like I know someone posted a similar sight for Tennessee the other day. If a site like that for your state does not exist then you will probably have to go to a county courthouse to find out that kind of information. From then all that's left is the asking part. How you approach that is up to you. Around here it seems like most people don't have to much of a problem with giving permission if nobody's already hunting it, especially if you let the land owner know up front, that if given permission, you intend on fully respecting his/her property as if it was your own and that it will look the exact same when you leave as it did when you came and all gates will be shut, you will be careful of their livestock if there is any, and other things of that nature. It seems that showing them that bit of respect up front and letting them know that you are a responsible hunter is enough to make most people warm up to the idea and can lead to some good grounds to hunt for years to come.
     I hope that helped. Sorry for the book I wrote there. 

[barry]

Knock on doors...all they can say is NO!
Yes, take your daughter with you, some folk have a soft spot for kids that hunt.

[stinkpickle]

Slap a couple of these stickers on your truck and hunt anywhere you want...   

[lohaus]

Here is what I tend to do.  Usually I'll cruise around and find a few spots that have some birds on them.  It's even better when no one hunts them.  Then I'll go home and check on google maps or google earth to get an idea of what the property looks like.  From there, I'll look on the county's website with the land search.  That shows me the owners name, their address if not the same as the house on it, the property lines, the aerial view, the neighbors property.  After doing all my homework, I load up my boy, tell him to take his hat off, head up, smile, give a firm hand shake, and start knocking on doors.  I think it helps when my boy is there with me.  I'll introduce myself, my boy, tell them I'm looking to hunt turkeys and I noticed a few toms out in the field etc and ask if we can hunt it.  If I can, then I'll name drop.  'Tim said to stop on over and ask you'  or when they start talking about adjacent properties I'll say something like 'Doesn't Stazik's property start along that tree line?' etc so that way I know what I am talking about.  I'll typically tell them it will be only my boy and myself, that I have a mini-van and will park on the road and walk in.

Most of the farmers I talk to have no problem because the turkeys work their fields.  In fact, most will point out certain areas where they 'like' to hang out.  In some instances I get the 'well, if you don't do good then let me know because I have a farm with a couple of hundred acres over here.'

I'm not going to jinx myself but I think if you ask those farmers more often then not they'll grant you permission.

[Jay]

Besides what's been brought up, I let everyone know I Turkey hunt somewhere in the conversation, and work in I'm looking for land to hunt. Today it was the bank teller who does my deposits. He's from a small town in Iowa, and I asked him if he has a lot of Turkeys around his area, and he said all over the place. I then told him I'm in dier need of some new land to hunt, and if he knows people that might let me hunt to let me know. He seemed very receptive, and said he'd look into it. I'd be very surprised if he doesn't come thru for me. I do this all year and it has panned out for me.  Now if I only could keep the land for more than a year or two would be nice.

[stone road turkey calls]

cash works

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

" SHOW ME THE MONEY, SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!" - Jerry McGuire

I always offer cash, especially if someone else already has it w/ a handshake.