Ryan Barnes for SPLIT REED
Well folks, there’s no doubt about it, we are entering the dog days of duck depression. The days where we go through pictures on our phones, and watch hunting clips on YouTube just to try to bring back the fond memories of the season gone by. We wash our decoys, train our dogs, and work on our calling (much to our wive’s and and girlfriend’s annoyance). We buy gear to help us this coming season, which only makes things worse, because then we wish it would get here sooner. It’s a real problem we face as waterfowlers. But there’s one thing we all should be doing to increase our chances of success next year. Getting permission to hunt new land.
If you’re waiting until hunting season to try to gain access, sorry bud, odds are that ship has sailed. If it hasn’t already been leased out or given away to someone else, you’re either barking up the wrong tree or asking the wrong person. Guides are working on leases and land access the very week after the hunting season ends, so if you’re waiting around to see which fields are “hot” or which landowners have the best ground that year, you’re already getting left behind. Remember, the first to the bar drinks. So here’s 5 tips to help you get started on gaining land access for this upcoming season.
1. SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE
Farmers and landowners seem to respond better to people who actually know at least a little bit about what they’re talking about. Or at least can speak a little bit of the farming vernacular. It’s a lot easier for a farmer to have a conversation and explain things that they do or don’t want with someone who understands what they’re talking about. For instance, the difference between a pivot and a wheel line, and different types of crops, or what stage certain fields are in. Farmers may tell you they don’t want you hunting in certain parts of a field that haven’t been disced, well you’d better know what that means so you don’t go hunting where you shouldn’t be. Take some time and learn some of the different elements to farming, so you can have an intelligent conversation with the farmers you ask for permission.
2. NO TEXTING!
Please pull your skirt up and go meet the landowner face to face, or if you can’t do that for logistical or other reasons, lob him or her a phone call. One reason is out of courtesy. If you’re going to ask them to legally trespass on their land, scatter decoys, brush in blinds, shoot shotguns and all that’s associated with waterfowl hunting, you should at least hold a conversation with them. The second reason is it’s really easy to text the words “n.o.” if you only send a text without putting a face or a voice to a name. So get over your social anxieties, throw in a breath mint, and go ask for permission the 1990’s way.
3. TAKE THE LANDOWNER AND THEIR FAMILY TO DINNER
There’s a reason that salesmen take big potential buyers out to nice dinners or fancy resort getaways. It works. People like to be treated well. It may cost the salesmen and the business some money at the beginning, but the return on investment is usually well worth it. The same thing can apply to you trying to get landowners to give you access to their ground. If you have some time, and some money you’re willing to invest into your hunting (and we all do, just go look at all the money we spend on gear and decoys), take that time and money and offer to take the landowner and his family out to dinner. Why not just the landowner? Because everyone has tried that. This isn’t some new, novel idea to take the landowner out to eat, but you’re trying to stand out, you want to be different. You want to develop a unique friendship with the landowner. In fact, bring your wife, your girlfriend, or your hunting buddy you plan to have with you, just so there’s more of a connection there. And if they decline, ask if there’s another time, if they say no, go take them a gift card. It will go a long way.
4. OFFER TO TAKE THE LANDOWNER HUNTING
Whether the landowner wants to go hunting or not, it seems to give them peace of mind when they know you’re willing to have them along for the hunt. And, some of these landowners enjoy hunting, but can’t seem to find the time or resources to do it on their own, so having someone invite them along is an added bonus. This can also be an effective method if the landowner is unsure about letting you on the land. Tell them you’ll be happy to go out anytime they want to hunt. You’ll set out the decoys, do the calling, and they can do the hunting. Again, it’s a sacrifice at first, but it can pay off in the long run. Plus, if they do agree, most of them will let you bring your guns and shoot along with them.
5. NETWORK WITH YOUR CURRENT LANDOWNERS
If you already have landowners that let you hunt their ground, you have a huge foot in the door. If you’re not fostering those relationships by doing all of the things aforementioned, you’re shooting yourself in that foot. However, don’t forget that while gaining new ground is important, maintaining the ground you already have is probably more important, because that’s the ground that you already have and don’t want to lose. On top of that, they can vouch for you with other landowners. They can give you the names and numbers of the fields you’re hoping to hunt this coming season. You should make an effort to become friends with your landowners, because that will give you the ability to get to know the landowners that they work with. Network with your current landowners for some new pieces of ground.
All in all, you need to be social, friendly, and professional. These people hold stake on some prime hunting real estate, and the last thing you want to be doing is driving by while you watch other people take pile pics in a field you had a farmer say “sorry, someone already asked me”. So this off-season, be proactive in making your hunting season that much better. Get on your phone, figure out who owns certain pieces of land, then get out there and shake some hands, buy some dinners, and make some investments into your hunting future. Trust me, it will be well worth it.
