By Mike Fitzgerald

We all want places to hunt, and let’s face it, the world isn’t getting any bigger. The vast majority of us do not have the privilege of living adjacent to massive tracts of public land, but not all of us have our own properties to hunt on, either. This forces us into all too often limited hunting scenarios when, really, we yearn for more. We could either accept our situation or we can ask for permission. 

Asking a landowner for permission can be, for some folks, a very uncomfortable thing to have to do, and there are ways to go about it that will either increase or decrease the odds of success, and many things to remember when you’re going about it. 

What I recommend is that in a world where hunters aren’t favoured in various communities, it is most important to remember that you are an ambassador of the community as well as the heritage, and so how you present yourself to a landowner may very well be the impression that they hold onto regarding hunters as a whole. Never forget that. 

Do Start Small 

I can count the times that I’ve been granted permission to hunt a property for things like whitetails and wild turkeys on two fingers. This might be a regional thing, but regardless, where I live, every farmer has at least someone who already hunts their property for deer and turkeys, so I don’t even bother asking anymore. What I tend to do is start with game species that no one really pays too much attention to, such as squirrels, rabbits, doves, and snowshoe hares. Waterfowl can be a good way to get permission from a landowner as well. 

You see, these species are generally an afterthought to landowners, and their seasons extend outside the realm of other, more popular hunting seasons, opening up more opportunities. Three years ago, I was given permission to hunt an extensive network of properties simply by asking to hunt squirrels there. The secret? It was a massive producer of maple syrup, and grey squirrels love to chew the tap lines. 

Don’t Show Up During Hunting Season

This has always been a rule of thumb for me that I will never break. It’d be bad form, especially if you show up wearing your camo. If there is a property that you would like to get permission to, go knock on the door and talk to the landowner way ahead of when the season starts. Don’t show up looking like a bum, either. Make a good impression, introduce yourself, and state your intentions deliberately. Landowners, especially when it comes to farmers, work long hours and their time is money, so don’t waste it by blowing smoke up their ass about how nice their land is. It’s insulting. 

Do Follow The Rules

If granted permission, I always ask about the properties and what the landowners’ expectations of this agreement are. Are there any places that are off limits? Is there a gate that can’t be left open? Do the adjacent properties have livestock that I should be aware of? If a landowner tells you something that they’d like or would not like you to do, it is your mission to make sure that you never do it. Often, it’s been my experience that many of the properties that I hunt on are off limits to me during the General season deer hunt, and that’s okay. There are lots of other things I can occupy my time in the field during those two weeks. 

Don’t Abuse Your Permission

This is one that folks don’t take into consideration, but let me reiterate the need to be clear and concise when you ask a landowner for permission. Unless it’s been stated otherwise, your acquiring access to private land does NOT mean your buddies also have access to that land as well. If you want to bring other folks for a hunt, you should inquire about it in detail with the landowner first. No landowner wants to be surprised to find an army of hunters that they weren’t expecting out there in their woods or fields. 

Do Clean Up After Yourself

I genuinely don’t know how this is something that needs to be discussed, but I guess common sense is a flower that doesn’t grow in every garden. Clean up your mess. Every shell, every wad, every wrapper, and water bottle cap needs to come back out of the field with you. Over the last ten years, I’ve spoken with more landowners who swore that they would never let hunters on their properties again because of the garbage that they had left behind, which is especially true for waterfowl hunters. Don’t be that person who ruins it for the next hunter. The only thing that should indicate that you were ever there are your footsteps.