Asking Permission to Hunt Private

[Jholland110]

I am working to get permission around my in laws 6 acre plot of land. If I can get a yes, my land address goes from 6 acres to 40 acres.

Using OnX I was able to identify the land owner. I found them on Facebook but OnX does not have a mailing address. My ask here is, is it ok to ask for hunting permission over a Facebook message or should I find a different way? Any tactics in asking or is it better to cut to the point and ask?

 

[Pig Predator]

Go knock on their door and ask face to face.

 

[Jholland110]

Go knock on their door and ask face to face.

They don’t live on the land and I don’t know their address

 

[rugerfan]

I would be nice, but be to the point, and offer to help with something around their properties. Keep an eye on it, trimming, mowing, just something to help out. I would get written permission that is signed by the land owner. I have access to a piece of private right off the National Forest area that I hunt, but it is for retrieval only. The elderly lady wanted to give me hunting access, but she has family that hunt the property and she didn't want any hard feelings. I carry a laminated copy of the permission letter with me in case of any altercations, and I check in with her, 3 or 4 times per season to make sure everything is good for me. I have met her son-in-law and her grandson in the woods, and there hasn't been any issues so far.

 

[sportsman94]

Face to face would be best for sure. As a fellow cyber scouter I have asked for permission to do things on FB. It rarely results in a response, but has gotten a few. If they have a unique name, you can look them up on q public to see if they live in your county or a surrounding county.

 

[Pig Predator]

They don’t live on the land and I don’t know their address

Their mailing address may be on the county tax assessors website.

 

[ucfireman]

See above, write a real letter (hand written) and mail it to them. Maybe a picture of yourself (a respectful one) ad just tell the the situation.
All they can say is no and it will cost you a stamp and a few minute.

 

[Long Cut]

Maybe you’re better than I was, I did a large mailing operation several years back. Think 100’s of letters mailed out from March to August.

I had 1 “Maybe” then his grandson & son in law crushed that opportunity. I believe that I had mailed 174 letters in 3 different formats to land owners with lots from 5 acres in size to 300 across 6 different counties.

That was close to 10 years ago now. If you’re not leading off with $$$, bartering of services and a copy of some form of liability insurance, with a waiver stating the landowner isn’t liable for anything that you do… don’t hold your breath.

Trying to get anything for “free” today is extremely difficult. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Waddams]

You should be able to find a mailing address that may or may not be where they live on the county tax assessors site, or maybe on Qpublic (it's a free public GIS site that will have links to owner addresses for counties that are enrolled in it).

Good luck.

 

[Waddams]

Maybe you’re better than I was, I did a large mailing operation several years back. Think 100’s of letters mailed out from March to August.

I had 1 “Maybe” then his grandson & son in law crushed that opportunity. I believe that I had mailed 174 letters in 3 different formats to land owners with lots from 5 acres in size to 300 across 6 different counties.

That was close to 10 years ago now. If you’re not leading off with $$$, bartering of services and a copy of some form of liability insurance, with a waiver stating the landowner isn’t liable for anything that you do… don’t hold your breath.

Trying to get anything for “free” today is extremely difficult. I wish you the best of luck.

Before I found my current club, my wife and I were going to Elbert for yurt camping at Bobby Brown. I'd seriously considered going to a few churches there for Sunday services as we were there regularly at the time just to meet a few folks and start forming a few relationships, for many reasons but one being that it might lead to someone willing to let me hunt their land!

 

[westcobbdog]

I am working to get permission around my in laws 6 acre plot of land. If I can get a yes, my land address goes from 6 acres to 40 acres.

Using OnX I was able to identify the land owner. I found them on Facebook but OnX does not have a mailing address. My ask here is, is it ok to ask for hunting permission over a Facebook message or should I find a different way? Any tactics in asking or is it better to cut to the point and ask?

Qpublic.net
Then click Beacon.
Then maybe agree, then select state and county and now you can look at any tract and see the owner , too.

 

[sportsman94]

I have long said that if anyone wants someone to hunt their land they would have someone hunting it already. I know people get permission on private places all the time, but I think most people with any amount of land already have someone hunting it if they are willing to let someone hunt it. That’s probably a reason why you get so many no’s when asking

 

[Long Cut]

Before I found my current club, my wife and I were going to Elbert for yurt camping at Bobby Brown. I'd seriously considered going to a few churches there for Sunday services as we were there regularly at the time just to meet a few folks and start forming a few relationships, for many reasons but one being that it might lead to someone willing to let me hunt their land!

Most land nowadays will either ; be hunted/leased already, “off limits” to hunting, or they offer permission to so many people it’s not even worth hunting.

That’s been my experience anyways, your mileage may vary

 

[Waddams]

Most land nowadays will either ; be hunted/leased already, “off limits” to hunting, or they offer permission to so many people it’s not even worth hunting.

That’s been my experience anyways, your mileage may vary

Yup. But it's either that or just hunt public land (not a bad thing overall in my opinion, but does have some extra work needed to be consistently successful), or troll for a club opening that may or may not end up a good fit, etc. Maybe the landowner can refer you to a club that leases the land?

I think I've concluded best way to find club options is just go kill a deer, any deer, on public land, and take it to a processor that's been around a long time. The processors will have those contacts, start conversations with them and start reaching out to clubs for next year. Our club, the president always has a short list of new guys for when people drop out. We never advertise publicly. I imagine a bunch are like that, I admit that makes it hard and you gotta be in right place at right time just to get the club opportunity.

I suppose you could save your $$$ and just go do a high fence booking, sit your spot, and wait for your deer to shoot. You might even spend less overall. Not the same though.

Hunting is getting challenging more so year by year just to find land to hunt. It's either keep making the extra effort or stop hunting.

 

[coolbreezeroho]

I am working to get permission around my in laws 6 acre plot of land. If I can get a yes, my land address goes from 6 acres to 40 acres.

Using OnX I was able to identify the land owner. I found them on Facebook but OnX does not have a mailing address. My ask here is, is it ok to ask for hunting permission over a Facebook message or should I find a different way? Any tactics in asking or is it better to cut to the point and ask?

Try the tax records for your county they will have the owners address listed

 

[Mars]

You can try fastpeoplesearch.com to look for address and phone numbers.

 

[Eudora]

It doesn't hurt to ask. My family owns some land in the Piedmont area we use for growing timber and were not actively hunting it. Since all the maintenance and overseeing has been left to me, a young man who is a family friend asked if we were not hunting it (we are hunting another parcel) if he could for the season. Knowing this young man and his family, I gave him the OK with a few stipulations. Basically it helps me by keeping an eye on the place, keeping roads cleared and general upkeep maintained. He knows if he abuses the privilege, the deal is off. Satisfaction for me is knowing this hardworking young man gets a place to hunt and fish and can responsibly enjoy it. Approach it that way and you may be surprised.

 

[Scott Rogers]

They don’t live on the land and I don’t know their address

Try this, https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/

Go to the county your inlaws place is in,, put in your inlaws address, go to map view. Click on the neighboring property you wish to hunt.. it should have the owners mailing address (hopefully its not a p.o. box)

 

[NCMTNHunter]

I’m not very good at using face book but I had a college kid ask permission to hunt my place over face book a few years ago. Apparently he drove by the place on the way to school found my name on Onx and sent me message. I don’t know exactly how it works but if you’re not friends with the person on FB the message shows up in a different place. I didn’t notice the message for over a year.

 

[Erussell]

Im a strong supporter of asking face to face, inform them of laws and regulations, make your intentions known, ask if there’s anything theyd like you to do in exchange. Let them know theyre protected from liability in the state of Georgia. If youre a bow hunter and know the local ordinances of the city you plan to hunt you may have more luck. Be careful though, theres some crazies out there. Be aware of what issues you can run in to, such as the deer entering another property etc. OnX is a great app for knowing local property lines but it isnt always up to date so its good to do due diligence and make absolutely sure you know of property lines, your local tax assessors will usually have more up to date lines but they can be inaccurate as well. A good channel to watch on YouTube about asking around on private is Seek One, theyve been doing it for years and even have a how to guide.