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Author Topic: Need tips for finding private land in SW Washington  (Read 1865 times)

Offline Ajj828

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Need tips for finding private land in SW Washington
« on: December 25, 2017, 05:37:11 PM »
So I've been getting into more into waterfowl hunting and I'm looking to find some private land to hunt in the la center-ridgefied area. I already know of pretty much every public land honey hole but I have been tired of hunting the same spots every single year. Basically I'm a college student who can't afford to pay for a lease but I really want to hunt private land because I want to  hunt geese (this is my first year hunting them). I'm the only one in my family who hunts which doesn't help because I have no connections. What are some things I can do to try and hunt private land without paying lots of money? I'm planning on just asking some farmers around the area if I can hunt. The worst they can say is no. I'd even be willing to work for them if they needed help with their land. I'm pretty responsible and always pick up my trash when I'm done hunting. I've looked online for private land hunting opportunities but cannot find anything. For all of you who hunt private land what suggestions do you have for me?

Offline AWS

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Re: Need tips for finding private land in SW Washington
« Reply #1 on: December 25, 2017, 09:51:44 PM »
Drive around and find good looking hunting places, mark them on a map and then go to the county assessors land owner record and find out who owns the land and try and make contact.   I do a lot of out of state hunting and this is something I do. 

Once you have one place that will let you on and you make a good impression, then you have a reference you can use and it gets easier.  Knocking on doors without research can be tough as many farms are owned by someone that doesn't live there and rents the house or has sold the just the home place and rents the land out.

 One farmer I got to hunt on had quite a number pieces of property scattered through out the county,.  He gave me permission to hunt all his deeded lands and I spent hours researching and mapping his lands.  All just because I knew within a few yards of where his land was and where the public land was and there were no defining landmarks.
After the first shot the rest are just noise.

Make mine a Minaska

Offline Ajj828

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Re: Need tips for finding private land in SW Washington
« Reply #2 on: December 26, 2017, 01:38:05 PM »
When you contact land owners is iit best to meet face to face? I've heard people say to only contact them in person and not through phone or email.

Offline ST42

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Re: Need tips for finding private land in SW Washington
« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2017, 01:43:44 PM »
AJ,
These tips have worked for me for 40 years. I grew up in rural Minnesota. Just far enough from Minneapolis/ Saint Paul area that we, and fellow neighbors, would get hammered with requests to hunt our property and our neighbors property every season. All most without exception guys were allowed to hunt if......

1. Be polite. You are about to talk to a fellow who has never laid eyes upon you. He has No idea who you are, or what you’re about. Life is 95% first impressions. Offer your hand for a hand shake. Please and Thank you go a long way. Remember the correct response to “ Thank you” is Not “No problem”! It’s you’re Welcome.

2. Try to meet the land owner well before you’d like to hunt. Showing up the day of puts a guy on the spot. He may have others hunting his land. He might not have the time at that moment to show you around. Try for future permission. This has worked for me for years.

3. One day while I was away in the Army, a fellow rolled up on my father, and asked to hunt grouse along our lake. The guy was *censored* faced drunk. When my father said no, the guy just turned away walked down the driveway to his truck and puked all over the driveway. He was later arrested shooting a rooster out of my uncles front yard. My uncle was a deputy sheriff. This is obvious, but it happens. Don’t walk up to the owner filling your face with a cheese burger, high, drunk, or flicking your cigarette  butt out of your hand.

4. Always go back to the land owner and Thank him after hunting that day. Tell him about your success and or failure. Mention downed fences or other issues that you may have seen while out hunting. Offer some game to him. I did this in North Dakota one afternoon. Turns out the woman that gave me permission to hunt her property was so struck by my actions, she invited me into her home and we had pheasant dinner together. I hunted her property for 22 years before she passed.

5. Offer to help the guy out. I’ve split wood, bucked bails, shot a coyote, and helped fix a mailbox post. There’s always something that needs to be done.

6. Always clean up after yourself. Nothing worse than picking up after someone else. Treat the property like its a National Park. Drive / park where your told. Pick up your empty hulls. Pick up your trash. Pick up someone else’s trash, he may think its yours.

7. Send a Christmas card to them or a Thank You card after the season ends. You wont beleive how fast that will put you to the top of the list for next year.

These few simple things have worked for me, and I suspect that they will work for you. Remember you will get a fair share of “No’s”. When you do. Thank them for their time. Look them in their eyes when you do, Smile and hit the next place. My mom would always call down to our neighbors to let them know a hunter was probably going to be knocking. You would’nt believe how many guys hunted at the next place because of my mother’s favorable call. Good Luck!

 


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