collapse

Advertisement


Author Topic: Making New Friends  (Read 2720 times)

Offline TheStovePipeKid

  • They call me MISTER KID!
  • Business Sponsor
  • Trade Count: (+3)
  • Longhunter
  • *****
  • Join Date: Feb 2013
  • Posts: 751
  • Location: Lakebay, Wa
  • I. Kill. Turkey.
    • TheStovePipeKid
  • Groups: NWTF Annual Member, NRA Extended Pay Lifetime Member
Making New Friends
« on: April 18, 2020, 02:30:23 PM »
I've been turkey hunting for over a decade now. Most of my early years were spent chasing public land turkey. Over the last few years I've spent more time speaking with landowners and adding private property to my list of hunting areas. Knocking on doors or making phone calls can be intimidating to a new turkey hunter. I thought it would be cool for the old salt to share some insights or examples of their experiences meeting and interacting with landowners.

For my example I'll share the experience I had this last September. The turkey were thick as ticks and you could find flocks in people's yards right off the main roads on the outskirts of most of the towns. I had two new turkey hunters with me, my brother and a niece. We all had shotguns but I also brought a crossbow because it sounded like it could be fun. We knocked several doors where turkey were being seen regularly. The parcels were small and the homes were fairly close. The landowners wanted the turkeys gone but some expressed concern about discharging guns near all the houses. The moment we mentioned we had a crossbow we got permission to kill as many as we could. The lesson I shared was when you approach a landowner try to be observant of the situation and put yourself in their shoes. What need can you see, i.e. turkeys scratching hay bails or gardens, and try to provide a solution that will be satisfactory for them. In the example I shared everyone wanted the turkeys gone, but no one wanted to get shot. A reasonable concern that was addressed because we were prepared beforehand with alternative options.

What is your pearl of new friend wisdom?
I laugh in the face of Danger. Ha ha ha Danger Face!

Offline KFhunter

  • Non-Hunting Topics
  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Legend
  • ******
  • Join Date: Jan 2011
  • Posts: 34514
  • Location: NE Corner
Re: Making New Friends
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2020, 02:35:31 PM »
just because not everyone knows


Offline kselkhunter

  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Sourdough
  • *****
  • Join Date: Jun 2014
  • Posts: 1596
  • Location: United States
Re: Making New Friends
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2020, 02:37:47 PM »
Archery helps.  Before the shutdown, my friends and I were going to be archery hunting turkey off my best friends brother's land (he keeps teasing us with photos of 5-7 toms standing in his back yard).  There's a land locked piece of BLM land near there where we thought held additional turkeys in case those toms didn't show up to his land, but we'd have to get through two neighbor's properties to get to that BLM land....when those neighbors heard we were archery they said sure and please "kill all the ones on our land too while you're at it".

Many landowners will prefer archery over shotgun for turkey. 

Offline avidnwoutdoorsman

  • Forum Sponsor
  • Trade Count: (0)
  • Scout
  • *****
  • Join Date: Feb 2019
  • Posts: 364
  • Location: Northwest
  • Groups: NWTF, PF, TU, DU, BCWF, NRA, BCH&A
Re: Making New Friends
« Reply #3 on: April 25, 2020, 08:51:36 AM »
I agree that the archery aspect will provide a lot of opportunity and it has for me. I would like to add one experience or lesson I learned from a land owner and that was his distaste for archery as a cattle rancher, here is why. If you loose your arrow there is the possibility of it being stepped, laid on, or eaten by their cattle... secondly this arrow, if not found could additionally be sucked up in a bail of hay and again causing the possibility of ingestion. This particular rancher use to allow the occasional archery deer hunter on his property but has now limited to shotgun hunting only. So it can go both ways!

Like StovePipe said, be observant of what most benefits the landowner.

When starting the conversation don't go straight to turkeys. Introduce yourself and ask them how there day is going, maybe even week or weekend.

Personally I do not drive up driveways out of respect. I park alongside the road and will walk all the way.

Don't wear camo ... or at least don't wear only camo. I have changed my shirt and left my pants on.... I think wearing camo pants or a camo short is half normal once you get out of the pudget sound... but I like to be dressed casual whenever possible. This is a business transaction and should be treated as one. Be professional by not showing up in hunting gear.

I always offer to help them before or when asking for their help in increasing my chances to killing a turkey. I'm persistent about it too. Will ask again before I leave.

Don't forget to ask the obvious but not so obviously questions. Do they have a weapon preference? When are hunting hours on their property? What things do you need to watch out for? What's their dogs name? I would tell you that you should always take the long way around the fence, but where or how should I cross fencing on their property? (Never know...there could be a hot fence) Where should I park?

Always say thank you and share your harvest experience with them. Being genuinely appreciative about the experience goes along ways. Show them the bird if they are interested. And again ask if you can help again, especially if now that you have a turkey and time you would have spent hunting could be used helping them. If possible offer them fish, jerkey, smoked fish, perperonni, some of your bird?, etc as a parting gift.

Finally, do not clean your bird on their property unless they tell you to.

Same creek bottom different land owner. First landowner I ever got permission from. Parked on the road, walked down the driveway, made introductions, mentioned seeing turkeys on his property, hadn't asked to hunt yet and this is another strategy for feeling a landowner out is just simply asking them about seeing turkeys because they will follow up with a comment. His was "So you've seen my toms have you?" (He had 7 toms all long beards) I admitted I had and was hoping I could help him with something to possibly kill one. He pointed me to a chair in a bush where I could hunt from right near where they liked hanging out. I was young-naive and asked if my brother could come too! Which he was good with. I say young and naive because I feel now its best to have the second hunter with you. OR after some rapport building asking if you may bring a friend or what kind of harvest rates they are looking for. Is it they want them all gone or don't mind 1 or 2 missing. My brother and I hunted the next day. We lined up for a double and as fortune would have it my bird stepped behind a t-post and I had to change birds before my brother said "3!" and missed my shot. BUT what I did do is come back the next day when he was spreading fertilizer, thanked him again for my brothers bird, and asked him again if I could help. The birds hadn't been around that morning or all day. I thought they were gone. After some strong convincing he had me get in his tractor bucket, hoisted me up, and I picked a mess of apples. After which while he was peeling them to make cider and we were rambling on about life, out popped the toms again. He looked up at me and said, "Better go get your gun!". I killed a bird that day and have killed several more sense on his property. The neighbors know me now and have given me permission to cross fences to hunt their properties as well.

Last tip I will give is don't limit yourself to asking them at their home. While in a bar in Winthrop I got permission to hunt a property in Mead. While trying to find food at a bar late one night for my wife in Chatteroy I got permission to hunt a property near by. Also why pumping gas or picking up snacks I've struck up several other land acquisitions. If they ask you how the hunting has been they are generally open to the sport. Take the opportunity since the ice is already broken to ask if they "know of somewhere you can hunt". They might just invite you over or connect you with a friend with a "turkey problem"

PS - If you or your spouse does Christmas cards, they are cheap and are another way to let the landowner you are in it for more than the hunt.
PPS - It really really pays to make conversation with the landowner. They live their and therefore scout their property every day. Just talk turkeys with them and they will tell you when and where the turkeys will be throughout the day. They will also tell you if you should be wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt when hunting or not. IF a blind or decoys messes with the birds. Suburban birds can and will notice camo, a decoy, and/or a blind and stay far away from it.
Keep Calm Gobble On

Offline TheStovePipeKid

  • They call me MISTER KID!
  • Business Sponsor
  • Trade Count: (+3)
  • Longhunter
  • *****
  • Join Date: Feb 2013
  • Posts: 751
  • Location: Lakebay, Wa
  • I. Kill. Turkey.
    • TheStovePipeKid
  • Groups: NWTF Annual Member, NRA Extended Pay Lifetime Member
Re: Making New Friends
« Reply #4 on: April 25, 2020, 10:20:30 AM »
These are all great insights. There is definitely more to hunting then just making the shot. Alot of it is the people you meet and the stories they tell. It also builds up your interpersonal skills and can help with your job or your relationships.

They will also tell you if you should be wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt when hunting or not. IF a blind or decoys messes with the birds. Suburban birds can and will notice camo, a decoy, and/or a blind and stay far away from it.

To piggyback off this statement I experienced both this past fall. We blew a shot at some birds by staging a blind a few days in advance. Landowners commented when we showed up to hunt that the birds changed their behavior which we verified with a plot cam. Years worth of patterned behavior changed due to a blind.

We also met a landowner who said blue jeans and flannel would make us invisible and we had wasted money on camo. The turkey on his property were basically "farm raised" and couldn't care less about him when he was out and about because they no longer perceived him as a threat. Good listening provides a wealth of information.
I laugh in the face of Danger. Ha ha ha Danger Face!

Offline 253shotgunner

  • Trade Count: (+2)
  • Hunter
  • ***
  • Join Date: Sep 2019
  • Posts: 170
  • Location: Puget Sound
  • Groups: NRA, GSSF, TSC
Re: Making New Friends
« Reply #5 on: April 25, 2020, 11:44:07 AM »
Awesome tips for newer hunters from our veteran gobbler getters. I like to hunt public land during the week and retreat to private land on the weekends. The challenge of getting an ol' tom within 20 or 30 yards of you is what motivates me to keep climbing the next hill.
Heck, chasing a ghost gobbler on a certain ridge for multiple years is my current challenge. You can never learn enough about these turkeys.
Turkey Geek

 


* Advertisement

* Recent Topics

SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal