finding hunting property

Every year i try to find new hunting land for bow hunting in the fall I can’t tell you how excited i get when i have my eyes set on a particular piece of property and permission is granted from the landowner One of my favorite parts about hunting solo is that i can scout on my own and figure out the patterns of deer. Also, i don’t have to worry about other hunters’ scent control practices So opening day arrives and i obviously am psyched about being the only person hunting a 300 acre prime whitetail country However, i find out that 4 other guys are hunting the same property where they got permission 6 years prior to this year and never bothered asking again To make a long story short, these guys go by the saying, “If it’s brown it’s down!”, spray down w/ SK but smoke in their stands , don’t watch the wind, gun hunt, and the list goes on.
The deer have become so educated that movement has drastically declined since september, the 150-180 acre corn field is a primary food source for deer in the late season and by the looks at the deer tracks, they are not eating the corn very much I am just sick of putting so much time into this sport and having MY hunt get screwed up because of other hunters and their poor judgments

What i want to know is, how do you guys find good hunting land where no one else hunts? Is it just going door to door, knowing people that know someone, that know someone Im mainly looking for land for late season and next season but i want to hear how you guys get so lucky at finding good land

Pretty much…. “Get use to it!” I’ve been hunting farm land that anyone can hunt for quite a few years now. It gets tough. Sometimes I wonder why I put so much time into bowhunting???? Oh yeah…”because I love it!”
It’s difficult, unless you want to spend some bucks and go lease some land…it’s getting tougher to find good hunting land without paying or without others hunting the same piece of property.

Leasing or buying are your best bets on haveing it to yourself, unless you cantalk the landowner into letting only you hunt it. This is what made leasing so popular in the last 10 years.

Some of the best spots I have found are marshes on public land. Water has the tendency to keep the vast majority of deer hunters away. Granted, its a lot of work, but it can also be very rewarding. The deer can also be relatively easy to pattern, and the trails stick out like sore thumbs in the marsh grass or reeds. I hunt a 300 acres chunk of public marsh a few miles from my house and have yet to see anyone else in there. one of my other spots on public land thats really good is a creek bottom. Once I get 20 yards off the road, I have to cross a small stream to get in there. I’ve seen 1 guy in there a few years ago gun hunting and that is it. I guess nobody wants to wear waders to go deer hunting and thats fine by me!

You may have to use the other hunters to your advantage. These guys might have changed deer behavior, but on 300 acres, they didn’t eliminate the deer. Your best scouting for next year might be right now in determining, where the deer have gone.

Then next year, when these guys show up, they’ll move the deer right to you.

Access to 300 acres you have right now is in my book pretty lucky. The land I hunt now is the someone who knows someone deal and we knew this guy for 10 years before we figured out he had this access!

don’t be afraid to ask!! the worst thing they are going to say is “no”…. i’ve even gone as far as offering to pick rocks in exchange to hunt.
At one point i was able to hunt over 1000 acres in 6 different locations. Now, i keep it simple. i have 3 spots and try and make the most of them. the smallest pc is 16 acres and i only can hunt on 8 of it. the other 2 are 122 acres and 90 acres. it seems as though the people who have less property don’t allow as many hunters, if any at all. Try and focus on the property that the typical hunter would overlook. I’m sure you know enough people that you can find some property where you are the only bow hunter.
Surprisingly i was able to hunt on a piece of property 6-7 yrs ago that was and still is the best property i ever had permission to hunt. the funny thing is i wasn’t able to harvest a nice buck on the property because i had too many options.
if i can give any advice to my success. hunt in areas that only offer up to 2-3 stand locations. this limits your choices and keeps a hunter from 2nd guessing.

I agree 100% with gobbler, I feel more confident hunting my 30 acre chunk that I have to myself than the 300+ acres that there may be a couple others hunting. just because it has limited stand sites and I dont second guess where I should be. Although, Having trail cams at each property helps me decide where I should spend most of my time. This year should have paid off on that 30 acres but I blew my shot at a 150 class 10 point just before gun season

To answer the original question, the place where I hunt now I know the lady through my moms work, she only owned a few acres, so I asked her neighbor who has a small farm (32 acres) if I could hunt, turns out he likes to eat venison but doesnt hunt, so I shoot him a deer or 2 each year in exchange for letting me hunt, good deal eh?

So far I have not gone knocking on doors, I just happen to know people through work or school that have land, I havent stumbled across any land I would consider prime, but the chance at a nice buck is definatly possible.

Where I used to live, I had 20 acres. It was mostly cleared, but the side and back were a great travel route Right to the east, was another 20, 10 acres was a woods. This 10 acres, held alot of deer, and an older lady in a nursing home owned it. I found this out from a neighbor. I went and visited with her, and asked her if I could hunt it. She said sure !!! She even let me post it, after I found a stand in there one night Every fall, I would go see her, and bring her a stick of venison sausage. She loved it. I have since moved away from there, and I know, if anybody else wanted to hunt it, all they would have to do is ask her in person, and she would let them. She actually owned ALOT of property in the area, and told me I was free to hunt any of it, she had a plat book, and showed me about 600 acres !!! I never did hunt any of the other properties, but it was sure nice of her to offer !!!

big g