Permission?

So me and the twin 9 year olds and the new pup have been banging on doors on the weekends lately to chase ditch chickens. I’ve noticed many folks seem almost surprised and even some have commented ‘thanks a ton for asking’. Is it that prevalent that people just access land without asking now days (been a few years since I’ve actively pheasant hunted), or am I missing something? I want to teach the boys correctly, therefore we are asking regardless, but curious none the less. CZ

I think trespassing is more common than anyone would think. Sadly enough. I can’t tell you how many times my family and friends have to kick people off their land.

It is sad that people respond that way, but moreso that people take advantage of folks’ land and just go onto it. I try to always ask and if I know it’s posted and not sure who to ask I won’t go on it.

Czech — great job on teaching the twins the right way!

I forgot to add — I take it you found plenty of land to hunt/access?

It’s truely hit and miss Wade, but we usually find something to walk. Funny how the least little fence line can hold birds, or the least little draw with water can hold fish. Really, the kids found pool locked trout last time out!

It happens everywhere…. in MT at the Ranch we hunt, he has trail cam pictures/videos of neighbors 1.5 miles onto his property, hunting ELK, without permission… he asked them about it and they said they didn’t know they were on his property… he told them, that fence you crawl over, on the edge of your property, should be a good hint

Is accessing ag land considered less of a deal by some? Or do you think it is the road hunters that the locals were eluding to?

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Is accessing ag land considered less of a deal by some? Or do you think it is the road hunters that the locals were eluding to?

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In my experience with my land and my families land, it is the neighbors or the people right down the road that are the biggest problem. Last year my neighbor’s kid was shooting at deer off his fourwheeler towards my house and the combine while we were picking corn. Another neighbor rides his horse all over our woods no matter how many times we tell him to stay out. We have these problems on a regular basis. It has gotten to a point were we just say no to everyone. It is not just hunting but also dumping garbage and manure, driving through crops, nosey people, ect.

Don’t even get me started. Yes it seems it has become the norm.

Breaking the law is one thing, but I’m more scared of the person that might come running after me. Four years ago we were in ND and hunting a piece of ground that we thought we had permission on. Both land owners had the same last name, so we just continued on into the next posted field. All of a sudden a truck turns off the gravel with rifles out and comes barreling towards us. They start yelling and waving guns and we decided to not even try explain ourselves but just get the heck out of there.

My relatives farm about 9000 acres in MN and between them and most of the other landowners I know they could care less about bird hunters, so the people who do trespass never get scolded. I also know that if a person does get caught trespassing, it can be very hard to actually get them penalized. I had a co-worker with some prime land down in pheasant country. He had every inch of it posted, but the judge threw out the case because one of the signs didn’t have 2″ lettering.

So if you guys happen to own land and a Titan pickup drives up this Saturday morning, be nice to the hansome young gentlemen that knock on your door! I feel my odds are better sending the boys to knock rather than this semi-old ugly mug!

I think you’ll get a kick out of this. When I was living in NE SD, the waterfowl hunting was amazing. I knocked on a lot of doors!! I probably had a 80% success rate or higher. Especially for spring snows.

Anyway, one day I’m knocking at the door on a farm I’ve watched birds for weeks. Nobody answers, so I knock one more time.(two knock limit for me). I turn and head for my pickup, when I look up here comes a Rotty stormin’ across the farm yard. I had plenty of time, but I was still spooked and jumped in the truck. He arrived shortly after growling and barking. I left after not seeing any action from the house or barn.

I returned a week or so later. Kept my good eye open for Fido. Hurried up to the door and knocked. The gentleman opened the door. Went through my speech, blah, blah, blah. Thanked him for the permission and asked where his pup was. He laughed, and said….”Fido, oh he’s probably outside somewhere. He keeps trespassers run off whenever I’m not around. So, if you pull in the yard and don’t see me, don’t get out of your truck.”

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So if you guys happen to own land and a Titan pickup drives up this Saturday morning, be nice to the hansome young gentlemen that knock on your door! I feel my odds are better sending the boys to knock rather than this semi-old ugly mug!

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Handsome and young. Who would that be?

Here is one lesson I learned last season:
Chappy and I were out to SD for a few days before Thanksgiving. We came to a farm that had really good cover. One of the people in our party knocked on the door and received permission to hunt. The hunt was good as birds were everywhere. The next morning Chappy and I were hunting alone. I knocked on the door asking to hunt again and was given the green light. We had just finished our first drive and had popped a couple of birds when a pickup pulled up on the rode adjacent to the field we were hunting. A guy got out from his truck and started yelling at us. We gathered our birds and dogs and headed to the road to see why this guy was so excited. The guy accused us of not having permission to hunt the property. We pleaded our case that we did have permission from the people living in the house on the property. We did not want to cause any trouble and moved on. As it turned out the guy had leased the property for deer hunting and the people in the house were only renting the house and did not actually own the property.

So, I learned to make sure that the people giving permission are the actual owners and not renters.

Been there. Last weekend we talked to a very nice guy but he did not own the land we wanted in on, he did know who did. Well, we went there, the 12 year old that answered the door said go for it! Dad was cutting crop, his brother lived next door, mom was jogging. We ended up tracking mom down and she said fine, but did not know where the property ended. I told her the neighbor did, and she said that he would know as he used to farm it. The owners brother asked us who let us on, I told him and he said his brother would have said no. So here we have the neighbor telling us where to go on someone else’s land, the 12 year old giving us permission, and now a domestic situation between the brothers and the jogging lady. It gets complicated for sure.

Kooty, rule number one is to not get out of the truck too quickly, great time for a cup of joe. Also, farmers can be start butts, esp the one that explained that he only granted permission to those who would cross the pig yard to talk to him. He was telling me this as I was about half way across and noticed that he was on the OUTSIDE of the fence.