Hunting a new piece of ground

[BuckSutherland]

Few days ago I sent a letter to a landowner in Arkansas seeking permission to hunt 200 acres of private land they own about 5 miles down the road from the hunting shack in northern MN. Its not posted and I have never seen anyone parked there during hunting so I thought what the hell and gave it a shot. About an hour ago I received a phone call from an elderly woman in Rogers, AR who was absolutely delighted by my wonderful letter and she granted me permission to hunt her 200 acres with my family. She said its been in the family for 75 years and that she used to come up to MN for the summer as a kid. She hasnt seen the land in 14 years. She said their little cabin was burned down by the natives and they quit coming.


The land has had a lot of logging done to it over the past 20 years and if I had to guess it has a maximum elevation change of less then 15-25 feet across the 200 acres. I have only seen it from the road and its pretty thick with popple regen. I hunted the public to the south the last 2 years and there are a decent amount of bucks in the area, but I have also caught several people walking through on trail camera so I wanna go where they cant go.


Any suggestions where to start??

 

[willy]

Way to go Buck. That's a great way to get permission. It never hurts to ask, the worst one can say is no. The art of a letter has opened many doors for me.

 

[bueller]

See hasn't seen it in 14 years. Surrounded by public. I'd bet you won't be the only one on the land.

 

[yoderjac]

It depends on the pressure on the adjacent lands, but my first thought is that there is little open land around from the pics. I also depends if you are talking archery or gun season. I'd check out the private land to the south and see what is growing there. Deer love edges. I'm presuming there will be hunters in the 2 year-old public clear-cut. If no one else is hunting on her land, I would think that southern square to the east of the 2-year old public clear cut and north of the private land with open areas might be a good place to start looking for sanctuary. A lot will depend on the vegetation with no topography to consider.

Congrats on the new hunting land. Be sure to share some bounty with her!

Thanks,

Jack

 

[jsasker007]

I'd go out there and look for stands or maybe trails scouting for other people during bow hunting if you can. If other people have been there you probably need to deal with them first. Has anyone had permission to hunt it over years? If no other hunters i'd try to find pinch points/funnels and scrapes and rubs should be happening soon.

 

[Bill]

Tell me about that clear grass looking strip that goes from the NW corner into a T in the center. Is that an opening for access or a drainage ditch?

your next letter should be about how greatfull you are for permission while explaining there are lots of people using it since it’s not posted

 

[Bill]

I’ll also add, don’t sweat how or what you do this season. Might be a goldmine but you won’t learn it this season without being disruptive. Sounds like you have a good thing started there.

 

[BuckSutherland]

Tell me about that clear grass looking strip that goes from the NW corner into a T in the center. Is that an opening for access or a drainage ditch?

your next letter should be about how greatfull you are for permission while explaining there are lots of people using it since it’s not posted

Those "strips" are the old logging roads. The south 40 that buts up to those fields is likely so thick that its nearly unwalkable. The fields are poorly managed grass for hay that will be scalped the dirt during hunting. They wont be much of a draw. I am the first one to ever ask permission to hunt there according to her, but I doubt it hasnt been hunted before. There used to be more activity in the area, but during the poor hunting years 2013-2015 we lost several camps along this road. Last year I had a stand on the 40 in the SW corner and its a great spot, but I caught a couple grouse hunters walking through on cam. I did have one great morning hunting there (rifle), but that was mid week after things settled down. I think we get LOTS of guys looking for spots and sighting in rifles the Friday before opener. I might actually post this land for her so people know its private. There is one guy that hunts just SW of this parcel in a stand of red oaks that is surrounded by big mature red pines. My stand last year was in some red pines too, but A LOT of features coming together in that corner. Would be a lights out spot if the public wasnt allowed to stomp through there.

 

[BuckSutherland]

I should mention that I proposed buying it at some point in the future in the original letter. She never mentioned it last night and I didnt want to bug her about it. She indicated she likes to get pictures by text message so I thought I would send one of her and my daughter/s someday. I have a LOT of working coming up, but I would like to get up there a day or two and get a couple ladder stands out there. Everything is done on my land down the road 5 miles so it would just be setting a few up here with some cameras and maybe a mock scrape. I'm sure she would love a couple pictures of that place when the fall colors are on the leaves. And Willy, you are correct about letters. They flat out work, especially with the older generation.

 

[H20fwler]

I would start by talking to the old gal again to see if she might be interested in leasing it to you with prosecutorial rights. See how good of a spot it is for a couple years then if you like start laying groundwork to buy.

 

[bwoods11]

That sounds interesting. I am surprised at how many landowners inherit property and never do anything with it? Good luck

 

[Mortenson]

Most old people absolutely love a hand written note. And they lovewatching or seeing children. Definitely keep working that magic. I'd really try hard to get permission to post it for her. Tell her it's important for liability. Go buy half a dozen more cams and place them around! Cool property for sure.