Landing Permission

The first step, the necessary step for any successful hunt, permission. You can have the newest bow with the most expensive accessories. You can have trail cameras, thousands of dollars wrapped up in camo with every weather system they have to offer, and you may even be able to shoot the lights out at your local shop. Without a place to hunt, if your purpose is hunting and your goal is success then you need permission. There is the obvious alternative of public land. That is a great alternative, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's applicable to everyone. Whether it be distance, size and ultimately pressure, or maybe just personal preference, preferring private land means you need to be capable of obtaining and maintaining permission.

Personally, I have come to find that obtaining and maintaining permission is one of my strengths when looking at myself overall as a hunter. That didn't come without a lot of trial and error. I am by no means a “whitetail authority”, looking at numbers my biggest buck is not anything that you'd find on a magazine cover, and I don’t have a huge variety of experience when it comes to aspects like hunting out of state or many other animals. But, what I do have, or at least believe that I do have, is an unusually high success rate when it comes to getting permission. Regarding maintaining permission, I have never lost permission if it wasn't for external circumstances like the property sold or I just contacted the landowner and let them know I wouldn’t be coming back (I am fully aware of how insane that sounds).

Getting permission is an absolute art. There is no equation or system that you can apply across the board that will automatically get you the green light. Almost like hunting deer themselves, there is research involved. Who owns the property is an obvious must, but what if it's in a trust or an LLC. Maybe the property owner lives somewhere else and there are people who live on the property who have no authority to discuss permission with you (I found that one out the hard way). It is more difficult to discuss all of the “what ifs" than it is to just go through stories or just pick a piece of property and take a look at it. But, with that being said, there are some solid pieces of advice that I believe will increase your chances of getting that yes. Alternatively, if you do get that no, how to go about that. Because a no is not necessarily an across the board no. Not that I’m advertising being pushy or rude, but sometimes people just don't want the hunting of animals on their property. They may not care if you mushroom hunt, for example. Then maybe their neighbor doesn't have as good of a property. But, if you can get a yes to mushroom hunt non hunting property and a yes to deer hunt on the neighbors not so great property, then you just bagged the combination of acreage. Then use the fact that the first property doest allow hunting to your advantage.

We can start with some basics; be respectful, clean yourself up, be short and to the point. Starting there, I have found that being blunt and to the point has given me more success than trying to “talk”my way into permission. These people already don't know me and I'm more than likely bothering them so I just get to the point. I have had more success starting the conversation with the following: “Hello, my name is _____, I know you don't know me from any other random person but I was wondering if you would be open to discussing allowing me to hunt on your property?” That sentence in itself leads me to two further important points. Point one is that is my in person pitch. My over the phone pitch is a little different and is explained below. In short, if you did the necessary research and you're calling someone then you’ve not only determined they’re the owner but you also found their personal number. That can be somewhat of a touchy or awkward phone call if you're not prepared. Like I said, get to the point, don’t take up their time.

The second point is asking for that opportunity for an open conversation. The subtle difference between “can I hunt” and “would you be open to discussing allowing me to hunt” insinuates that you don’t just expect them to say yes. You know that there is going to be a conversation involved, especially since you just started the conversation with the easiest out they would have. By paring “I know you have no clue who I am” and then following with an open ended question, what you have effectively said is I already know what your easiest objection is so please give me the opportunity to move past that and be open to giving me a shot. As a little shout out, I developed this tactic after reading Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss. He was a FBI hostage negotiator who takes the lessons learned through real life hostage negotiation (a place where you quite literally have 0 room for compromise) and incorporates them into everyday life. I've used this book for not only hunting permission but buying cars and a few other scenarios. I highly recommend it.

Having this conversation in person is highly preferred over a phone call. Sometimes though there's no way around it and it has to be a phone call. When the phone call conversation must be had then the underlying principles are the same, lay out all the objections and simply ask for a conversation. This tactic landed me one of the best properties I have ever hunted on. The land was no more than 10 minutes from my house. After researching public records , I found that the owner actually lived in Georgia (I’m in Ohio). When I called him I simply said “I know you don't know me from Adam, I utilized public property owner information to figure out who the property owner was which ultimately led me to this phone call. Would you be open to discussing allowing me to hunt on your property?” He was very receptive and willing to allow me to hunt. I ultimately ended up getting one of my best friends permission as well and the first year we hunted the property we both took very nice bucks. If you consider we had no yearly patterning information and very little trail camera exposing what else was out there paired with the caliber bucks we killed, an absolute gold mind of a find.

Getting permission can be tricky, but it's not impossible. I still get my no’s and I do rank them. Some hard no’s, I don't even re-consider unless the public information shows a change in the property owner. Then still at times that can be touchy as you don't want to bombard a new property owner with hunting permission, even more so if they are “new countryside” property owners. If they came from the city or had no exposure to hunting at all in the past, I can almost guarantee you the last thing you want to do is be the first person to knock on their door. . Sometimes you have to let it soak a minute before you try to move in. Other more soft no’s, the no’s where they’re seemingly on the edge and are giving pitiful excuses to not let you hunt, those are the ones I am aiming for alternative permission. What I mean by that is I am coming back next spring for shed hunting or mushroom hunting permission. I am looking to prove myself as someone who is respectful and gracious for this person allowing me to utilize their property. From there best case scenario is I end up getting hunting permission, worst case scenario you get another no or only shed hunting permission.

Maintaining permission honestly really isn't that hard. There's only 3 things that you need to do, from my experience, that will ensure you maintain permission. 1- determine baseline hunting expectations and FOLLOW THEM. Those are usually weapons restrictions (bow vs gun) and time of year (i've had many places that only wanted me to hunt after the crops were harvested). 2- Try not to bother the property owner. Most of my places I talk to the pretty owner 2 times a year through text or email. Most just really don’t care, they gave you permission and so long as they don't get calls from/about you being a problem then you're not a problem being out there. 3-Show gratitude through simple gestures. As I said I talk to my property owners 2 times a year. The first time is a basket or card around the holidays that I will usually put a gift card of some kind in. The second time will be roughly a few months after the season ends when I am looking to get cameras out just to ensure I still have permission for the coming year. That is it, super simple and effective while showing thankfulness without being a bother.

That's really all there is to it. It's not terribly difficult once you figure out how to approach and speak to the individual property owners, but it can be a long and tedious process figuring those nuances out. Above all that, there are a few more points I always hit that at this time I feel are second nature to me but could be easily overlooked if you’re not particularly good at getting permission. They are the following:

-Be prepared with knowing permission and liability laws and have whatever you need with you when you go to ask. There have been a few times property owners were on the fence because they were concerned about possibly getting sued if I hurt myself. In Ohio, all you need is some kind of paper written or digital permission. Regardless I always take the official Ohio Outdoor Recreation permission slip with me so there is no question. There are clear blanks and check boxes for anything and everything. Dates, people, vehicles that will be on the property, permissible recreation activities, and more. Its simple peace for mind for the property owner.

-If you are able, don't be shy to help out around the farm/house. Trade labor for hunting permission. But, 100% absolutely do not offer to help and then “never get around to it”. That will be detrimental to your permission on that property and possibly any surrounding properties as well.

-Work in bonuses of letting you hunt. I always give them that peace of mind reminder that they'll have another set of trustworthy eyes on their property in case of trespassers or whatever. I also always offer deer meat. Unless they specifically say they don't like it and don't want it, I always offer some up.

-Show them you're serious. One simple way I do this is just letting them know my plan is not to be at their house every day. I just tell them I am a serious hunter and assuming there are in fact deer on the property I plan to be in at very specific and calculated times. They probably don't actually care that you are that serious about hunting. With that are built in implications that you are going to be respectful and they're not going to find you wandering all ver their property and stuff like that. You're there to hunt, nothing more and nothing less.

-Finally, plain and simple, if there is one thing you get from this entire article, DO NOT BE “THAT GUY”. The biggest reason I've been told no is because someone before ruined it for everyone. It can be tempting to flirt with the edges of what the property owner may say and what you want. Just don't. Don’t leave trash, don't break rules, don't be that guy who ruins it for everyone else simply because you wanted that one deer or you thought that what they were asking was inconveniencing your hunting plan.

Permission is where it starts and ultimately can end. Getting and maintaining permission can be one of the most important but overlooked aspects of hunting. Putting time into it will always pay off in the long run.