asking permission?

[Major Pain]

for the past two years i have seen an area flood and hold lots of ducks and geese late into the season. with not knowing the farmers that own the land, i have been torn on whether or not to try and ask permission. my experience with asking permission has not went so well. looking for some thoughts-THANKS

[Max4 Man]

hey man- i go to school at Purdue in West Lafayette, IN. and with the exception of one farm i only hunt permission property. We have one place we can go whenever we want, but other then that we have to ask about 30 farmers a years for permission based on where the birds are. as far as i look at it the worst they can say is NO. a few times we have got permission we limited on geese in half the time it took do set our spreads. alot of farmers dont want them around- you have nothing to lose- just do it, could be the best hunt you will ever have...

[Goose4280]

Sounds to me like no one hunts there if you see birds in there all through the season and late into the season. Unless the people that own the land are against hunting it sounds to me like you have a good chance at landing your self a honey hole !

[SBE II]

Whats the worst that can happen? The farmer saying No...This isn't life or death, go getch ya some! Tell the guy you're willing to help him, do what he says and not make your own rules, only take so many ppl hunting, the list goes on...and if you don't get anywhere, ask him what his price is..

[Mallardman9]

I usually just go to the nearest farm house and ask, if they don't own it, they will more then likely point you in the right direction. Ask what they own around there in case birds move fields or you get cripples and need to go onto other fields to get them

[fireandrain]

I usually just go to the nearest farm house and ask, if they don't own it, they will more then likely point you in the right direction. Ask what they own around there in case birds move fields or you get cripples and need to go onto other fields to get them

Thats the same as i do, nearest farm house and almost always those peple will be able to people will be able to point you in the right direction if they dont own. But like the others said the worst they can say is no, id rather know forsure i cant hunt somewhere then wonder about it all the time.

[BlackMouth]

the easiest thing to do is get a plat book. keep it in your truck, and when your driving around and find birds, mark the parcel.

itll have the owners name. then you can look up there address and phone number in the phonebook or internet.

the problem with alot of farmers, especially up here, is that they dont actually own alot of the land they farm. alot of it is leased. leaseing to farm is totally different than to hunt. just because a farmer leases the land to farm, doesnt mean he can actually give you permission to hunt. you need to contact the actual owner.

plat book is the way to go! you can get them usually at the court house or even some local banks carry them

[Major Pain]

thanks for the advice guys and good idea Black Mouth! last time i asked permission to hunt, the farmers wife might as well pulled a side-by-side to my nose. man she was unfriendly.

[BandedBrant]

I just graduated from Purdue last December and part of the problem that I found trying to find places to hunt around there is that Purdue owns alot of the land in Tippecanoe county. If you go to the Tippecanoe county website and search for GIS Mapping it will bring up a big map of the county and its broken up by landowner thats also a good way to start and it usually gives you the address of where they live let me know if you have any other questions. I also still know some people up there who own some land if you need some help.

[Walter005]

Where i am from in middle MI deer hunting rules...i always start out by saying i am not deer hunting, simply would like to hunt ducks or geese...always have plat map on hand and know the land owners by name, also if you know some people in the area it may help to name drop...in your case my help to name some profs that you have had at Purdue that you know live in the area.

[BlackMouth]

its also good if you hunt other fields in the area to mention that you have permission to hunt them and/or know the farmer. most of them know each other.

when I find a new field I absolutely want to hunt, I bring along the best ace up my sleave, the kids!! Its awfull hard for them to say no in front of the kids.

Also time of day can be important, try not to do it during breakfest and dinner time, and dont bother them if they look super busy.

Sometimes the best thing is to find their phone number and give them a call first. Tell them who you are and that you wanted to talk to them about possibly being able to hunt one or some of their fields. Tell them youd like to meet them in person and ask what is the best time to meet up with them to discuss it. Alot of times youll get the go ahead right then.

[drakefever]

First time I asked for permission for some reason I was nervous like i was in 4th grade asking a girl out all over again. I think the most important thing to say is that your goose or duck hunting. Most places dont mind goose huntin but rather not have people with riffles running around. Also offering to help out never hurts. I have also found that if they say there is already someone that has permission, ask if the birds are in there a day or two if no one has hunted it if you can and that worked 2 or 3 times last year for me. GIS is a hunters best friend with the arial images you can see all kinds of hidden treasure you cant see off the road.