HOW TO FIND BIG BUCKS IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD
Getting Permission
to Hunt Trophy Bucks By Finding the Landowner’s
Hot Button
 Editor’s
Note: If you live in suburbia like I do, less than 15
minutes from metropolitan Birmingham, Alabama, and its
more than 1/2-million folks, you'll often hear reports
of big deer spotted within walking distance of your
house. But everyone knows you can't hunt bucks downtown
or in your own backyard, or can you? We often forget
that white-tailed bucks travel. Although you may see
them standing on asphalt or crashing across a creek,
they must come and go from somewhere. Sometimes those
backyard bucks have travel routes that will cross property
you can hunt, if you'll research your options. Often
you may find a trophy-buck hotspot less than 30 minutes
from your home where no one else hunts or has permission
to hunt.
Now that you understand where the big bucks live in
your county, you must employ your people skills to gain
permission to hunt those bucks. Determine who owns each
piece of property that represents a sanctuary in your
county, and find
out why the landowner doesn't permit hunting on his
land. In many instances, you'll learn that the landowner
is worried about shots being fired on his property,
a legitimate concern because of his property's proximity
to animals, equipment  and/or
other people. Even if the landowner doesn't permit gun
hunting on his property, perhaps you can convince him
to allow you to bow hunt there. Since bows make no sound,
and most bowhunters shoot at distances of only 20 to
30 yards, most people never will see or hear a bowhunter
on the property.
If you ...
* promise the landowner that you'll
be as inconspicuous as possible entering and leaving
his property,
* cover any deer you take with a tarpaulin to keep anyone
from seeing you've hunted that property and
* don't allow anyone else to hunt the property owner's
land, you may gain permission to hunt these sanctuaries,
although the landowner has turned down other hunters.
Generally a landowner will fear that hunters will hound
him for permission to hunt his lands if he lets you
or anyone else hunt there.
Many times you can
trade hunting rights for something a landowner wants
more than money. For instance, I have a friend who works
as a highway patrolman in New York. As he patrolled
his suburban area, he noticed tremendous-sized bucks
at several small farms. During his off-hours,  he
went to these landowners to ask permission to hunt their
lands. He learned that almost every farmer had experienced
problems with poaching. The highway patrolman told them
that during his off-duty hours, he would post their
lands and patrol them to make sure that no one hunted
or abused that land. He told them he only would hunt
with a bow until they felt comfortable with him on their
lands. Using this system, the law-enforcement officer
found plenty of places to hunt and provided a needed
service for the landowners.
You can provide the same service in exchange for permission
to hunt. If a landowner has dealt with illegal hunting
on his property, you can offer to post and patrol it,
carrying a cellular phone to call the game warden, sheriff
or
landowner any time you encounter poachers. You don't
have to be a law-enforcement officer to patrol a hunting
sanctuary.
Another service you can provide for the landowner is
to offer to repair the service roads on the landowner’s
property. A landowner must sacrifice a great deal of
time and expense to keep his roads in good condition
so that he can
travel through and around his property. In many areas,
beavers stop up culverts, rains wash roads out, and
brush and  undergrowth
grows too thick along roads. When wind, rain and snow
cause trees and limbs to fall into the road, someone
has to clear those roads. Since road maintenance can
become a hassle for a landowner, a smart deer hunter
can take advantage of this opportunity.
I have several friends who hunt sanctuary
areas where no one else can hunt because they act as
road patrols for the landowners. Immediately after a
storm hits, they take their chainsaws, ropes and 4-wheel
drives and clear roads on the property. During the fall,
they keep culverts open and low spots in the road drained.
In return, they get to hunt the sanctuaries that no
one else can hunt. If you clear the roads before hunting
season and show the landowner that you're serious about
maintaining his property, perhaps you can gain permission
to hunt there.
TOMORROW: HUNT TROPHY DEER NEAR THE PARKS AND KIDS’
CAMPS
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