Big Bucks Where No One Can Hunt Them but You
Bucks Through the Mail Service
 Editor’s
Note: Thousands of acres of land throughout the country
home trophy bucks. Often the landowners don't hunt these
properties. But they also may not allow anyone else
to because they've had bad experiences with hunters
in the past or can find no benefits in letting someone
hunt their lands. To have a trophy, big-buck hotspot
no one else but you can hunt, solve a landowner's problem
before you ask permission to hunt. Here are a few ways
to hunt lands no one else can hunt by solving the landowner’s
problems first.
In many rural sections of the country, the mailman
knows everyone on his route. Because he travels his
route in the  mornings
delivering the mail, he'll frequently spot big bucks
crossing the road. Also, he'll usually know who owns
the land where he has seen a buck and the possibilities
for hunting that land. By making friends with the local
mailman, I've found several big bucks in my county.
Many of these bucks either have remained close to a
homeplace or lived in very dense cover for a large part
of hunting season. Often the mailman will act as a go-between
to help me obtain permission to hunt big bucks on private
property, because to bag a trophy buck, you first have
to know a trophy buck exists on the property you want
to hunt. The mailman once told me in the rural area
where I lived at that time that, "Miss Ida Mae
Jones has some very nice bucks on her place but doesn't
let anyone hunt them. But if you want to hunt the crows
eating up her garden, she'll welcome you with open arms
and have homemade pie an d
coffee for each morning you hunt." The next morning
I went to see Miss Ida Mae Jones and told her I'd heard
she had some crows she wouldn't mind me shooting. "Mind!"
Miss Ida Mae said with a big smile on her face. "I'd
almost pay someone to shoot those crows. You're more
than welcome." Once a week for six weeks, I went
to Miss Ida Mae's house and shot the crows in her garden.
I also noticed her property had a large concentration
of crows in one of her cornfields, about 1/2-mile from
the garden. When I mentioned my observation to her,
she told me, "John, you can go to any property
I own and shoot crows. But I feel guilty about not doing
anything for you. What do you need?" I mentioned
that so me
of her neighbors allowed deer hunting on their lands
and asked if she would put in a good word for me with
her neighbors. Miss Ida Mae replied she would help me.
Throughout the rest of that summer, I shot crows at
least one day a week on some portion of Miss Ida Mae's
8,000 acres. Then when September arrived, she spotted
me and hollered that she wanted me to come back to the
house when I finished shooting. "I've just cooked
a blackberry pie and made some iced tea." After
my hunt, I returned to Miss Ida Mae's. She explained
she hadn't asked any of her neighbors if I could deer
hunt on their properties. "I've decided to let
you hunt here if you'll bring your shotgun and tell
anyone who asks that you're just hunting crows on my
place. Also when you take a deer, promise you won't
tell anyone where you've hunted." We struck the
bargain. I took several bucks at Miss Ida Mae's for
a number of years. Too often, we all think first of
what we want when we consider deer hunting and what
the landowner wants secondary.
Tomorrow: Bucks in Wide-Open Spaces
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