BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby Lockdown » Sun Apr 17, 2016 1:05 pm

While my daughter napped this afternoon, I made time to print off some letters to send to landowners who are too far away to visit in person. Got 24 of them individualized, printed, and signed in ink. Now if I could just find where my wife stashed the envelopes and stamps :lol:

By the way the original challenge of knocking on 40 doors was asking you to take a pretty big bite. :shifty: I do realize that.

Along with the letters I'll end up knocking on 29 doors in person, 13 of which have already been accomplished although not everyone was home. Whether you visit in person, send a letter, or make phone calls, the whole point of this thread is to encourage you to stop thinking about it and just go for it!


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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Sun Apr 17, 2016 1:23 pm

What is very interesting here in Maine is that because its not illegal to hunt non posted land, everyone is pretty timid to knock on doors. So if there is ANY way to hunt a piece without knocking on a door, thats what is done. And for the most part, I kind of agree. BUT some places, there is just no way to access without knocking on a door. And I do a lot of it, every year, for a lot of years. The plus side? Friday when I got permission, its pretty landlocked. Really really tough to access. So it means, virtually no bowhunting pressure.

I know, its kind of foreign to a lot of guys that you do not have to have permission. But its the way it is here. Its the way its always been. And I hope it never changes.
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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby ruttnhrd » Thu Apr 21, 2016 2:10 pm

briar wrote:
ruttnhrd wrote:Here in Wisconsin it can be pretty tough to knock on doors. We are a pretty big whitetail communitee state wide. Im not sure how other states work with some of the programs the DNR and other government agencies have but here in WI, we have programs that open up private land to hunters. The owners of the land usually get a tax break when in the program. We also have a law that if farmers are getting paid for crop damage they have to allow so many people per day on the farm to hunt. They have to keep a log of daily hunters and if you go and ask to hunt the only way they can tell you know is if they have the minimum required hunters actually out hunting when you asked. These properties can be a little harder to find and might take a little leg work on the keyboard but can be well worth it. I don't think very many people take advantage of these types of programs. It is definitely worth looking into. I have taken some nice deer off of properties like this. Here in Wisconsin the land owners can even sometimes give you doe tags to use because they have a required number of doe's they have to kill each year to to keep receiving the crop damage benefits.

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We have a similar program in PA...but it needs some fine tuning. I had a owner of a marked game co op just tell me yesterday no, because its leased...lol. I have no issue with leasing, but then dont be in the program!

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People try telling you that here too. "Either they are full of it, or ripping other hunters off" But now as of a few days ago our Governor just changed the law for some of the properties that allowed hunting on the private land and in return got a big tax break to now they still receive the tax break, but can close it to the public. I'm not exactly sure on the new laws regarding this. But from the little article I read that is basically what it said. I still need to look further into it.

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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby ruttnhrd » Fri Apr 22, 2016 6:01 am

I have a question for you guys. Just looking for some other possible options. So here is the short version. I called a local business that owns a small piece of land in the town I grew up in to see if they would let me bow hunt. It is in-between a decent size wooded park and a subdivision. I've seen 2 booners that were hit by cars coming out of the park. So I want to approach this the best way I can to gain permission. Any way.... The person in charge said they have given permission to hunt in the past but have stopped because the people that live in the house in front of the land (they own the small piece that their house is on) kept calling the cops on the hunters, or calling her to complain about them. She said she didn't think the hunters were doing anything wrong. The home owners just didn't want them hunting back there. She also said that she thinks they didn't want them back there because they hunted it. WITHOUT PERMISSION!! The lady was really reluctant to give me permission, I was very polite when asking, I told her that I am a disabled veteran with a very young family, 3 kids under the age of 5 and bow hunting is my passion and just my way of relaxing and unwinding. I also told her I'm just looking for a place close to home so I don't have to leave my family for a whole weekend. She finally told me this...Ill give you permission to hunt BUT. I (me) have to talk to the home owners and also get permission from them because she doesn't want the headaches from them calling the cops, and her all the time. (Which I don't blame her) So my question is, how should I approach the home owner that is hunting on the land WITHOUT permission and most likely does not want anyone else hunting. I thought about taking my two daugters (5yrs and 4yrs old) with to knock on the door and do it face to face, I've thought about sending a letter to them explaining everything. Other then those two options I can't think of anything. So what do you guys think? Thanks!!

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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby hunter_mike » Fri Apr 22, 2016 6:10 am

ruttnhrd wrote:I have a question for you guys. Just looking for some other possible options. So here is the short version. I called a local business that owns a small piece of land in the town I grew up in to see if they would let me bow hunt. It is in-between a decent size wooded park and a subdivision. I've seen 2 booners that were hit by cars coming out of the park. So I want to approach this the best way I can to gain permission. Any way.... The person in charge said they have given permission to hunt in the past but have stopped because the people that live in the house in front of the land (they own the small piece that their house is on) kept calling the cops on the hunters, or calling her to complain about them. She said she didn't think the hunters were doing anything wrong. The home owners just didn't want them hunting back there. She also said that she thinks they didn't want them back there because they hunted it. WITHOUT PERMISSION!! The lady was really reluctant to give me permission, I was very polite when asking, I told her that I am a disabled veteran with a very young family, 3 kids under the age of 5 and bow hunting is my passion and just my way of relaxing and unwinding. I also told her I'm just looking for a place close to home so I don't have to leave my family for a whole weekend. She finally told me this...Ill give you permission to hunt BUT. I (me) have to talk to the home owners and also get permission from them because she doesn't want the headaches from them calling the cops, and her all the time. (Which I don't blame her) So my question is, how should I approach the home owner that is hunting on the land WITHOUT permission and most likely does not want anyone else hunting. I thought about taking my two daugters (5yrs and 4yrs old) with to knock on the door and do it face to face, I've thought about sending a letter to them explaining everything. Other then those two options I can't think of anything. So what do you guys think? Thanks!!

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I think you would want to just send them a note in the mail notifying them that you will be hunting the neighboring property legally with permission. And you would probably want to let the police know that too, so when they get called by the neighbors, they have some background information on it. I would shy away from "asking" the neighbors because they will say no. I would word it in a way that you are just informing them of whats going to happen. I would give them as little information as possible about your background, something along the lines of: " Hi my name is _______ and this is a courtesy notification that I have obtained permission to hunt on the neighboring property and will be doing so during the months of september-december 2016."

If anything bad happens, I would try to get them for hunter harrassment.
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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby ruttnhrd » Fri Apr 22, 2016 6:29 am

hunter_mike wrote:
ruttnhrd wrote:I have a question for you guys. Just looking for some other possible options. So here is the short version. I called a local business that owns a small piece of land in the town I grew up in to see if they would let me bow hunt. It is in-between a decent size wooded park and a subdivision. I've seen 2 booners that were hit by cars coming out of the park. So I want to approach this the best way I can to gain permission. Any way.... The person in charge said they have given permission to hunt in the past but have stopped because the people that live in the house in front of the land (they own the small piece that their house is on) kept calling the cops on the hunters, or calling her to complain about them. She said she didn't think the hunters were doing anything wrong. The home owners just didn't want them hunting back there. She also said that she thinks they didn't want them back there because they hunted it. WITHOUT PERMISSION!! The lady was really reluctant to give me permission, I was very polite when asking, I told her that I am a disabled veteran with a very young family, 3 kids under the age of 5 and bow hunting is my passion and just my way of relaxing and unwinding. I also told her I'm just looking for a place close to home so I don't have to leave my family for a whole weekend. She finally told me this...Ill give you permission to hunt BUT. I (me) have to talk to the home owners and also get permission from them because she doesn't want the headaches from them calling the cops, and her all the time. (Which I don't blame her) So my question is, how should I approach the home owner that is hunting on the land WITHOUT permission and most likely does not want anyone else hunting. I thought about taking my two daugters (5yrs and 4yrs old) with to knock on the door and do it face to face, I've thought about sending a letter to them explaining everything. Other then those two options I can't think of anything. So what do you guys think? Thanks!!

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I think you would want to just send them a note in the mail notifying them that you will be hunting the neighboring property legally with permission. And you would probably want to let the police know that too, so when they get called by the neighbors, they have some background information on it. I would shy away from "asking" the neighbors because they will say no. I would word it in a way that you are just informing them of whats going to happen. I would give them as little information as possible about your background, something along the lines of: " Hi my name is _______ and this is a courtesy notification that I have obtained permission to hunt on the neighboring property and will be doing so during the months of september-december 2016."

If anything bad happens, I would try to get them for hunter harrassment.


Thanks, I agree with you but, I guess I left out a little bit of vital info. The person in charge of the land wants the home owner to call her, to make sure there won't be any problems.

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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby DropTyne » Thu Apr 28, 2016 3:29 pm

I would not just send a letter. I think that would cause immediate conflict. I would go in person, take your two daughters and explain to them the same thing you explained to the landowner ie: can't travel far from home, veteran, etc..... Then explain you are hoping to harvest a deer for some meat. After that conversation you may find that they were just upset for any multitude of reasons, kids play back there, dogs barking when hunter comes to property early, etc...... If you find they are standoffish and you feel asking "them" permission is lost then if the ground is good enough you need to offer the landowner something she can't refuse, either money, labor, whatever it takes...... From what you say that landowner is cool with hunting but the neighbor creates the problem, there is a price for the problem, you just have to figure out what it's worth. Sometimes the hardest properties to crack are worth the biggest headaches.

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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby DropTyne » Thu Apr 28, 2016 3:33 pm

Heck after re-reading, you might even find that the reason it was so problematic for other hunters is because they never spoke to the neighbor before. Maybe they just wanted a heads up or to know who was hunting behind their house.

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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby Outdoor814 » Fri Apr 29, 2016 12:24 am

I got permission to Turkey hunt 2 dairy farms for turkey over the weekend. One is near my house and the other is near the area I'm working so I can hunt after work when all day hunting is permitted. Both landowners had no problem and said no one has ever asked to hunt there.

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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby Lockdown » Sun May 01, 2016 4:21 pm

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24 individualized and hand signed letters out the door this morning. These are all for landowners who live too far away to visit in person.
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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby seazofcheeze » Mon May 02, 2016 3:37 am

Lockdown, you're going to have free reign in the state of Minnesota by the end of the year!

I spent half of yesterday working off some of the hours I agreed to work in exchange for hunting permission in a property. There are deer and sign everywhere....going to be a good year.

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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon May 02, 2016 4:56 pm

seazofcheeze wrote:Lockdown, you're going to have free reign in the state of Minnesota by the end of the year!

I spent half of yesterday working off some of the hours I agreed to work in exchange for hunting permission in a property. There are deer and sign everywhere....going to be a good year.

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Seaz we'll see how it goes! Fingers are crossed. Congrats on securing that property btw. Sounds promising!

Not sure if you all saw my other thread (where's the buck) but I lost permission on that riverbottom property. The guys wife thought they should keep it for family only. So I'm back to square 1.

On Saturday night I did re-visit some landowners who weren't home previously. I got several NO's and 2 maybes. The maybes are both pretty marginal properties. One is real small and the other sounds like it gets hunted hard. It's very possible that I could scout either one and decide they aren't for me.

Hopefully I'll get responses from these letters. I left my address and phone number, and stated they could respond however they would like... By mail, phone call, or text. I do have landline numbers for some, so if those landowners don't respond I'll follow up with a phone call.

So far I've visited 13 landowners in person and have 11 NO's and 2 maybes.

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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Mon May 02, 2016 10:48 pm

Lockdown wrote:
seazofcheeze wrote:Lockdown, you're going to have free reign in the state of Minnesota by the end of the year!

I spent half of yesterday working off some of the hours I agreed to work in exchange for hunting permission in a property. There are deer and sign everywhere....going to be a good year.

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Seaz we'll see how it goes! Fingers are crossed. Congrats on securing that property btw. Sounds promising!

Not sure if you all saw my other thread (where's the buck) but I lost permission on that riverbottom property. The guys wife thought they should keep it for family only. So I'm back to square 1.

On Saturday night I did re-visit some landowners who weren't home previously. I got several NO's and 2 maybes. The maybes are both pretty marginal properties. One is real small and the other sounds like it gets hunted hard. It's very possible that I could scout either one and decide they aren't for me.

Hopefully I'll get responses from these letters. I left my address and phone number, and stated they could respond however they would like... By mail, phone call, or text. I do have landline numbers for some, so if those landowners don't respond I'll follow up with a phone call.

So far I've visited 13 landowners in person and have 11 NO's and 2 maybes.

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Midwest is a tough place to get permission. KS I knocked on a lot of doors. Got all "No" except for 1. That one proved to be huge. Because that one knows everyone in the area. In the end, we have access to more property now than we can every hunt in 2 seasons.

Good luck finding that "one".
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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon May 02, 2016 11:45 pm

Maine how many doors did u knock on before you finally got permission?

I believe I mentioned it in the beginning of this thread but when I moved back to MN from SD I got something like 16 no's in a row then got a yes on the best property of them all. That's why you have to just grin and bear it, and keep knocking. 2 doors later I got another yes. I moved in 2009 and I killed deer on those two landowners' properties in 2010, '11, '12, and '15.

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Re: BEAST CHALLENGE - knocking on doors

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Tue May 03, 2016 1:11 am

Lockdown wrote:Maine how many doors did u knock on before you finally got permission?

I believe I mentioned it in the beginning of this thread but when I moved back to MN from SD I got something like 16 no's in a row then got a yes on the best property of them all. That's why you have to just grin and bear it, and keep knocking. 2 doors later I got another yes. I moved in 2009 and I killed deer on those two landowners' properties in 2010, '11, '12, and '15.

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I would say I knocked on probably 8-10 or so. All nice people. All no. But the last one was the one I REALLY wanted. We got lucky. Not that it did not come with its own set of difficulties. But we managed to get through them. We ended up leasing for a small fee just to keep things straight.

What I have also come to realize, that part of the midwest has some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Its not the northeast thats for sure. We went to a local store and asked for the guys name. The woman stopped what she was doing, called his number and handed us the phone. We went to the guys house. Got permission. By the end of the week were having dinner at his house. Bunch of years later, we are still friends with them and visit with them every year. Super nice people.


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