How to get field permission?

[hojicha]

I've scoped out a few places I'd like to hunt in private fields owned by people I don't know. I'm pretty shy, so knocking on a stranger's door to ask if I can come on their property is intimidating. A few questions about that:

1. The fields are planted with corn now. Should I just wait until the fall to ask? Do you think they would let me walk the edges of the field? If I should wait, when should I time my return? Right after the harvest?
2. Do people normally ask for permission to hunt just the one time or general permission?
3. When you're done, do you tell them you're leaving? Not sure if this would be annoying or welcome.
4. What do you usually say to build trust?

[Mattern]

Great discussion Hojicha. Always ask! You can approach them any time. Make sure you tell them first that you don't want to ever damage any of their crops. I start off the conversation with " You have a beautiful farm. Complement them on the flowers around the house or say something flattering about their location. You know flatter them up. Introduce yourself and tell them your interest in Native American Artifacts. Be polite, ask them if you can come back after the harvest. Then hit it hard in the spring after plowing. Offer to show them what you find. I never show them anything good, just some brokes if I find them. Build up a relationship. One farmer I asked, and offered to show him and his wife some of my collection. I went back with some super frames. They loved it. we were instant friends. He went out of his way and plowed all the fields by the creek the next spring so he and I could go hunting together. I can hunt there any time now, planted or not! Kim

[Garguy]

Great advice above. I might add another thing, if you have kids, take them .

[Tenoch]

Infallible....

[hojicha]

This is very helpful. Thank you all!

[Mattern]

Any time my friend. K

[clovisoid]

In addition to what the others said.

Know your audience. And don't take rejection personally. What used to be an almost given in the Midwest is now hit or miss with permissions.

Generally speaking don't drive up their driveway blaring hardcore rap and present with an offensive but humorous t-shirt.

I used to try to time it when they were outside but not hard at work. (I wouldn't flag them off the tractor to ask for a favor and didn't interrupt a meal.)

You are either from the area, or new to the area but you likely have a farmer in your ancestry. I would bring that up, you miss walking a field after the harvest or before planting.

Bring a child (son, daughter, nephew, etc) and say you want to help them find an arrowhead, kids don't spend enough time outside. (My son got me more permissions when he was a kid than anything else.)

[Mattern]

More good advice! Thumbs up Clovis

[Savage1!]

I recently got permission to hunt hundreds of acres. I know other land owners in the area that could valid who I am. Plus I showed the land owner my driver license to confirm who I am.

[jraykc]

How do you find the owner of the land? I live in a semi-rural part of a suburb and many of the fields have multiple houses or no houses near the land.

[gregszybala]

Jackson, where? Most counties have a link that you can either name search or look on a satellite type map. You can scroll to an area or piece of land click on it, an outline of the property and the name of the owner are then shown. If your county or the counties you want to hunt in don't have this capability most also have plat books available for sale. Local libraries may have these to look at for free,

[Dirtman]

I use the OnX Hunt app to scout properties and find out who owns them. I use this for game and artifact hunting. It provides a name and address of record. Face to face will almost always be better than sending a random letter. If you plan on sending letters, send them to everyone cause it will be a law of averages.

[Bullheadtee]

Everybody likes a little Butter On their Bread Try cash or a fresh baked Apple pie if it's a farm bring a party tray and soda at lunch time good luck !!!😆

[Tenoch]

that works, I have applied it, with some cokes and bread