Hunting on private property has benefits. Often the landowner limits access resulting in less hunting pressure. The property may have controlled management program resulting in larger deer and more of them. You may be able to erect permanent tree stands and develop extensive knowledge of a particular deer area. It’s a positive situation, but first, you must gain permission.
Liability Matters
Granting permission to hunt a property is a significant act of trust. Should the hunter fall from a tree stand, get lost, or wonder onto a neighboring property, the landowner can be sued. Many private hunt clubs and informed individuals ask a prospective hunter to sigh a liability waiver to mitigate this risk. The State of Maryland includes a permission form in their printed hunting regulations which provides a written agreement with stated responsibilities of the hunter.
Just Ask
Asking permission is difficult for many hunters, but you will never know if you can hunt a property unless you ask. Josh Honeycutt will give you ten solid tips in his Realtree post, yet I’d like to share a story to illustrate how asking permission can work.
I have a good friend who had two aspiring hunting sons, yet no private land to hunt. Father approached the caretaker for one of the most exclusive hunt clubs in the region, asking if he could hunt under limited conditions. The caretaker agreed and allowed the family to hunt sections of the club that few members hunted and at times when pressure was low. Neither dad or the sons spoke of their unique opportunity and it produced years of quality family enjoyment until the property was sold. Moral of the story… you have to ask.
Try These 10 Tips
Each season it becomes harder to gain access to private land deer hunting. If you are not a landowner or blessed with family members and friends who are; you are at a serious disadvantage on finding prime real estate. With the intense competition between hunters; it is ever increasingly becoming more difficult to persuade private landowners to grant strangers land access. However, do not call off the search just yet. The following tips have proven extremely helpful for me and countless others who have resorted to the door-knocking approach. Remember, a first impression means everything. Here is how to make it a good one.
https://www.realtree.com/deer-hunting/articles/10-tips-for-getting-permission-to-deer-hunt
