Kingcreek
Member
In many parts of the country (maybe most parts) if you want to hunt on prime private land, you have to pay. Buy a lease or join a club etc.
Fortunately for me, there are some areas that haven't caught up with this practice. It can be hard to get permission, you have to have a connection, but money isn't necessarily part of it. It is changing but thankfully slowly.
Here in Illinois, in the land between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, we are known for some of the best whitetail deer hunting and a generous archery season and inexpensive over the counter tags.
I have 40 acres of my own and exclusive access to 2 other farms with creeks and woods and crop ground with lots of deer. As of now, both farms are under the same renter. I visited him this weekend and delivered a shopping bag full of venison breakfast sausage, my own smoked summer sausage, and some deer sticks. (Just in time for his superbowl party)
I also told him about a tree that came down on the crop ground and the previous tenant farmer just picked around it. I offered to clean it up for him and take the firewood home for me if he didn’t want it. Finished that job yesterday afternoon.
The owner is a 90 year old widow that told him I have hunted that farm since her father lived there (40 years ago) and that No One but yours truly should be hunting it. Her folks lived there into their 90’s and I used to visit them regularly. His wife always had fresh coffee on. I think they both drank coffee all day long.
The current landowner remembers that I helped her dad with an electrical problem in his horse barn and helped him with chores now and then. I shot a deer on that farm in November and counted 22 including the one I arrowed by the time it got dark. The previous farmer's son and his beer buddies have been a pain in my plans for several years but they are now out. Good riddance.
Owner is happy, new tenant farmer is happy, and needless to say I am very happy.
2023 deer season is looking promising.
Fortunately for me, there are some areas that haven't caught up with this practice. It can be hard to get permission, you have to have a connection, but money isn't necessarily part of it. It is changing but thankfully slowly.
Here in Illinois, in the land between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, we are known for some of the best whitetail deer hunting and a generous archery season and inexpensive over the counter tags.
I have 40 acres of my own and exclusive access to 2 other farms with creeks and woods and crop ground with lots of deer. As of now, both farms are under the same renter. I visited him this weekend and delivered a shopping bag full of venison breakfast sausage, my own smoked summer sausage, and some deer sticks. (Just in time for his superbowl party)
I also told him about a tree that came down on the crop ground and the previous tenant farmer just picked around it. I offered to clean it up for him and take the firewood home for me if he didn’t want it. Finished that job yesterday afternoon.
The owner is a 90 year old widow that told him I have hunted that farm since her father lived there (40 years ago) and that No One but yours truly should be hunting it. Her folks lived there into their 90’s and I used to visit them regularly. His wife always had fresh coffee on. I think they both drank coffee all day long.
The current landowner remembers that I helped her dad with an electrical problem in his horse barn and helped him with chores now and then. I shot a deer on that farm in November and counted 22 including the one I arrowed by the time it got dark. The previous farmer's son and his beer buddies have been a pain in my plans for several years but they are now out. Good riddance.
Owner is happy, new tenant farmer is happy, and needless to say I am very happy.
2023 deer season is looking promising.