Something has Changed Here With Permissions....?

[Deleted]

I have always taken the time to ask NEW permissions face-to-face.  The property owner can see me, my truck, and I can answer questions directly.  In the last 3 years something has changed and not for the better.  When I approach the NEW property owner as normal they will 99% of the time say "I'll get back with you" and take my business card.  Some will say yes or no but they are very few today that do that.  What does happen is they never call me to give me an answer so by default, I figure it's a NO.  

I have reluctantly tried phoning and that doesn't work at all 100%!  I'm forced to leave a voicemail message with a request to contact me but that never as happened.  Next we have the "out of area/state" property owners.  Usually I have no phone number just a name and address so I've sent out business-type letters asking for permission and requesting a contact.  Last year I sent out 8 such letters and never got a return.

I did have anew property owner shed some light on this after he told me no.  He said he's had it with people using his proeprty.  He said that his biggest bitch was young sportsman gaining permission for themselves and clearly defining what and how they're going to use the peoperty and he said everytime it's a lie!!  "i"m hunting alone" and he brings 3 pickup s of other hunters.  "i'm just hanging 1 tree stand" and he said there'll be 5-6-7 of them hanging.  "i'll park at the entrance" and he said the next thing is he's got trucks stuck back in where they shouldn't drive and atv's running all over even cutting trails.  I told him I didn't blame him a bit and I was sorry he and his property got screwed-over.

[trappnman]

I've had some big operations owned by corps, where I gave my card and was told they would contact me, but never did.

But thats the exception. Permissions here are for the most part easy to get- esp when Im not after deer or turkeys or whatever, just coyotes.

Best days for me are in a few weeks- summer stuff done, fall stuff just getting started so usually around, and a rainy day makes that all the more so. I ask for the boss, and then give him my card, explain who I am, when I'll be there, etc and I get the permissions. Really helps i na new area to get a "big name" or two as permissions- then I can say "I trap coyotes for so and so down the road" and that takes care of any hesitation.

At new farms, if only the wife is home, or a hired man says sure go ahead, I giver my card, and say that I'll be there at that time, if there are any concerns or you decide you don't want me to trap- give me a call. Cause if you say call me if you WANT me to trap- the farmer usually doesn't have time and will "get to it" later but never does My oddest call- a new farm 3 years ago, gave my card to the son, I get a call from wife- turns out she was a Gappa, and we were 3rd cousins. That was kinda neat.

On my old permissions, many are on farms I gopher trap- and we are used to texting about hay so a text or contact throughout the summer takes care of that. Mainly on my middle line. On my east and west lines, newer and less contact, I'll stop by yet this summer, talk a bit, if no one home leave my card with the note "got X last year, will be here this time, any problems call me".

flathead got me to sign up for OnXhunt- what a tool for property lines and ownership- just playing around with it this summer saw several farms owned by farmers I trapped for, but didn't know they owned as well. Get it if you don't have it, its that good. Suppose to have a map layer showing last years crops as well, but haven't had time to play with it yet.

[Deleted]

This is what I use- www.amalgamonline.com/fetchgis.shtml  Scroll down the the list of counties such as mine, Midland or Bay and click.  On the county map, click on a property and it gives it's address and owners, click once more on the owner andn you'll get owner's address, tax rolls, valuation, size, etc

I'll look at OnXhunt as well.

[Griz]

Aug 11, 2021 7:10:02 GMT -6 @seldom46 said:

I have always taken the time to ask NEW permissions face-to-face.  The property owner can see me, my truck, and I can answer questions directly.  In the last 3 years something has changed and not for the better.  When I approach the NEW property owner as normal they will 99% of the time say "I'll get back with you" and take my business card.  Some will say yes or no but they are very few today that do that.  What does happen is they never call me to give me an answer so by default, I figure it's a NO.  

I have reluctantly tried phoning and that doesn't work at all 100%!  I'm forced to leave a voicemail message with a request to contact me but that never as happened.  Next we have the "out of area/state" property owners.  Usually I have no phone number just a name and address so I've sent out business-type letters asking for permission and requesting a contact.  Last year I sent out 8 such letters and never got a return.

I did have anew property owner shed some light on this after he told me no.  He said he's had it with people using his proeprty.  He said that his biggest bitch was young sportsman gaining permission for themselves and clearly defining what and how they're going to use the peoperty and he said everytime it's a lie!!  "i"m hunting alone" and he brings 3 pickup s of other hunters.  "i'm just hanging 1 tree stand" and he said there'll be 5-6-7 of them hanging.  "i'll park at the entrance" and he said the next thing is he's got trucks stuck back in where they shouldn't drive and atv's running all over even cutting trails.  I told him I didn't blame him a bit and I was sorry he and his property got screwed-over.

I am experiencing much of the same. Additionally, many of the farmers that I trap on rent land in addition to what they own. In my state the tenant/renter has the right to permit or not permit activity on the land. If I talk to the person that owns the land they need to talk to the tenant/renter, and if I talk to the tenant/renter they often want to check with the landlord to assure agreement. This can cause the I'll-get-back-with-you-with-no-call-back" meaning one of them does not want the activity.

[trappnman]

1080 once told me- if they don't want you to trap coyotes, they don't have enough to bother.

I think some truth there

[Deleted]

Aug 12, 2021 18:12:51 GMT -6 trappnman said:

1080 once told me- if they don't want you to trap coyotes, they don't have enough to bother.

I think some truth there

Ol' 1080 was on the mark again!

Yesterday I gave up my one and only real diary farm that I've trapped for 11 years and killed a lot of coyotes but last year never set a trap for lack of sign.  With this "night-hunting" thing in MI now I did some research and found that the farmer on 2 sides of the diary farm has been night-hunting coyotes for the past 2 years.  I thought this could have been the deal and why no sign last year.  So, I called the owner of the diary farm yesterday to ask permission to scout sign and hang a couple of cameras because this proeprty is all heavy clay.  I ask him off-the-cuff if he'd heard about the neighboring farmer night-hunting?  He tells me he might have heard and than tells me he's had a night-hunter on the same field I set for over a year!!!!  He told the hunter about me but neglected to tell me about the hunter.  Worked out because I didn't trap the farm.

He said he'd shut the hunter off and I could scout and trap and I told him thanks but no thanks.  I told him with last year having 3 large acreage farms in a line having night-hunting and his diary farm the one in the middle and on the coyote's travel-way, I told him the other farmers weren't going to stop night-hunting , so I was done and thank you!

I'm seeing so much of this on private property in my trapping territory that I'm only seeing 1 or 2 possible ways out of it and adapt but still trap coyote!

[Deleted]

I hope my previous post doesn’t sound like whining because it isn’t, it’s just a statement of fact and the result of me always searching out the “WHY” of circumstances. 

[trappnman]

FWIW- I would think that on the one and only dairy- IF he is like here with silage piles, bale stacks and a compost pile- Id think that if he stopped the hunting now, by season coyotes would find a way there. I'd give it one more year- had the farmer stop the hunting, and then scout for sign in a month or so.