Finding Hunting Properties.
Just one of the hunting properties I have access to.
One of the biggest problems any hunter will face is gaining access to hunting properties.
Getting access to property that I have permission to hunt on has been one of the biggest hurdles that I have encountered as a hunter. They are out there though and people will let you onto their property to hunt if you show you are a responsible person. I figured that in this article I would tell you about how I’ve gained access to properties and what not to do.
To me there are three main ways to gain access to property. I’ll order them in effectiveness:
1) Word of Mouth – This comes in a couple of forms. Either a property owner that already allows you to have access on their property tell their neighbours about you and you get access to new property like that. This is quite common. Another way I find can be useful is to keep your ear to the ground when you hear friends and family talking about so & so’s farm and ask them to put a good word in for you. The more you talk about hunting and how you are trying to find some property the more you are going to jog peoples memory and get them thinking about it if they are not anti’s.
2) Letter box drops – I have found this fairly effective with about one in every twenty properties giving me a call back. Seems like slim odds I know but if you managed to get 40 pamphlets in a day there’s a good chance you will get one or two call backs. In saying this you have to word your pamphlet the right way.
For instance you want to appear to be offering a free service rather than asking for permission. You also want to tailor the pamphlet for the area. If you know there is a rabbit problem in the area chances are people are sick of seeing rabbits and want them gone. Same goes for fox or pest birds. Make your pamphlet short and sweet:
Free Pest Control
Specialising in the humane control of Rabbits, Foxes & Other Feral Pests
Expert in controlling pests on small properties around livestock
Insured & Safe
Call or email: blah blah
That is something very similar that I leave. You can also ask the local produce to put them somewhere too. It works because you get the people who perceive that they have a problem with pest animals and your leaflet is a call to action. They think “Wow, I was just thinking about the fact that there a lot of rabbits or foxes about”. One time I got a callback from one of these saying that they just had 24 chickens killed by a fox and they want it gone. It was 1000 acres and I still hunt that property to this day. It is also only 20 minutes drive from my house.
3) Door Knocking – I’ve never been a big fan of this, not because it doesn’t work but because I’ve never liked people knocking on my door asking for this or that. In saying that a lot of people say it is one of the most successful ways they have gained access to hunting property. I can understand why too, it is very easy to ignore a leaflet in the mail or to even say no over the phone. It becomes a hell of a lot harder to say no to a well presented, seemingly responsible looking person. With door knocking though, don’t ever go out in your hunting gear. Dress nicely and maybe bring along one of your kids or your mrs this is a way for them to see you are just a normal person. Never expect to hunt on that day if they say yes. If you get a yes thank them and arrange a time to come out for a shot. If you come with your hunting clothes on and guns in the back it can be viewed as overconfident, rude or over zealous.
Of course there are other ways to get private property access but the above three to me seem the most effective. You could just try getting numbers of farms and ringing and asking or finding out their email addresses. Whilst this is easy it is not the most effective ways in my book.
Here are some things you should and shouldn’t do when looking for a property, some I may have covered already but they are worth covering again:
If you got a call back from a letterbox drop. Offer to go out and meet them first to discuss it at length. Don’t bring your hunting gear if its close, but if you want to make sure you ask if its ok if you went for a hunt at the same time. Don’t assume anything, people are usually quietly wary and want to meet you face to face first. Don’t blow it here.
Another thing you don’t want to do is appear rude or abrupt. You want to be polite and courteous at all times. These people are essentially letting a stranger onto their property with guns you want them to feel safe and comfortable around you. Not awkward.
Ask for a tour of the property, say you want to see the place so you can be as safe as possible whilst on their property.
Get insurance by becoming a member of the SSAA, Game Council, AHNi or another hunting club that offers public liability insurance. Once you get this tell the property owner you have this at some stage before you go out so their mind is at ease.
If they are worried about you hurting yourself whilst on the property, offer to put it in writing that if you are injured by your own fault that you will not pursue legal action and that you take responsibility for your own actions.
4) Get the Appropriate Permit or License to Hunt on Public Land –
One thing I am yet to do but am keen to do it is to hunt on public land. The Game Council in NSW allows hunters to do this even if they are from interstate. I also believe this is possible in Victoria with one of their state departments. Visit the Game Council website for more information.
So there you have it, that’s my take to gaining access to property.
Best of luck and I hope this article helps you get more property to hunt on. Be safe and respect other peoples property.
Related posts:
- Feature: Finding Hunting Properties
- How I Would Change Gun..err… I mean Hunting Laws Part 5 – Kangaroo Hunting.
- Some Of My Hunting Photos
Category: How To's, Keith Drain's Column
I did exactly this recently Keith, heard of a local property owner with a rabbit problem, rang him & offered to help, this property is 20 mins away, from my house, where my regular one is 2 hrs away….went up & met him to look over the place on a Sat morning, he had several regular shooters coming there already, and he gave me the go-ahead too. As a bonus, the bloke who owned the property next door was there for a coffee, so I got introduced to him, had a chat & got his ok as well. Right place & right time !
That’s it mate! It pays to keep your ear to the ground when it comes to gaining access. Word of mouth is the best sales tool and as you know you are selling your services when you are after property.
I wonder who voted my blog one star? Surely it was worth atleast two?
Wasn’t me mate, I wasn’t aware of the voting component lol, having said that ….there you go, good advice
Haha thanks cruisey. Hope you are enjoying what we’re trying to do here!
No worries mate, you do good work, both sites are great, cheers, dave.
Excellent article, very well explained.
I wouldn’t worry about whatever idiot left a 1. Even if you know of a better way (I certainly don’t) no well writen article gets a 1 unless the person voting has some hidden agenda/
Keep up the, very, good work
Simon
P.S. I’d enter the photo comp but am still waiting to get my licence sorted out
Thanks Natator,
No problems. Its no fair for you anyway as you are pro photographer haha. In saying that you can enter, you can just take a great photo of live game. If I were you and were waiting for my License, go hunting with your camera.
Very informative Keith. Thankyou.
ive been doing the door knocking thing for a few weekends now and most people are nice about it but end up saying no. The main reason they say no is because they have let people shoot on there land in the past and somethings gone wrong, ie the idiot shooters delibratly shoot stock just for kicks (this shocked me to hear)or abusing the privalige in some other way.
After a few weekends i finaly got yes from a nice farmer. He’s only condition was that he didnt want me there to often, so we agreed on once a fortnight.
So door knocking does work.
Thanks again.
itry it all,i have dogs and bows.i have never killed animal for kicks.that give me the shits that some one has the land a dose that.all i want is a place too put my feet up drop a few deer,goat and dog some pigs.or just take the bow and rod.my sons are getting there to come and feel the bush.but no where to go
i agree that all of your methods are excellent i have only one problem and that is i live to far away from any property to do any door knocking i come from nelson bay which is about 2 hours from sydney and the only property i have access to is north qld oviously to far away for a few days hunting would be very appreciative of any suggestions for my self and one friend both fully licenced and experienced shooters.
thank you
Hi Joel,
You have to pick an area near your home (go inland) and start canvasing the larger properties go in and knock on some doors etc you will get property this way. You are only minutes away from rural area.
Get on google earth and have a look around your area. I had a look on the map and I reckon you’d have a good chance if you head west around Dungog and Maitland. I’m pretty sure you will get all sorts of game around there and maybe even the odd pig and deer.
Hey
My mate and myself are really new at hunting and are still trying to learn techniques. Is there any where in Queensland that we are able to go on say a weekend course or something like that to learn tracking and night hunting techniques. we are still quite fresh with the rifles that we are using but at the same time have had quite a bit experience with shooting in the past
Thanks for the informative comments and ideas, I was thinking about doing a letter box drop in my area but was unsure how to word it, after reading yours I have now done my own version and printed some off and I will try a selective drop around my area. Whatever your preferred method if it works and allows responsible hunters land access, its a win win situation for the hunter and land owner!!! Fingers crossed.
i got my first property simply sight seeing had no hunting gear on me and saw an old fella on the side off the road fixing his fence and stoped for a chat he said no i replyed ok well thanks for your time as i walked away he came over and gave me his number i shoot there every 2 months clearly talking to people works best iv droped letters befor no reply did over 150 from dalby to kogan to tara to the gums and gundy so its a wast off time they throw them out and just let local lads on
but if any one can help out i need more propertys to harvest on so i can do it full time my email is clintonbutler1@hotmail.com
hey i have a few properties that are looking for hunters dogs must be stock proof an must be able to show your gun licence before you will be aloud on email me if intrested ashley_towns@y7mail.com thanks
properties are located nsw
hey my names matthew me and my brother have just got new pups and are keen to take them out we have got all the gear and every thing i am just wondering if any body could help me out with a property. thanks
HI Keith Drain congratulations excellent article, best one i read so far. i have been shooting for two years only. I leave in western sydney and i don’t know anybody who own a big property.all your tips are top notch but it’s gonna be extra hard for me to ask anybody to let me enter their property ,let alone doing some hunting. I came from Philippines and let us be honest, a lot of people are scared of things they are not used to. So i was hoping somebody would give me chance or help me get a place to do hunting or shooting . i would love to help property owners get rid of problem rabbits and foxes in their property. by the way i am a member of SSAA. Thank you very much ! CHEERS!
I think you ouffer great advice, I wish someone would open up more land to hunt on only if it’s safe and done with a humane shot with no pain, I hate seeing animal cruelty it make my blood boil for justice and also you have to eat it or use it for a purpose but it’s so controlled here and I think this seems like it won’t become a hobby now because of these strict rules. I feel I joined the ssaa for nothing, I can fufill everything besides the property letter if anyone can help me, I would really appreciate it.
Good stuff Keith. Some good tips there. Presenting as a normal person is a really important thing. After all if a Rambo wannabe shows up people are only going to be nervous and say we don’t want that.
Scott I am sympathetic about the regulations and signing off on a piece of paper to say that you have permission is sometimes a bit too much for some people. Stick with the SSAA they do a good job and have kept for us what we have when we could have lost it all. I think it might in the years to come swing back our way a little because so many people are getting into shooting. Being sane and reasonable is important for all of us.
There is a lot of excellent advice here. Well thought out Keith. It must be hard for beginners. I have a couple of suggestions. Since all of you have computers why not modify Keith’s excellent Idea of a brochure into a business card. Don’t tell any fibs but make it look professional. Further to that offer to do something for the farmer other than just shooting e.g. if you are a tradesman some work around the farm. I know a carpenter who does simple repairs and gets access to some great properties. What are you good at? Give it some thought. I know a baker who gets stale bread for the farmers daughters pony. It is unlimited. If you help people they will help you.
Spend a little time in the local town and ask around you will be surprised what some old codger in the bar or waitress in the cafe will tell you.
Joel you live in one of my favourite places and are not far from: Red deer, fallow, rusa, dingoes well within 100ks from home.
Join the Newcastle SSAA at Seaham range and make some friends there. Don’t believe anything they tell you about me! Other than that they will give you some excellent advice.
Hi guys
Asking about farm hunting anyone can help me please. Any place in Adelaide or Melbourne
Thanks in advance
Hi ,
Who can help me organize a hunting party on feral game (pigs)
for an small group of friends from EU.
Cheers
George Schestauber
prohunt@prohunt.cz