I spent the evening out on the road with my 7 year old son trying to get some permission to trap. I stopped at 5 farms and did my very best job asking, only to be rejected because the same person holds permission there. I think that between two or three guys the entire county is spoken for. I even had a few guys try to run me off of public land last year. They said that they have been there for years and I should move along. I am at wits end and very discouraged right now. I guess I will just keep on asking folks and maybe someone will say yes.

Thanks for letting me boo-boo for a minute.

Only 5? You're just getting started.

Keep asking... I spend a couple days going from farm to farm. And get a plat book they, work wonders.

Never really had the problem, but the majority of people around here don't know what trapping is. It always helps if the land owner has a beaver dam giving them problems and then they lay the red carpet out for me.

man dont let it discourage you ... it should make you work that much harder .... once ya start gainin permission and show the ones ya get permission from word of mouth will spread quick !! give this a shot ... if ya havent already .... introduce yaself and ask them if you can do sumthin off the wall ... as in look for mushrooms, plants for photography, hunt for bigfoot, whatever gets ya foot in the door .... if ya gain permission for this go out walk for a few minutes .... do ya thing .... then when ya get ready to leave stop back in thank em for lettin ya walk their land ... start BS'n bout the weather, crops, etc .... sooner or later sumthin will come up that can bring up trappin .... then mention that you trap and ya havin problems gainin permission for land as there are people already trappin the farms you tried to get permission for ... use ya lil one to ya advantage and mention he enjoys goin with ya and you are just out to have a good time with ya boy .... sounds like alot of work to get farms ... but in sum areas ya have to go that extra lil bit to gain em .... ive gained so much land over goin shroom huntin ...comin back and offerin sum of the bounty for a thank you .... then do the same thing as i mentioned above ... i think this brings people to ease alot of times ... may sound stupid to sum but it works for me ... i also like to cut up a bit .... have spent alot of times talkin to old farmers ... and when i go back to the farms year after year im alwasy greeted with smiles !!

It also doesn't hurt to help the farmer put up some hay or offer some other chores in exchange for the service.I've even went as far as taking printed recommendations from others.In this day, trust is the number one priority.Once you get one farm the others will follow.

The funny thing is that if 2 or 3 guys have the county covered, they ain't hitting 1/10th of those farms. They just have the permission sewn up......

It is just logic. I know that the top 3 trappers in this country could not cover my county (which has a large portion that is urban) by themselves and trap every piece of property.

Maybe working smaller properties (20-40 acre tracts) may work for you. I bet these guys that are out there are passing up the smaller pieces of land, and really hitting the bigger properties.

lmao ... i beg to differ as far as the top trappers coverin that area .... lol .... also its not the size that matters ... lmao ... its location .... ill skip huge tracts of land to get in on 40 acre plots of land if they are sittin on prime ground !!

Thanks guys, I am going to try to keep my chin up and ask more folks. I just get down in the dumps when I go up against the trappers that have been here since the civil war. Well I,m off to pound the pavement.

Yep just keep at it guy . Like Gary said ya need to find a way to get your foot in the door . I had a hard time when I first got here too . There is a guy 75 years old that grew up in the area and has a ton of it sewed up .

Once folks find out how you are and you treat their property with respect word of mouth will help you out . When one of my land owners has a problem with critters I do the job free . I took the time to get an ADC license for that reason alone .

Drifter

Back in the fur boom I was just starting.Out lot of farmers did not want to know you,So I started in may and gave them a hand on the farm.help them with chores,mend fences,put in crops any thing they are doing give them a hand it will not be forgotten.I've gotten a farm that was trapped for years by the same guy just by telling the farmer his dairy cows were going down the road.Carry a cooler of ice cold bottled water with you if he is out doing crops on a hot day offer him a bottle of ice cold water. Don't forget christmas time give a little token of thanks even if the turn you down the first year I usally give a dozen of homemade cookies to them,then when I got to trap I give a little pocket knife.when you get your name and face out there you will get the farms.DO NOT BE AFRAID TO GET DIRTY

Funny thing about getting permission is this. Believe it or not, depends on what day you go to the farmer and ask. I have gotten tons of permission from farmers for seng hunting and trapping. I found out that sunday is not a good day to ask for permission. I also try to wait for a nice cool sunny day to talk to people. Remember one thing when asking, the days you feel oppressed is the days the farmer feels the same way. Also it is best to find one working outside to ask. They are a lot more reseptive. On a hot miserable day a farmer just does not really want to come out of the house and talk to you.
If you find a farmer in the field and on a tractor, wait till he gets off his tractor to talk to him. Funny thing about one on his tractor, they do not have time to talk to you, plus the noise of the machine just makes things a lot worse.

PaMadTrapper you need to watch the Matt Jones coyote trapping video. He has a great comment on trapping public land, and even show's sets near other people. Just have to get up a little earlier then the other guy.

As for farms, ask if the farmer could use some help and work out a deal for trapping season. Most farms around central PA have one guy trapping them as well. Just keep asking.

ask if the farmer has problems with animals(coons,coyotes,etc;)

the guys i asked permission for my areas i sent them x-mas cards and when i called to aked them for permission i told them that i will respect any rules they gave me like for instance i colud trap this acerage but i could not trap across the road where he owned it and i did'nt i will be calling them all here shortly i was told years ago if ya get permission to hunt fish or trap does not mean ya get it every year better off asking anyway could be different owners or something good luck to ya in the future weld

Thats the biggest reason I love Maine so much.Got to suffer through winter but here in northern Maine I've got hundreds of miles to hunt,trap,and fish as I please with virtualy no (no trespassing) signs.

Never Underestimate the power of the Woodchuck or the Muskrat. Many times those two animals will get you access quicker than anything else. Especially the woodchuck.

Down here it is the Beaver, and in some cases the otter....Keep 'em thinned down, and you stand a chance. Doesn't happen all the time, but it helps.

Starting to turn towards the yotes here.

Really starting to kick up in numbers, and not many guys trap them. Prove you can, you should be in....

Pamadtrapper, hang a pic of your catch last year in your local co-op store. Picked up four new farms to date to trap that way. They came to me with the help of the co-op employees.