I once read that if you do not own the land you are hunting on.It is only a matter of time until you will lose the permission you have to hunt it It is a different world now compared to how it was 50 or even 30 years ago As a beginning hunter at age 12 I knew most of the landowners in the neighborhood .And they knew me and my family No hunting signs where unheard of You could start out the day and just walk to where ever you decided to go Hunting in the 60.s and 70.s was a social event where family and friends hunted small game together .During the time Ronald Reagan was president farm policy changed dramatically in the US And those changes changed hunting Farming fence row to fence row was now the way things where going to be Family farms quickly became a thing of the past .And Agri business was how farming was conducted .When that happen many people lost their access to the property they hunted all their lives up to that time .Many people lost interest and quit Others hung on but time slowly took them out of hunting also The remaining small farms became deer meccas in the 90,s and 2000's With the growing segment of archery hunting and the increased interest of many to shot a big deer most land that had still been open to hunting was now off limits unless you had a connection or where willing to pay a lease fee . .Leasing land to hunt in South Central PA was an absurd idea in the 70, and even the 80's But now it happens a lot And from the landowner's stand point .He just needs to pay the bills I have lost nearly all of the farms I was given free access to from the time I was 12 Only a very small amount of acres that are family owned are still open to me .And I was able to find a few land owners that where open minded enough to give me trapping permission so I could continue to have a trap line . As I get older and have some health issue I realize I will not have access by the time my health forces me to stop trapping and hunting either way .The only way to insure access to hunting land is to buy your own And with that comes all the negative issues that go with property ownership .

Most of you sound like a bunch a liberals telling people what they should and should not do with THEIR property. Here is an idea, why don't you go out and buy a 100 acres? What, you don't have that kind of money? Then quit peeing and moaning when the land owner charges to have access to THEIR property.

By the way, I have 149 acres. My friends hunt it with me and I do not charge them. They did mention, at one time, that they should give some money to help pay for the taxes. That offer was declined.

Yes! Preach!

I deleted my post because it was verbatim to this. There is a very large carrying cost to owning land. That said I like to share so as long as you are respectful, do not upset my neighbors, if there is room, and I trust you, you can hunt.

I let a few friends and my immediate family hunt my farm. You general rules are similar to mine. And, yes, it costs a lot of money to buy the land and then own the land. The precise second a guest acts entitled to my land and/or doesn't respect the general rules, the decision will be made. Adios!

99% of the time the fellows that say "everything is leased, I can't get permission" are just using that as an excuse for their poor efforts at getting said permissions

We hunt many states each year for waterfowl, all freelance hunting and no guides. I have never paid a lease fee for a field.

Talk to the landowners. Face to face. They are people just like you. Relate to them and communicate effectively. Do not leave any gray areas. Be clear about the size of your hunting party and other details like driving in the fields, parking, etc etc

And if they say no? Go find something else. I promise its not the only field in the area that a good hunt will take place in. Do your due diligence with scouting

With that being said, I'm not a fan of offering to lease a field when told someone already has permission. What I do in that situation is ask the landowner if I can have the contact information of the person who already has permission. I call that person and explain we would like to hunt but don't want to work against eachother. I have had some great hunts teaming up like that with guys I haven't met, made some great friends too

O look a strawman... who are you preaching to? Who on here said farmers shouldn't lease? Jeepers creepers.

I must be really crazy. I pay to shoot clay birds.

That was my first thought too. Sounds to me like the landowner broke his promise.

I never said pay to hunt should be illegal. I said dont pay. If thats the only way your allowed to trespass then stay home. Landowners have a right to charge but hunters haver the right to say no.

When Texans first started asking to pay for exclusive access in the 60's and 70's (CO) everybody made fun of them. Been the tradition in TX for a long time. Its a bad idea, bad for hunting, and anything bad for hunting is bad for private firearm ownership. Hunting is not what the 2nd is about but it IS what most firearm purchases are about. Its also the reason for most people to get their first firearm and to learn safe firearm handling.

If you think pay to hunt is a good thing have a look at how things are done in England or most of Europe and their firearm laws.

P.S. anybody taking farm subsidies should have to allow the same access BLM grazers do. If you want the publics money then you should have to allow public trespass.

I’ve always said we were 30 years behind Texas. In the end hunting is a rich man’s game. It sucks but I’m not sure what the answer is!

I think pay to hunt is fine because I think the landowner can do what they want with what they paid for.
Donna and I, like many of you, have owned land and properties in various places and there's always the "one" neighbor who thinks "they" can tell YOU what YOU can do on YOUR place.
Ah, no.

That said, a landowner who is giving permission - however that all plays out - would be courteous to chat face to face with all involved because in today's world of texts, emails, or silence is golden...
things get imagined that might no be the case.

How about those landowners that let ALL the trappers on their place.
Been there, done that and again...
Ah, no.

Blessings,
Mark

Brad, you treated me 100% square and I have no issue paying to play on your ground.
It's called bidness or business depending on where you live.

I have just under 100 acres. When you grew up hunting pretty well anywhere you wanted in 3 counties it feels very small and confined. As a result I also drive a lot to state and federal land to hunt often an hour or more drive.
If I only hunted my land there would be no game left in a short amount of time with my boys putting it on them. I manage habit an limit harvest. I but we like hunting and harvest more than my land would sustain.

Some folks may hunt a bit differently than you.. I do what I can to give my kids all the opportunitys to hunt I can. I have not leased any yet...

Welcome to capitalism! We all want that form of economics until it impacts us personally. Obviously there are many who do not feel it is disrespectful to offer a fee to hunt. There is always someone who can use the money and there will always be those willing to pay regardless of the norms or ethics. As to hunting becoming a rich person's sport that has been evident for decades and probably one of the most signifcant reasons other than urbanization that fewer and fewer youth hunt. If you don't have family with land or money to get land to hunt you don't hunt, plus the cost of all the equipment etc.

Bryce

I think a lot of guys would be surprised how many places they could find to hunt if they actually put some effort into it.

X2.
& good for you

I wouldn't call hunting a rich man's sport. I have had plenty of customers that are middle to upper middle class pay $15,000 to $20,000 to hunt here. Most of my clients have been retired ( or near retired ) middle class. Most middle class people, who are somewhat wise with their money can afford this, apparently. The main reason price has reach these levels or higher, is the demand. People will pay it. Price meets demand at certain price. Capitalism.

You have become europe-pay your tithes to the lords.