I found last season that elderly people are very scared anymore of strangers knocking on their doors. Not like it was 40 years ago. The little ladies wouldn’t answer and one fellow I saw had a pistol in his pocket. Might be good to ask a family member to ask for you sometimes anymore.

Print some business cards, nothing fancy but professional looking. Knock on some doors and ask. Even offer to help in the off season with straw/hay, fixing fence, etc. The old farmers respect someone willing to work. Build a reputation for yourself and don't tarnish it! My twin and I quit trapping (mostly) 12 years ago when you could still earn some decent money. We both still get phone calls from complete strangers asking us to come take care of a nuisance critters. 9 times out of 10, they got our numbers from a farmer that said "Call the twins" even a decade later!

When you do get permission stop by on occasion and touch base. Ask if they need help with anything. We always made it a point to drop off a roll or 2 of deer sausage in the fall. And occasionally stopped in with a truck load of fur to "show" we were actually doing what we said we were going to do. We built a reputation for ourselves that has lasted literally decades! And that has opened up more access for us than anything.

I wouldn’t bale hay for the privilege of doing a farmer a favor by trapping $3 raccoon. That worked with $70 red Fox but those days are long gone.

never said do it for free. Most farmers, myself included, can't find enough help willing to work.

Back in the 70s when most all fur was high I knew a farmer that wanted a cut of the money from the fur for letting the guy trap there and the guy agreed to it.

I never said to work for free either. You are more likely to get permission if you have a good working relationship with the people you ask. You're also more likely to get recommended to other landowners and land managers.

Many people are hesitant to give permission to people they don't know and for good reasons.

Keith

Just text the land owner

I respectfully disagree. That would be my absolute LAST resort to contact a landowner.

Never bother landowners while they're working or during meal times

texting has worked for me once

Someone ghosted me lol

also 1000 acres plus 200 acres plus the 650 acres thats a ton of trapping ground. think about how your getting there and if you can run a line there during school or on the weekdays cause when i run lines during school its either by my house or on the weekends when my gma can take me around to ditches

Twas a joke...lol

I text a couple of my land owners. Only because that is what they prefer. Can send me permission and it’s in writing. I can let them know catch totals and if anything is amiss on the property. And they don’t have to worry about calling me back.


Initial contact is face to face. Unless they were given my information from a landowner whose property I already trap. Word of mouth is a great way to get more land than you can trap.

Word of mouth is #1

Go to your town & surrounding towns ....speak to the road agent .

And get your foot in there for some nuisance beaver trapping.

Then the road agent will send you trapping work when people call the town..for private work.


Here in NH..trappers fill out a sheet ..of the towns they want to cover for nuisance...Send it to Fish and game...and they will give your name and number out too

In the hay day people would pay money to get a section of the Horicon marsh to trap. It was that lucrative.

Sadly in PA he's not old enough to have an NWCO license.

Best bet in PA is knocking on doors.

Like was said above... Avoid them while they're bailing or moving critters around and meal times.

I've knocked on a few doors during the day and talked to the missus first. Had him either call me, or give me the best time to catch him while not busy.

Don't lie and say you'll catch the coyotes off his property.

Start off with coons near the corn crib, and skunks.

Then move on to other critters.

One of the best permissions I ever got was by starting out catching rats and coons near the chicken house.

The wife will be concerned about the cats and dogs. Assure her you'll do everything in your power to avoid them.

Keep him updated on what you're catching. I've had farmers see me and come over to see what I caught that day.

A small gift at Christmas time is also a great way of keeping permissions. It doesn't have to be huge. A meat and cheese tray or sometimes even a card thanking them.

I'm not sure how old you are, but don't get so much property that you can't handle it all. Keep it manageable for the time you have. If that means only one small farm, then that's all you can do.

Be respectful of their property. Close gates and doors. If you happen to catch a cat or dog, let them know. You don't need a critter showing up at the door limping or hurting without them having a heads up.

Get one property and trap it well and word will get around.

Just talking about trapping or sending pictures to people I thought would find it interesting spend a lot of ground for me. They typically had problems with animals getting chickens , beaver on their creeks and lakes, or a coyote killed a pet. When they know you are successful, respectful, and answered questions and concerns I get invited. Often I don't have time but still make the effort to hit their places and keep up with it even if it's just 3 days to a week.

Also picked up some places when people saw me at a gas station in hip boots and recognized I might be a trapper. They asked because they had a coon at the house they couldn't catch in the box trap and lost the bait. Added a jump stick and had the coon in a day or two. Picked up their farms after that.