How to gain land access to hunt hogs and coyotes

access

These tips will help you obtain access to more hunting land

The popularity of night hunting has exploded in the Carolinas. Hunters are taking to the fields and woods across the states to pursue these invasive species in ever-growing numbers. Liberal hunting laws that allow hunting all year with no limits has drawn attention to our sport.

With that attention coms some great challenges that seem to be common among hunters. Land access to acreage large enough to handle hunting all year long seems to be mentioned by many new night hunters.

Let’s take a look at some tips on how to obtain access to more land, some of which seem to have never been possible.

Baby steps

Every journey begins with one step. Most, if not all hunters have some access to land with hogs or coyotes. If you do not, I suggest you start with one. Lease if you have to, but the start of any building of great numbers of properties begins with one. I specifically joined one lease with hog problems.

That lease numbered less than a handful of hog harvests a year by deer hunters. But the sign was there. Look for land with small pig tracks. This shows the land holds family groups and will produce what you need — numbers of harvests.

The first property is key in building your stash of producing properties. And it must be chosen wisely.

Produce, produce, produce

Now that you have animals to target, the next step is to produce, and produce big. Do whatever needs to be done to produce heavy on your first property. On my first hog property, I produced more harvests the first year than the other 23 members combined.

I baited and patterned hogs constantly, which caught the attention of local landowners. The hard work that first year resulted in landowners requesting me to get to their land, which was being damaged. One property soon became three. And I needed to keep producing.

When a landowner, especially a farmer, calls with damage from hogs or lost livestock from coyotes, it is imperative that you produce — and produce fast.

A common misconception I have seen in my friends is the impression that we are doing the landowner a favor. I look at it as the landowner is doing me a bigger favor by allowing me to hunt their land.

When a landowner grants you hunting access, show them you appreciate it. Protect their investment, close their gates, don’t drive on their crops. And text them every single time you set foot on their property. The best landowners check their land each and every day. They see the tracks and know when someone was on their land. Let them know it’s you. Cater to them and the acreage you have access to will grow.

Answer the call

If you follow the advice given so far, you will soon see landowners doing some of the work for you. You will begin to receive calls each day telling you where fresh sign is on the land. Answer the call and get to the property. Every harvest the day of a call only solidifies you as the one to call when harvests are needed.

This isn’t for the weekend warrior. The hunter that answers the call and goes within a day or two will be recommended to the next landowner. When a farmer leases a new 200 acres, you will be the one they call to help protect it. The key is to be reliable to that landowner. When you are, your acres will soon be in the thousands.

Imagine thousands of acres you alone can hunt at no cost. This will drive you to answer that call to produce.

Know what’s expected

I will leave you with this last thought. Every piece of property I now have access to has had other hunters on it at one time. Listen to the landowner and see why others are no longer on their land.

I keep access to my properties year after year for many reasons. They range from taking the landowner’s son out on a hunt, to hunting mid-week when a field has massive damage or a calf is born.

Landowner after landowner will tell you stories of why past access has been denied. Tell or show the landowner what you see on his land. I often put landowners on groups of hogs and get them harvests as well. I work with dog hunters rather than fight over acres.

The key is to show the landowner you are working to help them get rid of some of their problem. Videos are great to show safe, ethical shots that don’t put their livestock in danger. Treat the land as if it were yours, and it will always be there.

Don’t show up every six months and just expect to walk back on the property. Keep in touch and ask about crop and land damage.

All these tips, which come straight from the mouths of landowners, will help you gain access and your actions will help keep it.

Good hunting,

Gene “The Mailman” Wisnewski

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