Door knocking

[djrcm7]

How do you go about door knocking for random farms? Do you small talk it up? Get straight to the point? What's your go to Lines? I've tried here and there and 9/10 I usually get a no unless there's some sort of connection

[Gobble!]

How do you go about door knocking for random farms? Do you small talk it up? Get straight to the point? What's your go to Lines? I've tried here and there and 9/10 I usually get a no unless there's some sort of connection

First thing I do is look them up on some property list and find out who they are and try to find a connection. Always get a name before knocking. No connection I just go straight to the point. I offer something in return. Always hope to walk up to the door and see beer bottles laying around or someone opens the door with a beer in their hand. Make some joke about buying them a 30 pack of their choosing and hope they bite.

[Remturkey]

First thing that I say is "I'm not interested in Deer hunting your property, just turkey hunt". That usually works for me as most around my area are just worried about deer.

[Hooksfan]

No kidding about the beer bottles. Older farmhouses also seem to be much more likely to be receptive to allowing hunting than newer and well manicured places.

[Sir-diealot]

First off I never show up in camo, it puts many people on guard from the start. I wear a nice pair of jeans and a casual collared shirt or dressier T-shirt with no logos or pictures on it. I walk up, introduce myself using both my first and last name, stick my hand out to shake their hand, be sure to continue to look them in the eyes and be sure my handshake is firm but not crushing. I compliment their land in some way and lead the conversation that way.

I will then ask them if it would be alright to hunt their land and before my last car accident I would offer to come toss hay for the season if I see they have hay fields and if not ask if there is anything I can do to earn the privilege of using their land like driving a tractor around jobs there or even shoveling manure. Normally if you get past the asking and get to the offering help they will say yes.

Edit: One thing I forgot to mention, even if after that they say no still be polite, don't end the conversation right there. The reason I say this is I once had a guy say no to me and we kept on talking for about 10 minutes, I thanked him for his time and told him I was off to talk with somebody else. Well as I start walking away he called me back to him and I walked back and he looked at me and told me that I could hunt his land which really surprised me after our conversation. He told me he wanted to see how respectfully I treated him after saying no before he would give me permission because that would reflect how I would respect his property when I was hunting it and he was not around.

[mtns2hunt]

First off I never show up in camo, it puts many people on guard from the start. I wear a nice pair of jeans and a casual collared shirt or dressier T-shirt with no logos or pictures on it. I walk up, introduce myself using both my first and last name, stick my hand out to shake their hand, be sure to continue to look them in the eyes and be sure my handshake is firm but not crushing. I compliment their land in some way and lead the conversation that way.

I will then ask them if it would be alright to hunt their land and before my last car accident I would offer to come toss hay for the season if I see they have hay fields and if not ask if there is anything I can do to earn the privilege of using their land like driving a tractor around jobs there or even shoveling manure. Normally if you get past the asking and get to the offering help they will say yes.

I may not be as polished as Sir die a lot but I can speak the lingo and once I get the conversation going it does not matter if they say yes or no because I am looking for leads. I speak a bit about farming and how difficult it is getting and then offer a cash incentive. Not directly but make the offer to include anyone in the community. You quickly get a feel for the conversation and an inside source as to where to focus your attention. Also consider speaking to realtor's. Anyone selling acreage is usually willing to allow hunting for a price. Been there done that. As for specific lines: just be yourself. If you are a clown be a clown. But it never hurts to know the price of pork bellies. So if there is a co op or farm store nearby stop in and speak with some of the help or a manager. You'd be surprised at the information you can get. Let us know how you do!

[zelmo1]

I try to get a name and or contact before knocking on a door. If you have a common friend it helps. I have a sheet with my name, address and phone number and vehicle info to give to them. It puts people at ease to know the people on their land. I try to connect with them personally, which isn't hard for most of us old timers. I offer to take them hunting or share the meat if I get one on their property. Most people react very well to this. I also offer trout and beef jerky also. In case you can't tell, I am an old fat guy. I rarely get turned down. I found that basic politeness, consideration  and responsibility usually work. Good luck. Al Baker

[djrcm7]

All great information from what sounds like a lot of experience! I will be trying to knock on some doors in Kansas which is totally new ground for me and most likely no connections. I will have my fiancé with me so hoping that helps some. She doesn't know a stranger. Hoping that some small talk and offering to share any harvest will land us a spot for a week of hunting.

[nativeks]

Depends on where at in KS. Out west may be easier but here money to hunt is becoming much more commonplace. People have been getting inundated by turkey hunters and are sick of it. Back in the day all it took was a handshake and I had more places than I could hunt. The leasing but arrived here in earnest 5 years ago and it seems like we have an outfitter behind every tree during turkey season. 2 years ago some guys from Arkansas started at Eldorado and worked east. They had zero luck knocking on doors. Not saying it can't be done especially in central and western KS since they aren't the first place every swing dick from south of th mason Dixon line stops.

[djrcm7]

I've seen that more recently that the locals aren't big fans of out of state hunters

[Spitten and drummen]

down here in the south turkey hunting is as popular as deer , more so in some parts. Most of the private land is already leased for turkey rights. Wish we had more options like our brothers in the North. Me and another guy lease 1300 acres prime turkey land for 6k.

[appalachianassassin]

when you go to a farmers house to ask for permission you want to look like another farmer. worn out coveralls and a sweat soaked john deere hat. I guarantee your odds will go up. be sure to talk about corn......stressing that you don't want to deer hunt helps too. if that don't work get a grocery bag of mushrooms out of the truck and bingo

[Gooserbat]

Some people are going to say no regardless.   Some people let everyone who ask.  It's the ones in the middle who you want to impress.  Go looking like you care about the first impression.  Clean clothes, comb your hair, don't wear a cap, collared shirt, tuck in your shirt tail.  Another thing is I have showed up with a printed map and my phone on the ready with either Google maps or onXmaps open and showed the owner that I've done some homework and this seems to impress them.

[GobbleNut]

Personally, I/we have had our best luck just going to the "eatery" where the locals hang out, especially in the little off-the-beaten-path places.  We will always wear something that people will recognize us as being hunters, and just go in with a smile and a friendly hello to whoever looks our way.  Quite often, there will be someone that asks what we are up to and we just start up a friendly conversation about turkey hunting.

That usually opens the door to asking if anybody knows any landowners that might allow turkey hunters to access their land,...and with the added offer of possibly paying an access fee and/or a "trophy fee" if a bird is taken.  There is almost always someone that knows someone who has turkeys and would be willing to let us hunt,...sometimes with some monetary exchange (often quite reasonable),...and sometimes without.

We have often had someone start calling people to see if they would allow us to hunt.  The key, as others have stated, is knowing how to present yourself in a friendly, courteous, and respectful manner to folks. People assess others pretty quickly by how they present themselves. Keeping a big smile on your face and knowing how to get people to loosen up really helps.  Eliminating any signs of arrogance or "an attitude" is paramount,...and it doesn't hurt to have a general appearance that is in keeping with the local norms.

Those exchanges also generally eliminate a lot of wasted time doing the "door knocking" thing. 

[TauntoHawk]

It's getting tougher and tougher to find land to hunt. I know they say we're losing hunter numbers but we're losing huntable habitat a heck of a lot faster

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