Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

Over the years I've lamented the lack of available areas to hunt. Private land owners seem hard to approach, public land near the urban areas is heavily utilized and it all seems to make for a less than positive hunting experience. I've often thought if I could just meet a land owner who was willing to trade some chore time for hunting rights that might be a way for both parties to get something they would like.

I never did find that deal, but I'm close to being able to be on the offering side of the land owner.

I'm in process of buying some acreage, and it needs to have some work done. The work will be mostly manual labor, or small tool type work. Dragging brush/limbs to a chipper, running a wood splitter, pulling board and stacking as they come off the sawmill etc... These are all things that me and the family can do, but it will go much faster with a few extra hands from time to time.

I'm not ready to start taking a list of names, etc... at this time, so please don't ask yet... I'll let ya know when.

So I'm curious what people feel would be a fair trade how many days, hours, weeks of work should you put in for how much hunting time in return?

I think that's a question you're going to have to answer - how much are you willing to give for someone to come help out a few days, depending how much help you need? If someone was going to give me full access for hunting, without cash payment, i'd help out anytime they asked and I was available - making an honest attempt to be available to help out as much as possible. Where is said property located? What quality of deer are on the property? There are lots of factors at play!

I don't hunt, but if I did I'd rather just pay a landowner for the use of his land....not sure if that happens but just seems easier for everyone involved.

Hard to say. Personally I'd figure out how many hunters the land could reasonably sustain for a season. On private land I prefer at least 10-20 acres per person. Then I'd kind of auction it off with the provision that I have to accept the bids (i.e. I have to trust this person to actually hunt my land, etc.) and limit it to that many people.

The parcel is about 25 acres, could probably support 2 hunters as there are some natural terrain features that divide it.

In what neighborhood is it located?

Kreutz wrote:I don't hunt, but if I did I'd rather just pay a landowner for the use of his land....not sure if that happens but just seems easier for everyone involved.

+1 But that's just me from the side of the hypothetical. If I were the land owner I would rather have the work.

Jakeiscrazy wrote:

Kreutz wrote:I don't hunt, but if I did I'd rather just pay a landowner for the use of his land....not sure if that happens but just seems easier for everyone involved.

+1 But that's just me from the side of the hypothetical. If I were the land owner I would rather have the work.

Maybe, but the landowner has to keep track of hours worked, who did what, somehow devise a "wage" system of time spent working resulting in how much time they get to use the land....juuuuust seems like unnecessary work.

Also liability issues, you have a guy lose his foot to an errant axe swing, well, its on you; the "employer". I'd rather not deal with the risk and pay an insured guy to do the work, he gets hurt on my land its not on me.

Kreutz wrote:
Also liability issues, you have a guy lose his foot to an errant axe swing, well, its on you; the "employer". I'd rather not deal with the risk and pay an insured guy to do the work, he gets hurt on my land its not on me.

Good point but that goes for letting him hunt on you land also. You can't let the few bad apples that would sue get you down and afraid. Sometimes you gotta take a risk or two. Of course a contract should be drawn up just to ensure all is understood.

Why make it all difficult with contracts and timekeeping...that all seems pretty overboard to me.

If you get a couple of guys who come over to help for a day just so that they can hunt your land, my guess is that they'll be happy to help out however and whenever they can. If you get a day out of them and you ask them to come back for another day to help out, chances are that you'll get another day of help.

So, I would probably just put out there that I would trade hunting privileges to a couple of guys who are willing to stop by and work two Saturdays helping to get the place cleaned up and just leave it at that.

allingeneral wrote:Why make it all difficult with contracts and timekeeping...that all seems pretty overboard to me.

If you get a couple of guys who come over to help for a day just so that they can hunt your land, my guess is that they'll be happy to help out however and whenever they can. If you get a day out of them and you ask them to come back for another day to help out, chances are that you'll get another day of help.

So, I would probably just put out there that I would trade hunting privileges to a couple of guys who are willing to stop by and work two Saturdays helping to get the place cleaned up and just leave it at that.

+1 This is how I got permission to hunt the lands that I hunt. A lot of the work is done in the summer such as clearing out Game trails and repair to stands and tilling up food plots and such. I have no problems helping out as it is in my interest as well. The other good point to this is you get to hang out with the land owner/hunter that has the same interests that you have and that just leads to a friendship in most cases.

@jdonovan where is that location that you are looking for property?

Vern

If the people who hunt it, help take care of it, they'll respect it more. You always treat your "home" better than somewhere else.

If they help put in trails, clear underbrush/downed trees, and generally get a feel for the property, they'll appreciate it more when they harvest that fine venison.

Plus? if you keep the same guys coming back year, after year, they'll learn the property, where the game hides out, and you get educated on it as well.

Taggure wrote:@jdonovan where is that location that you are looking for property?

Northern Fauquier.

Reverenddel wrote:If the people who hunt it, help take care of it, they'll respect it more. You always treat your "home" better than somewhere else.

Ideally this is the long-ish term plan, but these sorts of relationships often get abused by both sides. Ensuring an understanding from the beginning, and having the arrangements on paper can help manage disagreements later on.

Cash is easy to give...time and work isnt. I think your idea of asking someone to trade their time and sweat for hunting privileges is a good idea. If they invest the time to help chances are they will be more on the conscientious side about following sensible hunting doctrines...

Following on to what DK is saying You should also think of Ground rules for hunting your property and by that I am talking about things like:

Buck point size lets say the hunters are not allowed to shoot anything under 6-8 points.

Doe's only type of arangement

You will probably have game cams up so there may be some scraggley bucks you want to cull out of your deer populations so you give instructions to shoot thos if seen

Hunter bringing a Guest approval

Certian sections may be off limits (Food Plots or personal hunting area and the like) and any othere restrictions you may have.

All this could be clearly stated at the begaining of the season.

These are common rules for Hunt Clubs and a land owner has the right to set the same types of requirements to hunt on their property

Vern

My Dad always tod me, that for ROUGH planning purposes, his freetime is worth half of what his hourly (paid) work rate is. SO if he made $50 an hour more or less, he'd go with $25 an hour. So if he could pay a plumber to install a new toilet for $100, and figured it would take him 6-8 hours of work, he'd usually pay someone else to do the work. I generally apply the same rule of thumb. If it is a hobby, then this rule of thumb does not apply...

allingeneral wrote:Why make it all difficult with contracts and timekeeping...that all seems pretty overboard to me.

If you get a couple of guys who come over to help for a day just so that they can hunt your land, my guess is that they'll be happy to help out however and whenever they can. If you get a day out of them and you ask them to come back for another day to help out, chances are that you'll get another day of help.

So, I would probably just put out there that I would trade hunting privileges to a couple of guys who are willing to stop by and work two Saturdays helping to get the place cleaned up and just leave it at that.

+1

The OP seemed to suggest it was far more land. If it can only support 2-3 hunters you don't need a complicated scheme. Less than 3-5 people total (over-subscription is fine in most cases, but you may have to work a system for that).