Hunting Permission: Let’s talk Price
- Thread starter umchorn2
- Start date
In Québec right now most access to private land for deer hunting is through $$$$. It costs 4-500$ per hunter for a full season, archery, rifle, blackpowder. Most farmers limit out at 4 hunters or less depending on size of the land. There is still access to public land but it is remote and arguments are quite the norm between different groups...... After hunting Maine for some 20+ years, when I came back here I either joined them or quit deer hunting. If I figure the price of travel, food, nonresident hunting license and all the costs I'm no worse off paying a fee for access close to home if the land is productive. Not that I like this situation but either adapt or quit.
Lots of crown land west of Saskatoon.
freddyfour
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County, Ontario
Sorry, I'm not familiar with Saskatchewan at all. How far north are we talking in way of drive time? I don't think I could stomach a pay for play system!
From the southern portions of the province you are looking at a 6 hour drive minimum. Basically its the forest zones. There is the odd acre of SWF land but even some has no access that farmers will block with no trespassing signs.
Dont like the pay to play....to quote most landowners here on CGN " Go buy your own damn land then"
freddyfour
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County, Ontario
Funny I have land but would never think of asking for money to hunt on it. We allow a few guys to hunt there.
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
Same here, I have access to two private spots local to me. It’s always been a meat in return for access if I shoot something while hunting there, one is family land and the other is a close friends property. The in laws like knowing what’s going on over on the property, I keep my eyes open and let them know if anything needs attention or if others have been passing through. I was hunting there a bit this season but spent my time exploring new areas of crown land, which I will do more of next year. There’s so much crown land that’s easily accessible nearby and I like checking out new areas.
My gang hosts a wild game dinner and open bar every January for all the neighboring farmers and their families to keep up relations and show out appreciation for allowing us to hunt properties adjacent to our own. 8-10 landowners and around 15 farms to hunt, it sometimes turns into quite the social event and some of the neighbors requiring a ride home.
That’s the way to do it, everyone goes home happy.
So some meat should be payment enough for you to hunt?
Try pay for anything else having to do with hunting with a couple deer steaks.
So white tailed deer rifle general season opened up in Saskatchewan on November 20th, 2018 in the rest of the hunting zones south of the boreal forest, which is about 200km north of Saskatoon or about 450km north of Regina. The general white tail tag is the only province wide rifle tag for a big game species that does not require a draw other than black bear.
This is really the only tag I bother to buy anymore. It costs $55, and I can shoot 1 white tailed deer. I always shoot a 4x4 200 pound buck or better (not without a lot of time, hard work and passing dozens of immature bucks, does and fawns), but I have been very disappointed with the age structure within the herds for the last several years.
On Nov 21 I went to a 640 acre Fish and Wildlife Development Land property 75 km east of Saskatoon open to hunting on foot only to anyone, no permission needed, as this property was purchased using a fund from license sales. After 5 hours of spot and stalk style hunting I saw A calf moose and a cow moose with 2 calves and one red squirrel and several other hunters. No rabbits, no grouse, no deer, no coyotes. Nice to see some moose I thought. I’ll remember this as a possible choice if I ever want to shoot a bull moose but what I’d really like to see is those calves make it a few more years to grow up and produce more moose.
Then on Nov 22 I went to Wolverine Pasture, 105 km east of Saskatoon. The south pasture is about 10,000 acres in one block of the typical scrubby aspen and Saskatoon bush, buck brush, rocky, hilly, meadows and lowland ponds not worth breaking type of land. I saw a cow moose with calf, 3 mule deer (4x4, fork yearling, mature doe), and 15 whitetail which included 4 sets of does with fawns, yearlings, a couple spikes, fork and 2 year old 3x3, but nothing mature with antlers.
So on public land, in 2 days of pretty serious spot and stock hunting I see 6 moose, 3 mule deer, and 15 whitetail, with a chance to take pretty much any one I wanted. But I didn’t see the one I came for...that 4 year old or older whitetail. No mature bulls or bucks, so I guess I have to go at it again. And this is representative of everywhere I go hunt in the province. The age structures are skewed way too far to the young side with a lack of maturity in the populations. This is made worse on public land where usually guys aren’t very selective with what they shoot.
What do you guys think...would you have passed any of these deer? Am I being too selective? I’d really like to see more deer getting old but things are getting worse around these parts. Any one else noticing the trend?
This is really the only tag I bother to buy anymore. It costs $55, and I can shoot 1 white tailed deer. I always shoot a 4x4 200 pound buck or better (not without a lot of time, hard work and passing dozens of immature bucks, does and fawns), but I have been very disappointed with the age structure within the herds for the last several years.
On Nov 21 I went to a 640 acre Fish and Wildlife Development Land property 75 km east of Saskatoon open to hunting on foot only to anyone, no permission needed, as this property was purchased using a fund from license sales. After 5 hours of spot and stalk style hunting I saw A calf moose and a cow moose with 2 calves and one red squirrel and several other hunters. No rabbits, no grouse, no deer, no coyotes. Nice to see some moose I thought. I’ll remember this as a possible choice if I ever want to shoot a bull moose but what I’d really like to see is those calves make it a few more years to grow up and produce more moose.
Then on Nov 22 I went to Wolverine Pasture, 105 km east of Saskatoon. The south pasture is about 10,000 acres in one block of the typical scrubby aspen and Saskatoon bush, buck brush, rocky, hilly, meadows and lowland ponds not worth breaking type of land. I saw a cow moose with calf, 3 mule deer (4x4, fork yearling, mature doe), and 15 whitetail which included 4 sets of does with fawns, yearlings, a couple spikes, fork and 2 year old 3x3, but nothing mature with antlers.
So on public land, in 2 days of pretty serious spot and stock hunting I see 6 moose, 3 mule deer, and 15 whitetail, with a chance to take pretty much any one I wanted. But I didn’t see the one I came for...that 4 year old or older whitetail. No mature bulls or bucks, so I guess I have to go at it again. And this is representative of everywhere I go hunt in the province. The age structures are skewed way too far to the young side with a lack of maturity in the populations. This is made worse on public land where usually guys aren’t very selective with what they shoot.
What do you guys think...would you have passed any of these deer? Am I being too selective? I’d really like to see more deer getting old but things are getting worse around these parts. Any one else noticing the trend?
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
When it’s family and friends that say hunt on my land anytime you like and they don’t want anything in return, I’m happy to give them a cut of the meat. This isn’t a stranger I’m approaching, it’s a thank you for letting me use your property gesture. What problem do you have with with this?
Oh and the think again that they get a couple steaks lol, I’m not trying to insult them.
I think this is pretty common place. Most guys hunt for meat and will drop a legal animal regardless of its head gear. For the first time in my hunting career I started passing 3 and 4 pt WT's while elk hunting in the mountains, I got strange satisfaction out of watching them for some time and thinking about how they will be next season and wishing them good luck for the winter.
I will say this though. Reading through this thread has been sobering. I feel more and more blessed to be a BC resident.
Mike.
No problem with it for family and friends.
If you had to rely on hunting private land owned by strangers do you think it is OK if they want you to pay a fee?
There’s lots of crown land in southwest Saskatchewan open to hunting after November 1st. Hundreds of thousands of acres. My favourite mule deer area is also an Elk hunters dream and it covers about 70,000 acres with only a few thousand acres off limits to hunters because they keep the bulls and horses there over winter.
Mature bucks don’t hang around waiting for a brand new to the area hunter to stumble into them.
What you are missing is the massive die off of deer due to severe winters, back to back, 4 and 5 years ago.
Mature bucks lose the battle with old man winter due to poor condition after the rut.
There is an altered age structure to the herd that is now in recovery mode.
Hunters are not the determinant factor in Whietail numbers. They rebound very quickly with mild winters, but it takes a few years for the proportion of mature bucks to recover.
Mature bucks lose the battle with old man winter due to poor condition after the rut.
There is an altered age structure to the herd that is now in recovery mode.
Hunters are not the determinant factor in Whietail numbers. They rebound very quickly with mild winters, but it takes a few years for the proportion of mature bucks to recover.
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
I feel as a landowner it is up to them to decide what (if anything) they want for access to their land, the hunter is free to agree to the landowners terms or move on. Private land is just that, private.
I honestly prefer crown land but I happen to live in a province that has mass amounts of it available for public use, I have no issues with landowners wanting something in return for permission to access their property. Be it money, meat or labour.
After Nov 1. So that eliminates upland bird hunting, waterfowl of any kind, antelope, early elk and moose....anything to do with Archery and muzzleloaders. Basically works out ok for rifle muledeer and whitetail hunters.
Not to mention that FSIN is pushing for control over it and are probably gonna get it.....then things are gonna be bad for hunters and even worse for cattlemen.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/saskatchewan-pastures-program-1.4162876
the spank
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Planet Earth Wearing My Tinfoil Hat
This and the day I have to pay lease fees will be my last. I’d change my quarry to that which lives in abundance on crown land such as grouse. Or I’ll stick to trap shooting. $125/day will cover some good registered shoots with good potential returns with good scores.
