Hunting for a farmer?
- Thread starter air_vigilante
- Start date
Another way to get in, is the buddy method.
My BIL lives in a small rural town & hunts gophers from the time they start thinking of waking up... Yeah, he's a bit nuts, but he's become one hell of a shot in the process.
So when I head out, he insists I bring my .22, and we head out to wherever there are gophers to shoot. One place is owned by Hutterites. We go out, do some plinking & 9X out of 10, someone from the colony stops by just as we're wrapping up (I swear they've got a timer!). We're always polite, take our brass out with us (with the occasional one we miss) and if target shooting, take out the targets when we're done.
Every time, they're only too happy to see that my BIL is there & brought someone with, to knock down the gophers, badgers, yotes & bunnies.
Having someone who has hunted previously & whom the landowner approves of, is a BIG front door for any shooter to enjoy. Just remember to respect the owner, respect his land, livestock and structures and you'll build a rep. Farmers talk. My BIL started out with just a little shooting. Within a couple years, he's now to the point that when farmers within 20 miles have yote, gopher or other pest problems, they call him & ask him to come out & if possible, to bring any of his friends (like his sis in law
) to take care of the problems for them. In most cases, they supply ammo (or reimburse for ammo shot) and sometimes even toss in a few bucks for gas.
Good shooters ARE in demand. I know of folks who make a pleasant second job just shooting gophers.
L
My BIL lives in a small rural town & hunts gophers from the time they start thinking of waking up... Yeah, he's a bit nuts, but he's become one hell of a shot in the process.
So when I head out, he insists I bring my .22, and we head out to wherever there are gophers to shoot. One place is owned by Hutterites. We go out, do some plinking & 9X out of 10, someone from the colony stops by just as we're wrapping up (I swear they've got a timer!). We're always polite, take our brass out with us (with the occasional one we miss) and if target shooting, take out the targets when we're done.
Every time, they're only too happy to see that my BIL is there & brought someone with, to knock down the gophers, badgers, yotes & bunnies.
Having someone who has hunted previously & whom the landowner approves of, is a BIG front door for any shooter to enjoy. Just remember to respect the owner, respect his land, livestock and structures and you'll build a rep. Farmers talk. My BIL started out with just a little shooting. Within a couple years, he's now to the point that when farmers within 20 miles have yote, gopher or other pest problems, they call him & ask him to come out & if possible, to bring any of his friends (like his sis in law
) to take care of the problems for them. In most cases, they supply ammo (or reimburse for ammo shot) and sometimes even toss in a few bucks for gas. Good shooters ARE in demand. I know of folks who make a pleasant second job just shooting gophers.
L
I wonder if a couple local farmers could get that past the local CO... They swear up & down that "THOSE DAMN ELK keep eating all my cattle feed"...
hehehe!
L
"...don't think there is a bag limit..." There's no limit or season for ground hogs in Ontario. They do dig holes, but it's usually not the big one with the big pile of dirt that's the problem for livestock. It's the breather/escape holes away from the big one. No pile of dirt. The hole's just the right size for a cow's or horse's hoof. They'll eat a whole house garden crop right to the ground too.
Good advice. Showing up at my place wearing cammies and carrying a firearm cause result in some uncomfortable moments for both of us.
While you may have a PAL you will also need an Ontario hunting licence. Another good idea is some form of insurance whether from the OFAH or CSSA.
Expect a lot of rejection. There are very few rural residents who can't tell you a story or two about their own experiences with slob hunters.
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It's the only way I know. (I was going to say: "And I do love farmer sausage" but that just didn't sound right. HA)
You mean you need a hunting license in Ont to shoot GOPHERS????
Damn. Talk about more paperwork than you can shake a pitchfork at!
No hunting license is needed here in Alberta for Gophers, Yotes, Badgers or Rabbits. Unless something changed REALLY recently & hasn't made the rounds yet...
Gawd I hope this province NEVER follows Bantario's example!
L
Ya it is a pain, you have to take a hunters education course and test then get a small game license.....$130 for the course.....$20 for small game license......its such a money grab......I miss the west things were so much mopre simple!
smacdonald
Supporting Dealer
- Location
- Ontario 905 area
Needed one her for over 20 years
, at least that is how long I have been hunting, but I am not a farmer. I don't think farmers need a license to shoot pests. You do need a small game license to hunt anything not considered big game. You also need a hunting license to get a migratory bird license for ducks.I agree I have permission to hunt on my neighbors property and my Buddy also. The owner also allows one other person from Winnipeg. I go out early about six different vehicles come in feild and if they see deer they hammer on the gas and chase after them across the feild. Now I walk in so they do not see me until they get to my end but have seen them shoot out the window at 50 mph. Never seem to hang long enough for me to get plate number. The owner complains to me he may not let anyone anymore as they knock down his crop doing this. It is also not just in daylight hours this happens at night also. I have left at dark ground covered with fresh snow go back in early dawn to set up only to find tracks of vehicles all over the place.It becomes ridiculous I hardly go there anymore for that reason.
If you are shooting pests and predators on your own land you don't need a licence. You do if you are on someone else's.Needed one her for over 20 years
Wow... That's just a mind blower.
Makes me glad I got my hunter course when I was 13.
L
One thing I didn't see touched on in my (very) brief scan of the thread up to this point:
It goes a hell of a long way to ask the resident where his/her buildings/water wellheads/any utilities/oil and gas leases are located, where people generally drive or walk in the area and with what frequency, and most especially which areas they would personally use (and which directions they would be shooting) if they were up there themselves. Also, don't forget to ask about cattle, horses, or other animals and their locations; if someone's got cattle on the home quarter or next door, they might not be too keen on having an unknown shooter wandering around wasting critters so close. Also, on pasture land, although not a single person I've ever talked with would ask you to do this, it's a sign of good faith and responsibility to ask if they'd like their brass picked up so the cattle don't cut their gums if they end up grazing low.
When I was a kid, I always plinked around whenever I had a chance on my family's own land, and I knew EXACTLY where the house was (even when out of sight); I always knew the general direction and location of the sloughs, the granaries, the barn and chicken coop, our wells and oil/gas leases, and where all the neighbors had anything that wouldn't react to well to bullets.
When I got invited as a slightly older young fella (15-ish) to go shoot critters roughly 5 miles away with some of my cousins on a "friend of a friend's" summer pasture to clear it in early spring, the "friend of a friend" was DAMN impressed when I asked all the relevant questions - showing that I wasn't some kid who wanted to play Rambo with his rodent infestation, and that I was genuinely concerned about avoiding the one-in-a-million rock-skip straight into his kitchen window.
Not a spring went by (until I was 22, when he unfortunately passed away) that this ol' dirt farmer didn't call me up about a week before the snow was gone to ask if the gang and I would be stopping in for a gopher shoot. Hell, we even taught a few of his younger grandkids how to shoot safely and well when they were visiting from the city. Now THAT, in my opinion, is trust.
I suppose what I'm saying is that an overt demonstration of care and concern for the people and property that would be at risk because of potential negligence goes a LONG way towards building a good relationship and plenty of trust between a landowner and yourself. I know it sure did for me.
Also, one last thing - as a rule, I will NEVER shoot a 'coyote' in an area where I don't know EVERYBODY and their dogs; you wouldn't BELIEVE some of the 'close calls' we've had when deer hunting with partners from the city on our family land...
(Yelled across the better part of a quarter-section while coming out of the bush after a long push, with my partner on the hill shooting at the 'coyote' running across the field to my ten o'clock)
Me: "HEY! GET OUT OF IT! CEASE FIRE!"
Partner: "WHAT?! IT'S JUST A DAMN YODELER!"
Me: "NO IT ISN'T! IT'S (Charlie What'shisface)'s DOG, DAMN IT!"
Partner: "Oh. Oops."
Happy shooting!
-M
It goes a hell of a long way to ask the resident where his/her buildings/water wellheads/any utilities/oil and gas leases are located, where people generally drive or walk in the area and with what frequency, and most especially which areas they would personally use (and which directions they would be shooting) if they were up there themselves. Also, don't forget to ask about cattle, horses, or other animals and their locations; if someone's got cattle on the home quarter or next door, they might not be too keen on having an unknown shooter wandering around wasting critters so close. Also, on pasture land, although not a single person I've ever talked with would ask you to do this, it's a sign of good faith and responsibility to ask if they'd like their brass picked up so the cattle don't cut their gums if they end up grazing low.
When I was a kid, I always plinked around whenever I had a chance on my family's own land, and I knew EXACTLY where the house was (even when out of sight); I always knew the general direction and location of the sloughs, the granaries, the barn and chicken coop, our wells and oil/gas leases, and where all the neighbors had anything that wouldn't react to well to bullets.
When I got invited as a slightly older young fella (15-ish) to go shoot critters roughly 5 miles away with some of my cousins on a "friend of a friend's" summer pasture to clear it in early spring, the "friend of a friend" was DAMN impressed when I asked all the relevant questions - showing that I wasn't some kid who wanted to play Rambo with his rodent infestation, and that I was genuinely concerned about avoiding the one-in-a-million rock-skip straight into his kitchen window.
Not a spring went by (until I was 22, when he unfortunately passed away) that this ol' dirt farmer didn't call me up about a week before the snow was gone to ask if the gang and I would be stopping in for a gopher shoot. Hell, we even taught a few of his younger grandkids how to shoot safely and well when they were visiting from the city. Now THAT, in my opinion, is trust.
I suppose what I'm saying is that an overt demonstration of care and concern for the people and property that would be at risk because of potential negligence goes a LONG way towards building a good relationship and plenty of trust between a landowner and yourself. I know it sure did for me.
Also, one last thing - as a rule, I will NEVER shoot a 'coyote' in an area where I don't know EVERYBODY and their dogs; you wouldn't BELIEVE some of the 'close calls' we've had when deer hunting with partners from the city on our family land...
(Yelled across the better part of a quarter-section while coming out of the bush after a long push, with my partner on the hill shooting at the 'coyote' running across the field to my ten o'clock)
Me: "HEY! GET OUT OF IT! CEASE FIRE!"
Partner: "WHAT?! IT'S JUST A DAMN YODELER!"
Me: "NO IT ISN'T! IT'S (Charlie What'shisface)'s DOG, DAMN IT!"
Partner: "Oh. Oops."
Happy shooting!
-M
