paying for access to land

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CanadianMarksman

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Hunting newbie here

I'm wondering if it's a common/acceptable practice to offer landowners money in exchange for the opportunity to hunt their land?
I understand the concept of outfitters but I have never heard of anybody actually paying for access to private hunting property. Are there laws against it that I'm missing perhaps?
 
I do not know what the laws of Ontario have to say about paying for access. But it is a very common practise in the USA, and because we Canadians are so dominated by USA media it has become a recent phenomenon in Canada. In my province of Saskatchewan, it is strictly forbidden, and goes against the concept of public wildlife for public consumption. I think the trend in landowner opinion is going quite strongly towards pay for access, but we're not legally there yet.
 
Ontario allows "pay for access." Personally, I don't pay for access... I developed a relationship, starting with a friendly face to face introduction and continuing by being good and helpful and respectful stewards of their land. This may entail basic common sense things like closing gates, staying on lanes etc and not tearing up the ground or crops with trucks or ATVs, but may also include fence repair, livestock rescue, firewood splitting, roof repair etc... if you start off with a price, that is only going to increase, and usually to the jump off point where you can no longer justify the expense vs the experience. This spring, I am replacing the roof on the home of our primary deer hunting property owner, we discovered last fall that he has stage four cancer and is fretting about leaving his family with a leaky roof to deal with, my son and I told him not to worry, it will be taken care of this spring.
 
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CanadianMarksman said:
Hunting newbie here

I'm wondering if it's a common/acceptable practice to offer landowners money in exchange for the opportunity to hunt their land?
I understand the concept of outfitters but I have never heard of anybody actually paying for access to private hunting property. Are there laws against it that I'm missing perhaps?
Click to expand...

It's 100% legit in Ontario,but,because the province is so vast with crown land,we only see it in parts of the south where most land is private usually within an hour of the main large cities in the east and,of course,the GeeTeeYay.
 
I can’t imagine the mess some people would leave behind if they where paying the land owner to hunt. Most free hunters leave behind all kinds of garbage, can’t say I will be selling hunting on my place.
 
I make sure the property I have access too is kept cleaner after I’ve been there then before I arrive. I regularly pick up garbage that wasnt left by me. I also do this on the public lands I hunt. My nephew and I regularly fill a couple bags of spent shells, shell boxes and lunch garbage left by other hunters in their blinds. There are garbage bins at each boat launch and yet these slobs are too lazy to be bothered to pick up after themselves. Any landowner I know would ensure people like that wouldnt ever be allowed back.
 
I have been hunting the same property for 7 years i had to do alot of driving around and asking farmers and land owners all had zero interest until I found a place that let me hunt coyotes and built a relationship from there I bring big sacs of potatoes and onions and ask if there’s any work I could help out with it only took a few months and i was given permission to hunt what ever was legal it took some time to get a property owner to give me the go ahead but it was well worth it
 
Longwalker said:
I do not know what the laws of Ontario have to say about paying for access. But it is a very common practise in the USA, and because we Canadians are so dominated by USA media it has become a recent phenomenon in Canada. In my province of Saskatchewan, it is strictly forbidden, and goes against the concept of public wildlife for public consumption. I think the trend in landowner opinion is going quite strongly towards pay for access, but we're not legally there yet.
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We should ask ourselves why the animals/birds are on that land? In most cases it's because of what the farmer has planted, not because it's just land. For that there's plenty of public land for the public to use.

Sometimes I think we're the most socialist country on the planet. Even in socialist Sweden, where people can pick berries, camp, etc. on private land without permission, this doesn't apply to hunting and having to pay is common practice.
 
bearkilr said:
We should ask ourselves why the animals/birds are on that land? In most cases it's because of what the farmer has planted, not because it's just land. For that there's plenty of public land for the public to use.

Sometimes I think we're the most socialist country on the planet. Even in socialist Sweden, where people can pick berries, camp, etc. on private land without permission, this doesn't apply to hunting and having to pay is common practice.
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And, that land is someone's private property. That should hold a very, very special place in our hearts, given that private property ownership is such a hot topic for gun owners. If I want to shoot the public animals on that live on that private land, I can do the same as I would have to do with a game sanctuary - wait just outside the property for the critters to leave. Presently, I have a few places, both public and private, I can hunt for free, but I would have no objection at all to paying to access land.
 
Paying for access is illegal in Alberta. I hunt almost exclusively on private land, and it's fairly easy to get permission as long as you aren't near a large city. We are very careful to leave no garbage behind us, including shotshell hulls.
 
CanadianMarksman said:
Hunting newbie here

I'm wondering if it's a common/acceptable practice to offer landowners money in exchange for the opportunity to hunt their land?
Click to expand...

Not really. Just knock on doors and ask.

If someone says "Sure, it'll cost you this." decide whether or not it's worth it to you.
 
The only time I have heard of paying to hunt land is for waterfowl.

The only reason that is because "outfitters" go around before the season and offer big land owner money for exclusive rights to hunt the land all season.

One farmer told me he gets $350 from them and he wont let anyone hunt but will say I have another spot for $50 a day.

Then words gets around to other farmers and they expect the same deal.

I will not pay money to hunt anyones land but I will offer work or anything else to help out.
 
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