ccm75
NES Member
This sort of parallels the 2017-2020 Spring Turkey threads...
Ya, I scored a jake this am.
But I have been hunting this small private farm for two years and it's a real honey hole.
This is how I found my "private" hunting land....I have never been there for a morning without seeing or hearing birds....
After years of trying to hunt turkeys on my local WMA and other local state land I was totally frustrated.
There were birds there, but either you couldn't pull them away from the neighborhoods or there were too many hunters, dog walkers or mountain bikers...
I was finally inspired by a Meateater Podcast to scout hunting land using Google Maps, find private land and then go knock on a door and ask permission to hunt.
You know, the way I did it when I was a kid back in the 70's in upstate NY - Knock on a door and ask permission.
I live in Northboro and started scouting adjacent towns to the north.......Just cruising around on satellite view I found a farm adjacent to a huge tract of public land with rolling hills and mixed cover.
There was water, hardwoods, soft woods and open fields. It looked great, remote and off the beaten path.
One afternoon on my way home from work I drove around the area and then slowly went by the farm and farm house that obviously owned the land. It looked like a great place to hunt deer an turkeys..
An older gentlemen was in the door yard heading to the house....So I swung in the driveway and knocked on the door.....I could see the gentlemen in his kitchen but he couldn't hear my knocking.
So I knocked louder and finally got the dog barking and the cats coming to the door.
Conrad came out onto the porch with his hay covered overalls and muddy boots just having just finished the evening chores.............83 years old, hard of hearing and milking 10-12 cows with his brother, nurturing some fruit trees and some vegetables on their 3rd generation plot. I introduced myself, made some small talk about pickup trucks and cows. We talked about this and that for about 20 minutes...... ( I grew up on a small farm with beef cows)..."Oh, there's lots of turkeys down there, they like the water.." (There's a river running around 2 sides of the property, a natural barrier and sound barrier..)...The conclusion was - "So, would it be okay if I tried to get some turkeys down there?"...."Go anywhere you want ...some guys deer hunt but I don't think anyone is after the turkeys....just dont shoot a cow and park over over there in the lane off the road....
So It's a 20 minute drive, I park in the lane, scoot down thru the apricot and apple trees, unhook the gate, rehook the gate and sneak down thru the pasture to the lower two meadows surrounded by hardwoods. Always see turkeys, never seen another hunter....There's a oak ridge over the lower meadow and there's always Toms in there gobble, gobble, gobble at first light...
I am grateful for my new spot and Conrad said he doesn't want any turkey meat but maybe some venison.
Seek and ye shall find.....Ask and they may say yes...
So if your a frustrated suburban hunter, and don't know anyone that can hook you up, get on the computer and go knock on some doors.....
Ya, I scored a jake this am.
But I have been hunting this small private farm for two years and it's a real honey hole.
This is how I found my "private" hunting land....I have never been there for a morning without seeing or hearing birds....
After years of trying to hunt turkeys on my local WMA and other local state land I was totally frustrated.
There were birds there, but either you couldn't pull them away from the neighborhoods or there were too many hunters, dog walkers or mountain bikers...
I was finally inspired by a Meateater Podcast to scout hunting land using Google Maps, find private land and then go knock on a door and ask permission to hunt.
You know, the way I did it when I was a kid back in the 70's in upstate NY - Knock on a door and ask permission.
I live in Northboro and started scouting adjacent towns to the north.......Just cruising around on satellite view I found a farm adjacent to a huge tract of public land with rolling hills and mixed cover.
There was water, hardwoods, soft woods and open fields. It looked great, remote and off the beaten path.
One afternoon on my way home from work I drove around the area and then slowly went by the farm and farm house that obviously owned the land. It looked like a great place to hunt deer an turkeys..
An older gentlemen was in the door yard heading to the house....So I swung in the driveway and knocked on the door.....I could see the gentlemen in his kitchen but he couldn't hear my knocking.
So I knocked louder and finally got the dog barking and the cats coming to the door.
Conrad came out onto the porch with his hay covered overalls and muddy boots just having just finished the evening chores.............83 years old, hard of hearing and milking 10-12 cows with his brother, nurturing some fruit trees and some vegetables on their 3rd generation plot. I introduced myself, made some small talk about pickup trucks and cows. We talked about this and that for about 20 minutes...... ( I grew up on a small farm with beef cows)..."Oh, there's lots of turkeys down there, they like the water.." (There's a river running around 2 sides of the property, a natural barrier and sound barrier..)...The conclusion was - "So, would it be okay if I tried to get some turkeys down there?"...."Go anywhere you want ...some guys deer hunt but I don't think anyone is after the turkeys....just dont shoot a cow and park over over there in the lane off the road....
So It's a 20 minute drive, I park in the lane, scoot down thru the apricot and apple trees, unhook the gate, rehook the gate and sneak down thru the pasture to the lower two meadows surrounded by hardwoods. Always see turkeys, never seen another hunter....There's a oak ridge over the lower meadow and there's always Toms in there gobble, gobble, gobble at first light...
I am grateful for my new spot and Conrad said he doesn't want any turkey meat but maybe some venison.
Seek and ye shall find.....Ask and they may say yes...
So if your a frustrated suburban hunter, and don't know anyone that can hook you up, get on the computer and go knock on some doors.....
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