Private and Lease Land Access

[Duk Dog]

I think most of us can relate to having had some issues with accessing either private or lease land for hunting in the past. There are arguments from both sides of the fence - the hunter as well as the land owner/lease holder. I don't want this to become a bashing thread, but I would be curious to hear some constructive feedback perhaps from both sides on how this issue could improve.

I have a thought on it....

In Wyoming there is a landowner coupon that comes with your tag. When you are successful and fill your tag you complete this coupon and you leave it with the land owner. I believe it entitles the landowner to $10 (which opens up a whole new can of worms in Canada), but the financial reward could be ignored and avoided here in Canada. Rather than a cash reward maybe the coupons could be used at tax time some how?
Perhaps another angle that could be used is proof that they have allowed access to their land for game animals to be harvested. That way if they have any insurance claims due to game destroying property they can provide proof of allowing access for hunters to assist in game population control on their land. No coupons to provide to insurance, well then they haven't done their part to try and control the population which is causing damage on their property. The coupon would also provide a connection to the hunter and a means by which to track them if there are any issues with them while hunting on the land owner or lease holders property.

Thoughts?

[Rackmastr]

Hmmm...thats pretty interesting....never heard of that before but its something that probably could work. I'd be interested to see what other ideas/discussion come of this thread....hopefully all constructive...

[getasheep]

I know in some larger ranch's down south they track who goes on their property and then provide slips of paper to carry on you and on the dash of your truck stating you have permission to hunt that land. Now these are leases not private land. I always liked the concept as it alleviated the lease holders concerns of damage etc as they could determine who was responsible from their record keeping. I don't know if a similar system would work for private land. I know as a hunter I have no problem with seeking permission and providing this information, but perhaps on a large scale some landowners would not like this record keeping.

I'm interested to hear the feedback on this and also to see what the government comes up with its land use framework.

[Duk Dog]

Minimal effort from landowners required. The coupon (has your name, address, licence number info all on it - you just sign and date it) is part of the hunters tag, fill your tag and complete the coupon and give it to the landowner. We should all be speaking with with the land owners/lease holders anyway but it just gives another opportunity to continue to keep communication going between the two parties.

[packhuntr]

Hey, that sounds pretty good. Something like this may be all it might take to bring some of the land owners back, who may not presently allow hunters, due to past problems. Sounds pretty straight forward, and simplicity is good, would be interesting to see what one of these look like. In the past i have made up business card sized information cards that i have handed out to landowners. All info is on it, from vehicle and plate, to drivers licence, and through to caliber of rifle being used in the event of a mishap, so as to be legally responsible, and cleared of anything{like a shot cow}. Sure seemed to get their attention, and they seemed to warm up to a guy when they saw a small offering of responsibility. One of the best ive ever seen, is a landowner where i hunt mule bucks every few years. He has maps made up of his land, and labels all access points you can use, etc, etc. But you have to check in every day to be brought up to speed on recent changes, like cows being moved etc. anyways....

keep a strain on er.

I think that sounds like a great idea.