Just feel the need to vent here, and also want to see what others think about this topic.
With the early goose season just around the corner, I'm starting to get guys asking for permission to hunt. For many years, I've let many people hunt my land, always for free. After the end of the season last year, this dumb farmer started to realize he's getting taken advantage of. I'd have guys roll in to my farm with 50k pickup trucks, 5k trailers, and probably 5-8k worth of decoys, not to mention being decked out in sitka gear from head to toe. With most farm commodities being low right now, I started looking at hunting as more of an incoming producing byproduct of the land I own, instead of a "nice guy free favor" given out to people who think a pack of jerky or fruit basket should suffice as thanks until next season. To be clear, when I've let people hunt for free in the past, I never really expect anything in return, it just amuses me that when some people come back with a trivial thank you gift, they act as though I got the better part of the deal.
Anyway, this year, when people have been asking me to hunt, I've been asking how much they'd be willing to pay. You should see the looks I get. I suppose I should expect people to be a little surprised since I never asked for payment before. However, it's amazing how rude some of the people can get. Before, they acted like my best friend and said what a nice, great guy I was. Now, I've had some say " I'll never pay to hunt", and then leave, and one guy who muttered something about greedy farmers as he left. I just have to laugh. All the money that they pour into gear, and they think it's absurd to have to pay for the spot to use the gear. Let me tell you from experience, a guy in the right spot with 2 dozen 20 year old big foot decoys, will kill more geese then someone in the wrong spot with 5 dozen brand new top of the line gear. Also, the "spot" to hunt, (the land), is the most expensive thing to provide. Farmland in my area is selling for 18-22k an acre, and I have a 170 acre farm. ( I'm not rich, my farm was handed down from generation to generation). Apparently I'm expected to provide 3.5 million in real estate for free. I just highlight this to reinforce my original observation that most hunters seem to be unwilling to pay for the most expensive, most important part of the hunt, ( the land ) but have no trouble shelling out thousands for gear. To them, I simply say, good luck to where ever you go, I hope you have fun staring at empty skies over your 5 thousand dollar decoy rig. I guess an extra hundred bucks is too much to ask to sit in a million dollar field.
I will say that not everyone reacted rudely. One individual simply said no thanks I don't have the extra money right now, and we talked for a few minutes. I didn't tell him he could hunt, but I will be calling him later in the season and tell him to come out and hunt a few times. In general, I like allowing people to hunt, I don't want it to become a "rich mans game", so I've thought about that quite a bit, but I also feel like it's not wrong to ask to be paid for providing the land to hunt. I'd be interested in hearing others opinions.
With the early goose season just around the corner, I'm starting to get guys asking for permission to hunt. For many years, I've let many people hunt my land, always for free. After the end of the season last year, this dumb farmer started to realize he's getting taken advantage of. I'd have guys roll in to my farm with 50k pickup trucks, 5k trailers, and probably 5-8k worth of decoys, not to mention being decked out in sitka gear from head to toe. With most farm commodities being low right now, I started looking at hunting as more of an incoming producing byproduct of the land I own, instead of a "nice guy free favor" given out to people who think a pack of jerky or fruit basket should suffice as thanks until next season. To be clear, when I've let people hunt for free in the past, I never really expect anything in return, it just amuses me that when some people come back with a trivial thank you gift, they act as though I got the better part of the deal.
Anyway, this year, when people have been asking me to hunt, I've been asking how much they'd be willing to pay. You should see the looks I get. I suppose I should expect people to be a little surprised since I never asked for payment before. However, it's amazing how rude some of the people can get. Before, they acted like my best friend and said what a nice, great guy I was. Now, I've had some say " I'll never pay to hunt", and then leave, and one guy who muttered something about greedy farmers as he left. I just have to laugh. All the money that they pour into gear, and they think it's absurd to have to pay for the spot to use the gear. Let me tell you from experience, a guy in the right spot with 2 dozen 20 year old big foot decoys, will kill more geese then someone in the wrong spot with 5 dozen brand new top of the line gear. Also, the "spot" to hunt, (the land), is the most expensive thing to provide. Farmland in my area is selling for 18-22k an acre, and I have a 170 acre farm. ( I'm not rich, my farm was handed down from generation to generation). Apparently I'm expected to provide 3.5 million in real estate for free. I just highlight this to reinforce my original observation that most hunters seem to be unwilling to pay for the most expensive, most important part of the hunt, ( the land ) but have no trouble shelling out thousands for gear. To them, I simply say, good luck to where ever you go, I hope you have fun staring at empty skies over your 5 thousand dollar decoy rig. I guess an extra hundred bucks is too much to ask to sit in a million dollar field.
I will say that not everyone reacted rudely. One individual simply said no thanks I don't have the extra money right now, and we talked for a few minutes. I didn't tell him he could hunt, but I will be calling him later in the season and tell him to come out and hunt a few times. In general, I like allowing people to hunt, I don't want it to become a "rich mans game", so I've thought about that quite a bit, but I also feel like it's not wrong to ask to be paid for providing the land to hunt. I'd be interested in hearing others opinions.