[Blb8698]

I heard of a few farms in my area that are part of this program. do they have signs up for these areas or do I have to find out somehow who owns them?

 

[browtine64]

The hunter access program is bittersweet. Sometimes you'll find a farm where it is heavily marked with co-op and public hunting signs and the landowner is happy to let you on the land. But from my experience, the majority of these properties are no longer participating, forget they enlisted, or the property has posted signs everywhere. But, like I said, you can still get permission. When you look on the mapping center, find the yellow dots and then access an online gis map for the county and find the farm. Once you find it, you'll get the owners name, the exact address, and the layout of the property to determine if its worth even asking. At least thats the way I go about it. It works sometimes, but most times not.

 

[Birch812]

The thing is depending on what you are looking to hunt can limit the access.
I have used propertys in the program several times to hunt geese or groundhogs but knew from the door you could never get on for deer.
If you are looking for a place for this season you need to get moving. Not many are receptive to guys walking up and asking the day of the hunt.
You are going to get more no's or find they are not enrolled in the program any longer but the list is a good jumping off point. If you see a place not listed it might still pay off to stop by and ask. Start early and get locations lined up. Friends told me places they used had a limit how many the property owner allowed on at a time so showing up with 8 of your closest friends the day you want to hunt is most likely going to get you a NO.
Good Luck

 

[Squirrel]

The few around here I have stopped at told me no. I don't blame them, it's their land to manage as they please.

 

[PJ Reilly]

I would check in if they are telling you, "No." I always understood they really aren't supposed to tell you no. They can sign up their lands for certain species, which means they could be open for turkey but not deer....which may be the case. But if they are open for deer, I think they are supposed to let you hunt deer or else they really aren't following the spirit of the program. Landowners get benefits for allowing hunter access.