Getting permission to hunt private Property ?

[AcRellik]

How do you all go about knocking on doors and asking home owners for permission to hunt their land? What is your speech ? what are key things to say and key things to stay away from when talking to the home owner? I am kinda a shy guy so knocking on doors is kinda not easy for me. any advice will help out great . AcRellik

 

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[Lowbatts]

Watch American Diggers, Rick Savage has excellent cold call skills! Then meld that with some Billy Mays, a little used car salesmanship and bring beer!

Maybe that's why I really suck at cold calls....

Start a database of everyone you know or are related to. Find out who lives in older homes. Work with people you know first and you will get more comfortable brining up the subject. I hunt a lot of sidewalk tearups in older parts of town. I make conversation with anyone who's curious about what I'm doing and give them some history of the neighborhood in case they were not aware of it.

When people think you are actually into the history of the area, not just the raw pursuit of goodies, they will often invite you to hunt their yards. Started one very old yard hunt today just through the current work in the neighborhood and a passing conversation with the guy who lives there.

I pointed out the history of his house and it's age, all of which he was aware of but the fact that I took the time to learn about the block-by-block history of the area made him very comfortable giving me the okay to come by anytime.

Some of the other properties nearby, I am waiting to catch the homeowners outside and walk up and make casual conversation. Yeah, sounds like stalking. It is in a sense. But not a real creepy sense. Always carry a couple finds from the neighborhood to show and tell because that really gets the homeowners attention as well. But it's because I am really bad at cold calls or at least that's what my history of cold calls tells me.

Always remember you are asking someone to let you enter their yard, dig up things from their yard, and keep things you dig up from their yard. Is that something you would let someone else do at your home? Especially if they came knocking at your door while you were watching American Idol and grilling salmon?

 

[DPBOB]

I have knocked on many doors and got a lot of YES'S some times you'll get a NO.
All I say is that I have a hobby of metal detecting, do you know what that is?
If yes then you don't have to explain too much but if NO you say that you like to look for old buttons
dog tax tags, an old token or maybe a metal toy car. I NEVER mention gold or silver coins, maybe I'll say something about pennies.
I always tell them that I will respect their property. Most times you get a yes,
I have used some good BS stories about a long lost ring on the property by a family friend and that will get you on it too.
Or that an old relative use to own the property and I would like to look for something from that era when they lived there...
Be creative sometimes in certain situations....
That's my secret.. oh wait it's not a secret anymore....

 

[tmanfromtexas]

I have just started asking for permission to hunt private property since where I live there are few public areas to hunt. The first time I asked was 2 weeks ago. I called the owner on the phone as the their number was on the for sale sign. I simply said, Hi I am Tracy and I am into metal detecting. I was curious if you would allow me to hunt your property located at >>>>>>. I then explained that I hunt for old toys, coins and if I find any obvious items such as rings or other jewelry that might belong to the owner I will return it. I also told her I would leave the yard in the condition that I found it and take all trash items I find and see laying on the ground. She granted permission and off I went. I hunted two separate days. I found a alot of memorials, an 1892 V nickel and a wheatie. I think the place had been hunted previously as it was 101 years old and no old items were found. But it was nice to get out and do some 'tecting. TMAN...