John’s Note: If you live in suburbia like I do, less than 15 minutes from metropolitan Birmingham, Alabama, that homes more than 1/2-million folks, you’ll often hear reports of big deer spotted within walking distance of your house. But everyone knows you can’t hunt bucks downtown or in your own backyard, or can you? This past year, I’ve been interviewing and writing a new book about “How to Find and Take Big Bucks on Small Properties” that will be published on Kindle as an ebook the middle of October, 2014. I’ve learned from these folks that you may find a trophy-buck hot spot right in your own backyard or less than 30 minutes from your home where no one else hunts or has permission to hunt.

Many times you can trade hunting rights for something a landowner wants more than money.

For instance, I have a friend who works as a highway patrolman in New York. As he patrolled his suburban area, he noticed tremendous-sized bucks at several small farms. During his off-hours, he went to these landowners to ask permission to hunt their lands. He learned that almost every farmer had experienced problems with poaching. The highway patrolman told them that during his off-duty hours, he would post their lands and patrol them to make sure that no one hunted or abused that land. Too, he told them he only would hunt with a bow until they felt comfortable with him on their lands. Using this system, the law-enforcement officer found plenty of places to hunt and provided a needed service for the landowners.

You can provide the same service in exchange for permission to hunt. If a landowner has dealt with illegal hunting on his property, you can offer to post and patrol it, carrying a cellular phone to call the game warden, sheriff or landowner any time you encounter poachers. You don’t have to be a law-enforcement officer to patrol a hunting sanctuary.

Also you can help repair roads on the farmer’s land. A landowner must sacrifice a great deal of time and expense to keep his roads in good condition, so he can travel through and around his property. Too, beavers stop-up culverts, rains wash roads out, and brush and undergrowth grow too thick along roads. When wind, rain and snow cause trees and limbs to fall into the road, someone has to clear those roads. Since road maintenance can become a hassle for a landowner, a smart deer hunter will take advantage of this opportunity. I have several friends who hunt sanctuary areas for deer where no one else can hunt, because they act as road patrols for the landowners. Immediately after a storm hits, they take their chainsaws, ropes and 4-wheel drive vehicles and clear roads on the property. During the fall, they keep culverts open and low spots in the road drained. In return, they get to hunt the sanctuaries no one else can hunt. If you clear the roads before hunting season and show the landowner you’re serious about maintaining his property, perhaps you can gain permission to hunt there.

To learn more about deer hunting, you can get John E. Phillips’ Kindle eBooks, “How to Hunt Deer Up Close: With Bows, Rifles, Muzzleloaders and Crossbows,” “PhD Whitetails: How to Hunt and Take the Smartest Deer on Any Property,” “How to Take Monster Bucks,” and “How to Hunt Deer Like a Pro,” or to prepare venison, get “Deer & Fixings.” Click here to get these books

About the Author

John Phillips, winner of the 2012 Homer Circle Fishing Award for outstanding fishing writer by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the Click here for more information and a list of all the books available from John E. Phillips.

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