Tips for Gaining Hunting Access on Private Land

My dream the other night—a true story, incidentally—is Freudian confirmation that the hunting season is close. Very close.

Standing in the cab of his combine, I was asking a farmer permission to hunt his land. 

It was a perfect evening in late October. Minutes before, just outside his long, meandering driveway, I sat in my truck and watched mallards by the dozens pitch into a low spot in his corn field. I couldn’t see the water, but I knew it was partially flooded.

I wanted that spot locked up for the morning, and I was ready, if duty called, to beg and/or grovel to seal the deal. I was salivating.

The good news: I didn’t have to beg. The bad news: I didn’t have to beg. He turned me down coldly and dispassionately before I could open my mouth.

“It’ll never happen again,” he said, referring to a group of hunters who tore up parts of his fields and minimum maintenance roads. “I’m not giving permission to hunt my land anymore.”

Ouch. Getting rebuffed stung, but he had a point: We hunters can be our own worst enemies.

A Lovin’ Spoonful - ‘Hollywood Mallard’ Magazine Cover Causes Stir

It feels like a popular uprising, spoonie lovers from across the continent coming out of the closet and professing their love for the “Hollywood Mallard.”

In case you’ve yet to see it, we put a northern shoveler, aka spoonbill, on the cover of our summer magazine. The musings on our Facebook page have been uniformly positive, even amorous. In fact, we haven’t had one unfavorable response.

Wrote Mike Wise: “I like seeing the ‘hollywood mallard’ on the cover. Nice change and nice lookin’ bird in my opinion.”

Wrote Cole Wesley: “Got my first one last fall. Nice big drake, one of the better looking birds around.”

Wrote James Upton: “Botox mallard, lov Em.”

Wrote: Jon Steward: “LOVE ‘the always willing to decoy’ Shoveler! They smile all the way to the blind! Contrary to common belief, they are VERY good eating.”

While the masses are heaping lovin’ spoonfuls on the oft-disrespected spoonie, they’re also shredding conventional wisdom that every magazine cover must feature a drake mallard, pintail, canvasback or some other “sexy” bird.

Five Good Reasons to Buy Two Federal Duck Stamps

What’s the most inexpensive way to improve waterfowl habitat and secure the future of waterfowl hunting?

I’d start by purchasing a Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, commonly called the duck stamp, which all migratory bird hunters are required to purchase. In fact, I’d buy two. Let me explain.

I was rereading some old stories recently, including a piece I wrote on the duck stamp, and how its price—currently $15—hadn’t been increased since 1991, the longest stretch in its history.

Despite overwhelming support from a diverse range of hunting and conservation groups, a federal proposal to raise the price (to roughly $25) has withered on the vine in Washington D.C. since 2008. 

The likelihood the U.S. Congress increases the price in the near future is slim and none. But waterfowl hunters don’t need a government edict to make a difference, and that’s why many in recent years have begun to purchase two duck stamps. In fact, Delta Waterfowl President Rob Olson endorsed the idea in 2005. 

“If every duck hunter in America purchases two federal duck stamps this fall, it would double the amount of money available to the prairie breeding grounds to protect critical waterfowl habitat,” said Olson, in a press release. “The duck stamp has done more to secure waterfowl habitat than any other waterfowl conservation program on the continent.”