Ohio farms program

[wolf60]

I read where 23,000 hunters applied in the first week the program was available. So if you didn't apply until the second week like I did, don't expect a response this year. Maybe because of such a great response, the program will go state wide soon. THAT WOULD BE GREAT! Let's all hope the hunters who were chosen do the right thing and make us all proud. We need a program like this in Ohio. There is so little private land to hunt for most of us. The "HUNTER ACCESS" Program hasn't worked for me. It seems like the land owners that are in the program receive the benefits but still only allow their friends and family to hunt on their property. I went to over 20 places last year and was unable to get permission on any of them. I went in early Aug. and was told they already had all the hunters they wanted. Has anyone else had this happen to them?   Good luck and hunt safe.

[wolfpack]

you talking about the cooperative hunting project list you get from ODW? been there done that for the past 3 years i start knocking on doors before archery season starts and havent got granted permisson....same story... all full. dont feel bad dude its frustrating. i still manage to get a deer from the places i do have . my brother in law has a real nice spot in thompon ohio we score every time. im still open to hunt with anyone in lake county whos looking for a hunting partner. gets boring going solo every season

[vermont backstrap]

Okay, so glad i joined this forum. Just this conversation makes me feel a little better. I went out to OHio 3 years ago on recommendations from others to 'just go out with the deer co-op list and you will find all kinds of areas to hunt'. Yea right! Three of us tried the whole week between hunting state land and never found one property owner to offer us a tree to sit in. Very disappointed to say the least. Anyways, we have continued our trip this year, staying with the state park thing, but really are looking for answers as to how to find private land/ farms to hunt without paying through the nose. I would really appreciate any suggestions. Currently we are in Muskingdum county , but would be willing to go anywhere in the general southeast portion of the state (coming from Vermont). Any ideas or tips? thanks

[mbeavers8]

Vermont, we have leased a property from F&W Forestry (former Mead Paper land) for several years and have kept the lease even though we have gotten several private spots to hunt simply because its relatively cheap if you get 3 or 4 people plus the habitat is great. We have put 3 on the wall over 140" and have filmed some even bigger ones. They have spots come up yearly at a cost of $7.75 an acre.  The contact person for southern/southeast ohio is Peter Geyer (740) 779-3917 and the main leasing info is out of Georgia, Jami Bryant (229) 883-0506 jbryant@fwforestry.com. May be worth checking into next year. Leases run July 1 to june 30 every year.

[vermont backstrap]

Thank you for the reply and the great information. I definetly will look into this for next year!!  Thanks again. Ryan