Looking for a good ranch to hunt with minimal trespass fee.

[8andbait]

In 2012 I hunted 23 and killed the only buck I saw on public land after 3 days of looking. In 2013 I killed the only buck I saw on public land after 5 days of looking. In 2014 I decided to stay home since I enjoy seeing animals just as much as shooting them and I am saving my points.

So, this year I would like to hunt on private land that will have some goats to look at while I acquire another point.

If you have any experience or know of a rancher that lets non residents hunt with no or a small trespass fee in a unit that can be drawn as a second choice I would really like to hear about it. I am not looking for a giant just a nice 13"-14" buck and maybe a doe or two from a ranch that will give me access.

I have not done this in the past so I assume I should contact the rancher before submitting my application.

Any info would be helpful but first hand local knowledge would be great.

thanks, Gary

 

[Topgun 30-06]

Can't help you with a ranch, but in your scenario if you do find a place to lock in for your hunt it will probably not be necessary to apply for the tag in the draw if it has lots of leftovers. You could actually just buy your point between 7/1 and 9/30 and the tag as a leftover in July. That eliminates the possibility of losing your PPs if you put in for a first choice that's hard to draw and happened to be unlucky and get it in the random draw you would also go into. Most people don't realize that's a possibility even though it's minimal. I know one guy that did that, drew the tag in the random draw and lost his PPs and then couldn't go on the hunt because his vacation time was outside the date the tag was good for. If that happened, you would then lose your points, but would have a better area to hunt in without building any more PPs as long as you could go on the hunt.