Have you ever noticed that some families have traditions of doing things together? My husband’s family is this way. It is funny when we were first married we talked about when his family celebrated Christmas، whether they opened gifts on Christmas day or Christmas eve. His response was when ever they could all get together. Sometimes it was the week before some times the Sunday after it just depended upon when the day fell. They really had no traditions around the other holidays either. Their traditions were around hunting and fishing. Every year for deer hunting they get together at a cabin. They also fish the same lake together for the fishing opener، and they hunt a farmers land together for pheasant and grouse. This last get together was threatened when the farmer sold the property for development.
My husband and his brothers still wanted to hunt birds together. They each have a hunting dog and this is the main activity the dogs get to be involved in. They began looking for property to rent which they could hunt on. It used to be that farmers and other land owners would let you hunt their land. The hunters would drive into the farmer’s yards and ask permission. Today there are fewer birds and more hunters. This means more competition for land. Many farmers and land owners have begun advertising their property to rent to hunters. This means that the hunters have the exclusive use of the land، however it also means that you need to do some scouting prior to the day of hunting.
Last year late in the summer my husband and one of his brothers went driving around the country area where they wanted to hunt. They began asking farmers if they had property to rent for hunting. One older farmer told them that they could come and hunt and that they did not have to pay rent. He said he and his wife love pheasant and grouse and that he is too old to hunt anymore. He told them they could use the land if they would give him a grouse and a pheasant at the end of the day. He promised not to offer this deal to anyone else. My husband and his brother thought this was a great deal. They were able to work the dogs، hunt a nice large piece of property and they could take birds over their possession limit and give them to the farmer، it was a great deal for everyone. They know that when the farmer sells his property they will again be looking for property to rent، but for now it is a great set up.
