[rickjordan]

I have hunted game on my own since I was 16 and could hunt without my Dad- I have NEVER had a guide for hunting and don't think I ever will unless I go hunt caribou or some animal where I have to have one. I live in Maine where there is plenty of good public land to hunt on-the great spots require a little work and ambition. I hunt on two posted farms- one about 500 acres and the other one around 800. I got permission to hunt one place because I got off my ass, apprached the farmer &him if he had any machinery repaired or any help with planting or haying. I helped him with a bailer and a tractor and he offered to pay me for my help-I am a diesel mechanic and do know what I am doing. I said I don't want a penny of your money- just let me hunt your land and he said anytime I want, help myself. I still always leave him the liver of any deer I shoot on his land and I am the ONLY person with permission to hunt on his land. He also knows I run any people I see off his land and I shoot crows, groundhogs and coyotes for him whenever I get the chance. I had a guy stop in to his farm one day and say that some guy shot a turkey that he was supposedly calling in. He asked him what kind of vehicle he was driving and he told him my truck. The farmer just smiled and said, "He is the ONLY person that has permission to hunt on my land" and the guy left.