TOPIC: Harvesting on private land

Mostly I harvest ginseng on my own, or family land. This year though I have several other land owners asking for me to look on their property and harvest for them if I find any. I guess the tv shows have rekindled interest in the plant. I have agreed to look and split 50/50 if any is harvested.

I am wondering if any of you have such agreements and what terms you use.

Also, I have not agreed to sell theirs with mine, only to split the roots. Selling in one lump and splitting the money seems to have too many potential issues with the regulations.

Any thoughts/ experiences would be greatly appreciated.

50/50 split seems fair to me with what you find on their property. I think that is very fair for both parties.
Good luck,
Latt

TnTrader...

I have done the 50/50 thing with a few private land owners and I was very happy with the results.

I have two places lined up this fall with exactly those terms agreed upon.

I have had a few land owners go with me and help hunt and dig... and then we split it 50/50. Most of the time I end up finding and digging 90% of it anyway... and they were in it to learn how, so they got that benefit too. Some of them have been interested in growing it too and I give them plenty of advice on that while we are hunting. I always take a roll of surveyors ribbon and mark them some good spots to plant.

I have been very satisfied with that 50/50 arrangement.

What I always do at the end is take all the roots and inspect them and divide them up into two piles. I make sure each pile has about the same size/quality roots in it.

Then I let the land owner decide which pile he gets.

TNhunter

TnTrader I have found it to be very good with the land owner to split 50/50

I have also grown to enjoy some of the land owners in so much that I have trained them in hunting it and helped them to learn the tricks of the trade. Great friendships can be formed like that.

Billy.

There have been a few places in the past that I wanted to check out, so I agreed to split 50/50 with the owner. 2 out of 3 didn't have any plants at all on them, the other had only a few and they were young, I showed them to the landowner so he knows. A few other places I've stopped and asked permission to hunt, and the landowner said \"whatever, have fun\" and didn't want anything.

Mortis,
I do a lot of what you did for hunting mushroom. Vary rarely does the land owner say no or want any of the bounty if there is any. Often they say thanks for asking and state they often see people on their land without permission and it really makes them mad.

I have a woods I go to and have to park my car. I have permission from the 1st property owner to park my car on his property. Then I have permission from a 2nd land owner to walk 1/4 mile across his crop field, then permission from the 3rd property owner to hunt mushrooms in his woods. Lol but true.
Latt

Something about the 50/50 arrangement is troubling to me.....

As the harvester, we carry our skillset into the woods, our time, our knowledge, our backpack, be ever cautious of abundant wildlife, etc... You get the idea. The landowner has no investment in any of that. On the rare occasion that a landowner is interested....they learn from us, and then the next time may cut us out of the picture entirely.

Yeah, the land has a value, as so does our willingness, and our skillset to be conscientious harvesters. Hmmm... 50/50 split.... It's sorta a conundrum for me. I'd be much happier with a 60/40 or even a 72/25 split.

Whit... I hear what you are saying...

But it all boils down to this... they could outright say NO (and they have every right to) and then you'd have no place to hunt

A lot of folks now days (around here anyway) are going to outright say NO. Probably mostly because of bad experiences with hunters of other types..

I have asked a lot and been told NO a lot. That's not much fun - very disappointing...

You could always start out just asking permission, and if they say sure go ahead - Great... but if they say No... then start negotiating a split on the find.

Myself... I wish I had 10 landowners willing to split 50/50 this fall instead of just 2.

I love hunting new places and will take those anyday.

TNhunter

Interesting Tn and Whit.

P.S. Whit who gets the other 3% left over on the split in your post. lol

Latt