TOPIC: Finding a good place to hunt

I haven't been ginseng hunting in about 10 years or so. I use to go quite a bit with my father and granddad. We stopped hunting after my grandfather started having breathing problems and was no longer able to go. Since then my father and I have been talking about hunting again but haven't done it yet. So I thought I would get things going by trying to find somewhere to hunt. How do y'all go about finding a good place to hunt and getting permission to hunt the property? Also was wondering what the best way to get others to hunt to? I would like to try and get my step brother to go with us if we find a place but I think he is more interested in playing video games then going outside.

Thanks
Chris

Chris,

It is not all that easy to get folks to agree to let you go on their property now days unless they really know you and trust you.

Look at all of your connections/relationships with folks. Do you have any family that owns land that might let you hunt - I mean include distant uncles and stuff like that.

If not look at others that you know and that know you. If you have any friends that are hunters and they lease property to hunt on (but are not ginseng hunters) they might let you hunt the seng (but not the other wild game).

I have a brother in law that I talked to last year and he took me seng hunting on a 1200 acre lease they have. He just wanted to see what it was like after I talked to him about it and talked it up with him.

A lot of folks own land but will never hunt the seng on it. Some of those folks might be interested in letting you hunt the seng on the property if you will split the find with them.

That is what I do when I hunt on someone elses property. I split the pile with them 50/50 - even if they don't go with me.

A land owner really has no need or desire for others to be out messing around on their property. If someone does let you do that you need to be generous and give back to them.

I always take the pile I find and divide it into two piles (as even as I can make it) then let them choose which pile they want.

I also always explain to the land owner that I practice good stewardship and will not just dig all of the seng on their property, but will harvest only mature plants and plant the berries back and will even plant some stratified seed if they will let me.

If they do let you on their land, be generous and give back to them and show their property the most respect you can in every way.

Hope this helps you out some.

Good Luck !

TNhunter

ill tell u what i do , i use google earth to find the biggest and longest deep hollers and valleys, then i pinpoint the location, drive out there and start asking the landowners for permission more so than anything they say no, but ussually 4 out of 10 say yes. then i write their name and address down ,and get written permission. using the google earth ,really helps to find the deep,deep woods where most people wont walk to .

i recently went to a place in elliot county and found my first virgin patch, which held a double 4 prong, i dug in this holler for 3 days straight , and say i got at least, 15 pounds after this dries. i ussually average around 30-45 pounds dry every season using this method.


woodruss, boyd co.ky D.O.A. employee.

Hi, Can you tell me what you are talking about ---google earth? I haven't heard of it... I know where Elliot county is...... Thank-you. Ky Girl:

kygirl, \"Google Earth\" is a broad range mapping program that you can download right to your desktop. For our purposes, probably the best usage is satellite imagery of the earth's surface. Once you download it, it isn't hard figure out how to use it. Just zoom in on your area of interest.

There are some other nice features as well (such as \"history\") In this case, \"history\" means turning back the calender to previous dates when imagery was photographed. (Such as zooming in on a particular woodlot when imagery was taken during winter). Without foliage, you can see the terrain and older timber stands better.

Anyway, just go to \"Google\", and type in \"Google Earth\", and among the options, you will find a page to download the free version from. Its a really nice tool. Enjoy!

One other tip on Google Earth for anyone who may not know. While using Google Earth, watch down at the bottom of the screen as you move your cursor around. You will see the grid position and elevation for the position of your cursor.

Grid is done in Degrees/Minutes/Seconds.xx. For those of us using handheld GPS units; the GPS shows position in Degrees/Decimal minutes. To convert from D/M/S to D/DM, simply divide the seconds by 60.

ie: A grid position expressed as 38* 42' 12.77\" N is D/M/S
To get GPS position: Divide 12.77\" by 60 = .213
Thus: Grid position 38* 42' 12.77\" N
Is: GPS position 38* 42.213' N

For a lower tech - free map option that works well - check out:

www.digital-topo-maps.com/

On the main page pull down and to the right to get to the free printable maps option. You can drill down into your state, to a up close level, and have 3 views, map, topo, and hybrid(satellite image).

The topo's are the older USGS type topo's but I like those myself - plenty of detail.

You can easily find deep north/east hillside hollows that are quite remote, and river bluff and steep hillside areas where the soil is rock chip filled and grows nice seng.

Then go and check with the landowners and see if you can get lucky.

Here is a example of the Topo view of a random spot that I just looked up.

That is the kind of place that I would like to go hunt.

No doubt around that river bluff and some of those deep hollows there near the river with north/east facing hillsides there would be some nice patches of seng.

TNhunter



PS - when looking at these maps north is at the top, south at the bottom, east to the right, west to the left.

That hollow just off the river to the left that has Mile 105 shown on one side - it is more remote than many of the others there and it has a real nice big hillside facing almost due north, with just a slight north east turn to it and it is deep and well that is the kind of place that gets my attention. Would sure like to get in there and look around some.

Here is what you get with the Hybrid View.

TNhunter

Thanks TNhunter, that is a mapping site I didn't know about .... And yes, you picked out a sweet spot there! In fact, most of that bend and tribs looks pretty sweet!

Being an old (read worn-out, LOL) muskrat trapper, I was immediately thinking canoe or some such.