EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

Ok, so the dairy farmer next to my place has chopped for sileage the corn I have been hunting. He called me and said that I had saved him a lot of money because there was not nearly the corn destroyed that there was last year. He took me to some hay fields that are getting hit bad along some creeks and asked me if I would hunt them. I of course said yes. ;D Now he wants to pay me for the corn that I saved him and wants to know what it is worth. I don't have a clue, but I'm sure that some of ya'll that have been hunting a lot longer than me have some experience with this. I hunted three fields totaling about 300 acres for about a month. I usually hunted a couple times a week. How do you figure a price? Is it by the acre, number of hogs caught, hours hunted, days hunted, etc? I would like to hear what those of you who have done this charge. I don't want to be greedy, I told him I would hunt whether he paid me or not, but it sure would help to maybe be able to get a finished dog to run my pups with. I've been lucky and the pups have produced some hogs, but I don't have any dogs that had been hunted before I got them. They are just going on the natural instincts they were born with. Anyway, if you have experience please speak up!

i would take a favor every once in a while but if you start getting payed there will be some dude come along and offer to do it for free.

thats the way it works in oklahoma ,but you might get paid in your area.

been doing this 20 yrs. never had a farmer offer to pay me. have had feed bought for my dogs a few times and one farmer even gave me $400.00 to help buy a new dog when one got killed, but never actually got paid for hunting for a farmer and that is mostly what I do. I do it because i love it, but a little moolah would be OK.

I would never ask for pay but since he offered........

i agree with the favor.just say maybe someday u can do something for me.just wait and smething will come along u need from him.

I agree just hold out!!I had a guy tell me one time to put my dog feed on his bill at the feed store!!
I never did!!
He told someone else a month later I sure do like that boy and what he had offered me and  that I never  took his offer!!
Me and him are still friends to this day and he lost the grazeing rights to that place for a sudvision!!

Just remember, once you start getting paid it becomes work... when it becomes job, it's not fun anymore.

If you get Paid, then it turns into a job with different expectations.

I haven't been doing this as long as some but I agree with everyone that has spoke already that the best thing that man could ever give you is a positive referral to more land.  I have had a man offer to pay for a dog that I had that got killed while doing some removal work and I turned it down and I would do it again.  Money comes and goes but integretity and honesty and someones positive image of you are things that are much more valuable and will take you farther than any amount of money.

 a

Totally different situation. Im with the rest of the guys. Just let him know you appreciate him letting you hunt. If he insists on paying let him buy you a couple sacks of dog food.

   Hunt lots of country, never take money just ask for access to their place when hunting other places in their area. Funny thing is I have nearly always ended up with neighboring places also.

Great advice ya'll, I definitely want to maintain the good reputation that I have in the community and with this farmer far more than a few dollars. I told him it was just something that I like to do and he said that he knew that but wanted to show his appreciation. I think I'll tell him I'm not worried about it. If he chooses to give me something that will be up to him.

Technically there is only one person that could answer this from a professional opinion....and he is no longer a member of this crappy board.   :P

I would just put it back on them. Tell them you do not have to get paid but he can give you whatever he thinks it is worth to him and you will put the money to caring for the dogs. But make sure he knows that he does not have to pay. I know some people that if you refuse their money they will feel insulted. If you help someone make an extra $50,000 and they want to give you some of it great. If I could find enough people that would pay I would be real happy.

My dad has a service company. Remember what has been said if you are getting paid for a service then you have to do it. If you are just given a gift for doing what you want then it is different. You decide what relationship you want.

I get paid by the hour at the ranch....on a deal like yours I think I'd stick to what Craig said...someone else would be more than happy to do it for free.

I hunt for money in March and April when hogs are getting the seed corn before it takes germ. I hunt for $100 to $150 per field per night depending on distance. Their is such demand at this time of year that they pay to insure I am hunting their fields. 

i charge farmers 75 a month and i hunt there place 3 times a month . i charge 100 a month for traps

This thread has been covered pretty well but I have another option that has paid off for me pretty well over the years. The times that I was offered payment for my hog hunting I traded out instead for some fishing in their tanks! ;D I have caught some monsters out of those payment ponds! ;)

maybe ask for a truck bed full of corn for the deer feeders !! doesnt take much from them and can save you a couple bills !!!

now thats an idea there..  wish i had some corn that stuff costs way to much now.

haveing aplace to work your dogs  should be payment enough for any man

X 10 I know things are alot different down there, but i just about have to pay to hunt hogs, cause i have to drive so far to get to any. but is worth every penny of it!  Everybody could probly use a few extra $$, and i have often dreamed of makin a livin doin what i love, and that is huntin with dogs. I cant say exactly what i would do because its not me in your shoes, but i think you might be better off telling him that just gettin to hunt his place is payment enough ;)JMO

 in the past i have been told to pull my truck over to the fuel tank and fill it i have gotten  beef places to deer hunt
 take care of the property owner and chances are  it will come right back to you
           Dexter

Hard to ask for money when the man gives you total access to his land. As stated in other posts, I've had landowners offer to pay for feed, fuel, and vet bills. That in itself is enough payment for me. Combine that with agreement on lettin me haul the hogs out alive to sell and thats fair enough. Now with that being said, there was a time when catchin hogs was what I did for a living. I had private landowners as well as ranches pay me decent money to help keep their hog numbers in check. I treated that as a full time job, huntin five days and nights a week and was happy to receive payment for my services.

All good advice, although I have never been paid by landowners.  I have had fuel$ given to me a few time by gracious landowners.  I once was even given a warm plate of cookies:) which was very much appreciated on the drive home.  With all that said, I do sell a few hunts a year to help with food bills, vet, dogs etc...  But its just by word of mouth when someone calls and I'm in the mood.  Because like Mike and a few others have stated, when there is $ invovled its turns into a job!  I enjoy dogging, and that is why we do it;)

i'm  loaded  up  moveing  to  texas  hahahahaha  jokeing ..........but  man  getting  paid  is  something  else .......you'll  not  get  paid  here ......you'll  pay .....

Well I took ya'lls advice and called the farmer today and told him that I didn't feel right about charging him to hunt. I told him that if he was going to do something for me that was up to him but I just appreciate him letting me hunt and will continue to do so, that it isn't about the money. He just said that he really appreciated me helping to save his crop and that he would be in touch. I feel good leaving it this way. Thanks for all the opinions and advice.

Good deal.   Hopefully it's the beginning of a long relationship.

We have been doing bussiness for a couple of years now, I sell him any excess grass that I don't want to bale. He chops it for sileage and I always let him set the price according to the quality of the grass and milk prices. :) He is always more than fair I feel and a good guy all around as far as I can tell.

Man that is the best way to handle it! IMO.  A good honest and trustworthy relationship with landowners is better than $. Good luck with many more hogs to catch in his fields;)

 



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