FAQ's (AKA the most important page on the website)
Brief Overview
We hope that this FAQ Page will help answer some of the main questions everyone asks. While we often provide personal service we do take calls from almost every state in the country. This page will hopefully help you get some quick answers. A few words of wisdom from our time in this field. 1) DO NOT SPEND THE MONEY IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT! 2) LAND LEASING IS STILL RELATIVELY CHEAP WHEN COMPARED TO THE COST OF LAND OWNERSHIP, HUNTING WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT.
Is my membership shareable?
Please be aware of all memberships rules and terms of service. Specifically, due to wide spread falling out between hunting groups and potential poor hunting group member behavior Memberships are individual and not to be shared. ex. 1, you share your membership and they reset the password and lock you out. ex. 2, you share your membership and they find a place to circle back and try to get the hunting access with you unawares. We have several mechanisms in place to prevent these and other issues but it starts with each individual member having and protecting their own membership.
Can you send me a list of...?
We get this request on an overwhelming basis. Please note that everything is automated for you to access and review yourself during the annual term of your membership access. There is no way we could respond to requests for lists as they would probably be out of date by the time we got around to even doing them. Additionally, to respect equal access for all, everything is automated for members to put in their own efforts as they see fit.
Who's land is this?
While changes in the market may make us have different processes for now all of the land is the owner's land. They are overwhelmingly absentee or investment owner's that do not want to be bothered with dealing with hunting inquiries and groups. They do wish for hunting to occur and be paid for it so they have us handle these things for them. It is very important that you do not interfere with our owner's and our working relationship with them. We are allied with many similar businesses and are collecting and sharing of bad hunters/actors in this market for use in the future.
Why are all most all communications via email or text?
We get a ton of requests on a daily basis. Most requests never result in someone leasing a tract. We have to be efficient with our time and reading/responding when convenient is the most efficient use of our time rather than phone calls that can wonder on and usually cover the topics on this page. Also due to shear volume of people trying to contact, communicate, visit a property or get hunting access completed we need a written record to keep track of what we are saying and to whom. Phone calls would require documentation along with the phone call so a written form does that all at one time. Finally, people hear what they want to hear naturally and we like a record of what everyone actually had said. Also keeping things in writing over the years brings up past contacts and conversations so we have an idea how a previous interaction went from many years ago.
What is the usual process?
A document will be emailed to you with instructions on how to fill it out. You fill it out and scan it back or put it in the mail with payment. The document is then forwarded to the owner for signatures. A document is not good until full payment has been received and ALL signatures have been applied. You WILL NOT receive a document back signed from the owner UNTIL Full Payment is made. For the few that might not understand this, you always pay for something before receiving it in any market.
How do you determine pricing?
In general pricing follows the same supply and demand factors in any market. You will see that Kentucky Hunting Access is usually more expensive than Indiana Hunting Access because there is more demand for Kentucky Land. More specifically however pricing usually follows these main factors: 1) Owner (Each Owner Has Different Demands To Allow Access to Their Property) 2) Location (How Many People Are Looking to Get Land There) 3) Access (How Easy is the Property to Access and Hunt) 4) Type (Crops, Woods, Water, Mix etc.) 5) Time of Year (Certain Times of Year Have Different Pricing). There are other Factors as Well but that is a good rundown. I would say that they are in a hierarchical order.
Is the Hunting Access price negotiable?
For the most part Hunting Access prices are the amount that it has already been paid for in the past. Additionally Hunting Access prices are usual a close representation of what the owner requires to get to start allowing a stranger to access their property with weapons. In some cases there may be some wiggle room on the price but it is important to know that if you get into a property low it will probably go up. In general we do not like to increase and rarely do increase Hunting Access prices. Also if you got on a property too low then someone will come along and give more to bump you off. Owners will get rid of both of us if they think they have been getting a below market price. We rarely see it being a strategy for success to squabble over a few hundred dollars. However, you can always ask.
How Many People can gain Hunting Access?
That is usually up to your group in most cases. We just work with the owner to make sure it is a safe number but this is rarely an issue.
How long is Hunting Access for?
Most of them are 12 months long from when they are signed, committed to, paid, etc. We have very few tracts that may only provide Hunting Access for abbreviated seasons but you will be notified. Also sometimes during the year based upon openings or onboardings Hunting Access may be slightly longer or shorter to sync it up to the normal Hunting Access Cycle.
Is the property posted and gated?
Some are and some aren't. Feel free to post properties if you want to and/or gate them with owner permission.
What Stands and Improvements are allowed?
For the most part only temporary stands that are easily assembled and removed are allowed. Exceptions may be made on a case by case basis. Any stand setup and removal is at your own effort, time, expense and peril. Improvements, when allowed, such as mowing, food plots, mineralization, trail cams and other similar items/efforts are at your own effort, time, expense and peril.
What crops will be planted and when will they cut them?
Most of the time we do not know what will be planted on tillable properties. We also cannot bind the farmer to any crop planting schedule and they have to decide what to plant that benefits them the most. Crop price changes may change what they plant and we have no control over that. We also can't control when they harvest their crops. Weather, business practices, business cycles, equipment malfunctions, potential health and family issues all play a role in what a farmer decides to do with planting and harvesting crops. We cannot know and we cannot make the farmer do anything.
What do you think about the property?
We are a bad person to ask because we are positive minded people and would probably find a reason to hunt every property. Hunting is therapy for the most part so give us a tree to climb or a blind to sit in with our kids and we are happy as can be.
Do you know the hunting success history?
In general we do not know how people hunted a property, what they harvested on it, etc. Lessees for the most part do their own thing and prefer for us and the owner not to know about the hunting. For the most part Lessees are worried about word getting out about what they harvest so other people won't poach their hunting tract or the owner drive up the price. What we do know is that the land IS AVAILABLE FOR LEASING.
Do I have first option to renew?
Yes. We always try to keep people renewing their hunting access tract if they would like to renew it. We like to spend our time developing new lands so we don't like to spend time re-marketing hunting access each year. If you don't want to renew it then we go ahead and market it to others.
Is pricing based upon "per hunter" or "total price"?
Any prices you see on the website and any negotiated price will be the "total price".
What about Maps, Acreage, Surveys, platts, etc?
We rely on owner provided information for maps, acreage sizes, boundaries, easements, etc. We rarely have an actual survey of the property. We do our best to provide as reliable of information as possible to you but we cannot guarantee, warranty, certify anything. With the advent of some online maps, including tax assessor maps, it has caused some confusion. It is important to know that Tax Assessor Maps always come with a disclaimer that they are not surveyed maps and are not to be taken as accurate as a survey. Often online maps are skewed to the right, left, up, down, etc. as it is not a perfect overlay on satellite photographs. They can be a great tool but we always err on the side of owner provided information.
Will other people be hunting on that property too?
All of our hunting access is exclusive to you unless the owner has made some arrangement with you otherwise. If someone other than you or your hunting party is hunting then they are trespassing and the proper authorities should be notified.
What game can I hunt?
In general we try to stick with just allowing deer and turkey hunting. Some people hunt squirrel and some might waterfowl a little if water suitable water is on a property. We highly discourage and generally do not allow hunting of game that requires dogs due to liability issues.
Can I have campers, food plots, stands etc. on the property?
If their is a suitable spot for camping and food plots and the owner allows it then YES! Enjoy responsibly! All stands should be temporary in nature and not bring damage to trees and property. Common stands that are allowed are ground blinds, ladder stands, climbing sticks w/hanging stands and self-climbing stands. Be sure to follow all safety rules while using stands above ground level such as SAFETY HARNESSES!
What about Trespassers?
Trespassing events are rare but are always possible on any property. We do have 1-2 complaints per year on potential trespassing. We do our best to contact the owner in this situation to see if they can provide any assistance or knowledge. Most of the time the owner will have no knowledge of the trespassing event either. In this case we always encourage you to use your copy of the hunting access to show local authorities that you are the only person allowed on the property.
Refunds
Once Hunting Access starts you are paying for access to the property NOT any certain type of successful hunting or some type of experience you may have had in your mind. Access to the property specifically means is anyone forbidding you from coming onto the property. Various things such as weather, washouts, crop planting styles and other factors may make access look a little more difficult but the property is still open for you to access. We cannot know what wildlife, weather, farming, timbering and countless other factors that may affect your perception of hunting which are outside of our control. We allow no refunds of any kind to be considered unless it has to do with the sale of a property where ownership transfer may or may not affect access to the property for hunting. These instances are very rare and have only occurred once or twice in our entire time in operation. Additionally, with the nature of a digital item and access, once you sign up for a Membership it is not refundable because their is no way to undo what you have seen on this website. We cannot take anything back because that would be your memory, which would be impossible.
Disclaimer
The above information is for general informational reference only based upon our experiences and general format. Each situation is unique and the above information may not apply. It is your responsibility to personally confirm the tract and potential hunting access is suitable for your needs.
Merk Farms Hunting
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