Yes, I'm so sorry. Been super busy this last few days leading up to the start of school (tomorrow). I still have a 15 year old at home.
Here are my tips for gaining permissions, note that these are "small" farms with the owners living on premises. It may be different at larger farms.
Once you've identified a need for pest control, you need to speak with the owner, husband or wife for instance. Have at least one rifle and be ready to shoot in case the farmer would like to see the rifle and hear it.........many of these old school farmers have no idea of the technology of modern air rifles, and also don't know how quiet they are. And look presentable.....last two times I approached farmers I was wearing blue jeans, a tucked-in T-shirt with belt and a ball cap. Probably won't hurt to have an American Flag somewhere on your shirt or hat.....I'm serious about this.
Now perhaps the most important part, get straight to the point of why you're there and ask if they would like help getting rid of the pest birds. In my case since I don't charge, I say "free help". So here is how my last greeting went almost word-for-word:
Morning Mam, I'm Bob and I do free pest bird control for farmers. I notice you have a serious issue with pigeons and starlings, and was wondering if you would like me to help you get rid of them. I don't charge anything and would be glad to answer any questions you might have. So the response from the wife being she was the one who was home at the time was, "Well it's good that you don't charge because we can't afford to pay". It's important that you keep to dialogue going, as you want to keep saying things that will work to your benefit before they start thinking of a way to say No. So at this point I tell them how I get rid of the birds by saying
I use a silenced air rifle, it's low-powered and safe, it won't worry your cows or horses at all, and chances are you'll only know I'm here if you see me, my rifles are so quiet that they are nearly silent. At this point you might get asked what an air rifle is. My response to that is
I used a highly specialized modern pellet gun, it's very accurate and effective, and I only take shots on birds when I know its safe and there is no risk of endangering your animals or property. It was at this point when the wife proceeded to point out all the pigeons sitting on the barn roof, and she went on to tell a story about how her boys would try to shoot them with BB guns "but that was years ago, they're all grown up and moved out and those birds have taken over". "If you go into the barn you can see the bird crap all over the gates and rails, you can't even touch anything in there without gloves on".
At this point I know I'm "IN", but again just keep the dialogue going. I then said
I have my equipment with me and can start dealing with these birds right now if that's okay with you, but I'd like to walk around a bit to make sure I know where the cows are. The wife then proceeded to point out where her animals were and told me I could start shooting whenever I wanted to. So I said
I'll be around for a good couple of hours if that's okay and she said take all the time you need.
While I was walking around the farm yard checking on the location of the animals and doing a survey, I was approached by the husband who said, "You must be Bob". I said
Yes Sir, good to meet you......I just got done talking with the Mrs. and wanted to make sure of where the cows were before I start taking care of the birds. At this same time I extended my hand for a hand-shake. He then said, "So you use a silencer on your pellet gun?" I said
Yes, would you like to see my equipment? It's still in my car right there. So we walked to the car and I broke out the Wildcat and his eyes lit up! He said, "That's a pellet gun"? I said
Yes Sir, modern precision air rifle, highly specialized, very accurate and super quiet, made just for doing this kind of thing. So the rest is history, I mean in the video. He asked me how close I need to get to the pigeons to hit them and I told him I can get them from right here where we're standing (it was about 50 yards away). He said, "That's a pretty far shot" and I told him that it was actually an easy shot when the wind isn't too bad. He said, "Well, there's a lot to shoot at around here, how many do you think you can get?" I told him I could get all of them as long as they sat there like that, but also said that it would likely take several visits to get them all. I told him that I visit his area about once a week and asked if it was okay to come back. He said to show up whenever I want, that there was no need to call, just stop in.
That's basically it. I hope this helps.
