When I was working for WY G&F in Casper, the nonresident hunters who made the biggest impressions on the landowners were those who didn't just bring treats (which is appreciated, too); but those who took a day or afternoon and prepared and served a no-holds-barred feast. They are remembered - and don't just feed the rancher, but feed their hands and their families too. One group of Texans puts on a big Tex-Mex or cajun feed every year, sets up table and feeds about 16 people in the calving barn - sit them down, serve them drinks, and pamper them right through dessert and cigars. They've hunted that ranch every year for 10+. Another pair from Kansas puts on a pig roast, buys all the beer, and throws a heck of a feed for a little WY community of a 1/2 dozen ranching families; they've been on those ranches a long time ... Yet another group from WA puts on a dungeness crab feed every year - and they've been hunting the same WY ranch, without paying a penny for access, since 1984. These hunters get to come back, even when others with deep pockets and fat checkbooks get told "not this year".
A special gift for the wife and kids goes a long way, especially if you've taken the time to learn what they like. Ranch hands can resent being forgotten - and will speak well all year long of the hunters who didn't. A bottle of Crown can buy a lot of warm thoughts sometimes ..
Don't condescend, or treat them as yokels - odds are they aren't, and if they are - still don't like to be looked down on. Don't act like you're doing them a favor by coming to their place to kill game - odds are, you really AREN'T providing much of a significant service, and there are plenty of others who can do the killing just as well as you! Particularly, when you're more interested in antlers than meat.
A thank you card sent after the hunt is a surprisingly rare commodity. I sent an archery antelope hunter to a hay farmer once, who didn't kill an antelope - but did send a well-written thank-you (I advise against just signing a Hallmark thank you card and dropping it in the mail!). That hay farmer commented to me later that thank-you was the first one he'd received after a hunter'd left in over 10 years - it made one heck of a favorable impression. That guy was welcome back.
Some of these folks pay a fee to hunt as well - some don't. If you like the ranch and want to come back, you can't go too over-the-top. When game's in short supply, and the rancher feels like they need to cut back on hunters - paying or otherwise - the ones described above are among the few who get permission. I've seen it more than once where they are the only ones who get to still hunt, after a rancher either switches over to outfitting, or leases to an outfitter himself.
These days, there are more hunters looking to hunt, than there are big nuisance bucks needing shot. Those of you who think this is BS, can hunt public land - when you can draw - or put in a lot of effort every year looking for a place to hunt, and hearing "no" a lot.
Bottom line - ranchers know they are doing YOU a favor - even if you've paid to hunt. They like and appreciate individuals who take the time to get to know them, show an interest in their life and their ranch, and clearly demonstrate their appreciation of getting to hunt. By contrast, a lot of arrogant, disrespectful a-holes are NOT welcome back - even for fat fees.
