And then just to ice the cake, he has a family ranch on the Trask river on the coast of ORegon that gets a huge salmon and STeelhead run and he is one of the best fishermen I have ever met. so if it was a big patch say 500 to 2 mil MBF  he would take the landowner fishing and that sealed the deal every time.  

I was just about to say what Steve just did about the listing.Tell them that they should have the agent put you as an excluded buyer so there he won't try to fish for a commission if the listing expires and they immediately take your offer.Wish them luck and you hope the agent can get them that price, but if they can't and they want to get out of the place you will be there for them.

I once caught a fish with no bait, so it's time to cast my rod again.

You'll likely find you'll be a fish out of water trying to take down a large tape and time and effort to get out bid will be a waste of your time and talents of what you do.

He went fishing for suckers

(I googled and found a few, but often those sites are great at SEO - I'm looking for the good info, not the easy to find info)I realize I could pay someone to do the direct mail stuff for me, but I'm a fan of the teach a man to fish style of thinking.

It's kind of like fishing in an area where there are fewer fishermen - you'll probably catch more fish...

Teaching someone to fish is easy.

If anyone figures out how to sell my phone number to these  low-ball hustler wholesaler guys and I start getting nonstop fishing calls to SELL to them at stupid prices, I'm going to get increasingly more irate the more they call. 

Auctions- too many big fish and all cash make it difficult.