Leasing Land

[Newtosavage]

The downside of leases or paying to hunt becoming the norm is that the demand outweighs the supply driving the prices up the leases up. People with deep pockets are willing to pay more and more just to have leases to themselves. The recreational value of the land is starting to outweigh the production value. I have in laws in TX that have seen the prices of land soar in the last few years. Farm or ranch land that is worth 1000 an acre is being sold at 3000 an acre marketed as recreational land and it all sells too, usually to fat cats from the city. Not saying it's right or wrong it is capitalism in full force. I do believe that it contributes to hunting becoming a exclusive rich man's sport that much faster.

My experience is that if you are from the area you likely have some connections to hunt private for free weather you work it off or just through the relationship. I have worked on a farm just to hunt and I take pride in hunting and finding success on public.

At least there is still millions of acres of public we already pay taxes for. The talk with paying someones taxes to hunt is a little weird to me. Whatever you and the landowner agree on together should be good enough. Damn all you freeloaders lol

Supply and demand is exactly right.

Texas has so little public land that the "supply" is low so demand is high for recreational land. Where I live, land that would have been viewed as near worthless for agricultural production 30 years ago because of the brush/trees on it, is now more valuable than cleared farmland or pasture. Go figure.

30 million people and less than 3% public land is a recipe for high priced recreational land.

You can joke about the freeloader comment but the chickens will come home to roost eventually, even on the vast tracts of public land, as development pressures increase along with the population. More and more elected officials will want to "make money" off that public land and more of the public will agree with them so long as the people who use that land aren't paying what a commercial interest would pay. Look what's happening already with Colorado leasing large tracts of state land that used to be open to public hunting. Last October, my buddy and I watched herds of elk on a large tract of state land, bedded within 1/4 mi. of a busy highway. That land used to be open to public hunting but is now being leased by the state to a private interest who is willing to pay more than public hunters are and non-hunting state taxpayers want it that way.

I've said for a long time that part of what we are up against is the mentality created by 2 or 3 generations of Americans that grew up enjoying the use of government-subsidized recreation areas. State and Federal parks, NF and BLM, etc. that didn't charge enough to recoup their costs had us all thinking everything should be free or close to it. And that's a mentality that's tough to break.

The longer we hang on to that, the further behind the curve we will get.

 

[WhiteOak]

I dont disagree with most of that. I do not think it was people not paying enough to recreate federal land as much as the government spending money of way too much of taxpayer money onother bullshit. combine that with greed and having control of the public land which they see as $$ and it looks very bleak for the comman mans chance to use wild landscapes.

Luckily there are groups that fight to keep public lands from being sold and to keep energy development as conducive to these landscapes as possible. Hopefully there is compromise to be found.

 

[Billy Goat]

Most farmers will give up some money to have someone on their ground they trust. Build a connection. Be available. They love their ground more than most can understand. Find a landowner and build a connection. Doesn't need to be a checkbook connection. Of course money will play into it but if they can see that you can help offset some of their costs or time it will help.

 

[timekiller13]

Supply and demand is what it all comes down to. Prime private ground brings prime money. Here in NC, we do not have bucks the size of midwestern deer. But, we have long seasons and liberal bag limits. Leases here in prime counties top $30/acre. Even in mediocre areas (like where I live) $15/acre is the norm. I have leased land all over NC over the last 20 years. I can remember leasing prime land in top tier counties for $4/acre. Those same spots go for well over $20 now. Landowners know they can get big money, so they charge it, because people will pay it. I have nothing against any of it. Its a free market, get it while the gettin is good, as they say.

Personally, I grew tired of the leasing game. Too much uncertainty for me. You are always wondering year to year if someone is going to lease it out from under you, or if the landowner is going to sell. That is why I am a 90% public land hunter now. Too much free public land out there. But, there are ways to pick up land or cheap or free. Everyone wants big tracts of land around here. Most people overlook small pieces in the 5-20 acre range. I got on our county GIS website recently and started just clicking on parcels close to me. Found out my 90 yr old neighbor owned 2 pieces down the road from me. One tract is 9 acres, the other is 21 acres. The 21 acre piece borders a 900 acre county park and is on the river, the 9 acre piece borders a 250 acre corn/bean farm. I asked her if I could get permission to hunt the land, even offered her a few hundred dollars. She declined the money and told me to hunt all I wanted. She told me she has owned those tracts for 50 years and no one has ever asked her to hunt on them. These places will be perfect for me for quick afternoon or morning hunts when I only have a couple hours. They are both 5 minutes from my home. I have no aspirations of shooting monster bucks or being swarmed with deer on them, but scouting has showed that I should have no problem getting one or two deer off of them every year.

 

[Newtosavage]

Supply and demand is what it all comes down to. Prime private ground brings prime money. Here in NC, we do not have bucks the size of midwestern deer. But, we have long seasons and liberal bag limits. Leases here in prime counties top $30/acre. Even in mediocre areas (like where I live) $15/acre is the norm. I have leased land all over NC over the last 20 years. I can remember leasing prime land in top tier counties for $4/acre. Those same spots go for well over $20 now. Landowners know they can get big money, so they charge it, because people will pay it. I have nothing against any of it. Its a free market, get it while the gettin is good, as they say.

Personally, I grew tired of the leasing game. Too much uncertainty for me. You are always wondering year to year if someone is going to lease it out from under you, or if the landowner is going to sell. That is why I am a 90% public land hunter now. Too much free public land out there. But, there are ways to pick up land or cheap or free. Everyone wants big tracts of land around here. Most people overlook small pieces in the 5-20 acre range. I got on our county GIS website recently and started just clicking on parcels close to me. Found out my 90 yr old neighbor owned 2 pieces down the road from me. One tract is 9 acres, the other is 21 acres. The 21 acre piece borders a 900 acre county park and is on the river, the 9 acre piece borders a 250 acre corn/bean farm. I asked her if I could get permission to hunt the land, even offered her a few hundred dollars. She declined the money and told me to hunt all I wanted. She told me she has owned those tracts for 50 years and no one has ever asked her to hunt on them. These places will be perfect for me for quick afternoon or morning hunts when I only have a couple hours. They are both 5 minutes from my home. I have no aspirations of shooting monster bucks or being swarmed with deer on them, but scouting has showed that I should have no problem getting one or two deer off of them every year.

I did the same thing when I lived in IL and within 3 years had more small tracts of private than I could hunt in a year. All of them held deer. The last year I was there, I shot 5 deer with my bow before Thanksgiving. Every one of those landowners got jerky and sausage for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and help on their place in the summer. A few places I had to let go because I just didn't have enough time to help the landowner as much as I felt obligated to. Of course, if they aren't running livestock on it, there isn't nearly as much work to do.

 

[Shrek]

Check the GIS data for the property. It is very common for land owners to inflate the stated acreage significantly. Also look at huntable acreage not total acreage when you decide what you’re willing to pay. For example there may be 375 acres in total but 50 or 60 of it is around houses or buildings and there’s only 320 or so that you can hunt.
Another thing to be aware of is are they going to cut timber right before or during hunting season. Discuss land use during season so you are making an informed decision. I’ve been on leases where they cut the timber in the middle of the season and I can tell you it sucked ! The land owner of the majority of the land in the club I belong to just cut all the timber off the land and it’s a barren wasteland currently. Luckily it’s spring so there will be fresh growth in the cut by fall and deer will still use it but if was September it would be tough.

 

[Boarmaster]

Leasing has been a way of life for me in Florida and now in Alabama.
All the leases I have had are on mixed use land. In Florida , cattle ranches and
In Alabama , Timber. I hunt in the federal forest in Ohio when I go back there
to hunt with family.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Again, personal instead of sticking to the topic.


Yea, we call that the "freeloader 40" around here.

I work off my lease. I put in about 80 hours every fall to have the privilege of shooting 4 does/year off the place I hunt. That comes to about $800/doe if the landowner had hired out the same work.

The "freeloader" comment is for those who think they have some kind of right to hunt private land without payment of any kind. And there are plenty of those who do. Usually in the midwest.

Lots in Georgia too. Especially if they grew up down the street.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[h4everything]

Leased land is expensive. The cost here in OK can vary from $2/ac to 15/ac. Depends on the landowner.

I can still get free access to land but it takes lots of days knocking on doors and asking.

I always have the best luck with the poorest looking most run down places.

Unfortunately the days of hunting for a cheap source of food are over.

 

[Newtosavage]

You're going to pay one way or the other - either in money, or in time.

I hunted very heavily pressured, bowhunting only public land here in TX for years. It took me several years to figure out how to kill something, then after that it was pretty steady every year (but never expected). Cost me a grand total of $48 to hunt several thousand acres and I'd pull 1-2 deer off the place with my bow every year for the last 4 years I hunted there, before I found the lease I have now.

It didn't cost me much in dollars, but it cost me a ton of time. I would drive an hour there and back, set up a hang-on stand in the dark and take it down in the dark. Most weeks I'd spend at least 8-10 hours in the stand, over the course of 8-12 weeks. So probably 100 hours or more/season is a conservative estimate, for about 1.5 deer/year.

On my lease, I work about 80-100 hours/year for the landowner then spend the rest of the fall and winter hunting. I'm able to bring guests and kids. Hunting is comfortable because I can leave stands up and put out feeders if I want to. We have taken 6 deer/year off the place for the past two years and a full freezer of venison is all but guaranteed. I've been able to share venison with friends and coworkers now for the past two years because I had plenty to share.

The hunting experience is certainly better on the public land however. If you kill one there with a bow, you sure earned it and as such, get the feeling of deep satisfaction that comes with that achievement.