I don't know how North Carolina is but I'll tell you how it is where I hunt. Most land in Arkansas where I hunt is owned by forestry companies or family trusts. The cost of a lease per acre can vary. I have three leases ranging from 40 acres to 180 acres. On one lease my brother in law and I pay a little over two dollars an acre leasing from a family trust. On another we pay 4.00 an acre but we have to pay 115 a year for insurance to the timber company. This puts the effective rate at 6.00 an acre for a 40 acre lease. For another lease we pay 4.18 an acre and that is about the going rate.

I look at a leases accessability (do I have to cut trails in), amount of huntable land (if half of your land is in a swamp, that's not necessarily a good thing) , rules as far as what can be done with the lease (do they allow clearing to plant food plots).

Most leases in my area are year to year. Watch out, if you make a lot of improvements, a land owner could kick you off of it and lease it out at a higher rate, or hunt it himself. I've seen this done. Forestry companies are sometimes the best route for preventing this.

I ask questions like "when is the last time timber was cut". This tells me if it's been 5-7 years in pine forests, they may have scheduled a cut and might not tell you about it. I had a timber company start cutting the second day of deer season two years ago and clear cut the 40 acre lease (my brother in law was hunting that one that day and barely got out of a tree before they cut it).

Another question, if you are joining a lease with someone else is to ask why they are looking for new members. This could indicate that the lead person has the best area staked out and you are left with crap (this happens in clubs all the time). I let myself be talked into that one time, and never again.

There isn't a magic formula, a lot of it is hit and miss. The best place to start if you are in an area with a lot of timber industry, is the forestry companies. Word of mouth from someone you trust is another route. The best way is to buy land and do what you want on it. It may take you several seasons to find a good area; once you find it, hang on to it! Good luck!