I just saw this thread but I would say that $500 for 250 acres of private land is the deal of the century! It is nothing to see 3 times that price here in Maryland. My friends will typically pay around $1000-1500 each to hunt on that much land.

I do agree that it sucks but if you want to hunt on private land, you are stuck. I refuse to pay that much to hunt so I stick to public and federal lands.