I have been leasing ground here in Illinois now for 5 seasons. The reason I started leasing is because the private property I was hunting was sold when the land owner passed away and an outfitter purchased it. I had hunted that ground for 7 years, all it took to get and keep permission was doing some chores, giving the land owner some meat, and a christmas card. However, I spend two years hunting junk after that, knocked on a bunch of doors, but that is very hard now in Illinois. The State keeps raising the number of NR tags allowed each year, so the outfitters keep leasing/purchasing new ground to accomadate their clients, which leaves us resident hunters out in the cold. I tried the public ground approach, pretty crowded. For me it was a decision to either hunt the way I want to hunt (hunting quality ground with real chances at quality deer), or stop hunting all together. I don't pay crazy money for my leases, which the outfitter do on a regular basis, but if you look hard enough you can still find good ground and a reasonable rate ($20-$25) per acre. I know there are a ton of people on here that hate people who lease and to be honest I was never a big fan of it, but a guy has to do what he has to do. For those that have private land to hunt for free, count your blessings and work hard to keep it.