I grew up regularly hunting in 3 states on land that was owned by my late step-father. They were large & productive sections as well (he was very big into crop production & cattle, total acreage was in excess of 30,000 acres). That "dream scenario" lasted for 20 years until he passed to cancer in 2005 & within a year his kids sued my mother because they thought wills & laws didn't apply to them! we won in court of course but I in the end I was "sans land" until I purchased a nice place of my own here in west TN 4yrs later. (I used that 4yr "hunting drought" to brush up on my fall & winter fishing skills.) I thank the good man upstairs everyday that he put me in the financial position to be able to afford the setup I now I have.

As for leasing vs purchase, obviously there is more "acre for the dollar" with leasing BUT having said that EVERY SINGLE LEASE ENDS IN A LOSS at some point, EVERY ONE of them! I have alot of friends & family that have hunting leases & in EVERY single case I've seen those leases lost at some point & the most common reason is "mom/dad" died & the "heirs/kids" couldnt sell the land fast enough for the $$$. (DOUBLE ESPECIALLY TRUE if the heirs/kids are all out of state & have no emotional ties to the land, they just view it as $x,000,000 tied up in dirt)

I even saw it with a good friend who is a prominent eye surgeon here in TN. For over 20 yrs he leased a 20,000+ acre place near Carrizo Springs, TX. I mean it was a PRIME piece & he had spent a literal fortune on it in the years he leased it. He certainly could've writren a check for the place but he never pursued a purchase of it. Then the lady that owned it passed & the kids couldnt get rid of it soon enough & they never bothered contacting my bud about buying it. Basically the they said, "Heres your pro-rated lease payment back, now get all of your equipment off of our land & don't ever come back!"

My wifes dad & brother have now had it happen twice to them in the last 20yrs. You just aint nothing more than a "legal trespasser" if you are a leasee. I'd rather own 50 acres & have TOTAL control than lease 500 acres. Plus land is $ in the bank. Every $ spent on land stays on your balance sheet or in your estate. Every $ spent on a lease is GONE from your pocket & onto the landowners balance sheet!

Sorry to ramble on but it's just hard to make memories, especially multi-generational ones, on land without ownership for the above reasons.