I am thinking about buying about 20 acres to hunt and I am considering leasing the bow season rights out up to the 1st firearm season to offset costs. The location, which I would rather not give now, is in a good area and only about 2 hours from Chicago. The deer population is good but obviously I cannot even assure anyone of seeing big deer. What would be a reasonable price to lease the land for this purpose. It is a mixture of timber and CRP near a river by the way.

I would suggest googling up some internet sites that advertise leases in Illinois. That would give you an idea of the prices for your area since they can vary quite a bit. For example, it is generally 20 or less per acre where I own land, but that is very low compared to othr places.

The hitech redneck leasing site or basecamp might be good places to start.

You may be able to get somebody to bite, but unless you do have real shooter bucks you may heve trouble. There are still people in Illinois who let hunters go for the old fashion price of nothingfor watching over there property, and treating it with respect. Good luck

20 acres is not very much room. Going rate for NC Il is around $10-15/acre.

You give up your control when you lease. You also take on liability for anyone hunting there.(Because you are taking money)

As the guy above said, you may just want to allow one/two guys to bow hunt it in return for some help in watching the farm, planting foodplots, hanging stands or help at home.

Good luck!

I probably should not buy the land if the payments are a little high without leasing it. I am not worried about anyone watching the land, I just thought it would help financially as I might lose my hunting ground soon. I just hope everyone who has a place to hunt really appreciates how lucky they are, I know I do.

I would think that any hunting ground within two hours drive of Chicago is gonna cost and arm and a leg. Even getting top dollar for a lease on 20 acres probably wouldn't amount to much more than a couple of payments a year.

If it"s somthing that you really want to look into send me a PM and I"ll find the data base for that type of stuff. May even be interested my self.

20 acres and only for partial season? I think you will have a hard time finding anyone to offer you anything close to what you are expecting. A GREAT 20 acre piece would only bring maybe $2500 at best for an entire season. Cutting the lease off right at the rut, you could your price in half. I would say you would be lucky to get $1000 for this type of setup.

2500 bucks for 20 acres. Where do i sign up?

I was only thinking about $500. I think bowhunting up until the start of shotgun season is fair and covers the best part of the rut. Anyway, I probably am not going to buy it so it is a moot point.