PROS AND CONS OF LEASED PROPERTY.
02-09-2009, 11:13 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Southern Indiana
Posts: 44
PROS AND CONS OF LEASED PROPERTY.
I bring this up because I have mixed feelings about leasing ground. I see it from all angles so I'm going to bring out the good and the bad. I personally do not lease any ground. I am fortunate enough to be surrounded byState property that is so far from the nearest public access that it would take an hour hike just to get close to my area. So basically I have about 300-400 acres to myself, even though 90 percent of it is state. I have considered leasing before, however it is very expensive, since in my area if you are going to lease you must lease a very large chunk of property.
THE GOOD: Leasing property isan excellentway to assure hunting success. You can manage the property how you see fit to ensure trophy animals.Who wouldn't want 1000+ acres to themselves.
THE BAD: ThisI have witnessed first hand. It seems as though the leasing of property in my area has had a negative affect on the whitetail population andoverall health of the heard. My area first gothit with major leasing about ten yearsago. When it first started you sawnice deer consistently beingtagged in. You could almost guess what certain regions of counties these animals came from just by looking at thesize of the animals. So naturally, you have everyone else wanting to do the same. As aresult of the popularity of leasing the individuals hunting their leased property began focusing on BIG bucks instead of overall herd management.People would hunt just for rack.
Thiswas the start of the demise of the local deer herd. Soon you have populations exploding due to does not being killed off. This overpopulation lead to increased crop damage, which iswhy the farmers leased property for hunting purposes to begin with.Not only did you get overpopulation, but major in-breedingas well. The in-breeding started leading to smaller deer and weakeranimals due to more recessive genes being passed down the generations.All of a sudden you have more1.5 and 2.5year old bucks breeding their mothers. Which is ok as long as it doesn't happen a lot over an extendedperiod oftime. Theweights of the deer decreasing is also a result of lack of food.
Soover the course of the past 2-3 yearswe really started seeing smaller weights of animals. Racks are still big, but thats just because peoplewere pumping nutrient rich food sources into the animals that isgeared to build rack. The population was still getting out of control.This is were it gets really bad. Rumors have it that farmers started taking matters into their own hands this past summer. Rumors and I will repeat rumors say that farmers are getting depridation tags,and gut shooting deer so they run off of their property and die elsewhere. One guy I know, has a lease. He isextremely gifted. Itsjust expected for this guy to kill a 130+ class deer during archery season. For the first 23 days he did not see a single deer. WHY?I assume its because the depridation tags went overboard. Peoplewere going spotlighting and not seeing eyes glowing, but dead deer scattered here and there throughout fields.
MY OPINION: Leasing property is ok...as long as it is done correctly. Anyone who leases should take the responsibility to manage the deer herd intheir area. Not just take the trophies but take does as well.A lot of farmers have the mind-frame "kill em all". So if you wish to leasea farmers property you mustuphold their wishes. Do your part and take the responsibility to manage the deer, because if not then you are only hurting yourself. Whenyou take one smallgroup being irresponsible about managementand multiply it then everyone suffers.
I guesswhat I'm trying to say is that if you are willing to spend the bookoo bucks tolease you might as well fill all thetags you can. Ifyou don't, well then you will witness first hand what happens.
If you agree or disagree, then please, please explain. All ears, because this doesn't just benefit me. It benefits everyone,including the deer.
THE GOOD: Leasing property isan excellentway to assure hunting success. You can manage the property how you see fit to ensure trophy animals.Who wouldn't want 1000+ acres to themselves.
THE BAD: ThisI have witnessed first hand. It seems as though the leasing of property in my area has had a negative affect on the whitetail population andoverall health of the heard. My area first gothit with major leasing about ten yearsago. When it first started you sawnice deer consistently beingtagged in. You could almost guess what certain regions of counties these animals came from just by looking at thesize of the animals. So naturally, you have everyone else wanting to do the same. As aresult of the popularity of leasing the individuals hunting their leased property began focusing on BIG bucks instead of overall herd management.People would hunt just for rack.
Thiswas the start of the demise of the local deer herd. Soon you have populations exploding due to does not being killed off. This overpopulation lead to increased crop damage, which iswhy the farmers leased property for hunting purposes to begin with.Not only did you get overpopulation, but major in-breedingas well. The in-breeding started leading to smaller deer and weakeranimals due to more recessive genes being passed down the generations.All of a sudden you have more1.5 and 2.5year old bucks breeding their mothers. Which is ok as long as it doesn't happen a lot over an extendedperiod oftime. Theweights of the deer decreasing is also a result of lack of food.
Soover the course of the past 2-3 yearswe really started seeing smaller weights of animals. Racks are still big, but thats just because peoplewere pumping nutrient rich food sources into the animals that isgeared to build rack. The population was still getting out of control.This is were it gets really bad. Rumors have it that farmers started taking matters into their own hands this past summer. Rumors and I will repeat rumors say that farmers are getting depridation tags,and gut shooting deer so they run off of their property and die elsewhere. One guy I know, has a lease. He isextremely gifted. Itsjust expected for this guy to kill a 130+ class deer during archery season. For the first 23 days he did not see a single deer. WHY?I assume its because the depridation tags went overboard. Peoplewere going spotlighting and not seeing eyes glowing, but dead deer scattered here and there throughout fields.
MY OPINION: Leasing property is ok...as long as it is done correctly. Anyone who leases should take the responsibility to manage the deer herd intheir area. Not just take the trophies but take does as well.A lot of farmers have the mind-frame "kill em all". So if you wish to leasea farmers property you mustuphold their wishes. Do your part and take the responsibility to manage the deer, because if not then you are only hurting yourself. Whenyou take one smallgroup being irresponsible about managementand multiply it then everyone suffers.
I guesswhat I'm trying to say is that if you are willing to spend the bookoo bucks tolease you might as well fill all thetags you can. Ifyou don't, well then you will witness first hand what happens.
If you agree or disagree, then please, please explain. All ears, because this doesn't just benefit me. It benefits everyone,including the deer.
02-10-2009, 11:24 AM
#3
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Southwest Ohio
Posts: 10,277
RE: PROS AND CONS OF LEASED PROPERTY.
I'm not a big fan of leasing since, from the perspective of many hunters, it can lead to the the overpopulation of does described above, and it results in decreasedaccess for hunters in general. Also, in terms of long term continuity, nothing beats having ground where your name is on the deed and you call ALL the shots. Of course, the folks who are making 20 or 30 bucks and acre leasing their ground likely view it much, much differently, at least until they start noticing the crop damage resulting from their leasees only taking a few big bucks a year.
