Hunting Lease
 

I am born and raised on a dairy farm here in N.E. Ohio. Though I don't have any part of the opperation anymore,my father and brother continue too milk cows and grow crops. I have the luxury of the use and control of the land for hunting. My father has been approached by local and out of state hunters about leasing to hunt deer. The answer is NO. We have family and friends that hunt our land and won't accept cash over kin. The neighbors around us think differently. There are No Hunting or trespassing sign's all around the borders of the farm,nailed up by the new lease hunters next door. Kind of pisses me of I can't hunt that hot spot I used to hunt over on Red's place when I was a kid,or Steve's place a couple of years ago. But since all this started I have seen much bigger and more bucks than I have ever seen before. I'm not sure if it's because of the Leasing or the need for written permision need to hunt in Ohio now. I would like to know what huntingnet. members think about the hunting lease trend?

Farmers own the land and many are using every way to add income to their farm they can. Leasing the hunting rights to someone for $7 to $15 per acre or whatever they can get just makes good business sense. I have leased land either individually or with a club for over 30 years so it is nothing new to me to lease land. I also have a number of clients that own multiple thousands of acres of land I lease to hunters.

You're seeing bigger deer because the idiots who lease the neighbors places are scaring them over to you. I've seen this many times. City-comes-to-the-Country, puts up "Posted" signs every 10ft because he has a lease, does nothing to meet the neighbors, learn the lay of the land etc and ruins the hunting. Seen it before, it will pass.

I hate the leasing craze. It use to be the farmers would let people hunt for free and we as hunters would help kill deer that ate the crops. It was a win, win. Now many are losing their hunting spots to deep pockets. I understand farmers see it as an extra income but it hurts alot of guys. Now we see some guys leasing up large areas then turning around and re-leasing them to line his pockets. It's driving the price even higher. I'm glad to see there are still some kind hearted souls that let us hunt for free and understand that not everything in life is about making a dollar.

Quite simply leasing is the biggest threat to the average hunter, and hunting as we know it today.

I'm not talking about hard-core dedicated types. They are willing to spend money to hunt if that is what it takes. But the average guy out there, and there are many of them, doesn't hunt every day of the season, doesn't take vacation to hunt, doesn't live and breath deer, scout all year, etc. But they are hunters who buy licenses, bullets, guns, etc. And most importantly, they are hunters that take their kids hunting.

Leasing WILL cause increasing numbers of these guys to quit hunting. When they are gone from the ranks (along with reduced hunter recruitment), don't blame them when more anti-hunting / anti-gun legislation gets passed.

Dont know how big your place is but
i would not lease it to anyone either....
And post your property too!
Become a guide and sell a limited number of hunts...
To pay taxes and stuff....