stealthycat

My father in law owns 400 acres along the White River in North Central Arkansas. I have 80 acres bordering his for a total of 480 acres. This farm is probably 30% field 30% timber and 40% grown up fields and cutover timber. Cattle/horses/donkeys are on it, about 60-70 animals total. He has only this year started to consider a leasing of this property and if its going to occur, I'd just as soon be part of it as not.

My question is, on raw land that has never been managed in any way - what would be a reasonable leasing fee ? I am thinking of 6-8 guys that get along well and will work to make this a deer hunting place - planting food plots, supplemental feeding, trophy managing towards P&Y and above deer etc. A hunting club to be proud to be a member of, and a long term investment. Are there deer on it ? Yes, and I suspect a nice buck or two by the sign I have seen, but because he lets any and everyone hunt it, theres no age on the deer and the food supply is less than ideal (however the potential I believe is there)

Add turkey to the equation, a large pond on the river for ducks and if the right crop was planted possibly a good dove hunting spot, this would be a really nice place with enough work and the right people.

Any idea how much yearly a place like this would fetch ? Leasing in northern AR isn't common, so the price isn't going to be comparable to Pike county IL or Texas ! Any input would be greatly appreciated ?
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timbercruiser

You probably will have to check some of the other clubs or timber companies in your area to get a good idea. In South Bama we are paying between $5.25 and $7.00 per acre. We have over 4,000 acres leased.

Laturkeyhtr

I don't lease land to hunt on, but the going price here is around $3-3.50 pre acre. I don't know if this price includes insurance or not. But having insurance would be a plus for the landowner. Since you said he was family, ask him what he is expecting and see if you can meet his expectations.

Eight guys on 450 acres could get crowded especially if you are going to move towards a management scheme to produce better bucks. You just can't figure that there are going to be bucks forever. Even if you give every member a buck of choice that is removing a lot of bucks for that size property. You might want to consider 4 or 5 guys and this will make control a bit easier and could still be putting a lot of pressure on it. Sounds like a great place.

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Managing Today for a Better Tomorrow
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Shoot a Doe instead!

Who

Is the river the only sorce of water? Do you know a buck to doe %? What will be planted for deer and will they shair with the other livestock? Is there a place to camp with o2 and elect? These are things that add up on the price.
I agree that 4 to 5 people is about all you would want on this size area.
Here a section is running around $5 to 800/gun with around 6 hunters. and that is a year lease with deer,hogs,dove,quail all included.
Rick

Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.

TxCowboy

Around here the going rate for solid wooded leases are around $4-5.50/acre. However, I don't know anyone who would give that for open land unless it was all planted in crops or food plots. I could be wrong, I'm just speaking for East Tx. Here we live in the &quot;big woods&quot; so to speak with most everything being solid timber. Even at that, I don't like to hunt with more than 1 person on every 80-100 acres minimum. However, I'm spoiled because I hunt on over 800 acres with one other person.lol Just my thoughts. Good luck!

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Hunting the Piney Woods of Deep East Texas.

timbercruiser

This is hard to believe, but a friend of mine told me his family was approached by a man last week wanting to lease their 400+ acre farm for deer hunting. He offered them $28 per acre per year with a 5 year lease. This is about 50 miles south of Montgomery, Al.

TxCowboy

$28 per acre??? Wow TimberCruiser, I love our place but for $28/acre, I'd be tempted to lease it out and go find myself another place.lol Some people have more money than brains.<img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

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Hunting the Piney Woods of Deep East Texas.