I am looking for whatever information I can find on hunting leases, I figured this would be a good place to start. Specifically I am interested in average cost per acre, lease agreements, waivers, terms etc. I dont know of any hunting leases up north, but I am considering approaching a land owner with a lease proposal. I would like to have all my " ducks in a row" . before I ask for a meeting with the property manager. The owner has over 10k acres most of which is either wooded or swamp. The deer population is mediocre at best. My family owns a cabin in the area so there is no need to build any structures. I have been getting frustrated competing with other hunters for elbow room. I am looking into leasing to get a place to get away from the crowds. This is all new to me so any advice would be appreciated

One sure asset to present to the prospective property owner is a motion to plant some food plots. Another is to clean up the land of any trash and. Also the organic fertilizer is a plus because of water run off/pollution. Trimming of any orchard and so on... You' ll get some great advise here...

Thanks for the respoonse LB. The property I have in mind is already managed very well for its timber, gravel and development. There would be little to do to the land other than post the property and create a few food plots in the few existing meadows and along some wooded roads. I doubt the owner would sign a lease of a long enough period to invest too much effort foodplots and such. I think maybe what I am looking for is " exclusive tresspass rights" with the understanding that I could seed some small open areas. The extension services from a few southern Universities offer really good info on contract language and benifits to the land owner, unfortunately they leave out info on going rates and so on.

The price per acre in your area information will probably be very area specific. Contact your local game officer and see if he can help. Be prepared to sign a contract with the landowner, be ready to offer hunters insurance that will release him from liability, make sure to be specific in the number of hunters that will be on the property, ask him if he has objections to things like ATV' s, Sunday hunting, any game that he doesn' t want hunted, any of his family that has hunting previliges or occasionally likes to hunt. I' m sure there is a lot more, but right now I can' t think of them.