Sir most of these cats are subleasing turkey rights on timber company land which they do none of what you listed other than maybe maintaining the property. I wish private land owners all the luck in the world at getting $2-4 per acre for turkey rights. In my opinion it better be some prime property with turkeys falling over each other to be worth that kind of money. I know it's expensive to own and maintain a property so it's the right to ask what the market with bare. I just don't think the market is supporting the higher asking prices.

If I hunt a place for free I consider it a privilege. If I am paying for something then it becomes business. I understand landowners wanting to get the maximum return on their investment but most consumers want to pay the minimum for a product or service. Hopefully somewhere in between is a fair price for both parties.

Just wondering - do you have sole turkey rights available for lease?

Yes I'm a large private landowner in North Alabama with lots of turkeys. I don't turkey hunt and don't lease land for turkey hunting. It's just too much liability and trouble for such a little return. Besides those turkeys aren't hurting anyone and I enjoy watching them

Ah... you obviously don't realize the ability those birds have to drive humans insane. They may appear to be harmless on the outside, but inside they are dirty, low-down varmints which relish the opportunities to toy with us. They are a menace and should be thinned out wherever they are found. Of course, I would be happy to assume all the risk in helping cleanse your properties of said creatures - I'd view it as a community service.

So you really just like to fuss about turkey hunters. Gotcha.

Whats the liability?

That and gloat I guess. If you don't want to lease hunting rights fine. Move on down the road. If you just want to complain then this isn't the place to do it.

X2.... If the lessee is paying the insurance..... Where is the liability...... This is the purpose of insurance.....

I've got 400 acres in Perry Co that has some turkeys on it. I'd lease the turkey rights for a season for the right price. Determining that price could be difficult. I've have to get enough to make sure I'd then have money to go hunt other places. And I don't have many years left in me to hunt, so the sentimental value of losing a whole season on the farm is worth a lot too.

$25,000 wouldn't be enough; no way I'd lease it that cheap. $50,000 might be tempting, but I probably wouldn't. Pretty sure I'd let it go for $100,000. Let me know if anyone is interested.

Guys, this is not a rant, so please don't take it that way. I just wanted to give you my honest perspective as a landowner...

I own about 1000 acres in TN in several different tracts. The turkey hunting is really good and people approach me all the time about leasing my farms to turkey hunt. The problem for me is that there is simply not enough ROI to lease out farms for turkey hunting. First of all, I like to turkey hunt and I don't want to eliminate opportunities for myself, my kids or my friends. Secondly, land prices in my area range from $2000-$3500 an acre. So, for every 500 acres you've got $1M-$1.75M tied up just to own the property. Then there are taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc. And yes, there is still liability to lease it out. It doesn't matter if the lessee has insurance or not, you still are subject to a lawsuit if something happens. Add all that up and you have rising lease costs that are just going to go higher and higher.

Bottom line, it is very difficult to justify leasing it out even if someone was willing to pay $25.00 an acre.

With all due respect, that appears to be exactly what this thread is all about.

I get the liability part, although I thought Aldeer experts had established somewhere before that the person leasing the land is at risk too since hunting liability insurance is pretty much worthless. I am not a landowner so maybe this is a dumb question, but what is the ROI on your land that is not leased out? If you weren't a turkey hunter/recreational user of your land would the ROI be less if you leased it out?

Obviously if a person buys land with the sole intent of leasing it out to turkey hunters, they are either (1) going to have to charge a lot for the lease, or (2) they aren't going to be landowners for long.

Think it just depends on which side of the fence you are on. Some think $1/ac is reasonable, others say $25/ac. That's just the market place in action. When the market gets to $25/ac I'll consider leasing mine

LOL..that is some great shine your drinking! move your land to Pike County, Illinois and include exclusive deer hunting rights with the turkey hunting and you could get it.
Here in alabama I wouldnt hold my breath to try and get $5 an acre. Seems you came in and commmented just to stir up crap. Way to go!

From a pure revenue standpoint your ROI would be lower to not lease to turkey hunters. However, if you did lease, you would still have the liability issue along with the simple fact that you now have granted access to your property for very little financial gain. Say I got $2.00 an acre to lease out my 258 acre farm. That gives me $516.00 in revenue for someone to have unlimited access to that farm for a month. Thats about $17.00 a day to use a piece of property that cost over $600K. And lots of things could go wrong during that timeframe. I'm telling you that for me, it's just not worth it. I would be more inclined to just grant permission versus having a lease.

Let me put it this way - Would you consider leasing your $60K truck to someone on the days you werent using it for $1.70 a day? They have insurance and tell you they will take good care of it. The numbers are about the same. Would you do that? I doubt it and its really no different than what we are talking about here. It's all about risk versus reward.

well put. i feel the same way. i'm not in the land leasing business so i dont care what people charge or pay. its just not worth it to lease any land for less than $5/ac.

Good for the both of you large land owners! This post is totally irrelevant to either of you. Since leasing your property is not an option then why bother posting on here. We as turkey hunters are making it more than clear that private land owners that are asking ridiculous prices for turkey rights can keep them. If the monetary gain or liability isn't worth what the average working man can afford to pay then it's best not to lease. The average working man is the majority of the lease market. When land owners out price that consumer group then the sport of hunting will cease to exist on the scale it does today. At that point you can then worry about the government taking away your rights as a land owner/hunter because the over welling support that exist today will be gone! Landowners such as you two are more the norm this day and time so it's coming slowly but surely. I'm afraid we are seriously headed in that direction with this countries leadership and the greedy attitude of many Americans in this country. I lease land all over the country and run across land owners like you guys every year. Just keep in mind it's not all about the money in years to come as the government steady marches forward on our rights.

Bingo.....

I was just giving my perspective and offered reasons as to why you are seeing rising costs and an unwillingness to lease.

Not sure why that puts me in a negative light, but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Good luck with your search.

Oh and Squeaky, let me know when I can lease your truck. I'll give you $1.00 a day. No need to be all greedy about it.