Droptines my point is land owners like your self that can offer responsible sportsman hunting opportunities at an affordable price but choose not to do so because it doesn't contribute substantially to the bottom line will be the end of hunting for the average working man. We may not see it in our life time but your kids or grand kids most likely will.

I'm not calling you out on purpose but just pointing out the growing trend with land owners that feel as you. I understand rising cost of owning land but you guys bought land as an investment. I've meet very few land owners that are going in the hole by owning land. Matter of fact most land owners I know actually do quite well by owning land. I even know quite a few that have flipped properties for a substantial profit to nearly out right own the next property they purchased. It's a known fact that leasing land isn't going to cover a land owners expense of owning land. However it's commonly known it great helps cover land taxes and other expenses. If I were a land owner and had no recreational use for the property then I would lease. Every dollar coming in is less I have to spend out of my pocket. In my opinion the job market, cost of living and economy aren't supporting the average working man being able to afford to pay ridiculous prices.

droptines - there are several reasons your example isn't quite the same, but I get your point.

Again, it ain't personal, just business. For those in the land-leasing market there is a price that the market will support and it ain't always decided upon by the landowner.

Come on it's for rent 14 days every month. It's a fine truck that will come in handy on all that land you own. Since it's so fine and such a work horse I'll rent it to you for the bargain price of $500 per day. It's a crew cab so it will haul 5 people comfortable maybe 6 so y'all can split the cost. Better yet I'll trade ya for turkey rights

You land owners aren't going to poor mouth me. I know a lot more about owning land than the average fella. I can tell you and the other land owner y'all aren't going to the poor house buy owning property. I'd be willing to beat a 20 dollar bill you have flipped properties for a profit to be where you are today with land ownership. I'm truly happy for you guys and wish you all the best. I can't and never will be able to afford to lease from land owners with mentalities such as you two. Thank goodness all land owners aren't to that point yet.

droptines, will you grant me permission to hunt your 258 acre farm for turkeys? i promise to not pay you a dime.

you will probably see the day when turkey land will lease for $25/ac. but the sad truth is that when that time comes a pack of hotdogs will also cost $25. gasoline will probably be around $50/gal.

I would tend to agree with drop tines........... If I didn't turkey hunt and owned a farm that may not be a ton of acreage but I used and was sentimental to me there is no way I'd lease out the turkey rights or any other rights to somebody unless I knew them very well. .... Even at $4/acre it ain't worth a thousand bucks to be havin to worry about somebody tearing your fences down, letting your cows out, rutting your roads up, etc.
I would either let a trusted friend hunt it for nothing or a scandalously low price, and know I could count on him to repay they favor in other ways.
Also even if it was a good guy like squeaky that I knew, and let's say leased it to him for $500 or so would it really be worth it when somebody else sees his truck parked on the side of the road and everybody else starts calling wanting to hunt and then somebody pouts up cause you didn't offer him a chance to lease it first and so on............ I can see both sides of it.

You know guys, I chimed in only to offer some perspective from a landowner's point of view as to why leasing was not all that appealing. I wasn't trying to be a jerk or attack anyone, I was simply giving you my opinion on the issue. Instead of just using that information to your advantage in your next endeavor, it got personal. So obviously my original post was a waste of time. Apparently, if a landowner doesn't lease to you for next to nothing, they are "greedy" or part of some massive conspiracy to kill the sport or, even have the government take away your right to hunt. Unbelievable. You have no idea how many kids, veterans, cancer patients and disabled people have killed their first deer or turkey on my land. Nope, I'm just a some greedy a$$hole landowner because I won't lease to the "working man" out there for $1.00 an acre.

Good luck with your search guys. I'm sure your entitlement attitude will lead to plenty of opportunities down the road. As a matter of fact, you probably should just print out this thread and take it to the next landowner you are trying to strike a deal with. I'm sure they would be thrilled to work with you.

Exactly.

Droptines, after reading your additonal responses I can see more of what you meant and was trying to get across. I don't think everyone was understanding the parameters under which opinions were being given.

Brent it's either personal/emotional or business and as a landowner you would have to decide which it is.

If you look way back to the beginning of this thread you will see it is about a guy wanting what he thought was a reasonable price for turkey rights and Dylan thought it was little high. Also there was a guy in the land forum wanting to sub-lease turkey rights at a price he thought was reasonable but apparently nobody else did because nobody jumped on it. I am guessing they will either lower their asking price or not lease their land. Their land, their call.

Droptine I never meant for post to imply I was calling you greedy. I apologize calling you out with what I wrote. I'm sure you are a great guy. From what you have stated you use your property for recreational purpose for yourself, family and friends. For that reason alone I would not lease my property for any amount of money. That's totally understood by me. I appreciate your insight on the subject. I don't totally agree but I can see the reasoning behind pricing private land much higher. Thankfully I have no trouble leasing hunting land any where other than Iowa. Most land owners I deal with know that are t going to get rich by leasing to me. They also know they aren't going to a minutes trouble out of me and I'll leave the land better than I found it. Sometimes that means a lot more to them than get the most money they can out of someone who will not respect them or their property. I picked up a ther 400+ acres in IL over the weekend by simply being respectful and a man of my word. I also got it at much better price than what the market is bringing for that type land.

My point about the government is simply when outdoorsman are priced out and the numbers drop off they will come after the land owners for that lost in revenue. You can bet your taxes and everything else they can add on will happen. Hunting is a big business that generates a lot of money for states and the local economy. The number of hunters are dropping off in large amounts due to cost and access to quality hunting land. That isn't or fault. At some point it's going to effect private land owners when states try supplement that lost in revenue with higher land taxes and other fees. I may be badly mistaken but I see the writing on the wall.

In closing my main issue are the guys asking these ridiculous prices for timber company land they lease. They are simply trying to cover a few peoples membership but think we are too stupid to realize what they are doing. I'm done here and once again I apologize for some of my wording directed towards you. I was out of line in that regards.

I appreciate that and I do understand where you are coming from. No hard feelings at all and I apologize for my last post as well.

The problem with message boards is very similar to emails and text messages - there is no context. If we were sitting around a fire discussing this it would probably have gone much different.

I agree, I didnt take it anyway and understand why anyone would feel that way.

The only point on the other side is its not worth it in our opinion for the cost some want. I personally cant spend thousands of dollars on a personal lease for myself. There are good options to be had for less money.

I personally would just go hunt another state on land that has more turkeys for less money.

When I get the kids gone out of the house this is probably where I will be. I'll hunt public land in Alabama, take the money I would spend on a turkey lease and go kill turkeys in another state for less money. I don't deer hunt much so it's not worth it to me at this point to pay for a deer/turkey club. I kill a few meat deer off some family property.

Glad everyone is happy now!

I haven't kept up much the past few days, but speaking as a landowner and as a turkey hunter, I don't think the comparison of leasing a truck and leasing land is remotely valid. Every mile put on the truck depreciates it, and you never know how they might drive it. There's huge risk and liability in that.

Leasing land to a turkey hunter for 6 weeks carries very little risk and liability, especially if you really check out your lessee. If you were to lease your land to me, the only thing I might do is remove a few turkeys, which you obviously care nothing about anyway if you are gonna lease the rights. I wouldn't depreciate the value of your land in any way, and might even be able to help with some problem that I notice that you haven't seen.

I don't know of many landowners who don't lease out certain rights on their land from time to time. It is a type of lease when you do a timber sale, and I haven't met a logger yet who would treat your land as well as I would. You probably are gonna get more money from that lease, but the depreciation and risk is miles higher.

If I ever become unable to turkey hunt, and nobody in my family wants to hunt them, I would certainly lease the rights. And I would try to get a reasonable price for both of us. I think my 400 acres ought to be worth $2/acre right now, and if I include the use of the camp house, that's gotta be worth another $1. That would be $1200 that I'd be happy to put in my pocket. I can't understand why anyone else would not do the same, but its your land and you can do what you want.

Good luck to all trying to find a place to hunt. The Coosa WMA that I have hunted for years is now down to just the FW block, and I never hunted it. Hunting is going to become a sport that few can participate in, and its happening quickly. With fewer hunters, our political power goes fast. I suspect the younger members of our forum will live to see the day when all hunting is outlawed in the USA. Turkey rights will be worthless then. The value of land is also gonna be a whole lot less, as the recreation component adds a great deal to the current value.

Mr Steve I'm glad to see you and I are the same page. You understand my point about less hunters that support our right to hunt gives the government more leverage to infringe on those rights. I agree, the day will come when hunting will be outlawed. I hope I'm dead and gone when that time comes but I'm afraid I'll see it in my life time.

If the day ever comes that you decide to lease let me know. I would be interested in the property. I know your place has been groomed for turkey habitat and it would be well worth the asking price.

Squeaky, I hope that my talk of leasing turkey rights is entirely theoretical, but I'll try to remember your offer.

I'll probably have to be in the nursing home and Surefire will have to lose interest in turkey hunting. I hope neither ever happens.

But I have given keys to my gate to coon hunters and coyote hunters and never charged a cent. I'd sure lease all hunting rights under the right circumstances. I even lease it to Mr. Obama in a sense thru the CSP program. He pays me to do stuff I'd do anyway, but it does put limits on what I can do on my own land. I can't dump burnt motor oil on the ground now.

The way you talk, you would think you would be a old man. Im sure you still have plenty more years left shooting turkeys.

I am an old man. The Bible says our days are 70 years, and I'm 60. That's about 86% of my allotment.

And there is no guarantee on it. I've always aged fast. When I was 16, I could walk into the State Store and seldom get checked for ID. I looked 25 even then. If they did check, I had a fake one that only got turned down once at a store in FL. The old fellow asked for my DL and I told him that I had it taken for DUI. He said tough luck, so we just went next door and got what we wanted.

Obviously, all this was before I became a preacher.

I still hope to get in a few more turkey seasons, but you never know. Each one is a blessing.

If you only have 10 years left we should plan some trips out west and get all we can while you got it in you.