4000+ acres with a good population of turkeys in central Alabama, lots of pines, hardwood bottoms, clear cuts, food plots, etc. This is pretty typical Alabama hunting land.

This is mainly a deer hunting club. With nearly every thread asking about turkey only memberships, it seems like there is a lot of interest in this. I'm wondering what would be a fair price for a turkey only membership and how many members would this many acres support.

This land has not been hunted much for turkeys. I've seen many very nice gobblers on this land. Last year there were 3 or 4 turkey hunters but I have no idea how they did. There are camp/RV sites with water and electricity available for use during turkey season. What are your thoughts?

All in one tract? Decent road system?

2 tracts that are within a couple of miles, one is 1000+ acres and the other around 3000 acres. Excellent road system.

I assume you are not talking about sole rights to the 4000 acres, but rather selling multiple turkey only memberships.

What are your full dues? I would say somewhere around 40 - 50% of your full dues would be a fair price. How do the other full paying members who turkey hunt feel about the club selling turkey only memberships? I can tell you if I was a full member I would be pissed about it. You better get some feedback from your turkey hunters before you act or all hell will break loose. A lot of times the turkey hunter is crapped on when "club decisions" are made in a predominantly deer hunting club.

What county and what are the full membership prices?

I am talking about turkey only memberships. For a variety of reasons, I don't want to be too specific.

We have a low membership for deer hunters (less than 15). Only 1 deer hunter also turkey hunts. There are already turkey only memberships being sold. It is not advertised and way too inexpensive, in my opinion.

There could be some changes next year, so I am trying to get educated as to what would be a fair price. The deer hunters are paying around $2500, but are turkey hunters willing to pay over $1000???

Depends on how good it is.

turkey hunters with money will

There is a healthy turkey population that hasn't been pressured much.

How many turkey hunters would this much land support?

Personally $1000 would be the max I would spend on the chance to kill 5 chickens regardless of how many acres it was. 4-6 serious hunters on 4000 acres.

This is just about right. A serious turkey hunter in my book hunts 20+ mornings a year. It would have to be really good to kill 4-6 limits every year.

I'll toss my .02 in.

With 4000 acres I'm thinking you have over 20 members maybe even more. Out of that number, if 5 or 6 are serious turkey hunters (3-4x week minimum) it will be tough to find many folks willing to shell out a thousand bucks to compete with that. That amount of acreage would only tolerate 6 or 7 hard core turkey chasers and that's pushing it. My ball park rule of thumb is a tract can tolerate around 100 acres per deer member and 500 acres per turkey member. Price will depend on history of producing birds, type of habitat, number of hunters, and location. If you were to lease the entire tract for exclusive turkey rights only to an individual or 3 or 4 guys, you might get between a dollar or $2/acre.

We turkey hunters are a particular bunch but easy to work with if folks keep their word. I.e, don't sell me a turkey membership, tell me there will be only one or two other guys hunting, and opening morning 4 trucks are parked at the gate with 2 folks per truck.

Dr. B

I just picked up 500 acres of prime turkey hunting land for $.84/acre. No way I'd pay $2/ acre and not be the only turkey hunter

Thanks for the reply to my question.

I think that gives me a ballpark range.

So, maybe up to 6 hunters total at $1000 a piece would be reasonable. It's actually over 4000 acres so it would be around 700 acres per hunter.

Thanks for the inputs.

Any deer only openings??

I don't think you would find 6 people willing to pay $1000, but you could. I would think that would be best case scenario for you not a starting point. Jmo

No openings for deer, sorry.

I know there is always a trade off between price and number of hunters.

You are right, Watchemflop, there may not be 6 hunters willing to pay $1000, but there may be 8 willing to pay $750. All I know is that last year only about 3 to 4 people hunted and they paid $500 each.

All I'm trying to do is to figure out what is reasonable to expect from good turkey hunting land as far as number of hunters and price per hunter.

I guess I could have asked it another way.

If you knew that there were only going to be 6 total turkey hunters, how much would you pay as an individual for a turkey only membership to hunt over 4000 acres?

I would agree with this, these guys are gonna be hardcore turkey hunters and would probably balk at six others hunting, combined with the "deer" hunters hunting turkeys also, for that price.

You stole that! congrats! Actually you got a good deal. I'm still looking for one of those.

Dr. B

That's a fair price for 4 hunters on 4000 acres. I bet those guys are ticked you're shopping the land out if they had a good season. I would not pay over that for the scenario you are presenting.

Dr. B

$300-400, if all 4,000 acres is huntable.

Thirty cents.

OK, the deer hunters are NOT HUNTING TURKEYS, as I keep saying.

Only one deer hunter hunts turkeys and he would be included as part of the 6.

I'm saying for 6 total people to hunt 4000 acres by themselves and NOBODY else is hunting, what would they be willing to pay per person.

$500-700 would be a good number for everyone involved.

Just curious, where is this extra cash going? Cheaper dues, better food plots, a family cruise for the President?

This.

IMO, if you're looking to get 5 additional turkey hunters, you'd be better served to simply advertise you're looking for a group of hunters to go in for a certain price. I, for one, would not join a club where there would be four additional turkey-only guys... especially the higher the price. Guys who pay that much are going to be hard-core, and that's not the same as 5-6 average hunters. Something like this is the way I'd go... "Seeking a group of turkey hunters (preferably friends) to purchase turkey-only memberships to our club. Total price to be paid is $_____ and the maximum number of hunters allowed in the group will be 5. Land will be shared with one additional club member." Doing things this way might net you 2-3 guys who'd be willing to pay more for more land/less pressure.

I haven't ever paid over $500 for a turkey membership. I have exclusive turkey rights on acreage from 300 up to 1000 and still paid $500. $1000 is really pushing it a bit. I assume that the current members that turkey hunt are being given first dibs on extending their membership to include turkey also. I would think you could get $500 per membership and keep the number of hunters down to 10 members. What county in Central Alabama.

Mman I'm not being a smart butt but, when you say it's good turkey hunting, is this your opinion? If you're not a turkey hunter you really don't know. Just because you see them in deer season doesn't mean anything. That being said I would be interested in knowing more.

4000 acres=6.25 sq. miles
Say the property's on the high end for population and has 5 longbeards per sq. mile.
32 adult gobblers
6 hardcore killers could knock off 25 or 80%. A couple of bad hatches after a couple of years at 80% and the place is no longer very attractive or valuable.
Do 4 @$1250 and those guys would be with you for the duration. $5000 guaranteed every year for food plots, cruises, whatever.
IMO you could find four guys who are committed enough to the sport to go for that. I would be in at that price after a "trust but verify" visit to the property.
It all depends on what's important to a fellow. I saw season football tickets listed at $2300 and did a double take. No way on earth.... I'm sure most guys would say the same thing about $1250 for turkey rights but to each his own.

How much of the property is "turkey" hunt able? For example, my club is 11,500 acres but only about 6,000 of it has turkeys on it. If the clear cuts are over 2-3 years old, that land is out as far as turkeys go. If the place is as good as you make it out, you shouldn't have any trouble getting 3-4 guys at $1K each. I just wish you were closer to me. I'd be all over it. Good luck with it.

I wouldn't pay $1000 for that. I've got 40 acres in TN that I can kill 4 birds on every year.

What extra cash? I was only asking what turkey hunters thought was a fair price for hunting lots of land with minimal pressure. Nothing is changing in our club at this time. It is not be shopped out.

EVERYTHING that comes into our club goes back into the club. We don't have a president but that is beside the point.

Thanks everyone. Our club has gone through some changes and will continue to go through a few more. We have a really good group of guys now. We have downsized our membership and it is working for us. I was only trying to find out what was reasonable to expect should we decide to change our approach to turkey hunting. It is not overrun with turkeys, but I know it has a good population of turkeys that don't get a lot of pressure. I don't know how much is "huntable", but I sure see a lot during deer season. In keeping with the general thinking of our club, fewer hunters at higher prices would probably suit us better. Thanks again. I now have a much better idea.

Two strong points to think about. It would have to have crazy amounts of birds to support the type of hunter that would pay the kind of money your looking for. You will either diminish the population or the hunters.

Mman
Best advice I have seen is offer a set total price for the turkey rights. Much like agreeing to a total lease, give one man control, let him agree to a price and determine how many hunters and what price they pay. For example, if your 1 turkey hunter wants to pay $4k to have it to himself, let him do it. If he wants to get 8 Hunter's at $500 a piece, let him do it. Just let him know you want $4000 for the turkey rights and if he's in, let h decide how to pick up the $4 k.
For me, if it was the right property, and was close to home (within 25 to 45 miles) I'd pay $1500 to $2k and find 1 more person to go in with me in order to have the place between no more than 2 hunters. 4 serious turkey hunters on 4,000 acres could get crowded in my opinion. I'd rather pay more and have less members.

That's the best advice yet. That would be something I would be interested in joining

I would say $500-$600 for 6 turkey hunters. If your looking to fill turkey memberships, I may be interested.

I have 2400 acres and I lease out 1000 acres to a couple of guys for 1500.00 a year and the rest is available for the club members to hunt. We only have 1 or 2 members out of 15 that might turkey hunt once a year. I've got other people willing to pay 2.50 per acre for the whole 1900 tract. The price depends on location and turkey numbers but you can get 1.00 to 3.00 per acre in my area easy.
lease part of the 4000 acres to a few people that hunt together and keep a tract for the members to hunt that want to, would be my advice.