I thought I had heard about some high priced land, $20 or $25 per acre for some very nice land with a cabin, but I talked to a real estate guy yesterday about a tract and he said he had it leased for $43.70 per acre, Pike county Alabama. It is about to get to the point that the po man won't be leasing anything.

I didn't know Mark Zuckerberg hunted. Oh well. Some have more money than sense.

Dr. B

I believe I'd just buy some land.

Actually he does

http://fortune.com/2011/05/26/mark-zucke...mean-literally/

There places in MS over $30/acre years ago....but you do have a chance to at least see a REAL BIGGUN...NOT JUST AN IMITATION!

There will be VERY little leased for near that number. And it will include more than just deer...like plots planted, camp house, etc.

I'm sure not all real estate agents lie, but if I had a dime for every time I heard "someone else is really interested, if you want it, you better make an offer soon" or "I already have some offers on the table so you need to hurry" I would lease that $43.70 land myself.

It's already cheaper to be a poacher, with the enforcement like we have here. How could it get any worse?

Most honest, law abiding hunters have long since been priced out.

Lots of poor folks hunt wherever, whenever, however, and get along just fine. That's the root of the problem that's been created. But look at the lease forum. It's gotta have it, gimme all you got at all costs. Just furthers the divide.

Poor has nothing to do with it. There are plenty of public lands available to hunt for free. Poor is no excuse to steal from others working to improve their on hunting land. They are thieves and poachers by preference, not by financial status

I searched for months about different leases and clubs. I looked at land all over north Alabama but ended up in a club in Tennessee. I personally know a farmer that has farm land all over southern Tennessee some of it leases for $8 a acre and other farms lease for $20 a acre. The $20 acre place is due to a bidding war between two different groups and the fact it produces good bucks every year.
I wanted a club with a camp house and some amenities but I settled for a 1800 acre club a hour from my house for cheaper then I could lease on my own and it has very few rules and members.

The average outlaw poaching activity is not white collars crime rings I wouldn't think. They may be poachers by preference, but it's also highly due to financial status IMO. Simply having the time to do certain things is part of it. I don't have the time or energy to be a good outlaw after working 50-55 hours a week.

Maybe I'm missing something. Is there some data to back up what you are saying? Is a night hunter/poacher just as likely to be a CEO of a successful company or a poor country folk just the same?

Its called morals. I know a lot of poor people who don't steal. Its right and wrong. Poachers are thieves. A lot of people hunt wmas for various reasons but the top three I would guess is they want to spend their money on other things, very limited hunting days to spend money for a club, or poor. No of those are good reason to steal.

That's a crazy high price. Was it a really small tract or something? I couldn't imagine anyone leasing 1000 acres or something at that price.

You don't think there is a correlation between financial status and being a thief?

Not saying there aren't honest poor people or dishonest rich people, but I'm pretty sure you could determine some trends. Even if out of necessity

There is no correlation between poor and poaching (stealing) with all the available free hunting. Its a choice to poach over going to public hunting land. Please how being poor makes a person to choose illegal hunting over a WMA because of money?

He's not saying that specifically. He's saying there's a correlation between socioeconomic status and crime in general.

In your scenario, being poor could cause them to poach because they don't have money for a WMA permit and hinting license, they don't have the ability and resources to travel hours to a WMA if they don't live near one, those are just to name two.

About 600 acres, people from Tampa have it leased.

Don't be tellin everybody!

Poachers that Officer Thad Holmes and I caught a few years ago on my property owned oil wells in Monroe county. He saw the big bucks on my property and couldn't help himself.

There is definitely a correlation, but it has nothing to do with money. The same qualities that define their financial decisions, typically influence other areas of their lives, including being a pos poacher. Being poor, making poor decisions, those are symptoms of the persons issues, and often they go hand in hand.

Ex. The guy walking down the street with his pants sagging on government assistance. Is he more likely to be a seller/user of drugs than an upper middle class man? Yes. Why? Because he more than likely possesses character traits which steer him towards being a bum, thinking it's acceptable to wear his pants around his knees, and having no moral objection to living off my tax dollars.

I didn't intend to have a psychological discussion of social status. I'll try to simplify.

The big money hunting game combined with complicated regulations and little enforcement will directly increase the violation of game laws by the less fortunate.