yada yada yada. It's all corn's fault. No it's not. Corn has been on the ground on the majority of deer leases all over this state for the past 60 yrs. Ask any GW, biologist or timber cruiser. They see it now, and saw just as much of it, back before it was legal too. New hunters showing up is a very minor part of what is driving the price. Landowners and timber companies started testing the waters with automatic lease escalation clauses back in the 80's early 90's. Nobody blinked when it happened, so it became the new way of life. That 3-5% cost of living/inflation adjustment on a lease, that used to be $5-7/acre back in the mid 90's, that nobody thought twice about paying, has compounded it's way up, in 3% increments each and every year, for the past 30 years to the point that the exact same blackbelt lease that was $6.50/acre in 1993 is now $16.50/acre in 2023. Private landowners say, "well if the timber companies can get $16.50 for their crappy pine tree planted, clearcuts, I should probably get $20+/acre for my better land and timber. Our fine DCNR hasnt helped any by making our seasons and harvest regulations probably the most liberal in the entire nation. Come to Alabama, legally hunt deer for 1/3 of the year, you can shoot everything you see (legally) and leave with coolers full of meat every weekend. Oh and to top it off, for an extra $50, we will now let you hunt over corn too, so that you dont have to worry anymore about getting a fine for being caught hunting over it illegally. Being able to legally kill 100+ deer a year is why people want AL leases. Absolutely nobody is coming to AL for the trophy potential, high deer numbers, or big racks anymore. It is for the ultra long season, lax regs, and ridiculously liberal bag limits. It's been that way since they legalized doe killing for the entire length of the season with no annual limits. The DCNR has driven this train to exactly where we are sitting today and seems intent on continuing to try to run it right off the cliff.