Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Land, Leases, and Hunting Clubs 25$ an acre

Is that where most leases are starting at? I remember when 12$ was high.

Did those APCO properties in Walker County start at 25?

Idk but I saw 300 acres starting at 25$ the other day. I inquired but haven’t received any feedback.

Had a hunter tell me earlier this year that he had a tract leased out from under him for $30.....I think it was around 300 acres

That is nuts. I would be pissed. It's getting to were if you don't have pockets full of cash, you might as well not hunt.

It’s absolute insanity with the leases nowadays. I blame it on the legalization of corn. Makes killing a lot easier so therefore the folks who were previously too lazy to actually hunt are now all about it cause they don’t have to do anything but fill a feeder and sit and wait. So that creates more folks looking for leases and driving prices up. My opinion and it might be wrong. But I bet it’s not too far off from right.

If you are tired of leasing, I have a 45 acre tract in TN that has good hunting on it for 4,000 an acre. I turned down 95,000 from a realtor in Nashville back in November. Cheaper in the long run to buy it than lease it. I am just getting to the age I can't take care of what I have now. I would not pay 30.00 an acre for any property to lease unless I was sitting on 3 acres of prime funneling river bottom land, and 3 acres would be all I would want. The rest of the land just holds the world together.

It ain't the my going rate cause I can't and ain't gone pay that.

It is getting up there because people are paying it. If you were the land owner, and you didn't hunt, you would lease it out for what the market would bear. If you had a rental house, are you going to lease it at what the prices used to be or what they are now? Ok, so you won't pay the price, if someone else does, you loose.

I'm probably going to have to drop land this year. I hate to do it but it is getting to where I can't justify the money spent anymore.

Y'all take venmo for that lease? Who's taken a personal loan to cover the lease until you get members in the club? People have moved from what they can afford to what can they get debt for.

Ain’t no way I’m paying that in Alabama. Kentucky, Maybe...

The area we’ve been looking at in Kentucky the biggest farmer is charging $40 acre for. Crazy money for one buck.

Blackbelt land with good hardwood was bringing $15/acre 20 years ago. I'm glad I don't have to deal with leasing anymore. I only own 90 acres but it's good for a Couple Deer/Turkeys each year. Hunting of any type has been very commercialized for a quite a while.

I don’t know of anything leasing for anywhere close to $25/acre in AL. That’s unbelievable

I know of places close to me on the river that bring 25 and up.

On the AFOA website, there is currently 300 acres listed for $15,000 = $50/acre!

Welcome to the world of the Duck and Goose blind leases. It’s crazy what blinds are leasing for here. I could buy a whole heard of beef cows for what some are paying per season for a blind.

What county?

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.