lease prices

[RobbyW]

What are people seeing as far as lease prices per acre? Looking in Middle Tn, Dickson County more specifically.

 

[FlintvilleMonster]

$15.00 an acre is what I paid in Lincoln Co.

 

[Winchester]

Not sure right now but about 5 years ago you could lease land in Dickson co. and surrounding areas for 4-8 $ an acre.

 

[KillenTime]

Wow $15.00 an acre in Tennessee is high! $6.00 to $7.00 is about right. I think ours is around $6.50

 

[tarsalgland]

I pay the land taxes on my lease, which comes to $9.00 an acre.

 

[Columbia Scott]

440 acres for 2500.00 per year.Split 4 ways.

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

440 acres for 2500.00 per year.Split 4 ways.

Thats what im looking for in and around weakley or carrol Co.

 

[slagtown_dfa]

$15.00 an acre is what I paid in Lincoln Co.

Ridiculous! Good deer there but its not worth that.

 

[deerhunter10]

in tn 3-8

 

[TX300mag]

Way too many factors to consider-$15 might be well worth it for good land.

 

[tailchaser]

5-8 around here if ya can find a good lease,don't think I'd pay much more than that anywhere.

 

[Dbllunger]

$8/acre on my 1400 acre Wilson County lease.

 

[Columbia Scott]

Ours is in Giles County. We have a good relationship with the owner and have kept it for 7 years now.

 

[Jmed]

Unless its epic deer hunting, I dont think you should pay more than what the annual property taxes are. I finally was able to lease my tract by offering to pay the property taxes in exchange for hunting rights. Its high but its worth it and I am the only person the 90 year old man has ever leased or even given permission to. Its all in the approach when you trying to get a landowner to give you permission.

 

[bbuck14]

$15 an acre is outrageous but in all reality if you don't pay it someone else will. That's what jacks the price up.

 

[redhunterZ71]

Marion county $3.50 acre. Close to 1600 acres we pay around $5,500

 

[TheLBLman]

$15 an acre is outrageous but in all reality if you don't pay it someone else will.

That's an erroneous assumption, and many properties with outrageous prices have gone unleased (for the prices asked), only to reduce their prices the next year vs. risking their continuance of going unleased. (Not to say that some properties aren't worth $15 an acre and more.)

That's what jacks the price up.

But THAT is correct.
Conversely, when a property goes unleased, that can majorly jack the price down.

A property is worth whatever the highest bidder is willing to pay. Hunters are willing to pay more for convenient properties to their homes, thus those good properties nearest the major metropolitan areas may command the higher prices. But they may not have the best deer hunting, just the best convenience, commanding a higher price, in part due to more bidders in the game.

To a large number of hunters, say living near Memphis, it may make more sense to pay a higher lease price for a place to hunt 30 minutes from home, allowing for more opportunity to actually go hunting, while saving money on gas and lodging.

As lease prices tended to go up, more landowners began leasing. Meanwhile, the number of deer hunters has been shrinking. Some areas are now seeing prices go down, as like most things, it's mainly the law of supply and demand that dictates price. Going to be interesting to see what some high lease prices in rural areas of states such as Illinois do in the coming years ---- my bet is they go down, way down.

 

[tnbucs1]

15 seems high but at the same time I doubt I could find a lease in Williamson County or Davidson prime property for much less.
Not sure, I haven't tried.
My lease in Humphreys is around 5 per acre.
Like you said Wes the convenience factor is huge. I would pay 7-8 per acre if it were closer to home 15-20 vs 1hr and had the exact same hunting habitat and conditions;but others will pay even more.
Just higher demand close to Nashville and other big cities.
On top of that yet another reason for us to stay away from the Trophy State status.
Looking at leases in KY or anywhere else defined as a Trophy State our lease prices are still reasonable for the quality of deer we have.

 

[redblood]

cheaper to buy a piece at auction. hunt it for 3 to 4 years, improve it a bit and sell it for 20% more than u paid. then u are getting paid to hunt.

 

[TheLBLman]

On top of that yet another reason for us to stay away from the Trophy State status.

I have a little different take on that, too.
First, I think "trophy state status" is much to do with marketing hype by outfitters to command higher prices. They helped to greatly run up the lease prices in these areas.

Secondly, go back to the law of supply and demand. Do we have more States now labeled as "trophy" states, or fewer than we had a decade ago? What about the number of deer hunters? More or fewer than a decade ago?

Despite "labels", has the quality of deer hunting, and the opportunity for a "trophy" buck not greatly increased in MOST states over the past decade? Again, or there more or fewer deer hunters?

Thirdly, despite a loss of hunting lands in some areas, the deer herd has greatly expanded in so many other areas that we may actually have more available good deer hunting today than a decade ago.

How's the hunting today in East TN compared to a decade ago? Compared to 20 years ago? More, or fewer hunters? Or how about Knox County, I believe the 4th largest metropolitan area in TN? It is particularly interesting to note how many East TN hunters reside in Knox County, a county which essentially had no deer hunting opportunities a couple decades ago. Not saying most of these Knox County hunters are now deer hunting in Knox County, but many are, and many more are hunting surrounding counties rather than driving to West TN or another state.

Just as thousands of East TN deer hunters are no longer traveling to Middle and West TN to deer hunt, thousands of TN hunters are no longer finding need to travel to "trophy" states to find quality hunting. The "market" will dictate the localized lease prices, and naturally, a place like the Memphis area will typically command higher prices per acre than say the Chattanooga area. In the meantime, many Knox County residing hunters are today finding acceptable lower-cost deer hunting in Knox County, whereas a decade ago they were regularly driving to places like Hickman and Humphreys Counties to go deer hunting.

THESE are the good ole days of deer hunting, and I believe lease prices in most areas will remain stable or go down. In fact, I believe we will see an increase in landowners offering "free" deer hunting opportunities as expanding deer herds and higher deer populations become seen more as a nuisance than a new novelty.