Land leasing is getting ridiculous in NC

[hog&deerhunter]

I know most (if not all) of you will think I am crazy, but I pay $2400 a year to hunt my club in Northampton. It has very limited membership with a maximum of 10. Great facilities and over 1500 acres with bordering game lands. Some years I think I am crazy to pay so much, but I like the landowner and use the land practically year round. I keep my eye open for other places but I got spoiled with a 10 member club. We always had a 2 buck limit so the new change does not matter to us. Deer density has gone down since I first joined like a lot of eastern nc.

 

[lasttombstone]

I don't know if I buy that. NC is not being flooded with more population. In 2016 we had 10.16 and in 2017 we had 10.27 in millions of people. That's what 110,000 more people out of 10 million. Or 1% growth. New York state has 20 million people and a small growth rate but doesn't have the same problem we have. I have friends in upstate NY, Syracuse to be more specific, and there is no problem hunting public lands or finding leases. Hell when I still lived there I NEVER leased. I hardly ever saw another hunter when hunting public lands. You could find hundreds of acres to yourself if you looked. Even left climbers hanging in the tree all season with out worry of someone else running into it.

I don't know what it is but this really sucks that my son (ALL our NC children) will not have the same opportunity, experience and therefore love for the outdoors as I did. All because I don't have a quarter mill to spend on 100 acres to hunt? Crazy. No, just sad.

Not saying you are wrong but the numbers I read recently showed that NY population was going down, as was Conn. As Turkeyfoot stated, many of the "smaller" town are getting out of hand as well as more and more people are coming to NC to enjoy the "country" style of life. Wake Co. is a prime example to me. Just look at what has happened to every small town in Wake Co. in the last 10 years and it continues to climb. There are still some places that can be had for less than many people wold expect but the locations don't meet their immediate requirements so they say there is nothing available. It becomes an issue of priorities, just like everything else.

 

[DRS]

NC went from 10th in population to 9th. It's a miracle there is any land to hunt. In general lease prices go up every year. The family/working man don't stand a chance, rural areas tend to have lower paying jobs, people come out of metropolitan areas with money and pay leases the local people can't afford. Throw in the commercial outfitters and you'll have even higher leases. We looked at a lease, the outfitters dropped after a few years, but the owner still wanted what the outfitter paid. There was a reason the outfitter dropped it, we did not lease the property. Sad thing was, somebody did. I have even heard talk in some clubs about reducing membership and increasing dues to so some have the place to themselves. I'm talking about doubling dues and halving memberships, in clubs where the dues are already $1000+. I have made my mind up, as long as I have hounds and hunt them I will find a way to pay dues to hunt. Can't dog hunt, I won't hunt as much and will likely just hunt public land.

 

[adkarcher]

The game lands, compared to other states can be very limited, only open 3 days per week or draw hunts. Some you can only shoot bucks or only shoot does on certain days. Not exactly very hunter friendly.

In my home state, I belonged to 1 club that cost me $100 per year for almost 400 acres and was decent hunting. The rest of my properties I hunted for free simply by asking, there was never any mention of money being exchanged. I would drop off some venison in the fall and fish in the summer. Many landowner expectations are much different here, no longer the good ole days.

If I didnt pony up for a lease or have access to private land, I would probably not hunt in NC for the one Saturday per week I would be able to hunt with the many limitations of game lands.

Fortunately, I did gain access to a small piece of property that I can hunt and pony up for a lease that is bigger.

 

[45/70 hunter]

Land being passed down to the next generation that does not hunt or want to have the family land is the biggest deal. They don’t want the farm and the developers do.......

Exactly where all my hunting land has disappeared to.

 

[Soilman]

I heard somewhere recently that NC is the 6th most populous state in the U.S. Our economy is booming compared to most other states, which is a magnet to "outsiders". The price of "progress" so fastly creeping.

 

[sky hawk]

One thing that doesn't show up in the numbers comparing NC to other states is how spread out our population is. NC is one big suburb. Even in the rural areas of NC, you're almost never out of sight of a house. This was painstakingly clear flying into Charlotte at night last year. Other states had big cities, but there wasn't hardly a dark patch anywhere once we hit NC.

 

[specialk]

I live south of atlanta's airport and hunt south of here about 60 miles, half way to macon…...we pay 11.00 an acre and feel great about it. I own 400acs in Person Co. with 2 others and we get 5 an acre to a dog club.....they are friends with the other 2 partners....I feel like we could get 10 an acre easy...….

 

[woodmoose]

One thing that doesn't show up in the numbers comparing NC to other states is how spread out our population is. NC is one big suburb. Even in the rural areas of NC, you're almost never out of sight of a house. This was painstakingly clear flying into Charlotte at night last year. Other states had big cities, but there wasn't hardly a dark patch anywhere once we hit NC.

spot on - "one big suburb" describes it well,,,,

in 1986 when we bought our place in Hoke county it was rural as it gets - I told my wife "when it gets crowded we are gone",,,,

well it did,,,

so we moved into what may be the last bastion of freedom in this part of the state,,,,I can walk out my back door and walk 8 miles north and never hit a hardball road nor a house,,,,and I have access to all of it (my land, state land, and leased land),,,,,

God is good to this heathen!!

 

[lasttombstone]

I live south of atlanta's airport and hunt south of here about 60 miles, half way to macon…...we pay 11.00 an acre and feel great about it. I own 400acs in Person Co. with 2 others and we get 5 an acre to a dog club.....they are friends with the other 2 partners....I feel like we could get 10 an acre easy...….

$10/ac would be scooped up faster than you can imagine SpecialK. There is a 500 ac. tract next door to me in Person that gets $20 and it is a pine plantation that has all been cut within the last 10 years. So thick in there they only thing that can be hunted is the edges and roads. What part of Person is it in?

 

[30/06]

We had a 90 acre track of land in our lease, landowner passed away. Got passed down to one of the daughters. She jacked up our lease price, then leased it again to a guy to keep horses on it and again to some guys to go in there and fish the river. She had it leased 3x! The other track next to ours was doing turkey and deer individually. Not sure if that's still the case.

More and more people are the issue. If you drive into NC from TN or VA it's crazy to see how much denser the population is. As soon as you cross the line. I think hunter numbers have to go down, there isn't access to as much land as there used to be. Development, tracks getting broken into smaller pieces being purchased by non-hunters and sky rocketing land costs are all contributors. And people are paying the lease rates. Only going to get worse here. In my opinion the hunting isn't good enough in NC to justify what land costs right now but still probably a solid investment.

I hate to say this but it's true. I grew up in NJ (please don't hate me), and NC is getting more and more similar to that every year. Both in how the development is trending and the views of the population. I left there for a reason, I'll be doing the same here as soon as the kids are off to school.

 

[aya28ga]

Less land to hunt and higher lease prices are the future of hunting, like it or not. Development isn't going to stop anytime soon, and you can't blame a landowner asking for top dollar; they've got property taxes & other costs going up for them.

That's why the number one thing a young hunter should concentrate on is not acquiring a safe full of guns or the big expensive truck, but buying land. Marry a women who has the same interests and goals and work as a team towards the goal of acquiring hunting land to put your home on. It may take you a decade or so to reach that goal, but owning and having control of the land always beats leasing.

 

[oldest school]

We are all advocates of the free market until we're not.
cant blame landowners : cant blame hunters with the coin.
But it sure is a big change that isn't fun.
You do like timekiller and make it work or complain. Or poach.
It aint gonna be going back to hunt for free or just kill the does off deals.

 

[Winnie 70]

Hunted a club back in the 80's and one of the guys came walking into club house one day with a map he spread out on a table of land that was up for sale like 2 miles up the road. Said "Boys, this land we hunting on going to be sold when owner dies and the children gets hold of it, and here some land for sale....need 3 people to buy 3 tracks"....I jumped on one track without even seeing the map. Best investment I ever made and...spoke right up before other guys had a chance. Well, one of the tracks has been sold 2 times in last 4-5 years, and the last time it sold for $5000 an acre and we bought it for $1200 an acre in the 80's. Think of selling my track, but the kids hunt it some and I have other land I hunt closer to home.

 

[QBD2]

I know they're not making land anymore but where is it disappearing to?

You ever see a subdivision?

 

[Homebrewale]

We are all advocates of the free market until we're not.
cant blame landowners : cant blame hunters with the coin.
But it sure is a big change that isn't fun.
You do like timekiller and make it work or complain. Or poach.
It aint gonna be going back to hunt for free or just kill the does off deals.

People love capitalism except for hunting land.

 

[Tunanut]

I know a guy with 42 acres in Mecklenburg co who leases it for the cost of his property taxes and has no problem getting $100/acre to cover his $4200 tax bill. Crazy, but he has a waiting list.

 

[hog&deerhunter]

My club in Northampton with 10 members and 1500 acres translates to 16.00 per acre with a great house and facilities. I consider that reasonable for that county. Having 10 members allows everyone to get to know each other.

 

[GUP]

One thing that doesn't show up in the numbers comparing NC to other states is how spread out our population is. NC is one big suburb. Even in the rural areas of NC, you're almost never out of sight of a house. This was painstakingly clear flying into Charlotte at night last year. Other states had big cities, but there wasn't hardly a dark patch anywhere once we hit NC.

Very true statement. I’m riding shotgun with my father in law right now traveling through Kansas on the way to Nebraska for some rabbit hunting. The landscape and human population here compared to NC is staggering!!! Simply put, there are TOO MANY people back home!! And it’s only going to get worst. The negative impact on wildlife will be seen for years to come. Maybe I should buy some land while I’m out here.

 

[specialk]

$10/ac would be scooped up faster than you can imagine SpecialK. There is a 500 ac. tract next door to me in Person that gets $20 and it is a pine plantation that has all been cut within the last 10 years. So thick in there they only thing that can be hunted is the edges and roads. What part of Person is it in?

ray royster rd near Charlie Stovall.....

 

[JONOV]

No one mentions that permission seems to be much harder to come by. What used to be a "Sure, go ahead" is now, "My Son (Brother, Nephew) wants to hunt it." And given that we've elevated the "What deer is worth shooting?" question to a morality debate that sparks more frustrations and opinions than discussions on Obamacare, that means that access is closed.

 

[JONOV]

I know a guy with 42 acres in Mecklenburg co who leases it for the cost of his property taxes and has no problem getting $100/acre to cover his $4200 tax bill. Crazy, but he has a waiting list.

Those that have money will pay for the convenience. They aren't paying Iowa Money for Iowa quality hunting, they're paying Iowa money to be able to hunt 25 minutes from home.

 

[Tunanut]

Those that have money will pay for the convenience. They aren't paying Iowa Money for Iowa quality hunting, they're paying Iowa money to be able to hunt 25 minutes from home.

5 minutes, yep paying for convenience. He gets some real nice deer off this piece, right next to a nature preserve.

 

[Southern]

It's an interesting and sad dynamic. Yes hunter numbers are dropping but land investors are probably growing. More investors looking for a return and have been educated by tv shows and the internet and now know what they can get. More "retreat" buyers who may not hunt but are buying tracts for other personal use. More large tracts being consumed downeast for commercial farms. More development in small towns now than ever before. The list goes one. We cannot blame in on realtors or hunters as there is just more demand overall for rural land in NC. Look at land prices over the last 30 years. There are several areas that I know that have always been $1000 per acre, year in and year out for decades and in the last 3 years it has quadrupled for the first time ever. I have a 20 acre tract I lease out in SE NC, a real wet natured ugly tract with good deer and bear. Yes it is small but it pulls from larger areas of woods. I put it out to bid this year and got $45 per acre. For two hunters that was $450 a piece to hunt. In this day and age when a new truck is $50,000+ $450 aint much money. The problem is that when a landowner hears $45 per acre then he thinks he can get that for his 300 acres and sadly, he may be able to. The world is changing and changing faster than ever before. I blame 90% of it on "information" i.e. internet and tv. North Carolina has a bullseye on it now that it did not use to have. An interesting irony is that overall management for better deer in NC, which many hunters if not most, are in favor of, has also influenced land prices and lease prices, i.e. Rockingham County.

 

[Scrub]

I had been looking for years for a tract near the house even though I hunt a lot on the 12 acres behind the house. If anything gets developed on either side its going to really effect my hunting and its inevitable. Ended up buying about 41 acres for $120,000 12 miles from my house. Good deer hunting, turkeys, rabbits, woodcocks, and lots of wood ducks on the creek. I saw quail for the first time this fall. I can just go out there and spend a couple hours on the tractor and its the best therapy for anything that ails me. If anyone can make it happen you will never go wrong investing in a piece of land.

 

[23mako]

What kind of prices per acre are y'all seeing for a lease?

 

[Southern]

I dont price any of my tracts anymore that I dont hunt personally. I put them out to bid. I never get less than $20 per acre now, regardless of what county it is on, AS LONG as there is good access and it is not completely underwater.

 

[timekiller13]

What kind of prices per acre are y'all seeing for a lease?

Depends on the county. But for the most part, $10/acre is a steal. $15-20 acre is more the average. I've seen $30+ multiple times and it leases faster than I can blink. This is all Northwestern NC, a few central NC parcels. A buddy of mine is a farmer, and he farm leases about a dozen properties in my area. He helps get them leased out to hunters to help the owners. Last year, his cheapest piece was a 46 acre parcel (40 acre field) and it leased for $750. He had a 300 acre one that he leased for $7200. I was going to lease a 110 acre tract from him for $1500. I was willing to pay that just for convenience (it was 8 minutes from my house). He called me back and told me that the farmer had leased it to a doctor friend of his for $2000. It is disappointing but I do not blame a landowner for getting as much as they can for their land. And I harbor no ill will towards someone that has more money than me and is willing to pay more. Such is the game.

 

[MJ74]

I'd just like to know where people are finding land to lease....I hardly ever see or hear of land around here for lease. Its mainly all big clubs that have had the land for years.

sent from...... Tapatalk

 

[DBCooper]

I haven’t added it up, but I probably hunt 700 or more acres and pay nothing.

I’d pay a pretty penny to have land I could hunt and not have to worry about people trespassing. These are my “fellow hunters” I’m talking about.