Lost our lease...what now?

Buttermilk Ranch

Button Buck
We were looking forward to the upcoming year, so we could see those young bucks one more time...but sometimes the rug is pulled out from under you. Going to spend the summer fishing and knocking on doors asking permission to squirrel hunt..


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turkeyfoot

Old Mossy Horns
Join us on game land more the merrier. Hate to hear you lost it sucks to let an grow for someone else had you had it a while
 

Moose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Lost one last year that I had been in 20 years and some of the guys with me had been in close to 30 years. Heartbreaking is how I describe it especially if you have a lot of fond memories of the people and the land. I joined another club in another part of the state and look forward to making some fond memories here. Game Lands is always an option. No matter what it's a kick in the gut when you loose a place but it's also an opportunity to explore some new places.
 

lbksmom

Banned
I might be in the same boat, hunting 25 yrs. the owner has demencia, wife wants me to find a realtor to sell the property I just found out. Have food plots, stands, kept up there place plus mow their yard every summer. I thought from him I would have 1st, but today $$ talk more than friendship??
 

lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
^ Make her an offer she can't refuse.

Our little club used to hunt a place that had been in the same family all our lives. Even in our 40s we never thought it would be anything else. I buried a couple of dogs on that land in places that were special to them and myself. Now the whole place is a fenced in nursery that, last I heard, no one hunts. But that's just progress I guess.
 

para4514

Eight Pointer
Contributor
I might be in the same boat, hunting 25 yrs. the owner has demencia, wife wants me to find a realtor to sell the property I just found out. Have food plots, stands, kept up there place plus mow their yard every summer. I thought from him I would have 1st, but today $$ talk more than friendship??

I would not necessarily tie a land sale to friendship and it is not always about $$ talking. Put yourself in the wife's and other families members shoes. You are facing a disease which is debilitating to the person diagnosed as well as the family who will either have to become caretakers, pay for assisted living or pay for round the clock care. If medicaid comes into play the 5 year look back period could impact other assets the family may have. While you are dealing with 25 years of hunting memories, this family is trying to best figure out how to care for a family member suffering a terrible disease, planning for long-term care of the wife and possibly the future of grandchildren (education etc).

I am going through this right now with an uncle who was away from the family for at least 30 years. Got him back to the family homeplace a few years back. He did not go to the doctor in the past 40+ years and stated several times he did not want to go to the doctor, just pass away where he grew up. Parkinson's and demencia changed his and our plans about a year ago. My family is now scrambling to figure out what to do with complicated ownership and multiple points of view. The family has been there since 1919. We were tenant farmers for 41 years. My great-grand father committed suicide on the property after his mental state was impacted by chicken pox he got in his 70's. I shared my only hunt with my grandfather there. It is the basis for much of the outdoor activities which have greatly shaped my life.

All this not to one-up anyone about their land situation, but just to know that some landowners have no or few choices. If you have strong relationships with landowners, your family owns land or are a landowner yourself suggest they address land transition with an estate planner, or seek info for your own land. While it can be a difficult conversation to have I guarantee you it will be much easier to deal with ahead of time instead of at crunch time.

NC Cooperative Extension offers some good workshops to get landowners thinking about land transition and estate planning which involves rural land.
 
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Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
I might be in the same boat, hunting 25 yrs. the owner has demencia, wife wants me to find a realtor to sell the property I just found out. Have food plots, stands, kept up there place plus mow their yard every summer. I thought from him I would have 1st, but today $$ talk more than friendship??

Did you ask if you could buy the land? Did you offer fair market value?
 

TheCloudX

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Nows a good time to find a lease. Theres some on here with openings. I found mine on Craigslist. Emailed a few with basic questions. The one I got on seemed to check all the boxes, so next day I went and toured it. Fit my needs, was close to the house, and the guys I met that hunt it seemed nice.

These were the questions I asked to get the conversation going:

1. Do you have any pictures of the land?
2. How many hunters are currently on the lease and are they renewals from last year or all new?
3. Are there stands availble to members, and if so, are these first come first serve (meaning if John Doe beats me to the stand opening day I'm out of luck)?
4. Are there any onsite accommodations?
5. How many deer were harvested last year?
6. And, lastly, what are friends/family rules?

Had a few that didn't have any pictures and were 1k+ lease. Automatically out for me as I'm not about to go drive when someone can't snag a few pictures. Renewals was a big thing for me as I would be hesitant to sign up for a lease that gets a new batch of hunters every year. Stands is a two parter question, one to find out if I need to provide my own stand (which isn't a problem) and two, to find out if it's communal property or each gets their own spot. Onsite was not as big to me as the others, more to do for my SO to have somewhere to spend time if she came with me. Plus it's nice to kick back with the other hunters. Deer harvested is an easy one. If deer aren't being harvested then probably not a good sign. Last one was more personal as I want to bring my father in law out at least 1-2 times a year so that he can get a chance.

Place I signed up for answered everything thoroughly, asked me a few questions, and seemed like a nice guy. Agreed to meet the next day and spent about two hours with him touring the land and getting to know one another. Knew leaving I'd sign up, but wanted to make sure the better half was ok spending the money before committing. Got home, discussed it for a bit and committed.

GL on your search!
 

Redneck Rocker Dude

Old Mossy Horns
I would not necessarily tie a land sale to friendship and it is not always about $$ talking. Put yourself in the wife's and other families members shoes. You are facing a disease which is debilitating to the person diagnosed as well as the family who will either have to become caretakers, pay for assisted living or pay for round the clock care. If medicaid comes into play the 5 year look back period could impact other assets the family may have. While you are dealing with 25 years of hunting memories, this family is trying to best figure out how to care for a family member suffering a terrible disease, planning for long-term care of the wife and possibly the future of grandchildren (education etc).

I am going through this right now with an uncle who was away from the family for at least 30 years. Got him back to the family homeplace a few years back. He did not go to the doctor in the past 40+ years and stated several times he did not want to go to the doctor, just pass away where he grew up. Parkinson's and demencia changed his and our plans about a year ago. My family is now scrambling to figure out what to do with complicated ownership and multiple points of view. The family has been there since 1919. We were tenant farmers for 41 years. My great-grand father committed suicide on the property after his mental state was impacted by chicken pox he got in his 70's. I shared my only hunt with my grandfather there. It is the basis for much of the outdoor activities which have greatly shaped my life.

All this not to one-up anyone about their land situation, but just to know that some landowners have no or few choices. If you have strong relationships with landowners, your family owns land or are a landowner yourself suggest they address land transition with an estate planner, or seek info for your own land. While it can be a difficult conversation to have I guarantee you it will be much easier to deal with ahead of time instead of at crunch time.

NC Cooperative Extension offers some good workshops to get landowners thinking about land transition and estate planning which involves rural land.

This is by far the most sensible post I've read on this forum in a long time.


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Buttermilk Ranch

Button Buck
Thanks y’all. It was definitely a punch in the guts. Things change and looking forward to new opportunities. Spent quite a good bit of time on Falls gamelands when I was younger and it’s always an option. Anyone hunted caswell gamelands? Will keep an eye out on here and Craigslist if something comes available.


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jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I think all of us know that feeling of punched in the gut with no place to hunt.... pisses me off but it is what it is. Going to get worse too.
Hunters are going to have to buy land in the future. Forget buying those 40,000 dollar trucks and put that money in a 25 to 30 acre tract..... or take a risk on joining a hunt club.
 

Tree Cutter

Button Buck
It is tough but after all, it is just LEASED land. If you don't own it yourself, I can promise you will go through this at some point or another with your hunting land. I would be real hesitant to put in a whole lot of permanent work (food plots for example) on land I didn't own. Public may be your only option until you either buy your own for find a club to get in with
 

JONOV

Old Mossy Horns
I might be in the same boat, hunting 25 yrs. the owner has demencia, wife wants me to find a realtor to sell the property I just found out. Have food plots, stands, kept up there place plus mow their yard every summer. I thought from him I would have 1st, but today $$ talk more than friendship??

Look at it from her perspective...She's gearing up for potentially a long battle that will inevitably be lost. She's at a point in her life where her focus is going to be "simplify and liquidate." The last thing she wants three years from now is worrying about taxes or payments on a piece of land while she's trying to get her husband, who can not longer be left alone or even use the bathroom normally, to a Dr's appointment.

Faced with those types of decisions, and that future, worrying about where a friend hunts isn't a high priority.

In a way, you already have first right of refusal. She might really appreciate a fair offer on the land and avoiding the Realtor, commissions, etc...
 

poppop

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I have been on my tract for 22 years. The owners are wonderful people, and have told me many times that the land is mine as long as I am living. I put in a lot of time helping on the farm. I help build fences, work on tractors, trim trees, bush hog fields, take care of things when they go on vacation, anything I can help with I do. I am getting much slower as I age, but the owners are the 7th generation to live there. The owners father was smart, as he put the property in a trust to offset any problems. I work hard there hopefully to keep Skylar a place to hunt after I have made my last hunt.
 

timekiller13

Old Mossy Horns
I see this as a buying opportunity.
It may be a buying opportunity, but maybe not for the OP. Lots of comments on here and other threads about "just go out and buy your own land." Way easier said than done. Land loans are short-term and high interest compared to homes, along with the fact that you generally need a large sum of money to put down. I've spent the last 10 years saving to be able to put down a decent down payment on the right piece when it comes along.
 

Winnie 70

Ten Pointer
We were looking forward to the upcoming year, so we could see those young bucks one more time...but sometimes the rug is pulled out from under you. Going to spend the summer fishing and knocking on doors asking permission to squirrel hunt..


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So is the land up for sale? As Southern just posted, here is your opportunity to own your own place to hunt. Not that hard to do, just figure out how to come up with the $$....go to cutting out everything you possibly can and you will be surprised the $$ you can free up and how you will never miss it. As Jug just posted, riding around on $40000 pickups will pay for lot of land over the years. I purchased a 25 acre track 30 years ago for small amount and today could sell it to hunters for 5 or 6 times for what I paid. We was in a hunting club and the land was owned by 2 older gentlemen and we knew before long the family would get hold of the land and sell it. I was lot younger and knew I had better find me some land to hunt on, so 3 of us went in and bought this track real cheap, so now looking back best decision have made. Heck, tember on it is worth lot more than I paid for the land. Just have to want it bad enough to make it happen.
 
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