What to look for in a potential lease

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Fins & Tines
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What to look for in a potential lease

Unread postby Fins & Tines » Tue Jan 31, 2017 12:17 pm

I've always hunted by permission or on public. I have the opportunity at 86ac that I'm going to look at this weekend. I have been given a topo of the area with the property drawn by surveyors, plus additional aerials and terrain maps.


On foot, what should I be looking for? With such a small parcel, it will be me and my wife only hunting the property. Should I just go scouting?

The whole tract is hardwoods, so it'll be a rut heaven for sure. I believe there is also a creek/spring that runs along the north side, or maybe a wet-weather creek.

I have a list of questions to ask the property owner, including his allowance of hinge cutting and plot placement. Anything else I should ask?


QDMA strictly enforced, 3.5+ only. Also included in the per acre price is insurance through QDMA.


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Re: What to look for in a potential lease

Unread postby Jonny » Tue Jan 31, 2017 1:04 pm

86 acres isn't a whole lot of land, so make sure it is a piece you can hunt effectively. If it is hill country, make sure you can hunt it on predominant winds for your areas and aren't stuck waiting for a weird wind that might not happen. Also consider if deer are bedding on the property or bedding elsewhere, how far away do you think they are bedding? What would cause them to go through your piece. Is there doe bedding on the neighboring property? Or is it a mile away? You can always post topos and aerials here. Just black out any landmarks to be safe. Really my number one concern with a small piece is will the deer use this land enough to give me a shot at what I want.

Personally, for me to consider leasing a piece of land, it better be good ground with good bucks going through there regularly. I have a spot in wisconsin, hill country, that is 120 acres of public nobody knows about. 5 miles in any direction is all QDMA. I know for a fact it is the best piece of land in the area. Why? It has a big swamp in it that holds absurd numbers of does. Best bedding in the area. Buddy of mine leased the neighboring piece and I never mentioned the public next to him. He struggled to get a deer. Once I left the area, I told him about it, and him and his wife shot 3 studs this year off the piece. Now I can't get him to leave :mrgreen: (we are working out a plan of attack to help us both there next year plus me having a hang on gives me the best spots)

I could easily lease a couple pieces around there, but why would I when the best piece is free ground. Don't take this as talking you out of leasing. Just look around at the big picture of the area and see if you have the best piece of it. Don't pay for something that isn't worth hunting. Buffalo county in wisconsin charges absurd prices for leases, but if you get the right piece, you are getting a steal. Friend of a friend sold off 600 acres for a 3 million pay day. Leases back a 40 acre chunk plus an easement for access. Every huge buck ever shot on the property was off that 40 acres. Guy laughed his way to the bank.

Best of luck!
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thwack16
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Re: What to look for in a potential lease

Unread postby thwack16 » Wed Feb 01, 2017 1:44 am

Neighbors. See what you can figure out about them and their hunting. If you're holding out for 3.5+ and they're waxing everything that walks, you're going to be holding out for awhile. 86 acres sure isn't going to keep a mature buck solely on it.
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Re: What to look for in a potential lease

Unread postby Jonny » Wed Feb 01, 2017 2:53 am

thwack16 wrote:Neighbors. See what you can figure out about them and their hunting. If you're holding out for 3.5+ and they're waxing everything that walks, you're going to be holding out for awhile. 86 acres sure isn't going to keep a mature buck solely on it.


I like neighbors that don't hunt or shoot anything. They won't notice a couple does missing :whistle:

Be nice to the neighbors. Good chance if you shoot one it ends up on a different property. Been there done that with a nice 8 point 5-6 years ago. Shot it and it ran onto private. Went to see the property owner and he told me to shove it. Plus some other harsh words no 15 year old should have had to hear. He was mad cause I shot one of his high potential deer on public land
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Re: What to look for in a potential lease

Unread postby Bucky » Wed Feb 01, 2017 5:11 pm

For me... access and land pressure are important. Then cover... then food (Ag) and water. Sounds like QDM area so that is good

Leases in WI are hard to come by.... If I were you I'd try it a year or two and see what happens
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Re: What to look for in a potential lease

Unread postby matt1336 » Wed Feb 01, 2017 5:42 pm

Access without being detected, good neighbors, bedding in the right places (not overlooking or down wind of your access), surrounding pressure (that goes along with neighbors), food.
The most important imo is access and bedding. But if you have trespassing neighbors that put a lot of pressure on the deer, don't bother with it.
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Re: What to look for in a potential lease

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Thu Feb 02, 2017 11:49 pm

Another possible thing is atv riders. Recreational riders that feel like running everywhere can be very bad and hard to change. Ask if it happens.

Since it's a small property can you camp there and hit some public nearby. Best of both worlds.
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Re: What to look for in a potential lease

Unread postby Fins & Tines » Sat Feb 04, 2017 8:04 am

Thanks yall. I'll be heading out there tomorrow. Been talking to the club across the street (same property owners) and he sang praises about the owner. So that's a bonus, at least. Been studying the aerials and topo for the last few days. I could probably find my way around it without a map/GPS now lol.


Will report back my findings. Also going to look at the club across the street (760ac).
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Re: What to look for in a potential lease

Unread postby Fins & Tines » Mon Feb 06, 2017 4:19 am

Well, they wanted entirely too much money for the 86ac, even though we found a doe bedding area (thanks Dan!) within 10 minutes of being on the property.

We spent 3 hours on ATVs riding around the 760ac. With 10 other members, it is entirely possible that we'll never see each other. We are going with the club. Has every terrain feature you could possibly want, every type of setup, crops/ag, CRP, timber. You name it, it's there. Food, water, and bedding. Creek bottoms, ridges, saddles, transitions. It's a dream come true.

On the way out, we bumped a shooter (3.5yr+ QDMA) 8pt near the road. I couldn't believe it. Biggest deer I've seen all winter! Haha.


Anyway, I'll definitely be in this section more often. We are creating plots and have a lot of improvements to make with maintenance and access. We also have some predator control to do ASAP.

Thanks for the input thus far. Lord knows I'll need some more later on.
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Re: What to look for in a potential lease

Unread postby thwack16 » Mon Feb 06, 2017 5:04 am

Glad you found something that will work for you.

May I ask what $/acre they were wanting on the 86? Wanting to know if it's on par with my area.

If the 760 club is owned by the same guy that has the 86, I wonder why the club doesn't just lease that land too?
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Re: What to look for in a potential lease

Unread postby Fins & Tines » Wed Feb 08, 2017 1:26 pm

thwack16 wrote:Glad you found something that will work for you.

May I ask what $/acre they were wanting on the 86? Wanting to know if it's on par with my area.

If the 760 club is owned by the same guy that has the 86, I wonder why the club doesn't just lease that land too?



...they wanted $3000 for the 86. We got the 758 for $14040 with 12 hunters. They are very proud of their land. I asked the Lessor why he didn't want the 86 and they told him the same figure. It would have been a couple hundred dollars more per hunter, but he didn't want to go any higher. He's trying to keep it reasonable.


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