Does anyone here lease hunting land? I have a card from Potlatch Company that i picked up.
What are your thoughts if you do? It would be nice to have a place without people trampling you, short of buying your own stuff
Also are there any hunting land realtors here?
My brother just picked up a lease from Potlatch in the Staples/Motley area. It is a pretty good price for the 160 acre parcel, about $8.00/acre, he applied for it and was notified last week that he got it. Next weekend he is going up there to decide if he will take it or apply again for another parcel. There are some hoops, but it seems worth it. They will even post the land private (for a fee) for you so you and every one else knows the boundries. 
We have looked at Potlatch land before and it just doesnt seem worth it with all the restictions, a buddy has hunted leased potlatch land and had it over run with people also, great thread, Im looking for some in Bufflo county Wisconson, would like to have it by next spring. 
Did your buddy have the lease posted? If not Potlatch land is deemed “open” and any one who knows will hunt it. As I said they will post it for you. The restrictions don’t seem all that bad to me and potlatch will notify you if there is a planned harvest on the property. I think you can place temporary structures on the property during certain times and they try to stay out of the lease during hunting season. I think they mark and harvest in spring/summer if at all possible. I guess we’ll find out. 
What kind of restrictions apply with the lease??
I refuse to “pay to hunt”. I don’t have a problem offering labor in exchange for rights, but I will not pay.
What is potlatch? can anyone tell me more about this is it only in one part of the state? i wouldnt mind leasing some closer to my home area
Do a search for Gordy Wiess, he is a realtor for Pepin and Buffalo County, both my uncles purchased land from him in each county. He is a passionate hunter and knows the area very well. Ask him about the buck he shot with his bow last year in Pepin County!
Im not in the market to buy he deal with leases as well ?
Just search “Potlatch” and click on their website. There will be a heading for leases and you can pick from the few that may still be available this year. They are of course in the northern part of the state, timber country. Potlatch is a logging company, they own many tracts of land in this state and a few others. They lease out some of their land to hunters and keep some open to all hunting. If you lease they give you the exclusive rights to hunt it for a small price. Like I said earlier we will get 160 acres for around $8.00 per acre. The land is subject to clearing but that will be made known to you prior to leasing. They try as best they can to stay out of your area during hunting season. They will not allow permanent structures but temporary ones, campers, wall tents etc. during certain times. There are some formalities such as hunting charters and clearing/improvement stipulations but the property is under your control as far as hunting is concerned.
We just finished up Deer hunting our Potlatch lease. We have leased and hunted this lease for 3 years now. We could not be happier. It sure is nice not having to mess with other hunters being on your lease and in your stands. I’m not sure what the people are talking about the restrictions. Other than not cutting down their tree’s I don’t know of much for restrictions. After contacting them they even allowed us to brushhog a few trails. Some of the pieces are next to large pieces of state or county land. This gives you even more hunting options. It also usually has other hunters which to me is good. It keeps the deer moving around and most of the time moving to our leased land. the process of getting a lease is not the easiest though. The usually offer it first to the landowners next to it and most of them usually pick up it fast. That is how we got our lease. One of our friend owned a piece of land next to a piece that potlatch decided to lease and they contacted him to see if he was interested. We went in on the lease with him. I’d look into it if I was interested in a piece of land of your own. Best of luck in your search
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What is potlatch? can anyone tell me more about this is it only in one part of the state? i wouldnt mind leasing some closer to my home area
Potlatch is a paper company… they own lots of woods and lease it pretty cheap. Also there are skidder trails, so it’s a woods with trails already in it I have heard good and bad about Potlatch leases… I think its like anywhere, if the woods are good, hey life is good 
Don’t plan on getting a Buffalo County lease at $8/acre. Anything that is good hunting probably has been leased by an outfitter.
I’m seeing leases in Wisconsin go for $10-$30/acre. If you just want a lease for rifle season, you can get by for less, but an all inclusive will cost you some cash. 
A decent lease in Buffalo County goes for $40-$55 / acre of woods.
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I refuse to “pay to hunt”. I don’t have a problem offering labor in exchange for rights, but I will not pay.
I don’t see how that is any different than paying for it.
I think the PL lease is a good idea if you can be up there enought to monitor the property. The thing I would be concerned about is that others would still treat it like public land even if you post it. Good luck!
I’ve been leasing provate hunting land for over 15 years and there are many things you may want to consider. Here’s a list along with some questions you may want to ask.
1) Make sure you are talking to the rightful land owner of the property (versus a relative).
2) Check with the county to see if the land is in some type of tax break for CRP/Managed Forest etc… This may be in conflict with the law towards a lease agreement. In other words, if the land owner is getting a break on their land taxes through the state, county or fed, they sometimes can not lease the same land out (it’s called double dipping).
3. If you lease it, can you post the property preventing tresspassing.
4. Most leases are based on wooded areas only versus tillable land. Price per acre varies dramatically based upon several factors (location, # of acres, accessibility, QDM area etc…)
5. You may want to verify the actual acreage with a county assessor.
6. Understand where you can access the land from.
7. Protect yourself and make sure you write up a lease agreeement. I once had a lease that got logged during the rut. 
I currently have another lease that is for sale. Make sure you write into the lease terms and conditions to cover these.
8. Make sure you understand what the hunting lease includes (species, duration, bow, firearm, muzzleloader, late season bow etc…).
9. Are there hunter number stipulations? Be aware that many lessors draw up contracts of not only the number of hunters that are allowed on the lease but also the individual names of those hunters.
10. What type of tree stands are permitted?
11. What happens if there are tresspassers?
12. Can anyone else hunt the land?
13. When is payment expected and what terms?
14. Is the property boundries easily defined (fenceline)?
15. How close can you put up a stand next to the boundry line?
16. Was the land under any QDM practices?
17. What bucks have been harvested in the last few years?
18. Trail cam photos?
19. How many deer are estimated on the property?
20. How many deer are you able to harvest in a given year?
21. When can you get access to the land (hanging stands, scouting, shed hunting etc…)
great information brad—thanks for sharing.
Another consideration in a written lease is liability insurance. A policy to cover the Lessor and a seperate policy to cover the Lessee can be money well spent. I believe they are required in Wisconsin if the Lessor collects a certain amount of money for hunting.
I’m not an insurance agent, so I don’t know who writes those kinds of policies and what they might cost.
Brad is correct about checking to see if the parcel is enrolled in Managed Forest. Those contracts prohibit leasing of woods enrolled in that program.
String-gun,
If that is how you feel, my tax dollars and contributions to Pheasants Forever are continually purchasing more public hunting land every year for you to go on free of charge.
The day is coming, whether people like it or not, that people are purchasing their own land for hunting or leasing. Brad gave some very good advice on the leasing subject, which you will see more and more of farmers doing–it is just another way of them making money off their land, which no different than raising crops. Sure, no one owns the wildlife and it comes and goes as it chooses, not living on anyone’s certain property. But, that being said, the farmer would be [censored] not to utilize another form of income generation in this econonomy of ever raising property taxes, lower milk and grain prices-it is an instant raise in gross income but sometimes thousands of dollars–who would not like to raise their income immediately by 10K or so.
We all would.
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The day is coming, whether people like it or not, that people are purchasing their own land for hunting or leasing. Brad gave some very good advice on the leasing subject, which you will see more and more of farmers doing–it is just another way of them making money off their land, which no different than raising crops. Sure, no one owns the wildlife and it comes and goes as it chooses, not living on anyone’s certain property. But, that being said, the farmer would be [censored] not to utilize another form of income generation in this econonomy of ever raising property taxes, lower milk and grain prices-it is an instant raise in gross income but sometimes thousands of dollars–who would not like to raise their income immediately by 10K or so.
We all would.
The farmers that I know that don’t lease their land for hunting want every deer killed. To the farmer, a deer is a liability that costs him money. Conversely, a farmer who leases his hunting land, knows that a healthy deer population is an asset and can put cash in his pocket. The deer are another cash crop and a healthy and consistent revenue stream in an otherwise shaky farming economy.
Sadly, the days of walking up to Farmer Joe and asking permission to hunt for free are quickly ending, but a long term lease is a very economical alternative to owning a parcel of land that you may only use for 3-4 weeks out of the year. Comparing $40/acre per year for a lease as opposed to owning a parcel that you paid $3000+/acre for, leasing can get you a ton more land for your dollar.
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