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Lease question - only 3 acres

iowabucks

iowabucks

Member
Hey everyone, I want to start by saying I have been lucky enough to find enough quality hunting in my area of SE Iowa without having to lease. I know leasing is big in some areas, I just hoped it would never get to me.

I have a property I love to hunt that is a 20 minute drive for me. I have hunted it for 7 years now. Although it is small, it connects to a lot bigger timber. We have shot a few quality deer there with pictures of much better deer. It only has 3 acres of timber, and 80 tillable that has been leased for farming as long as I have known. As far as I know the farmer does not have rights to hunt. Never ran across anyone else hunting it.

The landowner lives across the state and is in her 80's. We talk occasionally and have a verbal agreement to be able to hunt each year without repeatedly asking for permission. Her brother owns the property across the road from hers and because of alzheimers, he had to sell his property. It must have got her thinking about having their affairs in order too. She say she has no plans to sell but wants to lease it to me. She has talked to people in her area that lease so they must have put a bug in her head. When I told her I hunt another two properties that I don't have to lease she almost dropped the subject entirely. She wants to do this but she wants ME to decide what I should pay to lease. I don't think she is in it for the money for that reason. But doing research I come across anything fro $5 to $20 an acre for good hunting ground.

I thought about offering $50 a year but don't want to insult her with a lowball number. 3 acres shouldn't cost that much to hunt.

What would you offer for 3 acres of great hunting ground?
 
my understanding is you'd have to lease all of the ground, or have a contract in order to do it "correctly".. had a similar situation on a 1000 acre piece where I only wanted 20 acres, but it was all or nothing unless I went and had a contract drawn up with mapping etc
 
I would try and talk with her... Explain that even though it is 80ac that only a small portion is realistically huntable with a bow. If she understands that then 50-100 is pretty darn good acreage wise. But if shes talkimg leasing then that wouldnt stop her from letting someone lease the fld edge to a gun hunter and in that case you might have an issue with accessibility. A lot of things to consider, but if shes willing to sit down and talk about it Id imagine you could come up with something you could both live with.
 
The 3 acres is not producing income for her...

Lease it for 3-5 years, or try to buy it?

The old not interested in selling often changes when you talk price.
 
I bet if you just talk to her and go about it "old school" you could lease just the three acres and not the entire 80. Even though you really just want to lease the 3 acres I am sure that the ag field draws some of the deer in?

Like you, I would want to go cheap and don't like leases (but that is a whole other topic), but just offering $50 seems like lowballing to me a bit. Like what Iowa_Buckeye said, what is it worth to you? I would think maybe $150-$200 IMO, but then again, I've never seen the property or know what the hunting there is like or what it means to you.

I hunt a piece that is similar, the huntable area is only about 8 acres, but deer bed and go through it daily. Its a connecting piece like what you have. I hunt it for free, but to me if I had to in order to keep hunting it, I would likely fork over some money.
 
Lease the whole 80 @5$ for 400$. If it's that important for you that's not to bad, sign it for 3 years with the right of first refusal. I am not pro leasing, bit one spot I hunt I would consider if it came down to it.
 
Think about how much you would be willing to pay should you lose the land to someone else. Then sign the lease before somebody beats you to it. How much great hunting ground do you have to hunt? If she is talking lease; someone will be leasing it!
 
I would only be leasing the 3 acres. Don't need to lease the other 80 acres, although I will be hunting the field edge.

I thought about asking if she would sell the 3 acres, but it would need about a 200 yard long easement. I kinda doubt I could get that to work out. A couple farmers I work with said "good luck with that." They don't think that would ever happen.
 
If there is anything I have learned over the years it is you do not know until you ask, and I can not remember how many times I have been told by other people that I will not be able set foot on somebodys land because they are an a__ hole, than I stop and talk with them just asking for permission to shed hunt and I not only get permission for that but have also got hunting right before. I know not the same but similar. If you can afford too and want to buy it I would approach her about it, you never know.
 
My experience is you have to lease the whole thing. Crap open areas, timber, fields, pasture, roads, etc. Sure would be nice if "pick and choose" was the norm. But, as other have alluded to.... what's the worse they can say....

I am in the minority that would rather lease a farm than get permission... crazy thought to some but FAR less issues.... FAR more control..... FAR more predictable.

Good luck.
 
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Southern Iowa must be a complete different animal. Theres only one or two known leases in my whole county... I wouldnt give more than 100 bucks. Its 3 acres, you cant even hunt that every day.
 
The above advice on offering 5 bucks an acre is probably the best way to go. Also the way Iowa farm tenant law works the farmer tenant has control over the hunting unless his leases is written seperate. Don't underestimate the current interest in leasing. The number of company's that specialize in lease and then sub leasing is growing rapidly. If you know there are good deer in the area that is a small price to pay.
 
If you hunt the edge then you're hunting more than the 3 acres. I've heard people say that leases need to pay per how many trophy (150"?) deer can reasonably be expected to hunt. Call that number whatever you want - $500? $1,000? I've seen it printed even $2,500. Just saying. If it's a killer spot that can act as a funnel then possibly you could hunt it everyday, and personally I wouldn't offer under 500. I think 50 would be an insult to her. Wouldn't even cover her taxes and insurance. If you offer something respectable there's a chance she might decline it.

We had a neighbor who cut out prior high renters for a great 5 acre spot. He eventually bought it for a high price. He took a lot of trophies there including a triple drop-tine 200" deer. Some spots are worth it. Good luck.
 
You can throw the trophy deer part of the equation out the window because the landowner is an 80 year old lady that knows nothing about deer hunting let alone the number of trophy deer on the property, nor does she care about how that would affect the lease price. It is a property I definitely want to stay in, but it's small enough that you can't hunt it every day or you will push all the deer out. She stated that 3 acres is what I would be paying for and i'm sure she could care less if I was hunting the edges of the fields.

I was thinking of going with $100. I don't think that would be too low for her. Do leases usually only have one payment for every 5 years or however many years you work out?
 
iowabucks said:
You can throw the trophy deer part of the equation out the window because the landowner is an 80 year old lady that knows nothing about deer hunting let alone the number of trophy deer on the property, nor does she care about how that would affect the lease price. It is a property I definitely want to stay in, but it's small enough that you can't hunt it every day or you will push all the deer out. She stated that 3 acres is what I would be paying for and i'm sure she could care less if I was hunting the edges of the fields.

I was thinking of going with $100. I don't think that would be too low for her. Do leases usually only have one payment for every 5 years or however many years you work out?
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Like any contract, it is whatever you write up. If it was me, I would write it to be $xxx per year with yearly option of renewal by lessee with no expiration (or a very long time period) That way you are paying once a year, but locked it up long term. Also, if something changes (doze all timber out for farm, or whatever), you can get out whenever.
 
Maybe offer $100 but also show her proof you took out liability insurance on her place? Make rent payable each 3/1? Chances are her ag rent is due then.
 
I'm curious how it works for you. I think it will all depend on what she's being hearing. Like a guy who heard some land in iowa sells for $8k an acre and then thinks his 1 acre ravine is worth that tillable figure.
 
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