Can anyone give me and idea as to what annual per acre lease rates are in central Illinois are? Thanks for any info.
15$ to 25$ per acre. That kind of depends on the area and the past leasing history or hunting success.
I'm also curious about this...I've been finding it hilarious how much people want for the rights to hunt properties anymore! But it's all thanks to all the rich hunters out there willing to pay it........which makes it even harder for us normal hunters :D Oh well my little 10 acre honey hole has been treating me nicely.
I will agree that it is pricey, the other option that locals here have is overhunted and high pressure public land. Over the course of the last ten to fifteen years central Illinois has become popular to many out of state hunters and a rise of pop up outfitters. All of which screw the blue collar local out of hunting ground. I have been hunting for almost 32 years and have lived here all my life and the days of being able to hunt on neighbors property for free are long gone. If you want ground to hunt on here basically you are gonna pay for it no matter what. It is a sad fact. When I was in my teens I had the ability to hunt several properties that neighbored my aunts farm and now in todays world that opportunity is gone as well. I have nothing against outfitters or out of state hunters mind you, its just the nature of hunting these days. I pay a pretty good price for 200 acres of lease ground and I am currently not in a position to buy ground. Maybe in a few years I will but for now its easier for me to just lease. Illinois ground is not that cheap either. You will pay anywhere from three to five thousand an acre or more depending which county it is in. I am glad I was in the right spot at the right time to lease the ground I have because it is a good feeling to have ground and not worry about where you are going to hunt. The only thing I would say is that I would rather be saving the money to put as a down payment, but with three boys all wanting to hunt its is more for the memories and the fun we will have while they are growing up.
To be honest that's the dillemma I'm in right now. My wife and I have an extremely low mortgage left (3 years and done, due to some inheritance) and we've got a decent amount put back from the leftover inheritance (thinking possible re-finance). My dilemma is whether to invest some of our money (with her approval of course!) in a land investment. Knowing full well that over time land is only going to increase and this land in the meantime could provide a cheaper hunting season for years to come for me....or do I want to sink thousands of dollars in a lease that is just gone, and you never get a return on your money?! Just something I'm juggling for sure!
I would say that buying would be better but I wouldn’t necessarily say that you get no return on investment from leasing...monetarily you would not see any return but the peace of mind that nobody is on the property but yourself and whomever you want plus the enjoyment of harvesting the game you choose is worth something. Also, in my situation two of my three boys are of the age that they can hunt and for now the memories we are getting along with the experience is great.
The last property I looked in my area was $2250 ("minimum bid") and was 137 acres . Thats $16+ a acrea minimum. This property backed up to public hunting..... LOL! I have seen it go from anyware from less then $10 a acrea all the way up to $30. Some people just have more money then sense. I hate to say but the out of staters have ruined it for all of us. No one local will pay that much cash for anything around here. On top of that they want to limit the number of hunters that can hunt it. Isn't it my right to hunt it as much or less as I would like? Point being this land was limited to four hunters. If I hunted the property every day for 100 days, how is that different than a different hunter every day for a hundred days? I understand what they are trying to do but that needs to be manged by party that is leasing the land. There are some insurance probs as well.
That bold spot is the very reason the wife wouldn't let me lease a high dollar spot...which is why calculating out a purchase of land and showing her that we could easily buy a 15-25 acre chunk that would only go up in value would she possibly consider it.
Central Illinois? Some of your guesses are a little low for prime hunting land. From 2008-2010 JZ, Mike, Johnny and I leased 80 acres in Pike/Brown counties for $4000. That's $50 an acre. We gave it up this year and an outfitter leased it for the same price. I've seen it go for more than that down there too.
I live in central IL and just a few months ago was at a land auction and seen bare cornfield go for $11,000.00 per acre..... also have a buddy with 96 acers of timber and had it appraised at 750k land here is high!!!! good luck
I would do what you could do to invest in land. I wish I would have when I had the opportunity. My brother bought 48 acres in Black River Falls WI 20 years ago for $350 an acre. That same land is worth over 10 times that amount. You will never regret buying land.
Like I said earlier, it depends on what county you are leasing or buying. I live in central Illinois and lease 200 acres and I pay 25 dollars an acre. Prime ground and good timber to non timber ground ratio. I am also familiar with the area that the gentleman earlier had mentioned about the sale price of $11,000 for farm ground, it is not far from where I live as well. Ground is hi here and not getting any cheaper. Buying is better I would agree but I want a place to hunt now and not wait...so I am forced to lease. If the public land around here was not so hi pressured I would strongly consider that as the main option. Pike county is probably the highest ground in Illinois currently but is on the downhill swing. Within the last ten years it had a boom of success and that drove the prices up not only there but all over central IL as well... oh well, life goes on and we still hunt...
See it's crap like that that makes me wish I was older! Discussion with wife still is a rough one but working on her
Along those same lines..... My family bought a clear cut 40 back in the late 80s for $1500. That's not $1500 per acre....that's total. Bought another one for $2500 and another for $3500. The last two 40s we bought this year were $1000/acre and $1125/acre. Still a pretty good price.
That is a ridiculous price Dan!!! You know the people? HOw in the world did you pull that off!? My wife couldn't even say no to acreage that cheap even if it is vacant and I'd need to do some plantings to get it growing!
You are certainly going to need to pay in cash. No banker in their right mind would ever give you a loan at those prices. I really don't think purchasing land strictly for hunting is a good investment. Now if the land includes broken ground that can be farmed it would be a entirly different story.
If I find a place cheap enough you bet your sweat biffy I wouldn't take a loan out...but I'm also thinking being young and blessed with no mortgage...re-financing could help purchase just a good solid 10-20 acre spot I'd be able to build up :D Right now 98% of my hunting occurs on a collection of 17acres which my father owns 10.
Land "Posted" by law is a big part of the problem here in Alabama. I have found people willing to let me bowhunt but not willing to write the required permit saying so. That's because they believe they become legally liable when they put it in writing. If the law was changed to make it illegal for hunters (legal or not) to sue the landowners "unless a fee is paid to hunt", then more land would open up. Louisiana, I hear, is addressing this problem with changes in the States hunting laws because of this very problem and because they are finding out how expensive it is for the State to try to manage all the hunting property. Can you say smaller government...
