Leasing Land to Hunt- Is it becoming the new normal?

[Brian Renville]

Now I'm not sure how I feel about this but here's a thought, are most of these leased acres bought up by just some regular "Joe" or is it guys that say they have a guide service or are an outfitter etc...? What i'm getting at is if they are charging people money to help them hunt then they have also told the taxman that they do so, or at least the law says they have to. It seems to me that it puts them at a huge advantage over any of us regular hunting shlubs when it comes to paying our own already taxed money to lease a chunk of land versus anyone who can claim they have a business real quick and write that off as a business expense. I'm no CPA here but I'm pretty sure all of that money is written off and I'm also pretty sure that the vast majority of acres are leased by someone who it taking folks out for cash whether it is a big group of outfitters or a local guy guiding folks around. For a publicly bought license to hunt that seems like a massive advantage. If some rich guys want to lease some land with their taxed money so be it but remember a lot of them can claim they are entertaining a client or coworker. Kind of like taking an employee out for lunch. I'm not a fan of more tax or pushing on a business guy but when dealing with a live resource mostly maintained by the public this seems a little shady.

 

[Still_Learnin']

I have hunted southern Pennsylvania and I can vouch for those numbers. I couldn't believe how many people are in the woods come gun season. Between that and the blatant poaching, I don't know how anyone can kill a deer over there.

 

[SupressYourself]

I asked for permission to hunt coyotes once where the land owner asked for a "trespass fee". I politely declined, but in my head I was like "f-you guy, I hope they eat all your deer and calves".
- However, that is definitely an outlier. Most ranchers are all too happy to let you hunt coyotes, especially after deer season is over.

Pay to play is a really sad trend that I fear is unavoidable as land keeps rolling over to new generations that have fewer real ties to it. I'm looking for my own chunk of ground I can buy and grow some animals on.

 

[Rowdie]

I moved to and lived in Gregory SD, in 1995. That is down by Winner SD. I was fresh out of college but I had taken a few years off here and there so when I graduated It had been 9 years out of HS. I had heard about paying and guys leasing land as it was starting to really catch on in the northern part of the state. But down there, that part of the state started the pay to play, and had been doing it for the past 20+ years. The culture was just different. No regular guys, or average Joe's hunted. Well most didn't unless they had connections, and even then they just got sloppy 2nd's as I like to call it. People raised pheasants if they had an extra 10 acres. I was just amazed at how the town catered to pheasants. It was my first exposure to game preserves, that charged by the bird. Had their own seasons...etc. I got on a dart team with another teacher, a couple of power lineman. None of them hunted, and I believe if they were the type of guys that if they had been exposed to it when they were young, they would be your average Joe hunter. But instead, they loathed the hunters that came to town. Stupid tourist hunters who didn't respect anything. Not once did I pull a trigger south of the interstate 90. I didn't make enough to pay the extremely high prices to hunt. I could of legally hunted section lines, but didn't want to be "that" guy, you were worse than white trash if you did that. The whole perception of hunters was skewed. When I would talk about how I hunted they were shocked. How do you afford it, was the main question I got. This was a place where the have's and have not's was really noticeable, and it was all connected to land. Everything was leased, and I mean everything.

 

[ndlongshot]

I moved to and lived in Gregory SD, in 1995. That is down by Winner SD. I was fresh out of college but I had taken a few years off here and there so when I graduated It had been 9 years out of HS. I had heard about paying and guys leasing land as it was starting to really catch on in the northern part of the state. But down there, that part of the state started the pay to play, and had been doing it for the past 20+ years. The culture was just different. No regular guys, or average Joe's hunted. Well most didn't unless they had connections, and even then they just got sloppy 2nd's as I like to call it. People raised pheasants if they had an extra 10 acres. I was just amazed at how the town catered to pheasants. It was my first exposure to game preserves, that charged by the bird. Had their own seasons...etc. I got on a dart team with another teacher, a couple of power lineman. None of them hunted, and I believe if they were the type of guys that if they had been exposed to it when they were young, they would be your average Joe hunter. But instead, they loathed the hunters that came to town. Stupid tourist hunters who didn't respect anything. Not once did I pull a trigger south of the interstate 90. I didn't make enough to pay the extremely high prices to hunt. I could of legally hunted section lines, but didn't want to be "that" guy, you were worse than white trash if you did that. The whole perception of hunters was skewed. When I would talk about how I hunted they were shocked. How do you afford it, was the main question I got. This was a place where the have's and have not's was really noticeable, and it was all connected to land. Everything was leased, and I mean everything.

Thanks Rowdie...really puts it into perspective. And thats what we're facing.......

 

[Kurtr]

Thanks Rowdie...really puts it into perspective. And thats what we're facing.......

That is not the norm here well i guess not at least from my experience. Only part of Sodak i have not lived in was far south west corner.

 

[Traxion]

My in laws live and farm in the rough area Rowdie talks about. Draw a line from Pierre to Gregory, 75 miles each way, and that is how it is. The pay to hunt is the cultural norm. Everything is leased or setup for pay hunting. The amount of strips planted just for birds is incredible. Mind you they take out all the CRP and they wonder why there are no birds in all the strips, but that is another story. Simply put, there are areas in SD that are completely ruined by pay to play pheasant hunting. But, the good news is that there are still some places you can knock on the door. But, there are also areas that things are just starting to go the way of pay to play.

I have yet to verify it but it sounds like the fields I experienced the leasing were done by a local outfitter. Bryan brings up some interesting points.

I don't question landowners who do lease ground, I get it. They have all the right in the world. It just really changes an area & it's culture. I've seen it firsthand in south central SD. If I lived in those areas, I'd be a fisherman.

In my situation