Has anyone..

..ever leased from a timber company? If so, how was your experience? Looking at doing this for next season, thanks for the input!

Do you mean you are going to start your own lease on timber company land or join a lease that already exists on timber company land?

I have only been a part of leases that the land was owned by timber companies and my experience has been good, some are just looking to fill spots with tons of people and you normally get a crappy spot for the first year or 2 but get better spots as older members get off. The one I am on now was a 600 and something acre family lease that I got on by luck then last year the whole family got off and now it’s only my family so you may get lucky.

I guess it would be start my own lease. The company I'm looking at has a few pieces of land it is looking to lease for hunting. Most of it is between 4 and 6 dollars an acre. Do the timber workers ever mess up your hunt?

I am speaking of timber co. leasing in LA, as 90% or more, I would think, of all land leased in this state is timber company. Many of them have their own wildlife people who will help you. I will say this, if you can get land for $4-6 an acre and if there are deer on it, that is a great price. If you can, lock it in for a few years. In the beginning here, companies would do that but don't think they will any longer. And our lease goes up every year so unless you can get it locked in, don't expect the rate to stay the same. As long as you abide by their rules, they never bothered us. Never hear from the companies until it is time to pay. Good luck with it!

I leased from a timber company in Indiana. Once paid and the contract signed, I never heard from them again until the following year. The 3rd year they did call me and asked me if I would put up some game cameras (at their expense) as they had had some theft of timber on some tracts.
Hunted on leased land there for 3 or 4 years.
Closest they came to 'messing' up the hunting was when they harvested the next tract. I just used the torn up ground to plant some fall crops. Had the best year ever.

Thanks for all of yalls help guys!

I lease from a timber company in east Texas. It isn't a huge lease, but there is enough hardwood in the creeks that there is something other than pine. The various rights-of-way that cross the property are great shooting lanes. It isn't heavily hunted, mostly by me and my son-in-law. There are a few other members, but most only "hunt" opening weekend. There is one other guy that bow hunts fairly intensively. We pay a little more than $6 an acre, but nothing compared to central or south Texas prices. So far, no trouble with timber harvests. As long as the entire lease isn't clear cut you would likely be okay.

Campbell global (cglease) has a bunch of properties up for auction to lease

I work for a timber company, private and not as large as say campell. We have about 10,000 acres we lease and the reason for the land is to grow timber. If your tract fits what is in the logging plan, you could have company on opening morning. Our rates run from around $7-15/acre. The phone rings years round for ground to hunt. We have little turn over from year to year. Our land base is Cass, Marion, Harrison, and Morris Co.

I've been looking at campbell global, couple of the tracts look like they are full of trees and could possibly be on the chopping block..

Does anyone know of any other companies that do the leasing?

What Pine Knott said, I forgot to say. Yes, they are in the timber business and that is their 1st concern. In the last club I was in before Louisiana Pacific sold out to the Wildgame Innovation guys, they cut on our lease (of only 1333 acres) 3 straight years during hunting season. However, we still killed about the same deer off of the lease every year. Contrary to what some people think, after the loggers go home in the afternoon and before dark, as well as the weekends when they are not working, the deer and even bucks will come out in the fresh cuts. I have killed deer right out in the middle of a 40 acre fresh cut, cutover. So you might have to adjust a little bit, but can still hunt and see deer. And the prices that Pine Knott quoted are more in line with what we pay in LA so if you can find some for $4-6 that has deer, I would jump on it.

Thanks again for all of the feedback!

KP85, I have never had the Timber Company do anything during deer season and they have let us know when and what they were going to be doing if anything during the rest of the year. i did have Seismic Survey crew ruine a hunting weekend before but that was on one of those large leases where i was the low guy on the totem pole and the president of the club didnt tell me anything.

I am going out this weekend with my little brother to check out some of the tracts I've been looking at. Thanks again for everyone's input, it was very helpful!!

I currently have three tracts leased from Campbell. As a general rule, based on my experience, they do not contact you when there is going to be some kind of work going on. On one tract there was actually a planting crew out planting a clearcut during general season- they were just there a couple of days. I have had a helicopter spraying right next to where I was bow hunting on opening weekend of bow season a few years ago. I have had a drilling crew out on one of them that cleared 11 acres and drilled three wells. At the end of muzzle loader season this year there was a crew in working on the road of one of my leases getting ready to do some thinning. There are pros and cons from leasing from a timber company- the con is they are in the timber growing and selling business and they will do their business as weather and market dictates. The pro (and to me is a big one) if you don't screw up by breaking their rules or state laws you won't have to worry about the landowner dying and the kids selling the place or someone coming in behind you and offering more money- you will have it pretty much as long as you want it.

PM sent Russ79, question about campbell