After reading "Prices of Leases" and some recent threads, I find them interesting from a land owners perspective.

When my current lease agreement is up, I am going to give considerable thought into leasing in the future.

After reading a previous thread which covered the contracts concerning leasing, I found numerous problems with my lease contract which I will have to correct.

What are what you consider the Top 5 things to consider/look for when you are looking at a place to lease?

Habitat and Deer, other game is a plus...turkey ect.
Electric
Water
Access
A landowner who seems reasonable, easy to deal with, while they're all in it for the money, they don't have to treat people like trash because they are leasing land.

This and I will preface access as "reasonable access" not unlimited, unfettered year-round access being required.

Not in order of importance:

habitat
access
far enough away to feel like you've gone somewhere but not so far as it becomes a chore to drive back
no wets
utilities (or at least water & electrical)

I think for everyone it’s different. For me it’s this and not necessarily in this order

1. Game available to hunt, more the better
2. Price, has to be in my budget
3. Location, for my stage in life having young kids I need something close for quick trips
4. Good landowner or manager, this is a big one
5. Amenities and utilities, can take it or leave depending on the other 4 criteria

I’ll say this I gave up driving 5 hours and hunting 5K acres to the 230 acres I have now that’s an hour and 15 min from my house. I couldn’t be happier!!

Considering the current hunters you have on your land, are you sure you aint fixing something that aint broke? Is the problem the lease agreement or the prople?

5 things that are very important, not necessarily the top nor in order, but important things that sometimes might get overlooked.

That a lease spot, one unit for one price, a "gun" is often used, is for that guns' worth of game, however that is determined. Then it is up to the gun to determine, under reasonable guidelines who kills the game. Example would be a guy who is one gun wants to kill his but let his kids or the neighbor kills the does. It not being like this often enough is part of why we have too few hunters and too many deer end up being thrown out of the freezer every next October. More could be explained, but I'm already not keeping this short.

The lease be year around and used for camping, fishing, running dogs, picking flowers, plinking, etc...

This will be two. That the cattle guys, hands, leasors, whoever understand that this is the leased hunter's place just as much as their, honestly, even if the cattlemen own it. Its not that is just seems like the cattlemen like to feed cattle right where you are hunting, they do, almost every cattleman, mostly hands, I have ever know, a bunch, like to screw with the hunters just for kicks. So, first is the understanding, and along with it, that the cattleman defers when he can, which is almost always. I have hunted large ranches with commercial hunting operations and there have been ZERO problems with the cattlemen. It should be the same for a regular Joe deer leasie.

The last is a balance of the previous two, the leasor MUST give me the opportunity to love, cherish, and work on and for the land! At least help with erosion, habitat, etc... kind of work but even better let us help with catching a loose cow, fixing a fence, working calves, etc.... We want to be a part of the whole culture of the land!

1. Proximity
2. Habitat, which includes fair distribution of hunting spots based on terrain and acreage alottments as well as ample game
3. Every hunter has the right to see the contract with the negotiated terms - not a "trust me" deal by the lease manager
4. Amenities - electricity for sure, water is just a bonus at camp
5. Exclusive hunting rights

I'll add a 6th - treat the landowner and his land with the upmost respect.

That a lease spot, one unit for one price, a "gun" is often used, is for that guns' worth of game, however that is determined. Then it is up to the gun to determine, under reasonable guidelines who kills the game. Example would be a guy who is one gun wants to kill his but let his kids or the neighbor kills the does. It not being like this often enough is part of why we have too few hunters and too many deer end up being thrown out of the freezer every next October. More could be explained, but I'm already not keeping this short.

I am not sure I understand what you are getting at here. Most all leases I have seen with openings say it is X dollars per spot and whatever a family member or guest takes comes off that members allotment, be it a state limit or management limit. If someone is throwing away deer meat when the next season starts then they are not very good stewards of the natural resources.

1. Cost
2. Game
3.Group
4. Distance
5. Wife’s approval

If there are quail there and I can run a dog through it while drinking beer it’s a place I’ll lease. I won’t pay to kill a deer.

That about some it up.

#1 is NOT BREAKING THE BANK. I’d rather cram 10 hunters on 100 ac than spend over $1k
#2 is I need access 24/7/365, so that I can come out when it rains & tear up the roads but good.
#3 is I need to bring friends or family whenever I want, rugby team included.
#4 is I have the right to shoot any & all animals I want, anytime I want, including but not limited to deer, exotics, pigs, coons, rabbits, squirrels, stray cats, horned frogs, roadrunners, lizards, rocks, etc.
#5 is I need to be able to throw my beer cans anywhere I want, bring out some old vehicles, trailers or other garbage & leave wherever I want, because if I’m leasing it, I treat it like it’s mine. I will make sure & leave all my old [censored] on your place from now on also. Sure, you can try to call me after season to inquire if I want to renew the lease, but I’ll dodge your phone calls, not return messages, but just assume I still have a lease for years.

I may not understand your question.
As the LO I provide the contract, lessee reads it, asks questions if he has any then we both sign it.
The lessee has two choices read & agree or move on to the next property on his list.

Location
Existing amenities
Rules
Cost
Game

I am not sure I understand what you are getting at here. Most all leases I have seen with openings say it is X dollars per spot and whatever a family member or guest takes comes off that members allotment, be it a state limit or management limit. If someone is throwing away deer meat when the next season starts then they are not very good stewards of the natural resources.[/quote]

Sounds like you do get what I'm saying, I must have just not stated it clearly, cause that's what I mean, glad you were finding it. I guess I've just seen the opposite, you buy a spot and its yours, you alone can fill that "quota" so to speak, the attitude is if someone else wants to hunt they can buy a spot too. And on the your last point, agreed, agreed, agreed they are not good stewards of a natural resource. Abundance and lack of ease to spread the "wealth" does that to otherwise good folks.

#1 - How many "deer experts" will be on it with me?

ha, FIFY ... seems like there are a lot like this (not accusing you, just a perception for a lot of people)

Lots of good answers but one important one is...What's your neighbors like? Do they kill everything that walks, do they hunt the fence lines? I can grow and attract game, but if your neighbors are killing them before a desired size you're wasting your time.

1. Location
2. Cost
3. Game
4. Rules
5. Utilities available

The OPs question is a good one and its one I have to ponder on awhile and maybe ill answer later. For now I will agree with Stompy and say that neighbors are very important, unless you have a huge place and then not so much.

1. game
2. access and rules
3.landowner
4.price
5. utilities

Stompy is the only one that got it right --------- what is around the lease ---- if it is all 25 acre tracts you will never see an animal ------------ NOTHING else matters if this is not right.

Neighbors play into location for me, a buddy has 40 acres in Real County that he gave me access couple yrs ago. I was excited knowing exotics roam in the area. Well I went out and discovered he was surrounded by smaller neighbors. Needless to say hunting was tough especially with as much pressure as there was around him. But yes Stompy hit the nail on the head.