very good point people. Thank you. I wil go forward and ask for the electricity fees back. We should have no problems with that. THANKS AGAIN.

Keeping a deer lease and getting another one is a tough task. (I have paid to be on a lease 35 or so years) It's the only place where you are the customer, but still need to act like a guest. Before you ask for your $ back, think about your end game. Are they influential in the area, and would they be helpful in finding a new lease? No chance at all they'd have you back someday? Maybe just see it as an investment in finding a new place. If you have anything to gain by just moving on and letting them know how much you enjoyed the place, that's a card you may consider playing.

The $100 a month for electric sounds like a no brainer. You've paid for something the owner never even spent money on, so that's easy and I'd not feel weird at all about asking for that to be refunded.

For the lease itself - I'd ask myself (or any party in the group) if I really intended to use the place over the months lost. If you exclusively use the lease during deer season (outside of maybe some prep work) then you've not lost anything so I'd not ask for a refund. You got you were paying for.
But, if you actually like going out and camping, hog hunt etc, year around, then you should be fine to ask for a partial refund. When you paid him, your intent would have been to use the place all year and you're losing out on 4 months of the 12 you paid for.

Not an issue in this. The person we lease from are good friends. We are not planning on dipping back into the lease business. We have family land that we will transition to.

Well, there you have it.

A lease is signed with the previous owner. The partial refund should come from the previous owner. The new owner can do whatever they want. BTW, good on you for keeping the previous owner's commitment.

Ask yourself, are you willing to ruin a friendship over the amount of money you'd ask for? Because that's a real possibility.

Folks saying things like this is why there are almost no leases around here anymore.

That appears to be something that works both ways in this situation.

Fact checked true.

My opinion...I am guessing the 100 p/m is an average of the electric billing with the majority of that being burnt during the season (OP said that it's year round with the rare family weekend during the off season). Doesn't hurt to ask but demand as some folks have said is a great way to ruin what sounds like a pretty good relationship and friend.

Good luck OP...sucks but it's leasing.

Why would it ruin the relationship? The guy is owed money, he paid for something he did not receive. If it does ruin the relationship, then that person isn't worth having in your life anyway, because they clearly are willing to steal from you and not honor the promise they made. When it comes to friendships, money will generally tell you exactly where you stand with them.

If you really don't want to make a big deal out of it, I'd ask them....."Hey, we leased this land for 12 months, and pre-paid for 12 months of electricity bills. How would you like to handle it?" Then just sit and wait. If they value the relationship and staying honorable, then they will gladly pay you back.

Well said Doc.

But, remember the most famous line in the book/movie “The Godfather”?

“Nothing personal, it’s just business.” The Godfather book was essentially about the business world. Read it again and watch for that angle. What angle? Money and power.