Tough to find land to hunt deer...

[runandfriendly]

I have been a deer hunter since I was a teenager, and hunted mainly in the Adirondacks. I have lived in and around Syracuse for 28 years and only started hunting in the Southern Tier for about the last 12 years. The problem is finding private land to hunt on with my 4 buddies. We had a really nice farm parcel to hunt up until just before last season when the owner decided to lease it to another group who would let us in on the lease. Now we are scrambling to find land... I would like to purchase land or lease but its hard to find any available within say 1 hour of Central New York. Any ideas?

Edited July 29, 2013 by runandfriendly

[TheTruth2]

Good luck. Nearly impossible these days

[virgil]

There have been a bunch of threads on here before about timber companies that lease land in CNY.  They always seem to have properties available for pretty reasonable prices.

[TheTruth2]

cotton-hanlon is a good reputable company. Unfortunately they have nothing near me lol

[phade]

No offense, but I don't think I'd blame anyone turning down a request for 5 guys to come hunt in today's environment in wNY and cNY. It's tough enough to get permission for 1 let alone 2 hunters.

 

I would think between five guys, you could lease one heck of a parcel for $500 each. $2,500 would be a solid lease. Post up cards at the grain bins, co-ops, and TSCs and the like. Someone will be interested in it.

[jesse.james]

I picked up a lease from limestoneridgeproperties.com. smaller properties but affordable. I picked up 80 acres for $600

[SteveD]

I have been a deer hunter since I was a teenager, and hunted mainly in the Adirondacks. I have lived in and around Syracuse for 28 years and only started hunting in the Southern Tier for about the last 12 years. The problem is finding private land to hunt on with my 4 buddies. We had a really nice farm parcel to hunt up until just before last season when the owner decided to lease it to another group who would let us in on the lease. Now we are scrambling to find land... I would like to purchase land or lease but its hard to find any available within say 1 hour of Central New York. Any ideas? >>>> I will address this question from the perspective of a land owner who does not themselves hunt, but certainly recognizes the fact that there is an absolute necessity to hunt deer and other game if crops are to be grown.  I've owned land in the Finger Lakes since 1981 and I can attest to the fact that there is an over population of deer.  In fact despite a fair amount of hunting I think more deer are "harvested" by hitting them with cars and trucks than are shot with guns or bows during hunting season.  At my peak of land ownership in the late 90's I had 700 acres in Cayuga and Onondaga Counties.  In those days before real estate taxes got out of hand I used to let one family and their friends hunt my places.  They used to send me a 100 dollar gift certificate around Christmas and everyone was satisfied with the deal.  Nowadays my main property left is a farm of 268 acres in Cayuga County in the Town of Moravia which has just been leased out for hunting for $1800 a year plus proof of insurance against mishap by a small group of hunters.  A drastic change to be sure but which was necessitated by the need for income to pay an increasing tax burden.  A situation which is fairly universal no matter where you go.  There is no question that land prices in rural New York (and just about everywhere else in the country) have risen sharply in recent years despite the lingering effect of the Great Recession.  And as those prices go up the tax assessor is right behind even for land which has the tax break from being in the various agricultural and forestry value programs.  If you are looking for the best deal possible to keep costs down for hunting leases I'd suggest contacting the DEC office and find out where they are issuing the most nuisance permits to cut down on crop losses caused by deer.  I think you might have a better chance to find what you are looking for in regards to affordable hunting leases in those overrun areas.

 

[NFA-ADK]

Good luck!  I looked into leasing but It was much cheaper to keep hunting the great ADK for free...  Love the idea just can't afford it...  Plus I am on a mission to get at least one more ADK deep woods deer. 

[pa3190]

Good luck with your land search..for the reasons of starting tradition and having a familiar place to go to every time, we leased 1250 acres in the adirondacks for a small group...there is nothing like the comraderie of a hunting camp....traditions, jokes misses, hits familiar bunk, mealtime, etc. I started hunting in the southern tier where I grew up and eventually ended up in the ADKs. I never have to worry about another hunter around the corner, can wear camo without fear of getting shot, and be successful most years. I'm at the point where I'd stop hunting if I had to scramble around state land and all the unknowns associated with it anymore. As for costs, dues are reasonable for the days or weeks of participation you get out of it. we have 10 guys and always carefully consider up to 13.

[letinmfly]

I had good luck in the past by placing ads in local, county specific papers.  Always placed "Looking for land to lease" ads.

[tuckersdaddy]

check with some real estate agents. you never know. 

[apoallo]

try looking on craigslist also I have seen a few postings for leasing before. Just do your homework and meet the people and se the property before sending any $$$

[sweet old bill]

lots of state land around North PHarsalia NY that is about a 1 1/2 hour from your location. But again lots of hard woods, pine, old apple trees and not a person to see in the bow season. Find one acre and purchase it and have 15,000 acres to hunt.