How Hunting Leases Work

Basically, in our not too distant past, there was much more public land available to the public and hence much more land available to hunters during hunting season. Fast forward to present day where many more people are purchasing up land left and right for private uses. Presently public lands are in very short supply which leaves the public lands that are still available for hunting season extremely over-crowded, adding to the frustration of those hunters trying to get their elusive whitetail 8 point monster buck (a "deer" in plain-speak). Not too mention, overcrowding on public lands has become a problem as over-zealous newcomers can potentially create dangerous situations in their enthusiasm to shoot at anything that moves. This is how the idea of a whitetail leases Ohio came about.

What On Earth is a "Hunting Lease?"

Good question, and no it is not a replacement for your "hunting license," which you still very much need before you go blasting away in the woods somewhere. To put it simply, a hunting lease is an arrangement between a private landowner and a hunter, which gives the sports enthusiast permission to come onto the property and hunt (whatever game specified on their individual hunting licenses). The contents of the lease can vary slightly, but are generally similar in most regards with details such as: the leaser (landowner), the lessee (hunter), and lease consultants (person responsible for mandating the terms within a lease) and how much should be charged for the lease itself.

Backing the Facts With Statistics: Why Whitetail Leases Ohio Is the Viable Option

The first occurrence of wide scale leasing started as early as the 1930's in Texas (a good example of a hunting lease arrangement in modern day cinema "There Will Be Blood" starring Daniel Day Lewis in the opening scene where he hunts with his son while secretly scouting for oil land). The practice of leasing has grown exponentially with the loss of public lands; from 1989 to 1999 the amount of money spent on leasing hunting land was over $500 million dollars.

When hunters choose to lease the land they hunt on, they actually have some say about the hunting conditions whereas with public lands they do not. The term "Whitetail leases Ohio" translates into less interference from other hunters, bigger more exotic game than they would have on overcrowded public lands and thus a better quality hunting experience.