We lease to a Guide here in Oregon. He pays one set fee for a Columbia White Tail hunt, plus additional for several Black Tail hunts, and $100 per bird for Turkeys. I originally did not want to lease, but we were getting overrun with the Turkeys, so when I was offered $100 per bird to reduce the population, it seemed like a win-win. From there the rest of the hunts evolved. We receive between $4000 and $5000 per year and seldom even know they were here. If they mention where they are hunting, I avoid that area, but the Guide always says it is completely unnecessary to change our day to accommodate hunters. He says to just go about our day and the hunters will adjust to our activities. The best part of it is, I now have a good excuse when we get requests from neighbors and even complete strangers who want to come in and hunt for free. I have given up being over-run by dozens of sometimes rude and inconsiderate hunters who give me nothing in return, in exchange for a very small number of highly skilled, considerate hunters who act thankful for the right to pay thousands to hunt here. The Guide takes on all liability and usually has only one (occasionally two) hunters on 1000 acres at any one time. He is on the property for a total of about 10 to 15 days each year with 4 to 6 different hunters and he lets us know ahead of time when he will be here. He receives anywhere from $1000 to $7000 for each hunt, so he makes good money at it, but he also feeds, houses and entertains them. He has leases on a number of area ranches.
We also own about 450 acres in Minnesota. Several hundred acres are leased as crop land. There are about 250 acres of woods, ponds, and creeks. Excellent habitat for Turkey and Deer. I would love to find someone back there to lease that place.
