Lol you are kidding right At today’s over priced land values just wait When the bubble burst you can pick up a spot at bankruptcy sale. Folks it will be hete maybe this fall if not next spring.

A couple of thoughts. Ask in person whenever possible and make an offer to work in trade. For me in Wisconsin's dairy land that means anything from buying and planting 2 dozen trees each spring (<$25 investment) for one owner, using my tractor and brush hog to mow trails in late summer for another owner, help with hay and corn harvest for another property owner / large farm. In each case I have access for archery hunting and trapping. Great relationships with the property owners and consider them good friends.

For folks that ask to hunt small game hunt on our property I usually don't say no but get their phone number and say I'll be calling when need help splitting and stacking firewood in spring / summer. If they don't want to repay then go somewhere else. After 4-6 hrs of work, beer, brats/burgers on grill we are all happy. One hunter came out this winter when I was trimming and skidding trees to make brush piles for bunny hunting.

Leasing of land has increased around here lately and I feel bad for folks getting into hunting with zero or limited access.

Good Luck!

Dave

Must be different down there I have thousands of acres of national forest here where I live and very few hunters.

Here in Ga, the season limit is 10. South Carolina limit is more than one...I'm positive. Cheaper by the pound.

Most leases here have turkeys, feral hogs, fishing, lots of small game (than no one hunts), trapping, some have bears, camping, etc. Most leases its not just deer hunting only.

Lot of bang for your $$. Leasing is THE ONLY WAY a poor man hunts down here....unless you do public.

If your state has a doe only season after the regular season I'd talk to the farmers in your area and explain to them you only are interested harvesting them for the meat. Most farmers have a lot of crop loss due to deer, if you have soybean farmers in you area look them up and do what Andrew said about filling all the tags available. You find the right farmer and you could have more deer than you can handle. Another tip is don't bother them during planting or harvest season, their always pressed for time then.

If you are willing to make a drive up to Western NC I will take you to a piece of private ground that I promise you can fill your freezers full in a day or two. I live in TN and I'm only mins away from NC, fortunately I have some nice ground to hunt that I trade out work for in both of those states. But I did buy a small house in Ohio and I pay to lease a farm up there, but between deer hunting and fishing and turkey I feel it's a good investment, especially since I am spending that time with my dad and my kids. Good luck but if you don't find anything you can always make a weekend trip to NC and fill your coolers

Not kidding at all. Land does not follow housing bubbles in my neck of the woods. Land keeps its value through the ups and downs of housing market and its never gettting cheaper around here....they can make more houses, but not more land. The big dairies fight for land around here when it hits the market regardless of housing bubbles. Now, if you are referring to land that is attached to a house that gets foreclosed, that may be a different story. But I wasnt suggesting buying hunting land with a house attached as I dont think the Op is interested in houses. However, in my area, it still wouldn't help you. The big dairies buy the house and property and sell the house a week later with a half acre attached.
As mentioned by many others on here, a day is coming that if you dont own ground, you wont hunt unless you have extremely deep pockets. In my opinion, better off biting the bullet now and have ground for you, your kids, and your future grand kids...

People pay for land to hunt deer?

Midlander i'll disagree. The low interests rates and people fleeing the cities right now have DOUBLED land around here. IT WON"T LAST ! AS soon as people in the "north stop flocking to the ignorant south(their words) then land will come down. PLUS people paying more than they can afford once the BOBO bonanza is stopped in 2022 bankruptcies will be thick as deer ticks in Texas. TRUST me this free money can't go on for ever.

Not kidding at all. Land does not follow housing bubbles in my neck of the woods. Land keeps its value through the ups and downs of housing market and its never gettting cheaper around here....they can make more houses, but not more land. The big dairies fight for land around here when it hits the market regardless of housing bubbles. Now, if you are referring to land that is attached to a house that gets foreclosed, that may be a different story. But I wasnt suggesting buying hunting land with a house attached as I dont think the Op is interested in houses. However, in my area, it still wouldn't help you. The big dairies buy the house and property and sell the house a week later with a half acre attached.
As mentioned by many others on here, a day is coming that if you dont own ground, you wont hunt unless you have extremely deep pockets. In my opinion, better off biting the bullet now and have ground for you, your kids, and your future grand kids../. op midlander



BUT you may have to do the math. 350,000 for a farm or 1500 a year to lease the same number of acres? Man have to live long time to justify that . PLUS if you leave it for the kids they will pee it away or sell it soon as you pass and blow money on wine women and song.

Down here...yes.

Or, go play golf....

You might try craigslist. I found this offer.....

https://stlouis.craigslist.org/grd/d/mexico-hunting-lease-80-acres/7319748879.html

But there are also dozens of "want to lease" listings.......so anyone who is of a mind to lease some land might find you there.

Those of us with the land to hunt probably do not appreciate what we have. Had 3 young men from out of state knock on my front door last fall. Were asking about the property across the road from me. Not mine so not mine to give permission, plus it is already tied up by others.

What was ironic is that most nights, there would have been from 3 to 5 deer in my front lawn......no more than 50 feet from where they were standing. So close, yet so far away.

People I know hardly read their mail. I don't think I would ever get permission that way, however an in person visit still works. Certainly more expensive but a more targeted approach generally leads to a bigger reward.

Leasing land is strange for folks not in the south. I agree about it wasn't always like this. I have no issues with paying. Taxes keep going up.
I have offered to mow,fix fences and such. Folks here in s,c are not kind to folksthey don,t know very well. I have traded beaver removal ,but,it9nly last a season or two after beaver are gone and they don't want to keep letting you hunt when their beaver issue is gone.
Land is more valuable to southern farmer then gold. Land rich,money poor. It's how you determine staus here.
Our season is long.so,i believe that onefactor for leasing.
I can legally take 11 deer,but i don,t.
Plus we have a lot of NC hunters here and the locals see a cash cow. A large group can pay more then a local most times.
Just got a email from a major paper company. All land in ga and sc,all leased.put on another waiting list.
Keep trying is all i can do. Sarge

Interesting thread. My family has owned land in Buffalo County WI since the 1870s. It used to be possible to hunt anywhere but starting with the antler craze of the 1980s those days are over. Most farmers in our area either hunt their own land hard and wouldn't think of letting a stranger hunt or lease to an outfitter. A person can't blame them as they can pay all of their taxes with just a few guided hunts. It has gotten to the point where some guys won't gun hunt their land because of the possibility of pushing a trophy onto the neighbors land.

Hunting has changed and it's not for the better. It already is own your own land or don't hunt in our county.

Went mule deer hunting with a friend from High School named Jim and his 15 year old son last fall. His son was jokingly stacking it on his dad for not taking him out hunting enough. His son said " here you guys are telling all these great hunting adventures you had when you were my age and now we hardly hunt. Jim looked at me and asked if I would explain to his boy how easy it was to get permission to hunt more ground than you could hunt in a season back then and how different it is nowadays. Jim said my boy doesn't believe me when I tell him. Youth getting involved in hurting sure are fighting an up hill battle compared to 30 years ago. It will cost the sport of hunting down the road more than the anti's in my opinion. Even some state laws are catering to the big $ nowadays. I dislike the commercialization of hunting but I have no idea how to reverse. I got into trapping because the competition for land to deer hunt on was getting too much for me. My boys getting old enough to deer hunt got me back into it. And the competition for land here is nothing compared to a lot of places.

I cannot fathom hunting deer where handshake permission from a friend, a friend of a friend or even a complete stranger is not a reality.
I feel for you guys. Leasing etc , simply sucks.

Well its possible maybe likely if you are willing to put in some time. You just have to find the landowners with crop damage or ones who got burned in the outfitter game. Does for meet, fairly easy. Few regular Joes lease for big game, but its very common for waterfowl. Private land elk can be very difficult, but luckily there is plenty of public land for elk hunting.

I'll lease some ground occasionally but for duck or goose, not deer. The reason I do is simple. With limited time to hunt I want my few days to be successful. That simply isn't possible unless I have the field tied up 100%.

How long have you lived in SC?
I don’t own land but have more private properties I can hunt than I have time in a season. I’m no one special, in fact one guy I trap for had to call around to some of his friends before he found anyone that knew my name. He wanted to do a “check” on me before allowing access.
I’ve met more people through word of mouth than anywhere else. I have one property I’ll shoot bucks on and only that property. Been hunting with one guy for 8 years now and never pulled the trigger. The owner saw me one morning and asked what caliber of gun I was shooting. I told him then asked why and he said he’s buying me some bullets because apparently I’ve never loaded my gun. I did come close last year on a 140+” but I had already shot one on another property 2 days earlier.
I’d think a friend or someone you know would have property or a lease where they’d welcome someone to come shoot does for meat. Heck, I get invited to a REAL nice plantation for the only purpose of shooting does until I run out of bullets, lol. All bucks are off limits to me but I don’t care. Great range time with real targets.
Most LEO’s down here get invited and given keys to properties to shoot deer and even turkeys. I’ve been with many on turkey hunts as a caller only. Most of the time I make them use my turkey gun too.

Land is over priced and we are currently in the process of buying more. Land is a different animal than the rest of the economy right now. Most all land around here is being bought with cash. These buyers will not being going bankrupt. They will also not sell for less than what they bought it for. Even in a down market it will have income when purchased out right with cash. Leasing, city/out of state buyers, and large farmers are really changing things for the worse for rural residents.