Looking for a lease for the 2021 deer/fall turkey season. If you have and leads please let me know. Looking in the southwest michigan area, Grand rapids, kalamazoo, three rivers.
WTB Hunting lease Michigan
- Thread starter Thereaper1313
- Start date
Wanting To Buy
Not wanting to sound like a jerk, but,
You and 100,000 Illinois hunters. Good luck and deep pockets to you.
You'd think with the declining number of tags sold, it would be easier.
You and 100,000 Illinois hunters. Good luck and deep pockets to you.
You'd think with the declining number of tags sold, it would be easier.
Up but down
From MI DNR
With regular firearm season starting November 15th, the DNR reports a 17% increase in the number of deer hunting licenses sold so far this year.
“We’re not sure if this increase is because we are going to see an increase in hunters a-field this year, or if it could just be license-buying behavior is different,” says Ashley Autenrieth, a biologist with the Michigan DNR in Gaylord.
She suggests people are buying licenses earlier this year because they’re at home and have more free time due to COVID-19 restrictions.
But the increased number of deer licenses to date seems to follow an overall increase in hunting and fishing in Michigan this year. The DNR reported a 27% increase for spring turkey hunters and a 9% increase in fishing licenses.
The state has also seen a 95% increase in new hunters since March, according to the Michigan Wildlife Council. That has been fueled by a 25% increase in the number of female hunters and a 144% increase in license sales for hunters aged 10-16.
“If you look at who’s got the biggest hunter participation, Michigan is still in the top five,” says Ashley Autenrieth, a biologist with the Michigan DNR in Gaylord.
“You’ve got Wisconsin, you’ve got Pennsylvania, you’ve got Texas ? those are some of your biggest players right there and they’re seeing very similar trends to what we are.”
Overall, deer hunting in Michigan has been declining for decades. Numbers peaked at almost 900,000 hunters in the mid-90’s then dwindled down to under 500,000 in 2019.
The DNR says the increased numbers this year are great, but they’re unlikely to reverse that trend which is mainly caused by baby-boomers aging out of the sport.
“I think it’d be asking a lot to reverse the trend just given the age structure of our hunters,” says Chad Stewart, a deer and elk specialist with the Michigan DNR.
A lot of Chicago lives in and buys up SW Michigan...Some Hunters, most Democrats.
From MI DNR
With regular firearm season starting November 15th, the DNR reports a 17% increase in the number of deer hunting licenses sold so far this year.
“We’re not sure if this increase is because we are going to see an increase in hunters a-field this year, or if it could just be license-buying behavior is different,” says Ashley Autenrieth, a biologist with the Michigan DNR in Gaylord.
She suggests people are buying licenses earlier this year because they’re at home and have more free time due to COVID-19 restrictions.
But the increased number of deer licenses to date seems to follow an overall increase in hunting and fishing in Michigan this year. The DNR reported a 27% increase for spring turkey hunters and a 9% increase in fishing licenses.
The state has also seen a 95% increase in new hunters since March, according to the Michigan Wildlife Council. That has been fueled by a 25% increase in the number of female hunters and a 144% increase in license sales for hunters aged 10-16.
“If you look at who’s got the biggest hunter participation, Michigan is still in the top five,” says Ashley Autenrieth, a biologist with the Michigan DNR in Gaylord.
“You’ve got Wisconsin, you’ve got Pennsylvania, you’ve got Texas ? those are some of your biggest players right there and they’re seeing very similar trends to what we are.”
Overall, deer hunting in Michigan has been declining for decades. Numbers peaked at almost 900,000 hunters in the mid-90’s then dwindled down to under 500,000 in 2019.
The DNR says the increased numbers this year are great, but they’re unlikely to reverse that trend which is mainly caused by baby-boomers aging out of the sport.
“I think it’d be asking a lot to reverse the trend just given the age structure of our hunters,” says Chad Stewart, a deer and elk specialist with the Michigan DNR.
A lot of Chicago lives in and buys up SW Michigan...Some Hunters, most Democrats.
So someone mentioned in a post that I should get onXmaps and knock on doors of farms. I tried this a couple years ago, but onX shows a lot of farms as a trust with no contact information. Also a little story from last year. I found a land owner that offered 40acres if I gave some of my harvest. I agreed and said I could get at least 1 deer for them and professionally processed. Opening day of bow I shot a nice doe and had it processed for the property owner. And then delivered it to them an hour away. A week later the owner contacted me and said I was no longer allowed on their property because they found someone else to hunt there. They got my meat so they let someone else pay cash for the rest of the year. Lost my ladder stand and trail cam. Owner refused to let me pick them up, and after some thought I decided not to get the sheriff involved for $250 loss. This is why I will not hunt without some written lease again.
Free bump with a story.
The hunting pressure in MI blows. I used to hunt my great ants 100 acre section with some of my immediate family since I could walk. Welp then came along my greasy city-slicker uncle who put her in a home and less then a month after that she was in the ground. And he is the proud new owner of the land. To add insult to injury he took 3/4 of it, we used to farm, and leased it out to a bigger farm. Now every year a week before opening day of bow and rifle he puts me in a group text with 25+ other numbers so we can work out the “hunting” schedule among ourselves. So for the last fifteen years I’ve watch assholes with seeming no clue how to hunt drive the deer to neighboring property’s.
It sucks...
The hunting pressure in MI blows. I used to hunt my great ants 100 acre section with some of my immediate family since I could walk. Welp then came along my greasy city-slicker uncle who put her in a home and less then a month after that she was in the ground. And he is the proud new owner of the land. To add insult to injury he took 3/4 of it, we used to farm, and leased it out to a bigger farm. Now every year a week before opening day of bow and rifle he puts me in a group text with 25+ other numbers so we can work out the “hunting” schedule among ourselves. So for the last fifteen years I’ve watch assholes with seeming no clue how to hunt drive the deer to neighboring property’s.
It sucks...We have 80 acres17 miles east of Big Rapids that hasn't been hunted in 5 years and we live in Wisconsin. We won't be hunting it due to distance. Trout stream, hardwoods, swamp and some open area. PM me if interested.
We have the land and it is for lease. We have been busy taking care of family members with failing health.
Similar threads
Hunting & Fishing
Hunting Education recommendations?
