Help finding a hunting lease/club

I’m near the coast in SC. Clubs / leases that have a big turnover are that way for a reason. Too many of the bigger ones have a core of older members with a constantly rotating group of new “donors”. They get the shit spots and get out after a year or two. A good club / lease usually has a wait list. I got out of the club scene years ago and have a couple of small farm leases that I hunt with friends and family, a small farm that I live on and a couple of public areas that I’ve hunted for decades. There are some really good WMAs in SC and some really shitty ones. The farther you get from population centers the better off you are. Going mid week is a big advantage. Good luck, our state’s population is exploding and finding places to hunt gets harder and harder.
I do have the ability to go mid week, maybe I’m not an experienced enough whitetail hunter but finding a good spot In the woods is extremely difficult haha as I would imagine it probably is for most people which is why success is lower
 
Had good luck checking with Chamber of Commerce within counties that we were searching for lease. Several didn't have an online posting, but would share info with you over the phone. That's how we secured our current place (in Texas).
 
Had good luck checking with Chamber of Commerce within counties that we were searching for lease. Several didn't have an online posting, but would share info with you over the phone. That's how we secured our current place (in Texas).
That’s a unique idea, did you just call asking if they had any land for lease?
 
That’s a unique idea, did you just call asking if they had any land for lease?
Yes - but it wasn't the county leasing land - it was people who owned (or who were agents) within that county. I think this is probably only useful in counties where hunting is a positive impact to their economy and they want to have hunters coming in with money to spend.
 
I'd quit....
I’d rather have bad hunting than no hunting, but I’m also the type that’s just happy being in the woods. Best day of hunting I’ve ever had wasn’t even a day I harvested anything
 
I’ve been trying to get into the same leases for 3 years just across from my house, but with the continued expansion of developments it’s becoming harder and harder. Several around my house but just can’t get access. Just have to know somebody to get in.
 
I’ve been trying to get into the same leases for 3 years just across from my house, but with the continued expansion of developments it’s becoming harder and harder. Several around my house but just can’t get access. Just have to know somebody to get in.
Or have a use/skill that they need.
 
Ive seen an outfit called "Whitetail Properties" that sells land, and works as a middleman between leasees and landowners. Never leased through them but it did look interesting. A lot of the listings read as you were able to do food plots and trim/clear as necessary. Looked mostly like farmers leasing out timber on their property to hunters.
 
More people here from the upstate of SC than live in some western states, lol.

Sounds like we need to do some sort of meet-up. :)

As for the OP, another thing to think about, especially here in SC is the lottery hunts on the State land. There are youth opportunities as well. You won't draw every year, but it does offer an opportunity for decent hunting once in a while.

I am in the buy, not lease category myself. For the price of a good lease, you can spend that annually on the payments and taxes for a good piece of land and then do what you want on it.
 
I’m in the Piedmont of SC. Hunt private mainly but am on a couple clubs for turkey because you can never have too much ground to turkey hunt

People get leases here and don’t let them go. I’ve been trying to pick one up that borders my property for years but the current lease holder sends his money in early every year. The clubs that I’m on, spots get filled by friends and family

Most of the leases around here are industrial timberland. Not exactly a Mecca for wildlife. But some have 3-10 year old clearcuts which are great to hunt the edges of. And most have hardwood draws and bottoms that can be good too if you can access them

The other thing with leases is loggers. You never know when they will show up and you can usually bet on them showing up at the worst possible time. One club I’m on has been heavily clearcut the last few years. A grown up clearcut will hold some game but when the loggers are finished you can forget about whatever road was going thru the area that got logged. And in my experience landowner communication about timber harvest is terrible. Heck one club I was on years ago I found loggers actively working before daylight one morning when I showed up to hunt. I waited for light, went and got my cameras and stand before the loggers could destroy or steal them
 
Sounds like we need to do some sort of meet-up. :)

As for the OP, another thing to think about, especially here in SC is the lottery hunts on the State land. There are youth opportunities as well. You won't draw every year, but it does offer an opportunity for decent hunting once in a while.

I am in the buy, not lease category myself. For the price of a good lease, you can spend that annually on the payments and taxes for a good piece of land and then do what you want on it.
True 5 years ago, but unless the landowner has been living under a rock, they know land prices in SC have doubled or tripled in the last 5 years.

Some of the draw hunts have really good odds and are ran very well. Make sure you tote a good cushion, as the provided ladder stands sit rough for old joints.
 
I'm in Wnc. Luckily a buddy bought 40 acres and let's me hunt since I help him out on the property. Although its weird using his wifi from my best stand....
I also have a "lease/club" 4.5 hrs away in central NC, 900 acres i hunted it 1 sit last year. It's just to far to drive but its free and my best friend lives down there so I still hunt it when I can.

Been trying to find something within 2hrs of here and I cant find anything. I did find one last summer but was a bad time to try and pay for a lease so I had to let it slip by.
 
I love my lease in AL. 10 members 3500 acres. We have a few members every year cycle out for various reasons takes a few weeks to replace them. Usually replaced by someone who can or had been coming as a guest. Clubs are not for everyone.

Southeastern seasons are long so you get a lot of use out of the lease if you can find one close to home or can get away. My lease is 9 hrs away. Fortunately I can get away for weeks at a time. I get up and leave SWFL at 4 am. I am in camp for late lunch. Do I wish it was four hrs closer. Of course. When I was young you could get in a lease close to home. That aint happening these days in SWFL.

I hope to enjoy it for years to come.
 
I think i'd quit hunting before playing that game. Or drive a little further to where public is half ass decent.
You would be golfing or playing tennis.

More seriously - there is some serious mtn hunting in the Appalacians but few to no animals. The majority of the rest is quota hunts and lease and private property.
 
I’d rather have bad hunting than no hunting, but I’m also the type that’s just happy being in the woods. Best day of hunting I’ve ever had wasn’t even a day I harvested anything
They just yapping - pay them no mind.

You need to check out GON. Then do some searches, this topic gets beat to death every year.

Leases are tough to get and pricey. Timber companies, face book, craigslist, etc. About every lease is snatched up quickly. Get into the system by grabbing a small 20-40 acre lease and hold it. That gives preferential treatment when it is time to bid - sight unseen - on a larger lease.

You will not have time to check these things out - figure out the areas first.

Around Waycross and much of SE GA is dog country - you get archery & ML then you'll have dogs running across your lease. Plus side is you can shoot the deer they run, non-plus side is that the dog hunters will run dogs across your lease. The deer come back but it is irritating.

I can go on. If you can scratch together some cash - buy some land. I leased for a while and had some good and bad experiences. We now own some land.
 
You would be golfing or playing tennis.

More seriously - there is some serious mtn hunting in the Appalacians but few to no animals. The majority of the rest is quota hunts and lease and private property.

Very possible. I was located in the SC low country for the better part of a year for work a little less than a decade ago. Sure had lots of folks hitting deer on the way into work.. Still spent probably 3 weeks hunting in montana that year.
 
Very possible. I was located in the SC low country for the better part of a year for work a little less than a decade ago. Sure had lots of folks hitting deer on the way into work.. Still spent probably 3 weeks hunting in montana that year.
We go where the heart pulls us. Those wide open spaces are real nice.

It is a different world east of the Mississippi - that's for sure.
 
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