ADDITIONAL INCOME AVAILABLE FOR LANDOWNERS IN HUNTING LEASE PROGRAM
—By leasing out their land, woodland owners may be able to profit from the rich tradition of hunting that exists in Wisconsin. An untapped source of income could exist on property that sustains wildlife.
Having exclusive access to private land during hunting season is a price that many hunters are willing to pay. Leasing out deer hunting rights will not only increase a hunter’s chance of success, but the lease payments could be enough to cover landowners’ property taxes. The payments can also go toward funding habitat improvement projects on the property.
Woodland Management Service assists landowners in finding hunters who are willing to pay them for secured hunting land. More hunters are turning to the hunting lease program to avoid the inconvenience and unreliability of public land. Landowners can begin to reap the benefits of this program today.
Many clients in the hunting lease program are farmers or absentee landowners who either do not hunt or who have more land than they need for themselves.
Apprehension sometimes arises when landowners consider liability. Generally, if the lease return is less than $500 per year, state law protects landowners from injuries sustained by hunters on their property. If the lease return exceeds $500, it’s recommended that landowners extend the liability limits of their homeowner’s policy to cover the lease. The additional cost amounts to only a few dollars a year.
Urban hunters are thankful for a place to hunt. Most of these hunters are recognized as ethical hunters and participants in this program have been very pleased with the quality of these tenants in the past.
Interested landowners can obtain a lease form from Woodland Management Service. Woodland owners are not restricted to a set number of wooded acres to join. The lease form provides a property description and an indication of the deer kill in recent years.
Once the lease form is received, a forester will work with the landowner to contract a hunter and determine an appropriate fee to charge. Landowners earn money from the hunting lease program, which they can choose to invest in property taxes or further wildlife habitat improvements on their property.
For more information about the hunting lease program or to schedule an interview, please call Bob Crane at (715) 204-9663
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