North Carolina Hunting Leases

THE HOLY GRAIL OF HUNTING PURSUITS

Who would have thought that North Carolina hunting leases would be harder to hunt down than the actual game we are after? Well, as impossible as leases are to find in North Carolina, if you do find one, you better have your ducks in a row.

Ok, let’s assume you have won the lottery and found an available lease in North Carolina that meets your needs and price. What to do now to 1) Protect yourself and 2) Protect the longevity of the lease? As we all know, if you do not have a well written lease agreement, it is likely that the next big money that walks through the owner’s door, may possibly have your lease next year. It happens EVERY SINGLE DAY.

First, we are land brokers, land owners ourselves, and manage land for hunting, but we are not real estate attorneys. The information in this article is strictly common sense advice we feel will benefit anybody looking for a lease but does not constitute legal advice. Unless you want to write your own lease agreement (100% allowed as long as you are party to the lease, but not recommended) then you will need to get an attorney to draft a comprehensive lease agreement for you anyway, so discuss all of the details with them and get their legal counsel before signing anything.

The Basics

1) Get it in writing! In North Carolina, real estate agreements are generally required to be in writing. ( There may be some exceptions for short term agreements, again, we are not attorneys!) You can get a standard hunting lease agreement HERE (along with our favorite hunting lease insurance, which you will need as well)

2) Keep it simple but make it comprehensive – You do not want to overwhelm the landowner but there are so many nuances to contracts that need to be covered. Actually, it is impossible even for the best of attorneys to cover every scenario but there are certainly basics that must be included in a lease agreement to protect yourself.

3) Get ALL parties to sign. Make sure sure you are dealing with the owner and all of the owners. It is common now for scammers, as well as unknowing owners, to lease land and take payment, all while knowing that there are other owners. If you do not get ALL owners of record, PLUS spouses to sign, you do NOT have an enforceable contract. Our advice? Get your attorney to perform a title search just as if you were buying the land. You can thank us later.

4) Don’t squabble over price. Unless something crazy like hundreds of dollars per acre, it will always be cheaper to lease than buy. Hunting leases just barely even exist anymore. If you don’t pay the price, somebody else will, gladly. Within reason, just pay the price and lock it down.

The Details

1) Get a multi year lease agreement with annual options to renew for the entire term of the lease. That protects you for the entire duration of the lease but also gives you the right to bug out each year if a hardship comes up. Just do this, please.

2) If there is a “kill” clause in the contract, (termination upon sale) then make sure the lease rate is prorated based on the number of days in the hunting season, not the days in the year.

3) Address who can hunt with you in the contract, members, guests, etc. If you do not and you are the only one on the lease, and there is no language providing for guests or members, you will be hunting by yourself.

4) If the land is accessed by an easement make sure the agreement provides use of the easement. A little overkill perhaps but better safe than sorry.

5) Make sure the lease is “exclusive” meaning nobody else, including the owner can hunt it.

6) If you want to eliminate all possible interference from others during specific times or seasons, make sure the access is “exclusive” during those times as well. It is really up to you to determine how much other interference you can stand during the course of the year and to address that in the agreement. Be prepared though, leased land, especially if there is farmland or managed timber on it, will have some interference during the year.

7) Be clear about farmers, foresters, timber harvesting, etc on the property and how that impacts you. Address any needs about these or any other potential conflicts in the contract. You are probably going to be paying a premium price for any lease, if you can even find one, so you deserve the right to name your terms, within reason. Many, many hunting leases go bad when the landowner decides to cut timber during hunting season. Make sure this is addressed in the contract either by exclusion, or at the very least, refund of lease payments, a credit, or a longer term to compensate.

8) If an attorney for the landowner drafts the contract make sure there are no burdensome requirements or terms that would make it easy for the landowner to terminate if you broke one of the “rules”. We have seen some incredible contracts over the years, many pages long, that were drafted 100% in the landowner’s favor. Read the contract and understand the fine print and make sure it is not a one way contract.

The Take Away

North Carolina hunting leases are incredibly hard to find now. We have one of the highest number of licensed hunters of any state in the nation and are losing land daily to growth and development. GROUNDBROKERS manages and leases hunting land throughout North Carolina and we will discuss some ideas and resources in the future for finding leases in North Carolina. In the meantime, if you do find a lease, be prepared to move very quickly and to probably pay a premium. Please get legal advice and have a well written contract prepared just like you would for any other real estate lease. The days of handshake deals may not be completely over but the days of them being long term probably are.

GROUNDBROKERS greatly appreciates the opportunity to discuss your land with you. If you are interested in selling your land and would like a no obligation, no hassle review of your land please CONTACT US. If you have any other land needs we are more than happy to help. We love discussing rural land, just reach out to let us know how we can help or if you just want to chat about North Carolina land!