Is your farm located in a state where hunters are actively searching for hunting leases?

Due to habitat destruction, quality hunting land continues to decline in availability. With simple supply and demand, the latter continues to increase throughout the nation. That’s especially true for white-tailed deer and deer hunters, which are being impacted more greatly than other species and associated hunters. Without question, some states are seeing higher demand for hunting land than others, too. Here are the top five states where hunting land is in high demand.

  1. Ohio

Ohio (https://ohiodnr.gov/buy-and-apply/hunting-fishing-boating/hunting-resources/hunting-regulations) is full of whitetails, and holds about 700,000-800,000 of them statewide. With about 275,000-280,000 deer hunters, the hunting pressure exists, but remains manageable.

Ohio offers a wide range of diverse habitat. From ag ground to big-woods hill country, deer have plenty of places to roam. Furthermore, the gun seasons fall outside the rut, allowing bucks to reach older age classes. This makes it especially popular among bowhunters.

The Buckeye State currently holds the No. 5 spot for Boone & Crockett whitetails. A lot of its entries have been entered since 2000, indicating a positive direction in herd management. While the entire state has the potential for big deer, the southern third of it produces most of its top-end whitetails.

Another reason Ohio is in such high demand is due to legal baiting. Hunters can deploy a feeder that lasts for weeks and come back once time to hunt. That makes it easier to attract, hold, and pattern deer. Plus, over-the-counter licenses and tags are quite affordable.

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Find Your Hunting Lease: Browse Ohio Deer Hunting Leases (https://www.basecampleasing.com/searchstates/ohio_map.htm)

Hunters are ready and willing to lease hunting land for them, their families, and their friends.
  1. Missouri

The state of Missouri (https://mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/species/deer) has a lot of whitetails. The state’s herd is approximately 1.5 million strong, and just shy of half a million deer hunters head afield each season.

Like other states on this list, Missouri is known for its great deer habitat. The southern half of the state offers good deer hunting, but the northern half produces most of its trophy deer. The closer you get to the Iowa border, the better the hunting gets.

Landing at No. 7 on the B&C list, it’s clear this state cranks out top-end whitetails. Like Ohio, a good number of the Show Me State’s record entries were taken in the past couple decades. In fact, six of the top 10 typicals and seven of the top 10 non-typicals were harvested since 2000.

A state known for its rut-based rifle season, Missouri grows big deer and gives gun hunters a legitimate chance to tag them. Furthermore, it’s over-the-counter licenses and tags are moderately priced. On top of that, it’s a two-buck state.

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Find Your Hunting Lease: Browse Missouri Deer Hunting Leases (https://www.basecampleasing.com/searchstates/missouri_map.htm)

  1. Indiana

One of the most overlooked states for hunting is Indiana (https://www.in.gov/dnr/fish-and-wildlife/wildlife-resources/animals/white-tailed-deer/). It offers excellent big game hunting opportunities, great wildlife habitat, and opportunities for heavy-antlered whitetails. While it’s deer population total is still unknown, there are a lot of deer here, and a little over 300,000 hunters who hunt them each year.

In terms of records, Indiana continues to be a sleeper state. It doesn’t rank as highly as other states on the records list, but those who know … know. This state is climbing the ranks at a faster pace than other top producers. Hunters who hunt here are seeing big-time rewards.

Currently, Indiana is also home of the U.S. record typical, which was shot in 2021. Without question, this is yet another example of why the Hoosier State continues to be a top-tier option. Not to mention affordable over-the-counter licenses and tags.

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Find Your Hunting Lease: Browse Indiana Deer Hunting Leases (https://www.basecampleasing.com/searchstates/indiana_map.htm)

Hunting leases have been around for quite a long time and have benefited hunters and landowners alike.

Hunting leases provide more opportunities for hunters to hunt land exclusively without the added pressure that hunting public land provides. On the landowner side, it provides a new source of income that can be used to offset farming costs, or basic property taxes.

  1. Kentucky

The Bluegrass State (https://fw.ky.gov/Hunt/Pages/Deer.aspx) is loaded with deer and supports a herd that’s nearly 1 million strong. With less than a third that many deer hunters, the hunting pressure is low (compared to other states).

From east to west, Kentucky’s landscape looks very different. Flat, open expanses in western Kentucky, rolling hill in central counties, and mountains in eastern Kentucky, big whitetails are found throughout each of these habitat types. (Not to mention an abundance of beautiful river corridors.) However, most record-class bucks are coming from the northwestern rows of counties (https://fw.ky.gov/Hunt/Pages/Deer-Hunting-Stats.aspx) that parallel the Ohio River, starting in north-central Kentucky and moving down to the southwestern region.

A significant reason hunters prioritize Kentucky is due to an over-the-counter chance at a velvet buck. Archery season opens the first full weekend in September, which oftentimes provides several days, if not longer, to bag a velvet deer.

At No. 6 on the B&C rankings list, Kentucky continues to maintain a significant reputation for record-class whitetails. More importantly, most of its top-20 typicals and non-typicals were harvested in the past few decades.

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Find Your Hunting Lease: Browse Kentucky Deer Hunting Leases (https://www.basecampleasing.com/searchstates/kentucky_map.htm)

  1. Illinois

Illinois (https://dnr.illinois.gov/hunting/deerhunting.html) has been proving itself as a top hunting destination for longer than any other state on this list. It’s an original big buck state and continues to uphold that title. It will for years to come.

The Land of Lincoln boasts incredible habitat with a lot of agriculture, edge cover, and otherwise ideal terrain for whitetails and other game animals to thrive. More than ¾ million whitetails roam the landscape here, and only about 300,000 hunters pursue them.

Sitting at No. 2 on the list of top B&C whitetail states, Illinois has long been a top-three state. Incredibly, four of its counties land inside the country’s top 20 counties list, and most of Illinois’ biggest typical and non-typical bucks do not even come from these counties. While this state implements a draw for non-resident hunters, odds of pulling a tag are quite high.

Lease Your Hunting Land: Contact Base Camp Leasing (https://www.basecampleasing.com)

Find Your Hunting Lease: Browse Illinois Deer Hunting Leases (https://www.basecampleasing.com/searchstates/illinois_map.htm)

Some states have higher hunting land demand than others, but all have potential.

Other Hotspot States

If you are a landowner seeking to lease your land to a hunter, and you own property in one of the above states, odds are good you’ll lease that land in short order. Even if in other states, hunting land has never been in greater demand than it is right now. Contact Base Camp Leasing (https://www.basecampleasing.com) and start this easy, safe, and profitable process.

If you’re a hunter (https://www.basecampleasing.com), and you choose to lease hunting land in a state listed above, chances are great it will be a solid experience. Regardless, find the destination that makes the most sense for you. Other states are proving to show high demand for hunting ground as well. Some of these include Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and many more. Find the property that checks your boxes and get ready for an awesome hunting season.