Hunters per Acre

[ruination]

I had a couple bad experiences on Public last year so I'm looking into some private leases.  They run a little more than I'm willing to burn by myself, so the question is...how many acres per hunter?

[Bowguy]

You gotta figure that out. Each situation is dif

[1iagobblergetter]

As many as you can afford...

[ruination]

You gotta figure that out. Each situation is dif

Can you give some examples please?

[Geechie]

Depends on on how many hunt the place and how often.

[Brian Fahs]

It's amazing how small any given acreage becomes when hunting spring gobblers. IT'S a whole different ballgame than hunting deer on the back 40. WE have an 1100 acre lease in ohio that is all wooded. 3 guys get crowded there real quickly.

[ruination]

Thanks, that is kind of what I was wondering.  Anyone out there sharing a measly 60 acres of woods with a ton of field?

[Greg Massey]

Four of us hunt 1000 ac and we divide it up into sections and draw for those 4 areas and we don't over run each other at all ...Just because you didn't kill one that morning doesn't mean you want another day..But what really helps us is we don't do all that running and gunning like a lot of younger hunters do...we do move around but it's just to relocate to another part of that area...

[silvestris]

640 acres per hunter as per Ben Lee and I agree.

[drenalinld]

I am in hunting leases that average about 100 acres per member. About 80% deer hunt on opening weekend. This is really too many but it's all many in the club can afford. For turkey hunting it is totally different. I like the 640 acres or square mile as stated above. More is better. As many have said properties can seem very small quickly chasing Spring gobblers. Every property is different. Acquire all you can.

[BowBendr]

640 acres per hunter as per Ben Lee and I agree.

I can agree also. The way turkeys move around, a tract of land can get small real quick.
If you put 1 more hunter inside that 640 and birds only roost in 1 or 2 spots, or you only have 1 field on your tract, you are on top of the other guy real quick. You have to consider that some of the land inside your boundarys aren't a place a turkey would be, that makes it hunt smaller right off the bat.

Lots of deer leases in my area are big but the members also turkey hunt, the leases aren't big enough to support the member population, I prefer to hunt public for that very reason. I gots to have room to roam !

[busta biggun]

I would like to throw in the variable that I would be the most interested in. For me, it is not about the number of hunters I share a spot with, it's the TYPE of hunters I share it with. I have a few good friends who are seasoned hunters that I share an 80 acre patch with and between us all, we usually have 5-6 different people hunting it throughout the season, and usually kill 3-4 birds off the place. There are other spots I go to that are 320 acres and one other dumazz hunter can ruin the whole spot if decides he wants to hunt this year. It all depends on communication, proper hunting ethics, and respect for the wildlife and the other hunters in your group.

[MK M GOBL]

I will typically run on average 15 hunts a year, between Learn to Hunts, Youth Season and 6 weeks of regular season. I just gained an additional 300 acres to the 1600 acres I hunt. We have great success and I would consider "my" ground prime turkey habitat. If you figure that out it's right about 125 acres per hunter, now no one else hunts this ground so birds are only seeing "pressure" from me/or who's with me, and I do rotate where I hunt from day to day and through each of our 6 weekly seasons. I also believe that has a lot to do with it, I was on a lease (turkey only) with some other "hunters" and they had them birds so buggered up it wasn't funny, they spent very little time scouting and learning those birds, they bumped them all the time called from all over and.... you get the picture. We had a self imposed 3 bird limit each (12 birds from 1200 acres) I killed 1 gobbler myself and 2 others with a couple of friends, other than that 1 other tom was killed. I dropped out of the lease the next year... I really think how hunting pressure effects the birds and if you hunt a property (private) "right" you can kill birds from seasons start to seasons end.

MK M GOBL

[turkeyfoot]

Lot of variables there biggest being what type of land where its at the species your hunting 600 acres in Ria or Merriams country might be only big enough for 1 or 2depending on who and how you hunt it like not busting the roost sites and lightly pressuring the birds so they don't move on. Say with easterns again really depends on bird numbers and amount tags your state hands out but I myself can hunt 600 plus acres pretty easy so any more than 1 unless its covered with birds wouldn't work for me I'd rather do public land and big land so no worries about property lines that is the one thing I hate is birds that won't cross a line and just gobble their heads off

[Bowguy]

You gotta figure that out. Each situation is dif

Can you give some examples please?

Ok says its 1000 acres n you wanna turkey hunt it n the birds roost in one area. It's kinda good for one guy. Say it's 500 acres n mostly cow pasture w a few tree lines n a big wood lot. It might be good for 2 guys deer hunting, maybe 3 or 4 but it so depends on neighboring prop. Say you have a long strip of woods that backs to someone else w fields in front. You can't hunt that in the morn without spooking everything in, going out you'd have to hug a edge imo and wind's a giant factor. Again limits you.
Not trying to sound negative but this has to be all thought out or it could be worse than state land.
Now say it's perfect for 5,10, 50 guys divide the cost,  plus insurance, plus posted signs into the number n you'll get a price.
If you can afford more knock the number down.