Sharing a Hunting Lease and Gear: 4 Tips for Best Results

Sharing a hunting lease is a popular way to manage the rising costs of land. A team effort is becoming a more viable option to help share the cost and expense of private land hunting opportunities. Joining a hunting club or leasing land as a group may actually be more affordable than you think.

To be clear, a shared lease will be trying, There will be challenges to make a shared lease work. A hunting lease will likely cost more than a typical hunting club membership, and will have higher hunter densities. However, when done right, sharing a lease, and the gear that goes with it, is a great way to broaden your hunting options each season. Here are a few tips for success when it comes to sharing leases and gear with other hunters.

Sharing Maps

There was a time when paper maps plastered to a hunting camp wall or table was the only means of showing other lease members the lay of the land. Hunters would enthusiastically congregate around these maps to display and discuss their intentions for the day or weekend of hunting. There is a more effective method now days, but the nostalgia for this mapping system will probably endure for years to come.

Smartphone mapping has revolutionized hunting. A range of new digital apps has changed the way many hunters play the game each time they step into the woods. With each lease member having the onX app loaded on their phone, hunters can now share maps and waypoints with other club members. You simply add/select a waypoint you want to share with lease members and tap the share button to open sharing options. You then share the map and waypoint via text message or email to other lease members. This makes it possible to share maps from the convenience of your truck, tree stand, dinner table, or couch. Waiting around to go over a paper map is a thing of the past. You can always know where you are and where you’re going thanks to onX’s rapid map access and sharing features.

Sharing Deer Stand Placement

Signing in and placing a pushpin on the map where you intend to hunt for the day was the former practice for many hunting clubs and leases. These maps are available for checking in and out before and after the hunt on the walls of the barn or hunting camp. Again, there’s a special excitement and camaraderie that comes when gathering around these sacred locations, however, they aren’t always the most convenient or efficient means of letting other hunters know what stand you’re planning to hunt.

The onX app allows you to easily share stand locations with your hunting buddies across the farm. Every stand location can be entered into the app with the opportunity to add notes regarding wind direction and best options for that particular stand location. You can also color code pins, markers and waypoints to better organize the process for club members.

Sharing Intel

For deer hunters, the ease of scouting and obtaining intelligence has never been greater. The advent of cellular trail cameras has completely changed the trail camera industry. The days of waiting for trail cam photographs to be processed for review are long gone. Additionally, hunters no longer need to physically visit the land to check a camera thanks to the advent of the cellular trail camera. Photos can now be sent directly to your smartphone for instant intel on what the deer are doing on the property you’re hunting.

Through group text messaging, hunters can immediately distribute these images to other club members. With so many hunters coming and going and taking SD cards from a trail camera, it’s a terrific approach to prevent too much human pressure on the property. It goes without saying that having honest club members who are eager to share the information they discover is crucial. That just might be the biggest challenge in the process.

Sharing Access

When it comes to how things should be done on a lease, access can be another point of contention among club members. While some want to drive their ATV or UTV all the way to the base of their tree, others prefer to restrict traffic to foot movement only. Setting clear rules that everyone can follow and adhering to them is crucial. You don’t want, or need, any surprises when it comes to accessing a tree stand.

Sharing access among club members can be rather easy once you have a strategy in place, especially if you use the onX app. No longer do you have to physically walk or drive a hunter to a stand. You simply share the waypoint and turn them loose to navigate their way to the stand with the onX tool in their hand. With the app’s Tracker feature, you can even share a saved “Track” that will enable people to trace the path all the way to the tree stand. Bid farewell to reflector tacks and orange flagging tape. Even in total darkness, you may use this app to find your way to an unfamiliar stand. It’s a great way to share the best access routes with other club members to help eliminate unwanted pressure on your deer herd.

A few other things to keep in mind when it comes to access are gates and gear. It goes without saying that club members will want to keep things locked up. This is easily accomplished with key code or bluetooth lock boxes at gates, as well as clubhouse, barn, and shop doors. Master Lock offers a variety of options to keep your gates and gear protected from potential thieves, while allowing easy access for all your club members at the push of a button.

Keep your hunting lease running smoothly this hunting season with a strategic plan to share and secure your game plan, and gear, throughout the season.

Article contribution by Mossy Oak Properties. The Mossy Oak Properties land brokerage network was launched in 2003 and has since grown to over 100 franchised brokerages in over 30 states throughout the country.