# hunting leased land question



## buzzing byrd (Feb 27, 2008)

If a friend leases land to farm, does he have the right to give me permission to hunt? He told me I can hunt, but I want to be on the right side of the law.

thanks,


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## Flathead King 06 (Feb 26, 2006)

I would think to be on the safe and legal side the lease should stipulate whether hunting rights are included in the lease of the land, as a lease for farming is just that, a lease to farm the land.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Yep, it's all dependent on how the lease agreement is written.
Obviously, hunting outfitters lease land for the sole purpose of allowing other people to hunt. But that doesn't mean he's allowed to let other people. But he should know how the lease is written.


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## Misdirection (Jul 16, 2012)

I would ask your friend to put the permission in writing for you to be able to hunt in his lease...at a minimum, that would give you a little room to stand on should it ever become an issue.

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## the_ghost (May 5, 2011)

I agreed with everyone! I have a hunting lease in Missouri but the farming is leased out to someone else.
I respect his crops and he has no interest in hunting! He is completely out of there by deer gun.


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## Skunkedagain (Apr 10, 2004)

My lease says that I can give permission to hunt, but only if I am there also. I also have to fill out a permission slip for them.


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## buzzing byrd (Feb 27, 2008)

thanks for the replies, he said he has hunting rights and gave me written permission on the permission form from odnr website that i printed off.


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

None of the farmers I know have hunting rights included in their leases and have zero authority on who hunts the property they farm. That doesn't mean they don't have some control and say in the matter - they have a relationship with the landowner. But at the end of the day they have no rights at all to permit permission or hunt themselves.

I could see a hunting farmer including such langauge - all the farmers I know are far too busy to hunt much. They work and their family and friends do the hunting in all but a few situations I am close to.

I can hunt 600 acres of ground owned by a German Land Investment Company - because the leasing farmer allows me to. But, I am well aware if the issue was ever pushed I don't have permission and could be prosecuted. I haven't hunted it in years....since I quit small game hunting. 

I'd be careful if the land is owned by anybody local.....I've seen this exact situation cause infighting and leased ground lost due to a leasing farmer allowing folks to hunt when landowner didn't know about it (and didn't like it when his relatives complained to him about others on the property). Folks get VERY protective of their ground...one farmer told me tresspassing was like walking right in his house without knocking - you might get shot!


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## Misdirection (Jul 16, 2012)

Fish-N-Fool said:


> None of the farmers I know have hunting rights included in their leases and have zero authority on who hunts the property they farm. That doesn't mean they don't have some control and say in the matter - they have a relationship with the landowner. But at the end of the day they have no rights at all to permit permission or hunt themselves.
> 
> I could see a hunting farmer including such langauge - all the farmers I know are far too busy to hunt much. They work and their family and friends do the hunting in all but a few situations I am close to.
> 
> ...


I think in this case the farmer owns the land and leased the hunting rights to a friend of the op.

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## Taco (Jan 4, 2009)

As a landowner I highly encourage you get permission from the landowner if you plan on walking on their property with a firearm...your friend may very well have negotiated the rights to hunt for him and his friends but I wouldn't take his word for it. confirmation from the land owner is simple, courteous, and risk free (ish).


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

buzzing byrd said:


> thanks for the replies, he said he has hunting rights and gave me written permission on the permission form from odnr website that i printed off.


The last line for signature of the ODNR Permission slip says "Landowner-or Agent". I don't know how AGENT is defined from a legal standpoint. There is a lot of farm land leasing around my area. The farmers seem to assume this gives them "owership rights", from allowing people in their families-or who work for them to hunt/trap, to cutting down all the trees and shrubs along the roadways adjacent to their leases! I think most of these assumed rights are not written but verbally given, which will not protect you-or the landowner. 
There's also at the top of the Permission Form, a written reference to "releasing the LANDOWNER from any and all liability for personal injuries, property damage, or for the loss of life or property resulting from, or in any way connected with the issuance of this permit"! This is a State law to protect the landowner from recreational land useage. I DON"T think a leasing farmer can guarantee this for the landowner, and therefore, personally would not hunt land he leased with a permit from the farmer! If he can, in fact, produce a written lease(and give me a copy for the sheriff/game warden), that specifically says he is the (AGENT??) for the owner, and can grant hunting priveledges, then I might reconsider. A $1000 fine and 6 months in county jail just does not seem to me to be worth a squirrel/duck or two, or a deer for that matter.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

c. j. stone said:


> The last line for signature of the ODNR Permission slip says "Landowner-or Agent". I don't know how AGENT is defined from a legal standpoint. There is a lot of farm land leasing around my area. The farmers seem to assume this gives them "owership rights", from allowing people in their families-or who work for them to hunt/trap, to cutting down all the trees and shrubs along the roadways adjacent to their leases! I think most of these assumed rights are not written but verbally given, which will not protect you-or the landowner.
> There's also at the top of the Permission Form, a written reference to "releasing the LANDOWNER from any and all liability for personal injuries, property damage, or for the loss of life or property resulting from, or in any way connected with the issuance of this permit"! This is a State law to protect the landowner from recreational land useage. I DON"T think a leasing farmer can guarantee this for the landowner, and therefore, personally would not hunt land he leased with a permit from the farmer! If he can, in fact, produce a written lease(and give me a copy for the sheriff/game warden), that specifically says he is the (AGENT??) for the owner, and can grant hunting priveledges, then I might reconsider. A $1000 fine and 6 months in county jail just does not seem to me to be worth a squirrel/duck or two, or a deer for that matter.


You're making a lot of assumptions, most of which are incorrect.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

M.Magis said:


> You're making a lot of assumptions, most of which are incorrect.


You could be right but could you be more specific? I am no lawyer(maybe you are, or someone on here is and can straighten us out) but I read the form in my regs and pointed out my interpretations. Any other comments are actual observations. I have thought about this topic a lot and welcome any better clarafication on it.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

The liability issues, who can and can&#8217;t give permission, and what rights are transferred are nearly always spelled out very clearly in the lease agreement. I would like to think they&#8217;re always spelled out, but I&#8217;m sure there are people out there that don&#8217;t think if it. If someone leases the hunting rights, they would typically also take on the liability. Of course, we all know that a land owner can still be sued if the court feels an injury was caused by their negligence, but that&#8217;s just part of being a land owner. Crop leases, at least around here, only grant rights to the crop ground for farming purposes. But, it seems that in some places they get almost full access to the land. That seems strange to me, but a lot of land owners agree to it. I think most areas have standard lease forms, and they&#8217;re just tweaked here and there.


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