Alabama is one of my favorite destinations to go hunting. While there is a good amount of public hunting lands available, if you plan on frequent hunting trips, you may want to consider finding hunting land for lease in Alabama. It’s not always clear where you should start your search, so I’m going to cover the different regions of the state and various resources to help you track down just the right hunting lease.
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Alabama Deer Hunting Leases
Deer hunting is by far the most popular in Alabama, and good hunting land is always in demand. The two sources that I’ve found to have the best leads on hunting leases are forums and organizations like AFOA.
For forums, I would check out aldeer.com and al.com. These forums are very active, and always seem to have a good number of deer hunting land for sale and lease.
How to Find Alabama Hunting Land for Sale by Owner
If you don’t want to deal with bigger groups like AFOA, and would rather deal with a landowner directly, then you might be surprised to know that there are tons of listings for sale by owner on Craigslist.
The Craigslist website is subdivided into cities like Birmingham, Auburn, Columbus, Dothan, Gadsden, Huntsville, Mongomery, and more. Just pick the area you would like to search, enter in a search like “hunting land for sale” or “hunting land for lease” and Craigslist will do the work for you.
Hunting Land in the Black Belt Region
The black belt region is known for its rich layer of black dirt topsoil. The region cuts a wide swath across Alabama, vaguely resembling a belt around the midsection of the state.
The eastern to central portions of the black belt consist of hickory and oak forested areas. The western section of the belt coincides with the upper reaches of the Tensaw and Mobile rivers. In these areas, you have prairies of short grass and high ridges of pine forest.
These features provide excellent hunting opportunities. No doubt, this also explains the high number of hunting lodges operating across the region. The black belt has an excellent habitat for wild turkey, quail, ducks, and trophy class whitetail deer.
North Alabama
Hunting land for lease in north Alabama is very popular as well. Some of the best deer hunting is in northern counties like Marion, Lawrence, and Jackson. Deer harvest numbers have been solid and on the rise in these counties.
Northern Alabama has excellent habitat for whitetail deer, turkey, and more. I would use the same forums and craigslist to search for hunting land to lease in these areas.
Weyerhaeuser Hunting Land for Lease in Alabama
Weyerhaeuser is a huge forestry company that operates across the south from Texas, across to the Carolinas. They have a lot of timberland to manage for long term sustainability, and doing that responsibly means they need to leave areas of the forest alone for years at a time to let the land replenish.
Weyerhaeuser has a special website devoted to recreational leases, not only hunting, but hiking, camping, and fishing as well.
To find land to lease, you need to use their interactive map showing reserved and available lands. Once you find good candidates, you then submit a bid for a year of exclusive rights. It’s then up to the landowner to accept or reject your offer.
Public Hunting Land in Alabama
Options for public hunting land are pretty good in Alabama. There are over 1.3 million acres of public hunting lands, 775,000 of which are in Wildlife Management Areas managed by the Alabama Department of Conservation. You can use an interactive map tool to find a WMA near you.
The WMAs in Alabama having specific seasons and bag limits, so it’s best to consult their website for that information.
Also of note, is the Forever Wild Land Trust. The AFWLT was established in 1992, thanks to a state constitutional amendment, and has since gone on to purchase over 227,000 acres of land for the trust.
The Forever Wild trust is an important organization, as they are the only entity able to purchase land tracts at a time when the WMA is losing land.
Alabama Hunting Land Resources
- Outdoor Alabama – Public Lands and Wildlife Management
- Alabama Forever Wild Land trust
- Craigslist – Alabama Hunting Land
- Foggy Trail – Hunting land leases listings
More Hunting Land for Lease
- Georgia
- North Carolina
- Florida
- Mississippi
- Tennessee
I’ve always wanted to purchase my own ranch or property where I can do some hunting. Good thing I came across your post and the options you provided where I could get a good deal. I will try checking out the available properties for lease in North Alabama since you mentioned that deer hunting is popular there. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for mentioning the Alabama Forest Owners’ Association as a resource for forest landowners advertising their private property for lease to hunters searching for hunting land in your article. Please tell what AFOA actually stands for: Alabama Forest Owners’ Association. AFOA members have been leasing forestland to hunters since 1989 with over 3 million acres leased each year since 2004.
In your paragraph titled “How to find Alabama hunting land for sale by owner” you state that “If you don’t want to deal with bigger groups like AFOA, and would rather deal with a land owner directly…”. When someone is searching for hunting land (forestland land) to purchase and they find a property on the AFOA Forestland For Sale webpage they deal straight with the landowner or the landowner’s agent depending on the listing. AFOA does not get involved, period. AFOA offers free Forestland For Sale listings for it’s members and paid listings for professionals. The buyer is typically dealing with the landowner directly with the free member listings (non highlighted listings). AFOA is never involved in the sale. The same goes for hunting land for lease. AFOA is only providing an avenue to advertise a member’s land for lease.
We also now have a Facebook Group just for hunters called AFOA Hunting.
Again, thank you for mentioning AFOA.
Good info, Thank you Billy.
Looking for turkey , hunting in Alabama …. for 2019 season, over 30 years experience.