One national lease-listing site puts the average Michigan hunting lease at about $15–$20 per acre. HuntLease’s 2026 regional estimates are wider, from $4–$12 per acre in the Upper Peninsula up to $20–$40 in the south-central Lower Peninsula, and premium managed ground runs $50–$75 or more. So at $20–$40 an acre, a 100-acre property in south-central Michigan would gross somewhere around $2,000–$4,000 a year.
The trade-off is that someone else hunts your best sits. Lease money also changes your liability, can collide with a forest tax program, and can follow the land into a sale. We’re Michigan Whitetail Properties, in business since 1995 and working in all 83 Michigan counties, and we take each of those costs in turn below.
Key takeaways
- We found no published Michigan hunting-lease rate survey, so every rate here is a labeled estimate, listing average or program maximum.
- The DNR’s Hunting Access Program pays up to $30 per acre for top habitat, but the public hunts it.
- Michigan’s recreational use statute shields landowners from most claims by non-paying users; once a hunter pays, the protection narrows, so have a Michigan attorney review any paid lease.
- Commercial Forest land cannot be leased for payment. Qualified Forest Program land can, if the lease does not break your forest management plan.
- Lease income is ordinary income for federal tax purposes.
What Michigan Hunting Leases Actually Pay
We found no Michigan agency or university survey of hunting-lease rents, so these figures come from lease marketplaces and one public program.
| Region | Typical per acre | Premium managed ground | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| South-central Lower Peninsula | $20–$40 per acre | $50–$75+ per acre | HuntLease |
| Thumb and mid-Michigan | $12–$30 per acre | n/a | HuntLease |
| Northern Lower Peninsula | $6–$18 per acre | n/a | HuntLease |
| Upper Peninsula | $4–$12 per acre | $15–$25 per acre | HuntLease |
| Statewide listing average | $15–$20 per acre | n/a | HLRBO listing data |
| DNR Hunting Access Program (public hunting) | Up to $30 per acre for high-quality habitat | n/a | Michigan DNR |
HuntLease labels its 2026–27 ranges estimates, not survey data. HAP adds $10 per acre from Pheasants Forever for qualifying new grassland enrollments in some southern counties.
100 acres × $20–$40 = $2,000–$4,000 a year, gross, using HuntLease’s south-central Lower Peninsula estimate.
For scale, Michigan farm real estate averaged $7,000 per acre in 2026 (USDA NASS), so a $20 lease returns about 0.3% of that value a year. Compare it with our hunting land maintenance costs guide and other ideas in making Michigan land an income-generating asset.
What Drives the Rate Up or Down
HuntLease’s 2026 Michigan guide cites drivers of hunting lease price per acre including these:
- Deer numbers and pressure. Harvest records and camera history prove production; heavy pressure next door pulls value down.
- Agricultural edge and food plots. Baiting and feeding are banned across the Lower Peninsula, while food plots and standing crops on private land are legal, so crops and plots are the legal draw.
- Access and stand sites that work from day one.
- Exclusivity. One group with exclusive rights versus several sharing.
- Rules you attach, such as hunter caps and guest limits.
In HuntLease’s breakdown, counties such as Hillsdale and Jackson land in the highest-priced Michigan region.
To put a price on your own parcel, begin at the midpoint for your region. Then adjust for what you can document, like harvest records, plots and access. Decide whether you’ll charge per acre or per hunter, and write your rules into the lease.
Liability: The Part Most Landowners Get Wrong
Michigan’s recreational use statute, MCL 324.73301, bars claims by a person on the land “without paying to the owner, tenant, or lessee of the land a valuable consideration” for hunting or other recreation, unless the injury came from gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct. That protection depends on the visitor not paying.
A lease fee is a payment, so ask a Michigan attorney how the statute applies to your lease. Subsection (5) addresses paying hunters and anglers on a farm used in agricultural production, under a lower bar: the owner can be liable for an unreasonably dangerous condition the owner knew of, failed to fix or warn about, and the hunter did not know about.
| Your land | Non-paying guest | Paying hunter |
|---|---|---|
| Working farm | Gross negligence or willful and wanton misconduct standard, MCL 324.73301(1) | Known, unwarned dangerous conditions, MCL 324.73301(5) |
| Timber, swamp or recreational land | Same standard, MCL 324.73301(1) | Subsection (5) names only farms used in agricultural production; ask a Michigan attorney how a paying hunter is treated on other land |
This is our reading of the statute, not legal advice; have a Michigan attorney review your lease.
A written lease should cover:
- Parties, legal description, term and payment dates
- Named hunters, a guest cap, species and seasons
- Stands, vehicles, camping and clearing
- A signed list of known hazards, such as old wells and foundations
- Indemnity, and a requirement that the tenant carry liability insurance naming you as an additional insured, with proof before anyone hunts
- What happens if you sell
Michigan Farm Bureau publishes a sample hunting lease agreement to take to your attorney. Ask your insurer, in writing, whether your policy covers paid hunting.
Once you take lease money, the written lease and the insurance carry the load.
Taxes and the Qualified Forest Program Trap
The USDA Forest Service’s forest landowner tax guide treats hunting lease income as ordinary income, not capital gain. Reporting, deductible expenses and self-employment tax depend on your facts, so talk to a CPA first.
The trap is mixing up Michigan’s two forest tax programs, which treat hunting leases very differently:
| Commercial Forest (DNR) | Qualified Forest Program (MDARD) | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum size | 40 contiguous forested acres | 20 acres |
| Tax benefit | Specific tax of $1.35 per acre (2022–2026) | Exemption from local school operating millage (typically 18 mills), plus a 2-mill annual fee |
| Public access | Open to public foot access to hunt, fish and trap | Not required |
| Paid hunting lease | No consideration allowed for an agreement affecting the land, including a lease | No lease ban in MDARD guidance; follow your forest management plan |
Sources: Michigan DNR; MDARD.
Commercial Forest: leasing means withdrawing the land first, which requires an application and a withdrawal penalty.
Qualified Forest Program: the lease is not the problem; tenant clearing can be. Parcels must stay stocked with productive forest (80% for 20–39.99 acres, 50% for 40+), and you must follow your plan. If clearing converts the land and it leaves the program, recapture tax is taxable value × school operating mills (minus the 2-mill fee) × years enrolled, up to seven, doubled if no harvest occurred, per MDARD. Put no-clearing language in the lease, and see our QFP for hunters guide and Michigan land tax breaks 101.
Principal residence exemption: land adjoining your home qualifies only if it is unoccupied and classified residential or timber-cutover. Treasury’s guidelines do not address hunting leases directly, so ask your assessor before signing.
How a Lease Affects Resale Value
A short written lease with a reliable tenant and harvest records can show a buyer what the ground produces. A verbal deal, a long fixed term, or a tenant’s camper left on site can snag a buyer’s due diligence.
To keep a lease from blocking a sale, use a one-year term with renewal. It’s worth asking a Michigan attorney about a clause that ends the lease if you sell, and whether a buyer would otherwise have to honor it. The lease should also say whether it can be assigned to a buyer. Require tenants to remove stands and equipment at the end, and ask them to share their DNR harvest-report confirmations; reporting has been mandatory since 2022.
Skip leasing land you hunt yourself, land mid-way through a timber harvest or habitat overhaul, and land you expect to list within about 18 months. If a sale is closer than a lease, read our guide to selling hunting land in Michigan or see how to sell your land with us.