What state???

 

There was a deal on Craigslist a few months ago where an outfit was offering parts of some land out in West Texas that was supposed to be PRIME hunting land... it was on some ranch out there, and the deal was a lease purchase plan. The prices they were offering were really low, so I did some further checking on it. Come to find out, it was pretty much barren desert a tumbleweeds, and numerous complaints had been filed with the TX state attorney general's office. The old saying is true 95% of the time... if it sounds or seems to good to be true, more than likely it is.

 

its in michigan

this is not an outfitter and i have discussed all terms with guy and even walked property, it is defintitely not barren land and there is a ton of deer sign.

i guess what im sayin is how do i know, or can i find out, if the guy offering the lease does infact own the property or have rights to lease it out?

 

Is the lease in Calhoun county? Two guys I work with got into a lease there last and got it through Craigs list.

 

You can check with the county to see who pays the property taxes on it. Taxes are public information.

 

You can always check out the prop on the Gis system ,or go to the court house and find out the owners name .Than contact the owner and ask the same questions your asking here .It's not all that hard but it will take a little time .Good luck.

 

I got on a lease last year from Craigslist. It was legit EXCEPT that I was told there were 10 hunters total on the lease and of them 5 only gun hunted. I stopped counting fresh face encounters on various mornings when I reached 17. Needless to say I didn't re-up.

 

wow.....yeah, forget that

i turned down another lease oppurtunity i had earlier this year because the owner wanted his bro-in-law to have rights and then also says that his neighbor hunts it from time to time.....it was only 25 acres and really only had one good ambush point......which his bro was set up at and wanted no others to use his setup.......took my chances and held out for something else

 

the plat map book shows the land being registered to a business that he says his parents owned and have since retired from......they have moved out of state and have left him the land and house

like i say......seems legit, but i guess anyone could get this type of info and make up a story......and he seems to have no holes in his story and i asked a TON of questions

 

A few years back I noticed a guy offering leases on Craiglist for properties that were available on a leasing website. I imagine he would try to get enough guys to cover the lease and then lease it. Any more he could add would be money in his pocket.

 

this guy does not hunt so i think im good there.

i do appreciate any info you guys may have though!!......keep it coming!!

 

It doesnt back up to a prison area does it?

 

no it doesn't......i wish....lol.....i work right near jax prison and have seen some biggins out there!!!

 

I'm always suspicious when they won't directly answer the questions that they are being asked (almost like it's a secret), kind of like this guy. He won't give the acreage or price for some reason. http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1845650

 

he has a spot for 3 hunters, but only 2 openings?......makes me think he is tryin to sublease to raise money or cover costs.....is fishy regardless

 

You do know every Michigan hunter in that area is on craigslist looking for it Now. Lol.

 

yuuup.....and good luck to them.....add has been deleted and was only listed for less than 12 hrs....gotta be quick to get the deals off CL

 

I would make sure I get everything in writing.

 

Go ask the neighbors. They will tell you everything you need to know.

 

this is probaly the best idea yet.....i like it


i do have an update for you guys......everything is turning out to be true and as he described......i checked tax records and did a little invetigating of my own and found he is actually third
generation of his family that has owned the land for many moon......so, a huge weight has been lifted and feel really good about this place......c'mon october 1st!!!!!!

 

Happens allot.

Buddies paid a guy $5000.00 for a lease. Come to find out he didnt own it and they never got there money back. They hunted it two months. He once worked as a ranch hand for the owner and knew they lived in an other state.

Do lots of background check before forking out cash.
DB

 

this is kinda the type of situation i thought i may have been dealing with......but it is nowhere near 5K, i would go on a manhunt

 

I worked all summer on a guys farm in exchange for exclusive permission to hunt it this season. Little did I know that the farm was going into foreclosure and the farmer was ordered to vacate the premises last week. Bow season opened on Friday. Our agreement originated via a craigslist ad. Good times!!!

 

It happened to a friend of mine at work. A guy here in Georgia offered my friend a hunting lease down by Cusseta GA for $500 for the duration of time he was stationed at Fort Benning. Amazing restate and showed in a bunch of pictures of deer and turkey from the lad. He said there would only be 6 or 8 hunters for the year. Turns out the guy leased it to several dozen hunters. There were hunters everywhere and they were all told the same thing.

Hunting lease fraud does happen!

 

thanks for all the input guys.....keep it coming so others can become educated and aware of possible scams out there!!

 

Leasres, guided hunts are commonly advertised scams on Craigslist. Buyer beware. Do your homework before you send any money. Write down the guy's driver's license #, DOB and address.

 

yeah...i see out of state hunts pop up all the time on CL....they always seem fishy

 

Just as long as he doesnt ask you to pay by paypal as a gift , you should be ok!!

 

You might want to invest in plat books of the counties you are considering.

 

sooooo.......i have an update as to my situation at this point......which doesn't look good.

apparently the guy i was making a deal with was infact the landowners son, but may not have had full rights to property. deal was made and 2 days later the guy calls me and says he found a stand out there and not sure who's it may be(family friend or trespasser).....so he talks to his dad and finds out that its his dads friend who has been given rights to hunt there.....dad also says no deal for lease and the guy says we will have to meet this weekend to give money back......that was last weekend......now here we are almost a week later and i still do not have money back in my pocket......i was getting reasons and excuses until yesterday when he fianlly tells me that the money has been spent(which i had figured).......i still have contact with the guy and upon last conversation i made it very clear that if there is no money or collateral in my hand by saturday, i will be forced to get the law involved. he seems to be genuinely sorry about the situation, but i cant really get a good read on this guy at this point, so idk, guess we will see what happens


i have also talked to the state police about my predicament and they suggested that since i still have contact that i should give the guy a deadline(which i have done) and wait......if still nothing at that point then i may be able to press criminal fraud charges on him because it was not in his rights to lease property......if he did have the rights, i would be going to small claims court(which is most likely not even worth it)

i hate people......

 

That SUCKS!!

 

Yeah that does suck. Hope you get your money back. Remember, always get everything in writing. It's a shame you can't trust anyone anymore.

 

Getting a hunting lease is just like buying a car. If you think something is fishy or to good to be true it probably is. Trust your instinct and you 'most of the time" will be alright. I jumped into a lease off craigslist 2 years ago because it looked great and emotions were running high. Turned out to be a disaster ie: no deer, neighbors hunting, family reunions, etc, etc. I found my current lease on craigslist and couldnt be happier. Nicest farmer you will ever meet and good deer. He even lets me deduct food plot and corn cost off my lease cost! Just saying there are good deals to be found, you just need to trust your gut! Hope the lease works out great for you!!

 

Michigan sounds a lot like Florida. Full of crooks.

My brother went on a paid hunt up there, showed up with 17 other guys. The "outfitter" never did show. My brother happened on permission nearby, killed a forkhorn. Took the forkhorn to the "outfitter's" trailer and gutted it on the porch.

 

it's even worse then i thought.....

turns out the guy who ran off with my money currently has 4 misdemeanor warrants for his arrest......some from last year and he hasn't been picked up yet

and..........now theres an ad on CL from another guy like me who is looking for info on the scammer......so it seems as i am not the only one who has been screwed, maybe even more than the two of us, who knows.....

this other guy and i both have the police involved at this point and hopefully they will be able to issue felony fraud warrants and go pick this piece of trash up. the trooper says he wants to issue the felony warrants before they get him so it will be easier to keep him.

i been swindled....dooped.....suckered.........straight up robbed!!!!!.......damn i feel like an idiot, he had all the facts and the deal seemed very legit, but it turns out most of it was only about half true

the other guy found out the hard way when him and his 13yr old son were approach by a neighbor with an assault rifle on the first day of the youth hunt and told to "get off the property, whatever deal you have made with the landowners son is not valid and you need to leave at once".....the neighbor seems to have been assigned to watch over the property while they are out of state.....they left, but called the police at that point


man i just wanna get a hold of this guy and make him eat his teeth, but that aint gonna fix nothing cause then i'd be in trouble for whoopin his ass


....a regular ol' catch 22