Well. We're out unless we want to pay to lease it. I have no experience leasing hunting land. I saw some info stating $6-10/acre as a going rate but I can't afford $6000-$10000 to hunt deer a couple of weekends a year. Does any one have experience leasing "per gun"?
Not sure you need nor will you find 1000 acres to lease. You may have better luck looking for a lease that is 1/8 - 1/4 section and one that you have access to year round. Go after 160 acres, pay a bit more per acre and ask for year round access so you can hunt all three deer seasons, Spring turkey, and Sept Dove seasons, etc. Go into it looking and wanting to manage the land for improved game numbers and quality. $1200 - $2000 for year round access to 160 +/- acres can be worth every penny if you are a die-hard hunter. Of course the more land the better but no reason you can't shoot quality game on far less that a section of land.