My question?? Does it work? I see tons of ads where people are seeking a deer lease both here and Craigslist. Does anyone ever get a call/PM from a landowner? I'd like to know the stats on it. My mind tells me it must, other wise folks wouldn't put out an ad, right? Let me know what you think!

I've never tried it but personally I think it would be a waste of time. You might get lucky and have someone contact you that has a lease with openings but I seriously doubt many get calls, emails or PM's from a landowner.
I talked to a guy today that put a lease on craigslist last week and got over 250 emails the first day. When hunters are knocking down the doors of landowners there is little reason for landowners to go out of their way looking for hunters.

Just my humble opinion.

X2

One thing you will find is that alot of those ads are posted by middle men looking to get a place from a land owner and then sub lease it at a higher price to hunters.

I don't think posting a looking for lease ad works very often. I would be scouring the leases advertised and doing my best to contact those with leases. Send an email with your contact info and if no response follow with a call if possible. When I advertised that I had a spot open it was easier to keep track of folks this way. So many inquiries makes it tough to get right back to someone! Another word of advice, read the ad completely before you contact, it amazed me that some of the questions were clearly answered in the posted ad!

You might be surprised. I placed an ad one year in my local Thrifty Nickel and got responses. But a lot may depend on where you are looking too!!

put an ad in the paper of the area you want to hunt thats what we did in breckenridge ran it for 2 weeks and got a lease that we couldnt be happier with

If you've got a large sum of ready cash and you're looking for something specific like a corporate lease, it might work. For the "average Joe" type its a waste of time and server space.

If I was a land owner I wouldn't go that route. Too easy to put an ad out and get 1500 responses.

check at processors/taxidermists in the area you are trying to find a lease, they have an ear to the street a lot of times and may be able to help

I found my last two leases this way, or they found me. I ran an ad in the Fort Worth Star Telegram. Some ranchers don't want to post their personal information and get 250 calls or e-mails to go through and some try to avoid the cost of placing an ad. Both of these ads that I placed were before free classifieds like Craigslist were around. Some of the calls that I got were ridiculous but in the end I got a couple of sweet deals including the lease that I still hunt. When I needed to fill a spot on my lease a couple of years ago and none of my hunting buddies were leaseless I found someone who was looking for a spot on a lease on Craigslist.