HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut hunters generate around $1.6 million in revenue for the state, yet despite relatively steady hunting license sales over the past few years, finding a hunting spot can still be a problem for many sportsmen.

According to the financial ranking site 247WallSt, Connecticut comes in at No. 45 on their list of states with the most registered hunters. In fact, hunters making up less than 1% of the state’s overall population. The website said that Connecticut’s dense population, along with a smaller percentage of public lands, makes hunting a challenge in the state.

Through Nov. 14 of this year, 37,556 hunting licenses have been sold in Connecticut, according to wildlife biologist William Cassidy with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. These include three-day licenses for out-of-state hunters, non-resident season licenses and all archery, firearms, hunting/fishing combos, 65-plus and handicap license types. Last year, the state sold 51,995 hunting licenses. Officials with DEEP said they are expecting a decline this year over last, a trend that been turning downward for decades despite a bump during the pandemic.

Connecticut has around 173,000 acres of public land available for hunting, which is around 5.6% of the state’s total area, according to DEEP. In contrast, 94% of land in the state is privately held. One of the more recent additions to the state’s public hunting lands includes a 162-acre property at 860 Pendleton Hill Road in Voluntown, now part of Pachaug State Forest. The property has recently opened up to all forms of hunting, according to DEEP.

While hunting is allowed on private land in the state, hunters are required to get permission from the land owner, which could be both verbal or written. However, a signed and dated private land consent form is required for both archery and firearms hunting, according to DEEP regulations.

Because so much of the state is made up of private land, hunters historically had to rely on word of mouth or personally knowing a land owner to gain access to some of the state’s best hunting spots. But a new company that is being labeled the “AirBnB of hunting” is changing all that, connecting hunters with land owners through an app on their smartphones.

HLRBO, which stands for Hunting Land Rentals By Owner, is quickly gaining popularity among the hunting community. The Minnesota-based company launched in 2021 and allows hunters to lease land from owners for a set period of time. Some rentals on the site are listed for an entire year and others for just a few days.

The company’s co-founder, Heath Schubert, said that the idea for HLRBO came from his brother who was a duck hunter and had trouble finding private land to hunt on. Schubert said that public land sometimes isn’t the best experience for hunters, as it can become crowded and overhunted, making the experience less enjoyable. Many hunters prefer private land for its privacy, unique terrain, and undisturbed wildlife, he said.

“We quickly realized there was a need for connecting hunters with land owners,” Schubert said. “My background is software development, so I built out the system and created the app. We have had tremendous growth over the last four years. Many hunters have shared positive feedback with our site and the rentals as an easy process.”

The platform now has 6,000 listings offering more than 1.5 million acres across the United States and serves more than 165,000 users, according to Schubert. The company said they aim to support 10,000 individual leases by June 2026 as it looks to expand its offerings.

Katelyn Armstrong, a well-known hunting content creator and consultant for HLRBO, said that the website is a “game changer” when it comes to hunters being able to find safe and reliable private land to lease. Armstrong, who is currently leasing a HLRBO property in Ohio, said that using the app streamlines the entire process.

“Hunting public land my entire life until now, there was a lot of hardships to overcome,” Armstrong said. “While I do think public land is fantastic in that it allows everyone the opportunity to hunt, you do have to navigate your hunting strategy, since every other hunter is trying to find the best spot. Sometimes I had to walk a mile deep in the woods to try and get away from other hunters. You can imagine the difficulties around that if you’re actually successful.

“There’s also the downside of not being able to manage the property hunting on public lands,” Armstrong added. “This year having a lease for the first time, I have been able to utilize my trail cameras to pattern a specific mature deer. The idea is to not put too much pressure on the property to allow that deer to behave as he would without human presence. That allows me to get closer and closer to harvest the animal. On public land, I attempted to do that as well, but after three or four weeks of hard effort, I would often get a person walking across my trail camera. Once that happens, you lose track of the deer and the animal changes its patterns. So you often have to start over again.”

For state’s like Connecticut, where the vast majority of the land is privately held, the app has been a popular resource for hunters, the company said.

Currently on the website, two properties are listed in New London County totaling 135 acres. One property, which totals 105 acres, is being listed to lease for $13,680 per year. The other property, only 30 acres, is being listed to lease for $1,000 per day. The company said that pricing is dependent on the size of the property and for the length of the lease. Some properties come with further amenities and housing rentals, duck blinds, trail cameras and all-terrain vehicles. Schubert said he expects more listings to start popping up around Connecticut as the company grows in popularity.

“For a state like Connecticut that is mostly private land, we look to continue to expand in the state,” Schubert said. “There’s a lot of potential for landowners to offer up their land for hunters while also getting paid. We highly encourage land owners to think about listing their property on our site. It’s really a win-win for both the hunters and the landowners.”

Both hunters and land owners can find listings and list their properties on HLRBO.com or download the HLRBO app for both Apple and Samsung phones.

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