Deer Lease questions for a newb

[Veteran]

As someone who transitioned from land ownership to lease hunting then back to land ownership, I must say that leasing, at least in Texas, can be a can of worms. Between eccentric owners and/or land managers and camp egos when hunting with previously unknown hunters, I wish you luck...but it ain't easy.

To your question, I would suggest $3,000 a gun without any infrastructure (established camp, cabin, electric, water, septic, feeders, stands) is high for 150 acres. The game limits don't bother me quite as much because they are not that far out of line with what a biologist would most likely recommend for the acreage and land carrying capacity. (NOTE: It gets real dry, real fast as you go west of Fort Worth.

Before you commit, definitely tour the property, look for sign and habitat that could support a healthy deer population. If the land manager cannot make a good case for why the property is worth what he's asking, it's probably best to take your time and continue looking. I would suspect, with the current economic conditions, we're in a Buyer's market for hunting leases.

The last lease I was on was 6 hours from my house, near Comstock, TX. Great lease: good guys, good (not great) buck genetics, 10,000 acres, 10 guns, year-round protein feeding program included, most blinds and feeders included..... but it was that 6-hour drive. We paid $1,200 a gun in 2018 to give you a point of reference.

There are some on-line resources to search for leases. That is how I found the above mentioned lease. DeerTexas.com, LeaseHunter.com and HuntingLocator.com are just a few. Unfortunately, there are far more crappy leases out there than good ones. When you find a good one, never give it up. That's why good ones are hard to find. Best of luck!,

Hey, if you're in Comstock, all you need to do is step out on your back porch to get a nice buck or a turkey.
Plenty good places to hunt along the Devil's River and Amistad Lake.
Of course they might all be under lease too already.....Just sayin if you're in Comstock you could hit a deer w a rock....

Is the ol General Store thereabouts still there? Probably abandoned by now.....I hear Pandale is abandoned now too.

Hunted a time or two on the Miller Ranch down in there in the early 70s......

 

[VICTORNTN]

Where ever you do lease, get it in writing. There are some who might try to who-do you. I have only met one in my 70 years. But it left a scar on my brain. Most people, a hand shake is good to go. But it's all up to you.

 

[Veteran]

Where ever you do lease, get it in writing. There are some who might try to who-do you. I have only met one in my 70 years. But it left a scar on my brain. Most people, a hand shake is good to go. But it's all up to you.

You have to have a lease in writing that covers mutual indemnities,
insurance, waivers the land owner will want, specifying dates certain on which payments will be made and how much, and terms and conditions for termination, length of the lease, when it will expire or terminate, where to send payments and to whom (notice provisions)
and a lot of other basics that cant be ignored in today's world.

It aint yore Granpa's deer lease with the neighbor no more.....

 

[Yehti]

Hey, if you're in Comstock, all you need to do is step out on your back porch to get a nice buck or a turkey.
Plenty good places to hunt along the Devil's River and Amistad Lake.
Of course they might all be under lease too already.....Just sayin if you're in Comstock you could hit a deer w a rock....

Is the ol General Store thereabouts still there? Probably abandoned by now.....I hear Pandale is abandoned now too.

Hunted a time or two on the Miller Ranch down in there in the early 70s......

Yeah, I really enjoyed that lease. We were about two miles east of the Pecos with a lot of draws and canyons. My hunting partner of 20+ years was on it with me but he contracted cancer and passed. That 6-hour drive from Houston just wasn't the same after that.

 

[Moondoggie]

I believe so; I think it's unlimited hog hunting. There are a couple of tanks as well. I'm leaning toward doing one spot and seeing if I can get a buddy whose family we're friends with to take the other one. I'd like to just buy some land !! haha.

Just bought 80 acres in south Alabama for 157k. Do the math at $6k a year lease thats 26 years not including interest. No tank, or pond….yet. Did have about 4 acres of plots cleared, and already have plenty of does coming in plots. In the forks of two large creeks with 3 other large landowners. 1 - 2 large bucks a year 9170 class) which is great for this area of Alabama, have been taken on the combined land. My purchase sealed off the hunting club up the road which were killing "anything that moved". So hunting should just get better. Turkey, dove, quail, rabbit, squirrel, and the occasional hog. Neighbor is a nuisance control officer for the state so fortunately he keeps the hog population in check.
Find you some land to buy if possible!

 

[Veteran]

Oh and a big one! Access!

Rancher sells some land, and new owner says ya cant use that road no more!

Well do you have a helicopter???

We had a canyon only 1 way in, one way out.....lost access by that road.....Had to crawl down a caprock cliff kill and quarter the deer and haul him out in trash sacks back up the cliff.....

Let that lease go the next year......
Rancher is still in litigation w new owner on that one.....

 

[Veteran]

Oh and a big one! Access!

Rancher sells some land, and new owner says ya cant use that road no more!

Well do you have a helicopter???

We had a canyon only 1 way in, one way out.....lost access by that road.....Had to crawl down a caprock cliff kill and quarter the deer and haul him out in trash sacks back up the cliff.....

Let that lease go the next year......
Rancher is still in litigation w new owner on that

Yeah, I really enjoyed that lease. We were about two miles east of the Pecos with a lot of draws and canyons. My hunting partner of 20+ years was on it with me but he contracted cancer and passed. That 6-hour drive from Houston just wasn't the same after that.

Oh I see. You live in Houston and drove to Comstock to hunt. Yep that makes better sense now. I thought you lived in Comstock.

Condolences on losing your friend.
Yep, Im sure that takes some joy out of the camp and the campfire confabs.

Look up at the stars and think of him often. Im sure there are many Memories that will be of some comfort.

 

[kakflygun]

I've had a lease for 22 years mostly for my sons that have grown up on it, that straddles Stephens and Shackelford Counties - a little over 4 sections, 2 hrs to the gate from home. We have six lessees (some with families, some don't dear hunt - just birds and hogs). We set our own harvest limits that follow TPWD deer census - we're usually under due to drought, etc. Only larger ranches (1,000, 2,000, 4,000, and 12,000 acres) surround us and two only allow quail hunting... except for one smaller 600 acre place is high fenced, so no game competition. My friends and I keep tabs on leases and rates. $10-12 per acre with at least electric and water, sometimes a farmhouse. Rates range from $8 to $10 per acre typically with at least electricity, small or large. If your adjacent larger lease has active hunters they probably have established feeder locations and food plots to draw and keep game. You have some water so might be a stopping point but otherwise passing through game activity. 1-3 feeders for 150 acres would help, except for placement considering safety. 150 acres sounds like room but you should check out what your actual shooting lanes could be - probably pretty limited, when considering your camp location, more than one blind (probably two if you're trying to get a hunting bud on also), and whether the direction is away from the public roads, adjacent property improvements, or visible hunter blind locations. Limitation on deer harvest also devalues the rate even further. I was looking at an additional 700 acre lease in Palo Pinto County from a friend, but the Dempsey fire ran over it so we both decided to wait a year - no where near $20/acre - less than half, and with common-sense self-imposed harvest limits due to drought, etc. TPWD's online MLD calculator gives you an idea of appropriate harvests. It may be tempting but $20/acre is still way too much even for convenience in Parker, Palo Pinto, Hood counties, etc. within an hour, and assuming for that lease context (what's around you).

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Just for contrast - I belong to a shooting club in upstate NY. We have 150acres of wooded property with a 400yd range smack dab in the middle of it. We are permitted to hunt on the property where there are plenty of deer and bear. The range closes for about 5 weeks during the biggame season to accommodate deer hunting. You can shoot whatever you have license/tags for.

Total cost for the year - $150 - Now that's a deal!

 

[cantfixstupid]

You can find lots better you may have to drive a little further. I'm on a lease 2700 acres has bunk house to stay in or you can bring an RV has electricity and water, a game cooler room, 2 Bucks 3 doe and 2 doe or 2 spikes in special late season. We can also take a buck & doe exotic, every hog you see they want killed and there are many to chose from and can dove hunt as well. You have year round access too. This costs $3000.00 a year.
The biggest buck ever taken was a 157 but some one gets a 140 class deer every year.

 

[jh2785]

Just bought 80 acres in south Alabama for 157k. Do the math at $6k a year lease thats 26 years not including interest. No tank, or pond….yet. Did have about 4 acres of plots cleared, and already have plenty of does coming in plots. In the forks of two large creeks with 3 other large landowners. 1 - 2 large bucks a year 9170 class) which is great for this area of Alabama, have been taken on the combined land. My purchase sealed off the hunting club up the road which were killing "anything that moved". So hunting should just get better. Turkey, dove, quail, rabbit, squirrel, and the occasional hog. Neighbor is a nuisance control officer for the state so fortunately he keeps the hog population in check.
Find you some land to buy if possible!

Totally…..I've got sticker shock for what land is listing and selling for out here. It's nuts. But I suspect a BIG market correction hitting soon with the gas prices and inflation

 

[jh2785]

Hey, if you're in Comstock, all you need to do is step out on your back porch to get a nice buck or a turkey.
Plenty good places to hunt along the Devil's River and Amistad Lake.
Of course they might all be under lease too already.....Just sayin if you're in Comstock you could hit a deer w a rock....

Is the ol General Store thereabouts still there? Probably abandoned by now.....I hear Pandale is abandoned now too.

Hunted a time or two on the Miller Ranch down in there in the early 70s......

The Devils River looks *amazing*. A canoe trip down there is on my bucket list

 

[Mike D Texas]

Just for contrast - I belong to a shooting club in upstate NY. We have 150acres of wooded property with a 400yd range smack dab in the middle of it. We are permitted to hunt on the property where there are plenty of deer and bear. The range closes for about 5 weeks during the biggame season to accommodate deer hunting. You can shoot whatever you have license/tags for.

Total cost for the year - $150 - Now that's a deal!

It was the same when I hunted Mississippi. But hunting in Texas is so commercialized that you will likely NEVER find that here.

 

[jh2785]

Oh and a big one! Access!

Rancher sells some land, and new owner says ya cant use that road no more!

Well do you have a helicopter???

We had a canyon only 1 way in, one way out.....lost access by that road.....Had to crawl down a caprock cliff kill and quarter the deer and haul him out in trash sacks back up the cliff.....

Let that lease go the next year......
Rancher is still in litigation w new owner on that one.....

That's some rough terrain down there!! Might need repelling gear lol