Deer Lease questions for a newb

[jh2785]

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.

Awesome! Yes I found some much bigger properties with much lower rates out about 4 hours away up toward the panhandle.

 

[Stevenstl86]

At $6k a year you might be able to purchase property. if you hunt enough it would be worth it. We quit leasing when it was $3k for 100-150acres and purchased property. Now we just don't hunt anymore. Friends and family are down all the time hanging out.

20 acres with a good food source/ bedding can produce trophy's. Especially if it's near ranches or managed hunting property.

On the other hand guided hunts could be had for around the same price

 

[Hard rock]

Could you talk him into shooting two bucks even if he had to raise the price a little? Personally, I would pay 4,000 if I could use the land, shoot two bucks and a doe, plus varmints.

If your taking 6 plus deer off of 150 acres , your probably going too P.O . Your bigger neighbors , that is the reason so menu high fences are going up in Tx . As a property owner if I'm trying too manage for mature bucks and I have a 100 acre or 150 acre tract of land joining me and they start over shooting it I'm spinning my wheels , you are sharing deer with your neighbors don't PO them get on the same page and manage together . If you need more than 2 deer in the freezer get a bigger piece of property too hunt then fill your tags . I've managed a lot of leases , I now own my on place between 2 big neighbors I harvest according too the size of my property not how many tags I have. My neighbors and I are sharing deer with low fences and I will do my part too keep it that way .

 

[Yehti]

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

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.

I did one better than that. We had agreed to take care of his two teenage boys if anything happened to him, because his wife died unexpectedly two years before. With my wife doing the heavy lifting on scholarships and benefits we got the boys through college and they are just now beginning their careers. One graduated from U of H with a Math degree and teaching certificate. The other just graduated from Texas A&M with a Petroleum Engineering degree. Hunting buddies get tight!

 

[baldhunter]

If your taking 6 plus deer off of 150 acres , your probably going too P.O . Your bigger neighbors , that is the reason so menu high fences are going up in Tx . As a property owner if I'm trying too manage for mature bucks and I have a 100 acre or 150 acre tract of land joining me and they start over shooting it I'm spinning my wheels , you are sharing deer with your neighbors don't PO them get on the same page and manage together . If you need more than 2 deer in the freezer get a bigger piece of property too hunt then fill your tags . I've managed a lot of leases , I now own my on place between 2 big neighbors I harvest according too the size of my property not how many tags I have. My neighbors and I are sharing deer with low fences and I will do my part too keep it that way .

I wish more property owners felt the same way but they don't.Too many over hunt their property just for the sake of the almighty dollar.I've seen them put five hunters on fifty acres and they all expect to kill five deer a piece,it's unsustainable.

 

[TBell]

Hi everyone, I'm a new hunter and hoping to secure a place to hunt whitetail in TX this season and this will be my first ever lease and hunting for deer. I have an individual that's willing to lease 150 acres west of Fort Worth for $3,000 (he's looking for 2 hunters to pay $3k each for $6k total) and he said the lease will allow 1 buck, 1 doe and year-round access for shooting, camping, hanging out with my sons, etc. It's got a tank, wooded areas (about 70% wooded and 30% cleared / fields). I'm not sure what's currently out there as far as blinds, feaders, etc.

I've never leased land for hunting before......and so I have no idea if this is a smoke'n awesome deal, or on the high side and if I should keep looking. But he just got this land and I got the impression that he's managing it conservatively.......but I think a TX bag limit is like 5 deer......but that's why I'm asking for feedback to see if this is a good deal or what. This is the first person I've found that will actually have land available lol, as nearly everyone is like 'nah man.....I've got a place.....but don't know of anything available......good luck bud.......' << lol.

At any rate, this is only about an hour from my house in FW area and so it seems intriguing to me. I consider myself a beggar for a lease at the moment, but will keep looking if this is a really bad deal or if I can negotiate a better rate for what it is.

What's a common rate / deal / lease amount for 150 acres and I get 2 deer (1 buck, 1 doe) and year round access?

(I attached a pic for attention.......if that helps get attention! haha)

Personally I think that's pretty high for 150 acres. I understand 2 buck, 2 doe, that's about right depending on area to support that take off if 150 acres, but that is probably not trophy stock.

I've hunted Tx a while and think I'd look around. I decided to buy some property out west and pulled off 120 acres @ 1400 / month. So your paying a chunk of someone else's property payment at $6000. I had a lease with about eight guys in east Tx at $1600/ year and that was about 2,000 acres on paper company land. That was year round access for hunting, shooting, and moderate four wheeling (did not want to make the deer nervous) $3000 for 150 acres don't sound reasonable to me, and what does this guy use the property for? If he hunts too then if he takes any deer it is probably over the land's capacity for (4) deer.

 

[jh2785]

Been leasing in north texas for about twenty years. Lots of ranch and hunting land being split into smaller acreage and sold for secondary recreational owners. Because of this turnover, Hunters are losing their leases everywhere. For whatever is left, Prices are increasing. It's nuts.

If you find a place that you can afford 1hr from your home, you take it. You can decide if you want to renew the next year.

If you find a better value before this fall, take it too if you can afford to. You will have no problem finding someone to take over your original lease (but I would probably keep both, hunt them and renew my favorite next year).

That's kind of my thinking......just take the bird that's in the hand and chase the other two in the bush over the next year

 

[jh2785]

It isn't cheap by any means but if it is in your budget I doubt you will regret it (assuming it has wildlife which it should). You are paying for location. I have found that if it is close you will go. I had a cheap 250 acre lease that was 2.5 hours away and I rarely ever went even though it was excellent hunting. Now I found a lease 30 min from my house in north OKC. I pay $2000 for 640 acres of unlimited use year round shared with 6 other guys. I also purchased my own Redneck Buckpalace blind (which is awesome) and go several times a month to shoot pigs with my kids. Had some amazing memories out there and lucked into a giant buck two years ago with my 12 year old. Just be prepared to buy feeders and a blind or two so keep some $$ available after you pay the lease!

Ty for the advice! There are some really massive places 4+ hours away.....and even bigger so down south / west in the Trans-Pecos area.....which I love that terrain...but whew buddy.....it's a full day there and a full day back

 

[Veteran]

I did one better than that. We had agreed to take care of his two teenage boys if anything happened to him, because his wife died unexpectedly two years before. With my wife doing the heavy lifting on scholarships and benefits we got the boys through college and they are just now beginning their careers. One graduated from U of H with a Math degree and teaching certificate. The other just graduated from Texas A&M with a Petroleum Engineering degree. Hunting buddies get tight!

Thats a noble promise and a blessed gift of service. God bless you for that. Im sure your friend is looking down very thankful and proud of you and his boys.

 

[Tom Wright]

Yes check all the details and in writing and be clear on expectations for you and him and who actually own the property. The price is always relative

Thanks

Buck

If you've never deer hunted before and have no gear, your costs will be double and maybe triple the lease, especially when paying for a season's worth of corn. I assume there are no cuts/senders which complicates everything As road hunting/set up is a common first year option. But you need to look at brouse/water/acorns etc. Just because it's land doesn't mean it supports a natural population of deer and it can take one or more seasons of HARD WORK AND PREPARATION to pay off. You need to check for guaranteed renewal. Some sleepy Gus lease to newcomers, they do all the work and after a year or two they jerk the rights, because the land is now a money maker or the existing club just absorbs the improved acreage.

 

[jh2785]

TLDR it all but, the first page ...

I don't know your financial position so, $3k could be really expensive or reasonable for access close to home.

The land in Oklahoma has rents like that or a whole lot less. "Corporate" hunt lease operators charge rates like you are talking about and some of these actually 'actively manage' the property but, many don't.

My land in Oklahoma is mixed farm fields and open or wooded pastures. North of OKC you won't see many, or any, feral hogs. If you want to hog 'plink', you need to stay South of OKC.

Deer in general have a lot of hunting pressure for many varied reasons so, while a lot of deer are taken each year, the vast majority are not trophy animals and offer modest meat yields. Two quarters (~320 acres) will generally lease <$1,000 a year but, I know some are above $3K a year.

Quail are essentially extinct in practical terms. Central OK doesn't see many doves either.

I don't hunt my land because personally, I don't find it worth the effort due to urban sprawl (mini-ranchettes of 5 acres or less in rural areas) and cities pushing out into farm country pretty hard. Then add 'no hunt' areas and it really becomes a mixed bag at best for game animals and hunters.

If you can take the time off for travel, personally I would take my ~$3K and go to Wyoming or surrounding areas that are out of state friendly to hunters and hunt Pronghorn! I worked with a guy that went every year with 3 other friends and they usually came back with 3 to 6 pronghorn each year depending on which section they got to hunt (state draws) based on what they tagged last year. Seemed to be a really good hunt for them for the several years we worked together.

Thanks for the perspective. Wyoming, Idaho, Montana - all on the bucket list

 

[jh2785]

A lot of people say "hunting off your tags" but what they really means is hunting off your allocation for the lease. Kid's hunting licenses are cheap and they should go through hunter education any way so….

Regardless the more I think about this situation the less I would recommend it. Sure someone will pay it but 2 deer for $3k doesn't make sense to me. Also it makes you wonder why it's still available. Usually places that close to DFW are gone within minutes of posting an ad. People will generally take them sight unseen.

Yeah, the actual deer hunting is for me at the moment, but access to the land to plink and camp with the kids is the other consideration. This is a buddy that I heard had land, so when I called he had *just* acquired it and has a looker or two

 

[jh2785]

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!,

Very good perspective, thank you!

 

[jh2785]

If you've never deer hunted before and have no gear, your costs will be double and maybe triple the lease, especially when paying for a season's worth of corn. I assume there are no cuts/senders which complicates everything As road hunting/set up is a common first year option. But you need to look at brouse/water/acorns etc. Just because it's land doesn't mean it supports a natural population of deer and it can take one or more seasons of HARD WORK AND PREPARATION to pay off. You need to check for guaranteed renewal. Some sleepy Gus lease to newcomers, they do all the work and after a year or two they jerk the rights, because the land is now a money maker or the existing club just absorbs the improved acreage.

Ah, thanks for the heads up. I would def tour it and try to negotiate, but yes, there'd be some $$ spent on feeders, stand, etc