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Hunting & Fishing Lost our deer lease

GBTX01

GBTX01

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 14, 2001
109
68
44
Dallas, TX
We received word this weekend that the owners of the property that we have been hunting on for the last three years have gotten an offer from a Corporate Retreat company for a five year lease at twice the price we are paying for the same number of guns. We were paying $3k a gun for seven guns. This price included a turn key operation with 4000acres, 13 stands with feeders, a huge oat field and small 5yr old cabin with 4 bunk beds. 1 trophy buck, a cull buck, and 3 does.

It was a great location because it was half way between Dallas and Lubbock. My two brothers and I were on the lease and it made for a nice get together location. It was also a nice place to take my family so my wife and I could both get away from our crackberries and just relax.

Ranching is a business and an offer like that is hard to pass up. The owner offered us the same deal but it is too rich for our budgets. I have no hard feelings but it is frustrating, so it's time to hunt for a new lease.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

This is the reason that, even though I am looking to leave CA in a few years, I probably won't hunt. While hunting in SoCal is not easy, at least it doesn't cost much, IE public land. I won't pay $3K a year to shoot a deer.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

Would not worry to much about it. The farmer will soon figure out that the money you and your buddies were paying wasn't so bad after he deals with the corporate knuckleheads.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

Sorry to hear that man. Reading stories like this make me mighty glad I have family and friends with thousands of acres of private land to hunt on for free. I can't imagine having to pay to hunt. Guess growing up in a small rual North Dakota town has it's benefits.

Wishing you luck in finding another hunting spot.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Would not worry to much about it. The farmer will soon figure out that the money you and your buddies were paying wasn't so bad after he deals with the corporate knuckleheads.</div></div>

Man that sucks! Keep in touch with the owner as the above is good info.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

Sorry to hear about that GB.

Good propety here in Georgia goes for about $10-$15/acre. You had a good thing going, buddy.

Money talks . . .

Once again, sorry . . .
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

We too lease and it always can leave you wondering. We do however have a great relationship with the landowner and his family. We also have a long term lease. Started out at 20 years with 5 year blocks built in so we had the option to back out if something wasn't right. We meet with them several times a year just to make sure everyone is happy and we are exceeding the owners expectations with how we care for his property.
It would suck to not have a place to hunt. Good luck locating another spot!
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: GUNNER75</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Would not worry to much about it. The farmer will soon figure out that the money you and your buddies were paying wasn't so bad after he deals with the corporate knuckleheads.</div></div>

Man that sucks! Keep in touch with the owner as the above is good info.

</div></div>

This is so true, once the rich guys have trashed the place and left beer cans and bottles laying around, he'll soon want you guys back.

Lee.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

$3K per gun.........what the fuck.

For three $3K you can get out of state tags, drive to Wyoming where half the state if public land, not to mention the free hunting on private "walk in area".
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: kraigWY</div><div class="ubbcode-body">$3K per gun.........what the fuck.

For three $3K you can get out of state tags, drive to Wyoming where half the state if public land, not to mention the free hunting on private "walk in area". </div></div>

intersting..... What the Fuck, the state of Wyoming is half owned by the government, glad I live in TX
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

I'm saying that it seems to me it would be cheaper to hunt out of state.

Wyoming was just an example.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: kraigWY</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm saying that it seems to me it would be cheaper to hunt out of state.

Wyoming was just an example. </div></div>

Thats why I will be making my 6th trip to Wyoming this year to chase antelope. For both the hunting & really the folks I've met, Wyoming is 1st class!!
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

Go to Kentucky or WV, land is $1,000 per acre.

In WV public land is every where. I hunt public land 15-20 minutes from my house. That spread is 7,000 acres. Atv's and vehicals are prohibited. After the first mile or two you seldom see anyone else.

Big South Fork in Kentucky is about 120,000 acres. During deer season get a primitive hikers permit and start walking.

This is hunting.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

hey boone what the hell is a primative hikers permit?are you saying that on a sat afternoon you cant just go for a stroll out into the woods without a permit?
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

I appreciate the responses. To me a lease is more than just a place to hunt. You are right I can spend 2k and hunt in CO or WO but that is one week or weekend. We use our lease as a place to get away from the city and work and relax as a family. We normally spend 6-10 weekends out there over the course of a year. That is where the cabin came in handy and ut was less than a 3hr drive.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

You had a pretty good deal there. In the Hill Country, that amount of land would have been more than the new guys are paying, times two.

Like you said though, it is more than a place to hunt. With a year round place, you get the satisfaction of making it into something better, and sharing the memories with your family. Inevitably, it leads to the quest toown a place like it, of your own. Best of luck,
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: motodog</div><div class="ubbcode-body">hey boone what the hell is a primative hikers permit?are you saying that on a sat afternoon you cant just go for a stroll out into the woods without a permit? </div></div>

Seems the verbage has changed it's now called backcountry permits. Basically you can go as far into BSF as you want while hunting.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

I understand your pain...I am fed up with the cost of Texas deer lease...I now go out west ( out of Texas ) couple times a year and its still cheaper then what I was paying in Texas.

My family just all come out west..just takes a little more planning and its further and you dont get to just up and go hunting at a moments notice but I enjoy it a whole lot more.

Since your in Dallas...I know alot of guys that have been heading to Okalahoma for deer leases.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Hntelk</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I understand your pain...I am fed up with the cost of Texas deer lease...I now go out west ( out of Texas ) couple times a year and its still cheaper then what I was paying in Texas.

My family just all come out west..just takes a little more planning and its further and you dont get to just up and go hunting at a moments notice but I enjoy it a whole lot more.

Since your in Dallas...I know alot of guys that have been heading to Okalahoma for deer leases.</div></div>

And have driven the prices up here also........
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: donovan</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Hntelk</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I understand your pain...I am fed up with the cost of Texas deer lease...I now go out west ( out of Texas ) couple times a year and its still cheaper then what I was paying in Texas.

My family just all come out west..just takes a little more planning and its further and you dont get to just up and go hunting at a moments notice but I enjoy it a whole lot more.

Since your in Dallas...I know alot of guys that have been heading to Okalahoma for deer leases.</div></div>

And have driven the prices up here also........ </div></div>

That's no joke. We don't need that stupidity rushing into Oklahoma more than it already is.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

I have yet to be on a lease that hasn't turned into a heart breaker. People become greedy for money or land. I don't understand the reasoning behind not knowing when one has enough. The big reason for the lease is to find a sanctuary for the friends and family I trust to hunt with, share good times, and make good memories.
Good luck on the hunt for a new lease. I hope it works for all of you.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

Damn, that really would suck.
I could not even imagine having to ask for permission or pay someone to hunt.
And from what I understand, this is common in Texas where there is almost no public land.
I suppose unless I can afford to buy my own 1000 acres i will be seeking property in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah where there are millions of acres of national forest and blm land.
I can see where the prices will start going up in local states, Oklahoma, New Mexico.

Yeah, Im pretty sure unless I won the lottery I wont be moving to Texas.

Good Luck!
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

$21,000 for 4000 acres with a cabin was a pretty good price. I don't know how that compares with the normal going rate in TX.

We're paying about $17,000 for 600 acres with a camp house on public land in MS.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

In the coastal and midlands of SC i have seen prices on deer leases jump up between 15-20 an acre. It is mostly hunters from Florida migrating up. The crazy thing about them paying the high prices is that the hunting is not half as good as the midwest or western states.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Kurt</div><div class="ubbcode-body">damn reading shit like this makes me love sodak even more </div></div>

I will second that!! I loved living in SD. The public hunting along the Missouri River was GREAT and the private places I had to hunt were even better.

Darin
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

Holy smokes! $3000 for one deer! $3000 would cover a lot of out of state hunting. I just put in for a NR bear tag in the U.P. $150 if drawn, $120 for an over the counter deer tag. Gas and food the trip will still be less than $1200.

We have a pretty good 1500 acre lease but the spots we hunt up for free are better. We end up taking our friends to the lease and do most of our other hunting on the free spots.

People need to learn how to pound on doors, the worst they can say is no.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Maelek</div><div class="ubbcode-body">$21,000 for 4000 acres with a cabin was a pretty good price. I don't know how that compares with the normal going rate in TX.

We're paying about $17,000 for 600 acres with a camp house on public land in MS. </div></div>
I agree that $21k for 4000 acres and a cabin is a good price in most areas. Now, I don't understand the $17K for 600 acres with a camp house "on public land." I administer leases on over 50,000 acres every year, but I have never leased public land to anyone.

The average lease rate for upland timberland in LA is right around $5.00/acre, with a ton of it leased out in the $4.00/acre range. The last several years, there has been a flood of TX residents offering 2-3 times the current rate to take leases in LA. Most say they can no longer justify the TX lease fees and enjoy the more liberal limits in our state.

I have mixed feelings about the flood of texans driving rates up, but it is what it is.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

Damn... I'm glad I've got access to 320 acres of family land just outside of Weatherford. We can get up in the morning from our own house and drive out to the stand in just over an hour.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: matchking</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Maelek</div><div class="ubbcode-body">$21,000 for 4000 acres with a cabin was a pretty good price. I don't know how that compares with the normal going rate in TX.

We're paying about $17,000 for 600 acres with a camp house on public land in MS. </div></div>
I agree that $21k for 4000 acres and a cabin is a good price in most areas. Now, I don't understand the $17K for 600 acres with a camp house "on public land." I administer leases on over 50,000 acres every year, but I have never leased public land to anyone.

The average lease rate for upland timberland in LA is right around $5.00/acre, with a ton of it leased out in the $4.00/acre range. The last several years, there has been a flood of TX residents offering 2-3 times the current rate to take leases in LA. Most say they can no longer justify the TX lease fees and enjoy the more liberal limits in our state.

I have mixed feelings about the flood of texans driving rates up, but it is what it is.
</div></div>


well..we were paying #13/acre non contested. Then out of the blue, during an economic recession mind you, the state of MS doubled the costs of "school board property" to $26/acre. And get this, the leasee is responsible for paying the friggin property taxes on the land ($2100/yr).

I shit you not. We've been hunting this property as members of a club and now the leasee holders since the 80s. The previous lease holder let us take it over about 9 yrs ago. He told us that's the way it has always been (leasee paying the property tax).
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

Public land unfortunately is the answer. In TX the reason hunting is so expensive is that there is very little of it. I actually hunt the national forests in East Texas, there are three of them about 150k acres each, and I like doing it.

I know a lot of folks in TX so I get to hunt on a lot of big ranches but to me it is not really hunting when you have patterned every buck a month before the season.

TX's 99% private land ownership is a historical anomoly--the north didn't want TX to join the Union as a slave state, so when finally the pressure mounted to let TX in (which took 10 years--the years of TX independence), in spite, the anti-slavery contingent in Congress refused to assume TX's national debt (which was very large). And so TX got to keep it's land and debt. At the time, 3/4 of the state was overrun by Comanches and so everyone thought it was worthless. Oops....
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

There are 13 states where the Feds own a smaller percentage of the land than in TX. The State owns VERY little property in TX though, which puts them near, but not at the top in % of private ownership. Large spanish land grants helped this out as well.

Those same land grants also contributed to the distorted/irregular properties in TX. Texas, like the 13 original colonies, was basically divided up before the normal rectangular survey system was adopted. That is one reason that tracts are retarded shaped 'til you get west of the land people wanted early on. Much of the land in East Texas can't really be identified using the original deeds/grants.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

Sorry to hear about the lease. I deal with stuff like that all the time and hear plenty of horror stories.

Were you on a long term contract of year to year deal? If you get on a good place always do a contract for a multi year agreement. That way no one back doors you.

There are plenty of good leases in the Abilene, San Angelo, area which seems right about where your at. And Ive seen some nice places in the $1800 to $2200 range in the paper and online.

Heck even some great deals on guided hunts if you shop around a bit.

Good luck!
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

I appreciate everyone's responses. Yes, it was a year to year lease. I know that 3k may sound like a lot to people just to go hunt but it was worth it to me. I know people who pay more for parking spots, boat slips and time shares so I guess it is all relative.
The bright spot in this deal is that it has motivated me to seriously look into securing my own property so that I don't have to worry about what other do. Time to start looking.
As far as Texas having little public land I am all in favor of it. Why should the government own half or even 25% of a state?!? By individuals owning the land, you have individual stakeholders who manage the property vs using tax payer money to oversee it. I have plenty of places where I can call up a buddy or friends friend and kill a few pigs or deer but for me the Lease was my little place to escape the rat race.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

For $3000, you could hunt at least 2 western states. That includes airfare. It's funny because we are complaining about the state doubling some of the prices for special permits this year here in Wa. I would NEVER pay that much for a deer. Maybe that Texas pride has gone to everyone's head down there.
 
Re: Lost our deer lease

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: GBTX01</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I appreciate everyone's responses. Yes, it was a year to year lease. I know that 3k may sound like a lot to people just to go hunt but it was worth it to me. I know people who pay more for parking spots, boat slips and time shares so I guess it is all relative.
The bright spot in this deal is that it has motivated me to seriously look into securing my own property so that I don't have to worry about what other do. Time to start looking.
As far as Texas having little public land I am all in favor of it. Why should the government own half or even 25% of a state?!? By individuals owning the land, you have individual stakeholders who manage the property vs using tax payer money to oversee it. I have plenty of places where I can call up a buddy or friends friend and kill a few pigs or deer but for me the Lease was my little place to escape the rat race. </div></div>

Your right, having your own little place to get away from crap is worth it. I'm one of those types. One of the few ways I can relax.
 
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