Okay I give up because this is going all over the place. All I was trying to do was give examples of people I know that hunt out of state for a bargain with good success. If you love hunting Texas leases and you find leases for good prices that is what it is all about. I would encourage anyone finding it difficult to find a good affordable place to hunt to not just limit themselves to Texas and see what is available in the other States.

@ttechcolleyville PM sent

free market is how the world works -- even in deer hunting

hey guys, is the about the antlers or the hunt? hunting is about family and camaraderie. As an outfitter, I can say price i provide experience, not antlers

By the way, on my season lease, we are 1 hunter for every 600 acres

You don't get to determine what hunting is about for any individual hunter. It may be family and camaraderie for you, but others may prefer to be alone while they hunt. There are people that just love soaking in the great outdoors and don't care if they ever shoot any deer. There are some that will not be satisfied until they shoot a buck with bigger antlers than the biggest they've shot.

To each their own.

for all of you looking for a lease

the days of $1000-$1200/gun are over

i follow an outfitter ,,, he's got several lots ranging from 300-500ac that demands $2200 - $2900 / gun
1-2 hrs from Cabelas

the tone of your post can make a big difference -
demanding to be within x hrs of your home and only willing to pay x$/gun will leave you with limited options

I did have openings on my lease, did offered it to a few folks on here but none were interested at the time

expect to pay higher premium or willing to drive further west for cheaper leases

I agree with some of the comments above, for me it's not about the antlers but a place to hang out in the woods -
I dropped over $30k on new trailer, ATV, feeders and several $K more on fuel just to shoot some rabbits last year.
Paying $5000 to get a nice set of antler in the Hill Country High Fence sounds like a bargain if you want to do the math

Lower your expectation and be willing to travel far, Texas had in influx of folks from the West and East coast
with deep pockets.... land are being gobbled up

good luck

Those prices aren't over, I could get on an MLD lease with furnished lodging, 6 deer permits, coolers, fishing, 9 miles of river frontage w/ private ramps, 2k acres of cypress swamp for ducks, over 20 oxbow lakes, guaranteed gator permit & eastern turkey for that price.....it's ETX though so obviously the hunting would be terrible.

I agree Texas leases aren't cheap, but they aren't cheap anywhere. I prefer leases over guided hunts because I like having year round access and being able to go spend a weekend in the outdoors anytime I want to. Figure out the cost per day of a guided hunt vs. how much a day you spend for year round access and a lease is a bargain. It all depends on what you want.

Typically you get what you pay for. Leases in Texas haven't increased in price to even keep pace with inflation through the years. And yet the majority of respondents to this thread list "greed" as a contributing factor to the "unreasonably high cost of Texas leases".

"Greed" has driven the majority of innovation and invention in the world. We have pretty fine lives because of the the ultimate motivator.

But, since it's just as plain as the noses on our collective faces that Texas lease prices haven't even kept pace with inflation... "greed" is just an excuse for folks who don't care to put enough effort in it to understand it.

IMO you get what you pay for in life. And in Texas we have BETTER leases and hunting opportunities. I don't see a problem with them costing more than other states.

I would rather pay $2000 + expenses and not kill a trophy but have year round fun at the lease than I would pay $4000-$5000 for a trophy hunt to get out of the truck, kill a deer, and leave the next day. There is string ant sitting around a fire BSing with the guys that's worth a lot more than a head on the wall.

Ya'll can go out of Texas all you want. I can hunt each weekend. It's not always about shooting that 200 BC buck every year...... sometimes, it's the nature of things

That seems like a pretty good deal to me, and not that far from DFW.