Small places close to big towns with actual huntable populations are worth their weight in gold.

I have 75 acres that I own 45 minutes from Houston that has great deer, hog, ducks, and fishing. I think if I put it up for lease at $3000/year, I'd have to wade through offers. It'd probably bid up too. I've gotten unsolicited offers of $2500 for deer season only.

I won't though. Just saying. Some places a price/acre makes sense, and some places you're paying a convenience fee more than anything.

That is the good old school way, good for you. I remember it used to all be that way around here.

I hunt my own land, and have people ask every year to lease it. I can't grasp the fact that they want to pile a hunter to every 50-60 acres. I was on a lease with some friends a few years back in Throckmorton Co. mostly just to be able to hang out and have fun with long time friends I rarely would ever see. We paid $10.00/Acre, and that included a house and utilities. It did have decent deer and seemed worth it. We kept one hunter to every 300 acres. There were 9 of us.

Better to be lucky than good. Daughter is a realtor. A fellow contacted her about listing a small ranch with a lodge in Baylor County. After looking it over she suggested that she was interestedin purchasing it herself. She and her husband and a partner purchased the place. Cattle removed and after about five years, game abounds. Deer, turkey, hogs, dove, quail, and ducks plus fishing. I get to go there often.

Youngest daughter married a young man whose grandfather left him four sections of ranch land. His father owns more than that although much is farm land. The farm land has shelter belts and waterways that hold game. Same game as above plus some mule deer.

I get to hunt all the above and enjoy every minute of it.

I haven't had a lease in about twenty years. Cousin and I had a family lease for a good number of years on a small ranch on the Lampasas River. Since we were week end hunters, the owner was day hunting the place mid week. I finally caught him. We moved our operation farther west and leased a 1700 acre pasture out of a twenty something section ranch for $4000 for eight huners, year round on a handshake deal with a long time friend. Not bad. First year went fine. We moved two trailers, our ice house, and all the good junk one needs at the lease. Second year, he decided we needed 17 hunters at $1500 per gun for our pasture. Not enough game for that many hunters. Two for two greedy land owners. I told the owner to stuff it. I had enough family
and professional contacts to fill all the tags and then some.

I know some good owners. Several friends have them. They do exist and most are good folks. A friend and I had a small ranch leased near Gatesville years ago. The owner ask that he be able to check and feed cattle on Wednesdays. Easy enough to live with.

So what if these guys would rather have a diesel truck than a deer lease? We all have to make choices with our money and, therefore, we all must prioritize. It's all about what is important to you.

I hunt a 1000acre ranch with 3 other guys. Low hunting pressure. Year round access. Full rights to all game species. (Dove, quail, turkey, hogs, deer) No exotics on ranch. We usually all have opportunities at bucks in the 140-150 inch range every year. Place has electricity and water hookups for travel trailers. We pay $1000 each plus $75 for electricity.
Hope that helps.

The point is, they are making their choice but conveniently leaving it out of the equation when complaining about how it's too expensive to get a hunting lease.

I'm going to let you in on the secret to a low dollar lease. Find a good woman that when you marry her you get unrestricted access to 500 acres in Wheeler county. Make sure it has a house in town and a cabin at one of the farms complete with barns and tractors and such. Then make it a family tradition to spend the week of thanksgiving there every year because you want to spend time with the family...and it just happens to be about the peak of the rut.


All joking aside I'm very lucky and have been on leases in the past that were no where near as good as this place. However having you mother in law be your LO brings its own set of challenges...

I can't tell you our per acre cost as I'm not sure what everyone else pays....but I am fortunate and blessed to be on an almost 800 acre lease just west and outside of Breckenridge and pay 500 per year for year round access...and that includes pretty much everything that's legal game.....a cabin..and best part is they had just acquired an extra 200 acres right before I came on that's on the ffar edge of property...and I pretty much have that entire track of 200 acres to myself.

Of course before I landed there I was paying g about 1500.00 year for about 276 acres with myself and 2 other hunters near mineral wells....boy am I glad I found the new lease I'm on now.....