I think there is a happy balance that occurs between landowners and hunters; however, with all relationships, it takes a little time. The problem comes when you add money and egos to the equation; which is usually a bad combination.

I thought only the working girls in Thailand referred to "hunters" as walking ATM's LOL!

Hog Dogs chase Deer too! Those dogs don't know the difference between a hog and a deer. The stress those dogs put on the deer will surely move them to another location. LOL!

I don't have a bad attitude toward landowners that honor their agreements. But it's not right to think that you can accept money for deer hunting from a group and then turn around and hunt their stands, feeders and even the deer that they've paid you for the right to hunt.

I'll be honest, on our lease we pay $60,000/year for 5,000 acres. We pay additional money for the MLD program that includes helicopter surveys, biologist, etc. We pay a lot for supplemental feeding. We have a lot invested in stands and feeders.

With that kind of investment this is a business deal backed by a contract to protect the interest of both parties. If one or the other were to breach that contract there would likely be lawsuits due to the amount of money involved here.

Our landowner charges the highest premium, we pay it but we also have some expectations. I think a lot of the leases in South Texas have similar arrangements with similar expectations. Landowners and hunters approach the relationship with more professionalism because each stands to lose a great deal if the deal falls through.

I've been on and experienced some of the other BS on average leases where owners do not give the contract the same respect. I've also seen leasers approach the relationship with a lack of respect.

I guess if your hunting a lease to fill the freezer it doesn't matter if the owner and everybody else hunt. But in my situation I didn't pay the amount of money I have just to see average deer. As such, if the owner and his family are killing all the trophies then we won't be back next year.

If the landowner wants to hunt our lease, whether or not our contract states we are exlusive or not, I'll ALWAYS let him.

You get your landowner upset, and you'll be gone. All the time and effort you put into managing deer will be lost in a flash.

Doesn't matter how much protien you put out, how many food plots you plant, or how much you made the deer grow. If the land owner wants you out, you are gone and you'll have to start over.

SO with that said, if the land owner goes out and shoots a 180+ buck, congrats him and don't get mad. If you do something silly like get an attitude, the land owner will get one back and he could say, pack your stuff, get off his land.

That is very true; however, the hunting community talks and after awhile, the land owner is sitting on a great hunting property with no income. Not so bad if he has mineral interests, but if not, won't make near the money on cattle and farming as he will leasing out the hunting.

Like I said before he came and told you so he is a pretty good land owner. He could and will hunt when you are not there period. LandPirate has the same problem just does not know about it or is blind they will all hunt when you are not there. Plus it sound to me LandPirate needs to buy his own place.

If you're paying a premium or are paying at the top of the going rate for deer leases, you probably have some leverage. But if you're getting a good deal on the property, you best just keep your mouth shut, because there are 10 people dying to get on that lease once he kicks you off.

It's kinda like the golden rule, "He who has the gold, Makes the rule." In this case the land is the gold.

Generally speaking, if you show the owner his due respect, it will be returned!!!

you act like we have the upper hand here, what a crock, if you lose your lease i will be there to pick it up or some young new guy, owning land rules all, why do you think prices continue to go up, if you can buy for you and your family down the line thats the only way out, money boys money

Our lease is MLDIII. All deer must be tagged and logged. Game cameras also catch people hunting places they aren't supposed to. We've got a pretty good landowner that honors the contract that he signed. He doesn't hunt our pastures. He has 2000 acres of his own to hunt. We don't hunt his.

Again, it's about the agreement made and honoring it. We fund the MLD plan and stick to it. We manage his land very well. His deer herd is greatly improved since we arrived and began managing. When we decide to move on he'll be in really good shape to charge even more from the next group in the future. He knows it too. We have a very respectful relationship.

I personally know that there a lot of leases that operate in the same manner. Ranchers treat the relationship more has a business and with professionalism. If you're going to charge $50+K per year then you as a landowner must realize that BS will not be tolerated by those laying out that kind of money.

Tough situation but like everyone else has said if its a good place let it be.
In every one of my contracts the landowners can come out and hunt a few times a year as they please. But I am getting a heck of a deal.
And really its pretty much the last week of season and its not a boat load of people. I would let it go.

The land owner has no biz hunting when he leases it out. I have a place in east Texas I lease for pasture, what would the guy think if after I took his money I threw 50 cows on it and he is not paying what I pay for a deer lease. These have turned into what are often big money deals and should be treated as such. Contracts! Part of the problem is that there is often no way to find out that a particular land owner is an idiot. Group leaves next group thinks they are getting a deal, they find out when it is too late why the previous group left. Not only should the land owner not be hunting, he should also not be driving the place when hunters are hunting, clear large areas, put an unreasonable amount of livestock on the place. The bottom line is if a landowner is going to be an idiot then I understand somebody may pay him but at least it won't be me. There are plenty out there willing to take money that act right.

That is absolutely rediculous. LandPirate's place is the typical S. Texas deer lease. They MAY be hunted by the landowner who for the most part hunts with the leasors, hunts his own section, or doesn't care just likes cattle. Briscoe owns most land in many counties and is dead and still leases out! When was the was time he hunted his 1,000,000 acres that the majority is leased out? NEVER.

If the person hunting isn't following the MLD requirements, they are poaching plain and simple which occurs all over the state.

Don't forget that landowner who seems to comply with the contract and encourage you to protein feed, plots, etc... only to jack up the price just as you start to reap the benefits of your hard work and discipline. This has happened to me twice. I must admit the last time he made the mistake of letting me know that someone had offered to pay way more than we could to jack up our price just a little to soon($1400 - $2200 a gun). Lets just say some lead was flying that last weekend and there was a lot of donations to the Hunters for the Hungry program.

Lease Contract Guidelines

My main deal is this. If an owner wants to hunt then it needs to spelled out during negotiations up front and above board. It should not be sprung on the hunters midway through the season nor should it be done on the sly or "under the table" so to speak.

That's just wrong on any level and there's no justification for it.

You know, from my experience, if the land owner kicked the current group of hunters off, there is another group of hunters that will be on the lease very quickly, especially if theres a lot of deer on it. Its MUCH Easier for the a land owner with a great hunting property to find hunters than for YOU to find a good hunting lease.

Also a landowner can make a LOT more money on cattle than they can on hunting. Look around, you'll see landowners throwing cattle on the land to keep their aggriculure ratings for taxes, they get money when the sell the herd, or they'll lease the grass rights off to a cattleman. And on top of that, they'll still lease to hunters.

Again, I will say this over and over.

If your land owner wants to hunt the land, LET HIM, otherwise you may be looking for another lease.

Pure nonsense

I say quit biatching and be thankful you have a place to hunt. If the land owner wants to let his boys hunt over Christmas, power to him. He is the LAND OWNER.

I agree with you Mike. It's a complete deal breaker for me. I don't get how some people just dont care. Other than maybe they just don't care, but I put too much into my hunting spots to just give it up to someone that I don't choose too.

If I had a $500-$1000/year deer lease where my main goal was to put meat in the freezer then I wouldn't give two cents if the land owner shot some deer too.

However, for those of us that are paying big bucks to see and shoot big bucks then it does matter.

Our biologist determined that we needed to take 25 does by Dec. 1. We took 23. We'll take the last two next week. Our landowner asked that if we had any that we didn't need or want to just gut 'em and hang 'em in the walk-in cooler. We left 4 does last week. We'll leave him the other two next week. He didn't keep any doe tags for his 2000 acres so we had no issues with helping him out.

Point is mutual respect can be found and beneficial to all parties.

Since I was brought up being lucky enought to be invited to so many different ranches, I would say hey have a good time. Maybe I will see them there.

ALSO - My wife's grandfather owns a ranch in childress that he leases out to a cattle rancher that in turn sub leases it out for hunting. THere are no running feeders on the property. I am allowed to hunt it anytime I want with the exception of if the hunters are out there or now. I ALWAYS make sure to check if there are any particular deer they have there eye on. I also have NO issues letting them know what I saw during my hunt so they can make there decision whether to hunt that deer or not. Yes I know people that WILL NOT tell anyone what they saw with hopes to get that buck themselves (and that is there obligation). I share the wealth. What goes arround comes around. I try to teat everyone how I wanted to be treated. And in all honesty, that mentality has gotten me a LONG way.

If I was the landowner I, and my immediate family would hunt my property no matter what the leased hunters thought, but that fact would be known before pen ever touched paper. Anybody that don't like it can pick up their stuff and go, deer hunters are a dime a dozen and they can probably be replaced by the time the week is out. By immediate family i mean me, my wife and my sons, not my third cousin twice removed. Hunters stands would be off limits to me and my family unless prior arrangements had been made. Bottom line is it's my place and no guest, leased or not is going to tell me what I can or can't do on it.

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