We've hunted the same place in Eastland County for 4 years and this last year has shown remarkable change in the deer. Nice 8-12 pts. and many does seen at a several stands. Due to a Nazi lease manager (middle-man) our rates have doubled in those 4 years, so we've had enough. We're looking for something 4-6 of us can get on for no more than $1200/gun. If anyone knows of a place, please let me know asap.
thanks.

If you are interested in driving a little futher, check out Stephens county. Call Trammel Sporting Goods and then the Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce. They usually have a list of deer leases you could look in to.

cut out the middle man...Approach the land owner him or herself....

Not wisdhing to come across real down on anyone, but I will second, third, and fourth the advice you gave about contacting the landowner personally. The less people involved in the transaction, the less room for mis-communication and the less chance of someone being involved that might have their own game running. I may be wrong, and if I offend someone, just remember this is JMO, but leasing agents, irregardless of their actions, are going to do business with what is best for them in mind.

We actually have spoken with the son of the land owner (future land owner) and let him know exactly what we were paying. He was immediately disgusted and told us he would handle it. To make a long story short, his dad said he and the middleman have a signed agreement and they have to use him. We were happy to at least expose that guy. I am astonished at what hunting costs these days. It's running the average guy out of the woods.

First of all welcome to the forum. We have talked about this issue many times, and it is sad. The corporate world and the wealthy horn hunters are knocking the average joe out of hunting. Sorry this topic has changed, hope you find a lease.

thanks! I don't mind the topic changing, I just wanted to vent a little, I guess. We try to help our sport grow and survive with our children, but who can afford to? My father-in-law bought 100 acres nearby, which is great...but a big change from 1000 we're used to. We'll find something, just have to keep on it.

Hate for my first post here to be sort of a down negative,Im not negative just hopeless on the lease topic, I can recall leases for less than $500 seasonal and $50 day hunts.Tried hunting the APH WMas and such...no very rewarding or safe these days. Its been hard and after 3 years of Public land hunting in Texas...Im through.
I'll shoot and hunt limited invites of friends but I cant pay the $1k plus seasonal lease fees in Texas.
Sad after hunting here for over 24 years! A fella can hunt out of state cheaper than in his own.
Hope you find what your looking for.
Guess if 80% of the worlds commerical Whitetail deer hunting wasnt in Texas it wouldnt be so out of hand.

I agree. It's frustrating for all of us. $1000/year isn't too difficult to swallow, but those are even hard to find. we started @ 800/gun, and he wants $1500/gun 4 years later w/o water or electricity. My assumption is that the landowner isn't getting a "raise" it's the middleman. We have talked to the landowner, and he was apalled that we were paying so much, but since he had a lease agreement with him, there wasn't much he could do. Hopefully soon, there'll one less middleman ripping off good, quality hunters. It looks like we've landed a place, we'll keep our fingers crossed.

I believe I mentioned the O'middle man in another topic.

my first hunt I went on and did not hunt was 28 years ago at the age of 6...my father and seven of his friends would go to a ranch in fredricksburg and the owner would PAY THEM 10 dollars for every doe they tagged..oh where have the days gone....

Sad that has come to this, when out of state is cheaper than Texas hunting. After you figger, gas, food ,beer, hunting rights, license fees. It's cheaper to go out of state for 7 days than it is to hunt in Texas.
I don't know about all of you , but every chance I have I am at the deer lease. I might hunt a total of 15 days during the season, too far for me to drive at the drop of the hat. Sad that it's probably cheaper to go elsewhere.

I hate to think of the total amount spent in the last many years of hunting (especially when you factor in Beer, gas, food, more beer, etc.). I've seriously considered a "paid" hunt out of state because of all the weekly expenses involved with a lease.

Welcome Bender, Thanks for your reply, after I have looked at my original post, I got to thinking and have decided to change my thoughts. When you put a pencil to it, it can get scary. I hunt down south, lease cost me $1800.00 a gun, factor all the expenses and it easily crowds $2500 to $3000 a year, of course you also have to factor how many times you go. I have looked at some hunts in Colorado and the going price"what I have found is around $3000 for a weeks trip", and don't forget the out of state license. I know that I can go turkey, deer, dove, quail, hog and varmit hunting any time I want to on my lease. I feel you might be limited to what you do out of state, I really don't know what's provided since I have never gone before.
Before I make anyone mad, I feel it is what a person wants out of a hunt. I like the fact you can go to the lease anytime you want, instead of the week you have booked. I also like to be able to shoot diffrent game in season, as you probably would elsewhere, even Colorado. I enjoy the camp chores, cooking, cleaning with my friends, setting up new stands and just being there. I don't know if I could come away with the same experience on a guided hunt as I could on a regular deer lease. I have always been told that 99% is the experience, 1% is the hunt.
I am not bashing either one JMO.

SPANKY

Totally agree with that. If I want to kill something, I'll pay a guide. If I want to enjoy the outdoors, I'll stick with a lease. Not much pressure when you aren't paying someone to get you on game. I would set my expectations way too high if I was paying $3,000 for a hunt somewhere.

Welcome to the forum Bender, I forgot to do that in my earlier post.
As for the subject that got brought up about going out of Texas to hunt, there are several ways of approaching that, that really aren't too expensive, but even those are going up. There are a lot of places out of Texas that you can go on Do-It-Yourself hunts and be reasonably successful.
Guided hunts, aren't always 100%. I think that all of us that really like to hunt, enjoy all of the associated activities, more than just the squeeze of the trigger.
One of the trends though, that appears to be on the increase statewide, is ranches and farms, breaking up the leasing rights for hunting and fishing, into the individual seasons/species.
One group will have the fishing rights when there isn't an open hunting season. Another group has the dove hunting. I don't know for sure, maybe somone on the forum does, but, I bet there are possibly places out there that split archery and gun seasons, between different leasors.
I hope you have luck finding a place.

I couldn't agree more. Being able to afford the lease isn't really the issue, it's just a shame to pay a middleman when you don't have to. I kill two deer a year on average, but go to the lease to enjoy myself with my buddies and family. I get as excited for someone else killing a deer as I do when I kill one. We have a great time regardless.

THAT is exactly what it's all about! Having fun with your family and friends and taking great enjoyment in the commradry(sp.) that comes from those times. The hunting, stories, meals, jokes, gags, it's all part of it for me.

Welcome to the forum Bender.Sorry for your misfortune.Keep an eye out.There are still good deals out there.I am paying 850 and get to use the lease year around if i choose to do so.

Needing deer lease for 2013 season. Have group of 4 - 6 people. Pay up to 1500 a gun. Looking in young county throckmorton,brown,Coleman,Stephens county's. u contact me at 972-467-4459

Lots of people want to have their cake and eat it too. You just have to decide what you want. There are thousands of acres in Texas that you can hunt for FREE in National Forests. Buy a $48 permit and you can add thousands more acres. It doesn't have to be expensive to hunt here. I hunted National Forest for years and always had a good time and saw deer. I just finally got to the point that I wanted a place of my own and started leasing. I hope you find a place that meets your needs but like I said, it doesn't have to cost much to hunt here.

I'm going to play devil's advocate here and say if the lease you just gave up had great deer and was ONLY $1500/year, you were dumb to let it go. That's on the very low end of the range for deer leases anywhere in Texas. Just because you had it for $800 at one point in time doesn't mean it isn't still a good deal at $1500, especially if it had solid bucks.