Yep....people expect to order up a lease like a burger at a drive thru

Doesn't work that way

It has worked out for us and I have been on the place for 20 years, but we pay to play. Contract is year to year and we are aware of any changes before paying the money for the next season. Ranch will not be sold, but they could hike the price out of our range and someone out there would pay it. Earlier this year, there was a thread on here that someone tried to do that exact thing.

Figure what land is bringing these days. Figure the percentage the land owner is making off the lease. If you owned the land would you lease it cheap as he is?

Nope. It is a drop in the bucket in the scheme of things on our place. There is more money to made in other avenues, hence the reason that only half the land is leased. If it was so valuable to lease, I am sure they would lease out the rest. But, money coming as shear profit isn't bad money, no matter what percentage.

IMO, it is based on what it is worth "to you." Doesn't matter if the you are the owner or the leaser, there is a value that will answer that question...for me, I am still paying it, so...

Does get frustrating to improve on the value of a profit with your time and money, only to have to pay for it for years to come.

What are some things that pay more per acre than leasing to hunters?

I know oil and gas can, but what are some other things?

To me, the problem is that land is being bought for recreational purposes these days. An owner like that doesn't need money from farming, ranching, or hunting and probably doesn't want anyone on his land.

I guarantee that if I had land I wouldn't want anyone else on it, although I might lease the grazing rights to get the ag exemption.

`Selling the surplus deer will bring in just as much or more than leasing and you don't have people on your property anytime they want. You are right about people buying land and not leasing it for hunting. Every place around here that has been sold the new owners do not lease. If you can afford to buy land you probably don't need lease money.

I saved my pennies for a down payment. I knew what I could afford for a mortgage. I shopped for 3 years while not being happy with my lease. I got my enjoyment out of said lease, it was very inexpensive. I traded what I was spending on my lease all costs in, bought a piece of property all costs in and only came up about 2500 difference a year. I think buying land is a pretty sound investment if you can afford it. Never take food off of your family's table, but at the same time don't be afraid to jump. I agree with Txtrophy too many hunters are far over geared. I at one point fell into a couple categories he listed. I sold off some of a collection and allocated my funds into property. To txshntrs point I bought property completely unimproved. Not only the amount of money saved by buying it this way and doing it myself, but the knowledge gained in things I knew nothing about, and knowing that it is done better than it needed to be gives more gratification than if it was already done. Maybe a bit of a rant, but I do agree people who own land see what people are willing to pay. If guys wouldn't pay it, it wouldn't lease for that.

I'am not that mad at the deer,killed many in my younger years. Family has land and we don't lease because of the hassle and the kids hunt on holidays. If the big city hunters are willing to pay 3-5 thousand for 100 lbs venison you can't blame the land owners.A person can go elk hunting for 2 years for 5 grand and have more and better meat. I'll raise my own ribeyes

I think the advent of the hunting forums have concentrated the hunters looking for a place to hunt so that it appears that there are more people looking than in the past. Unless you have more money than God and bought land as a "tax dodge" and don't really do anything with it then your land is part of your business. If you raise cattle, sheep, or goats then that is your business and selling leasing rights for hunting is just icing on the cake. Most will try to limit their business during hunting season as a courtesy but some may not. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do because of season or it is just time to work cows, etc. I remember when I first moved to east Texas over 30 years ago. There were thousands of acres of timber company land that was open for anyone to hunt. Then the timber companies realized how much money they were leaving on the table and so the leasing for hunting began. They found a way to exploit a market and they have. Now almost every acre of timber company land is leased for hunting but they aren't going to care whether you are there or not when it comes to cutting, planting, spraying, etc. You just have to put up with it. I think part of what is going on about leases is the fact that hunters many times set up too high expectations of what they want for what they are willing to pay. I hunt east Texas because I live here and get more opportunities to hunt than if I leased in south Texas or the hill country, it is very cost effective, and though you may not see as many deer as you would in the hill country you have the chance to kill a good buck.

This is exactly why I don't post openings on my lease if one becomes available.

On our place, both the agriculture and the cattle heavily out weigh the hunting money. Oil and gas isn't even a comparison.

Years ago land owners leased out to help pay taxes,now it's to buy a new pickup.

My two cents..... from a recently relocated individual. Moved to Texas with the hope of finding a lease not expecting how difficult it would be.

Where I come from we have more public lands than private land. Having a place to be outdoors with your family is more than just bagging a trophy deer or having a place to shoot something up every time you have a chance.

Two short stories come to mind. I was out calling coyotes with my oldest boy. Very cold morning, snow, ice/snow covering the bushes, the kind of quite where you can hear the snow fall from a bush or tree 50 yards away...eerily quite, as much as you could imagine. We sat and called for a bit and started to have some crows respond. We sat in silence listening while you could hear the wind rushing through their wings as they circled just above us. Some may know the sound I am talking about. We called no coyotes or anything else but that stand will remain with me the rest of my life because of how my boy (14 at the time, 17 now) talks about it to this day, remembering that stand in detail and me knowing the respect he gained from the beauty of mother nature that morning.... Out another time with my youngest rabbit hunting and he really wanted to get some rabbits cause he thought he was going to put something on table for dinner that evening, first time he decided to do this. In the end we didn't even see rabbit and when I apologized to him I would try to take him to a better location next time he told me that it was OK because it was awesome to just be out there with his dad. The outdoors and having land/leases is about so much more than the business end of it.

I have not personally posted on THF looking for a lease for multiple reasons but the main one is there seems to be many, many that that do and there are not many successful in finding a lease that I can see. Money is also somewhat of an issue. I do not mind paying for myself, or driving a good distance. But I have two boys and a wife to consider when figuring lease costs. Adds up quick. I have went the route of talking to everyone I run into trying to track down a lease, friends, family, co-workers among others. None have worked out for me as of yet.
I am now considering to buy some land and have been reading the forums and taking notes/getting ideas on that option. Problem is I have been here 6 months and my kids are not getting any younger. Also reading about all the leasing scams out there has me somewhat reluctant also. I would be the first to get taken advantage of.
I think with what I would want in a lease I would be considered one of the more picky guys wanting "the world" but unwilling to give but I think part of that is where I come from and never having to deal with leasing before. I am willing to improve the land, barter, offer whatever services I am capable of to help the landowners needs so that I could justify affording a lease for the family. Unfortunately we never get that far in a conversation because of "price point" or "location" or "no family" allowed or the leases are snatched up by some other hunter super quick.

I feel sorry for future generations. Hunting will become a rich mans pass-time, especially in states where a majority of land is private. I didn't use to understand why there were so many Texans up in my neck of the woods in the past during hunting season. We would cuss them and wish they would go home and stop coming. I can say my attitude has changed and I understand why Texans would travel 15-20 hours to enjoy hunting and being outdoors, I will probably be one of them now. It is not possible for a majority of people down here.
There is just not anything like being able to walk through the woods gun in hand, harvesting an animal or not. I am glad that my kids have gotten to understand and experience that in the past. It has made some of my best memories.

Hunting/leasing in West Texas (most of Texas) has been altered over the past handful years by drought. This has caused a drop in deer numbers and quality. 5 years ago everyone on the lease saw and took the deer they wanted and thus most were relatively happy. Now we spend the time and money and see very little activity and everyone on the lease says this place sucks, over hunted, land owner is taking deer while we aren't here, on and on. Now everyone wants to leave and find something better. The reality is the place next door or in the neighboring county is struggling with the same conditions. But now everyone is trying to play musical chairs, looking for something better before they turn back their current lease. I would say that a large portion on here have an existing lease but are looking for an upgrade before their renewal date comes up.

These issues in West Texas have been made worse with the Oil patch taking off during the same time. It brought many new faces with more disposable income. Also the landowners are getting additional mailbox money from the Oil leases so they don't need to renew the lease you gave up in hopes of something better or they go up on price because their phone is ringing from others that think your spot looks better than theirs. The Oil patch has also brought much more traffic to the once quite little places that don't have road frontage, which I think has caused the deer that made it through the drought to become more nocturnal.

The weather pattern will change and it will be interesting to see what sub $50 per barrel oil does. Either way, I think it is going to get better. But I'm a cups half full kind of guy.

if a guy can afford to buy a chunk of land , do you think he cares
about a few $ from hunting lease ?

I wish this state had more Public land .

It has a good amount of public land in east Texas

Texas is one of the greatest states for hunting because of its private lands.

Very few states you can go over the counter and buy 5 deer tags at Walmart. In Colorado to kill
A deer you have to draw. Alot of units are draw only for elk. OTC units can get real crowded

New Mexico for instance, only thing over the counter is black bear until the quota is met and turkey

Here I can access private lands and not have to worry about a draw.

What good is public land if you don't have a tag to harvest game

Like TT85 said. If this state was half public land you would have very little chance of hunting any that was worth hunting. There probably would be very few deer on the places that are now loaded with them. If you think CO. or NM drawings are bad just think what it would be here. Look at the TPWS drawings for the Chap. Good luck getting drawn for it. Hunting here with a lease or by the animal is probably way cheaper in the long run than hunting in another state and guaranteed you will get a deer.

I use to think leases were expensive until I moved out of the area and was forced to make a choice. I had 5 choices:

1) Rent cabin to oil company for house rent ($6,000/year), lease hunting rights to 200 acres for about $2,000, and lease grazing rights for about $2,000/year
2) Lease cabin and 200 acres for full hunting lease ($5,500/year) and lease grazing rights for $2,000/year
3) Lease cabin and 200 acres for full hunting lease ($5,500/year)
4) Don't lease the place and come up twice a year to guide a couple hunters on Deer/Turkey/Hog ($2k to $10k/year)
5) Don't lease and only hunt when I want.

So, if you owned the land what would you do? I had all three lined up to do #1 (actually they all came to me).
Even if I did #1 and got $10k/year income from the place, this would not pay for it in my lifetime.

I decided to do #3, so I was still able to come up a few times a year to hunt hogs with buddies and trade hunts with other land owners. I bought some more land just for me and my trades and left the original 200 acres for the lease guys.

Several people has stated that leases aren't hard to find and that is true if you have a lot of extra funds. There are very few if you don't have $2000 plus to spend. I haven't deer hunted in about seven years because of that. It is hard to find any lease under $1500 and that is pushing my budget. Deer hunting has become a rich mans game in Texas. It is a business and not a sport anymore. I have tried hunting public land some but with the long season the deer numbers are low.

I don't understand why people would be looking for access to a vacation house 24/7 and ability to shoot everything they see for under $1,000.....Would you give me 24/7 access to your house for $1,000/yr? I am not even asking to shoot anything.

Today if I was back where I used to live where we there was a ton of public land I would be out with the boy or boys hunting rabbits, coyotes, or trying to fill my landowner elk tag that I was given for free. Instead I am on a forum looking for leases and reading about leases.
True the draw in some states has its disadvantages but there are always other things to hunt (waterfowl, birds, bear, lion) that require no draw (javelina is almost sure draw in NM) and/or just go spend time in the hills away from town on SEVERAL thousand acres. If and when I wanted to I could always drive down here for a week to bag a whitetail or some other Texas game. It's impossible to drive back for a weekend just to tool around in the hills. I would say most people that do not think public land is an advantage have not experienced what it is truly about. There is so little public land in Texas, what little there is is overcrowded and almost impossible to access. Public lands offer many many freedoms other then hunting. Target shooting, offroading (jeep, ATV, UTV), mountain biking, shed hunting, to name a few. Basically if you just like to be outsdoors public lands are a benefit.

Well, I wouldn't want hunters on my land, if I had any, but it's $1,000 (in your hypothetical case) x number of hunters, which could be many times more than $1,000.

I have seen several that are looking for place for Him, her and kids for $2.5k or under several times. So, they are basically looking for vacation house for free and to pay about $500 to $800 a year for each member of the family to kill anything they see.

Any lease with a cabin/house for under $6k year for house use and $1k per person to hunt is reasonable in my book.

This type of thinking is the problem with hunting these days, your a hunter but you would not want hunters on your land if you had any. I moved to Texas 15 years ago from KY. When I lived there my family owned a few hundred acres that we hunted on and would let our friends and neighbors hunt also. They would let us hunt. I'm 49 years old and have hunted since I was 7 or 8 years old. I have never paid to hunt and have never considered paying till the last couple years. Hunting seems to be more about the money instead of about hunting. Real hunting will be a lost art for future generations if some of these things don't change.