The other thread concerning a HF exotic lease got me to pondering.

What would a HF lease be worth if it had;
1) nice (but not crazy) WT, Axis, & red stag (also turkey, fishing, etc)
2) 1,500 acres
3) simple cabins
4) 15 stands & feeders in place, feed provided year round.
5) within 2 hours of D/FW

I was originally thinking 12 hunters, allowed to take 2 trophy animals a year @ $6,500/each.

Also, would a HF operation as I mentioned be worth more if it included 1,500 - 2,500 acres of low fence (& a subsequent number of additional hunters)?

I'm just wondering out loud here. Any thoughts or ideas appreciated.

Even with all that info you give it's still a pretty wide range to me. Numbers of all the animals and quality matters to me.

Agree, a little bit more info would help dial it in:

-Reasonable expectation of WT quality: 140? 150? 170?
-Similar expectation for Axis and Stags?
-Year round unlimited access?
-Other facilities: covered cleaning areas, walk-in cooler, etc
-Does allowed as well?
-Cabins have water, electric, AC, heat? (assume yes but good to clarify)

Sounds like a management nightmare. Ever try to get 12 hunters to agree on the definition of a trophy buck? Then multiply that by 3 when adding in Red Stag and Axis.

Just called the old owner of a 482 acre HF with whitetails, axis, blackbuck, 2 small cabins fully equipped with fridge, 1 full size bed and a twin, sink, bathroom all in a 12' x 24' floor plan each. It has two stock tank, cold storage with a screened in porch for cleaning, two UTV's for transportation, six tower blinds each with a feeder, protein feed supplied year around, good water well. Before he sold in the early 2000's he said he was getting $80,000 total for the lease. He also lived out there and his electric was all paid for and he took care of the place. It had hogs on it and I used to help him hunt them and control varmints with snares.

Heck no.

Free choice protein alone on 1500 acres could run as much as $30K yearly.

My annual for 170 HF is about half that.

How high are you going to have to stack deer in 1500 acres to get 12 hunters 2 trophies each?

I don't think its feasible.

I was being modest, but you have made my point stronger

I know plenty of guys that pay $6K per gun with low fence and only corn supplied year round.

Just depends on animal quality as others have mentioned

I know several people who pay a lot more than $6k per gun with nothing supplied just to say the ground they are hunting on is theirs.

Very easily done.

Might be easily done, but I don't think I'd want to hunt with 11 other guys on 1500 acres, that just seems crazy close to me. I hunted forever on 11k acres with only 8 other guys...low fence, low density, apples to oranges I know, but 125 acres apiece, and kill 2 trophies off that? Stocker bucks I guess. Just different than I'm used I guess, but hey, if it works for you, get after it!

No. Not stocker bucks. Just grow a large herd. Very simple.

At some point CC in a bag hits an affordability factor. But rancher is right

I would let them have two animals. They would be the ones to decide if it was trophy or not. A persons definition of a trophy differs with each individual. 24 animals off of 1500 acres is very feasible.

With the rain we've had all over Texas the last 3 years the only feed necessary is for antlers. Of course, that changes with the next drought. But protien is relatively cheap.

It would all depend on the quality of animals and the management plan in place. I would be interested if it was managed properly. It sounds like you would give the hunters complete autonomy to decide trophies. Most management minded folks are not going to be interested in a place that lets the weekend warriors come out and shoot the 3 year old 12 point and yearling red stag on their 1 annual trip. It may work for a few years but it could also negatively impact your herd. I would think some does/management bucks would also be in order.

Yes. It's going to matter which part of the state the lease is in too. We get a lot more rain than the hill country. My place is a jungle compared to some of the places I have seen in the hill country that are larger and less animals. A lease closer to a city within one hour or two will likely get leased easier. The gentleman I spoke of earlier had retired from the company that leased it. He just lived out there with him and his wife and lived off the lease paycheck for years. The place was all paid for so he did quite well.

80000$ for 480 acres in the early 2000's ???? You could lease 7000 acres of great country in south Texas for that price in early 2000's

Apples to aardvarks.

Nobody pays 170$ per acre to lease. Apples, aardvarks or not

Some pay quite a lot more. Depends on what you get for your dollar. Based on the animals on that 470 acres the price per trophy could have been less than the price per trophy on 7000 acres in south Texas.

Price per acre isn't a good way to compare. See, it's got you saying things that just ain't so.

I second the management nightmare scenario on this. You would literally have to go to a deer to 5 acres to keep a 1 to 1 ratio and give 12 hunters a shot at 2 trophies each. That's assuming that you would only have two bucks per hunter in EACH age class to 6 y/o... The math doesn't really work out for me. At a deer to 5ac, then you begin to have a nutrition issue and all of it really becomes a huge DMP pen on constant protein.