Ok let me work this out for you

1970s - I am in high school in Taylor Texas (central Texas). My Dad was on a lease near Lampasas for years that I grew up hunting on. Couple thousand acres - cost him and his group around $100 bucks per gun.

1980s - I move back to hill country. I am a broke school teacher/coach making $11,900 per year. I shell out $200 bucks for a lease near Jonestown (nameless road) - think it was around 200 acres and 3 of us on it. Slept on the ground and cooked on a Coleman stove. Could not believe I paid $200 for that place but it was worth it to me at the time. I adapted what I could get to what I could pay.

Now on a top end South Texas lease paying lots of money. Why??? Because I can.

Moral is - prices for EVERYTHING go up EVERY YEAR. It is called inflation.

Here is a short lesson in economics. We live in the USA and what is known as a FREE MARKET. That means a willing seller and a willing buyer will reach a price and THAT sets the market price for others (it is called FAIR MARKET PRICE).

IF YOU cannot afford the price for what the seller is asking then you either walk away or you lower your standards. Want a new truck that is tricked out but you cannot afford it?? Then take some of the extras off and get the price down to where you CAN AFFORD it. Pretty basic stuff. So complaining about how the world really works is useless. I am out

You might have me confused with someone else you've had 'words' with.

Hope you find a place that fits what you're looking for.
Good luck.

tlk, I couldn’t agree more. I could afford to hunt south Tx but I choose to hunt 20 minutes from the house and harvest mature 120 class deer in Lee county. We are also on MLD 1 and take does so my freezer is always full so everybody has the option to hunt where they please depending on their finances, it’s all about living within your means or making a choice to hunt where it is convenient for you. I have a daughter in college and one younger so it make sense to keep the place I have, one day I might pay $6-8,000 for a place in South Tx to take a 160 class deer but this is not the time. I more enjoy the campfire and drinks/food and keeping the pigs and coyotes in check. For me it’s all about getting away, so if that cost me a few thousand is well worth it.

Good to hear there are decent Deer in Lee County these days. In the past....60's-70's it was pretty much a novelty to see deer (or sign) East of I35 from about Manor out to Lexington or even to the South of the County. Friend of our family had a large cattle ranch out in Lexington (out in the sand, folks called that area). Good for cows and coyotes, but no deer and certainly no pigs back then.

Like you....I choose to hunt and enjoy my own property or that of my FIL's (not far away) rather than travel. My Daughter has been out of school for 10 yrs. now (RN, travel nursing) and I am retired. Content to hunt right here at home...though I have access to 6,000 acres in Del Rio.

Time spent with family enjoying the outdoors is what is important to me.

We hunt Yegua creek bottom and it’s not uncommon to see 12-18 different deer in one sitting, things have really changed since antler restrictions have been implemented. I know not everyone agrees with the restrictions but where I hunt it has made a huge improvement.

I got to this party late and now im too tired to give it any justice but ill scattershoot a few comments.
Someone asked if laidover had another name, and yes he apparently changed his forum name(imagine that.)
Rustler had some very good pointed comments for laidover that bare rereading.
Maximus kind of got a little perturbed but he was right on with most of his stuff, IMO.
Im not a very big LO but I respect them immensely and I pay their price or I don't, but I don't complain.
tlk and Big8 are great examples of what this thread has kind of come to-- tlk pays big money and is very happy and Big8 apparently does not and he too is very happy. Most reasonable people make those kind of choices on a regular basis and all is good.
Beyond that, all the comments about the free market system should make the meat of the matter clear so anyone that still complains should probably be ignored.
ps- I have no idea who the OP was but I feel for you.

What else did I say? I only posted one time on this thread and everything I said is quoted above. Maybe you confused me with Txtrophy85.

laid over = regular guy 11B

Like I said before, if you're gonna lease your land you ought yo get what you can and Amen to that, yep it's a privilege when someone lets you use their land for anything at any price.

But don't get mad when a hunter is trying to take his dollar as far as he can.

I imagine a hunter that tells you exactly what you want to hear is about like a used car salesman and you should be weary.

But a guy asking for as much as he can, you can temper his expectations and teach him alot more without insulting the bastard. I been there.

The OP needs to check out the public hunting near DFW. For what he can find at the prices he quoted, he'd be way better as would anybody. But people don't know any better.

There are good sized chunks of public land you could have pretty much to yourself within a hour to a hour and a half of DFW and I know cause I been there and damn near fell in a cave and died exploring one night.

Caught a mess of crappie out of one place too oh yes. Every cast with a beetle spin.

But you gotta get up off your kiester and hunt your tail off for a place to hunt!

I'll give you a good hint though, take I45 to 287 an head East.

The farther you are willing to drive, the bigger and better the opportunities for public land will become.

But the bigger places are gonna require more time and effort to explore.

If you are man enough to bust a thick draw, East Texas is your oyster. But if you are lazy like most are you are not gonna find anything else but litter.

I call 287 the hunter's highway.

Greatness

You're right...my bad...apologies...

You're obviously are to picky and didn't look hard enough.


https://texashuntingforum.com/forum...annual-deer-leases-few-spots#Post7585652

Why?

Laid Out- Why would you change your handle & comeback being a jerk still?

Does this subject still need to be discussed?

Great thread. One liners galore.

My thoughts....I own a piece of property and I wouldn't lease it out for $100 an acre, it would take $200 an acre for me to even consider it. It takes a special person to lease out their land that is probably worth 100x or more what most people are willing to pay. I've had several people ask me to lease it out to run cows for 6 months out of the year and I told them no, because I don't want the hassle or have to worry about who has access to it.

IMO deer leases are too cheap compared to the cost of land and upkeep. Every deer lease is a bargain compared to buying....

Very true

You bought your property recently for investment/recreational purposes so it isn't in the same category as land that is leased. Land that is leased for most deer leases has been in the family for generations and was used primarily for cattle. Many didnt even have deer 30 years ago. You can only stare at mesquite so long so might as well make some extra bucks off of it and not sell it. All the LO by us have regular jobs so it's not paying their bills as it doesn't need to. Probably pays for their vehicles and vacations. They could sell and have a few million but that is not their goal or everyone would sell. Not much to do with a million in a small town anyway as you sold your land so what now? Look at the bank account all day?? Some people are not obsessed with money and buying the most expensive new stuff all the time.

I’ll admit these are pretty good

Yes, they are pretty good

More than good. Some of the finest backhands I've seen in recent years. MF cracks me up.

.