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SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest #8313164 07/05/21 10:31 PM
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Im fairly familiar with lease prices but not certain what the market is like for a real high end Super Trophy lease. Im talking about a real good setup that has significant documentation that a person could have a legitimate chance at a low fence 160” to 200” buck with some sustainable regularity. This isn’t just hypothetical since I lease a place like this.
-My dilemma…. Im trying to decide whether to pick up more of the Ranch and to sign a long term lease. Im in love with the place but don’t want to bite off more than I can handle. I manage/hunt another lease in NW Tx for the last 15 years with almost 20 hunters, so Im not new to the issues. They pay in the 4k/5k range to hunt bucks in the 140” to 160” range and I have no problem recruiting/retaining hunters for it. My new place has MUCH BIGGER DEER but ITS DOUBLE THE PRICE per hunter. Im uncertain if this higher price will make it difficult to recruit and retain hunters. I know I could “make it happen” but Im just too old to play the game of recruiting and retaining quality hunters. I would like to know this type place is a slam dunk to have guys wanting on. My immediate circle of friends are priced out at this cost.
-MY QUESTION…. Are there a good many hunters out there willing to pay $10000 for a quality lease with a legitimate chance at 160” to 200” deer on a somewhat regular basis???
-More info??.... Im sure yall would have some questions about the place but ill have to be secretive and not give out much more. If any of you know me, I would appreciate you keep from posting any specific info about it. If any of yall are real serious about more info then you could pm me. I will say that its many 1000’s of acres, low fence, only been hunted very very lightly by family for decades and within 2 hours of DFW.


At some point in life its time to quit chasing the pot of gold and just enjoy the rainbow. FR
Keep your gratitude higher than your expectations. RWH
Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313169 07/05/21 10:44 PM
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Within 2 hours of DFW sounds amazing. Still, I wouldn't pay it. Some would, but I seriously doubt they're on this forum. Some may like to act like they would, but no...when it comes down to the nut cuttin', they wouldn't.


...and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen. 1:28
Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313204 07/05/21 11:18 PM
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There are very very few ranches that can sustain year in and year out pressure to take that quality of deer off of it. The ones that do it are doing habitat management, food plots, protein supplement and take a huge number of lower deer off every year. They take a limited number of the top end mature deer. If you have 5 hunters then those 5 hunters have to be satisfied with out filling a "trophy" tag every year if needed. It takes a special hunter to not fill a tag. Eating a $10,000 tag sandwich is not for the average hunter. It takes that special hunter with the money to afford that. You factor in fuel, food, blinds, feeders, corn, out of state license fees etc into the lease and you are now closer to a $15,000 tag sandwich vs $10,000.
The biggest issue or hurdle that I see as that most ranches put to many hunters on it for the habitat and number of bucks to be taken. Most ranches in South Texas can support taking one high end trophy for every 1000 acres due to thick and higher end habitat. For example with a density of a deer to 25 acres that would have about 40 deer per 1000 acres. 20 bucks of all ages classes would be a lot to choose from and hopefully find that one buck over 170 to shoot from in South Texas. But realistically of those 20 bucks very few are going to be mature and very very few are going to be high end 170+. There are very few well managed ranches that can do than in South Texas year in and year out. You take it down to a smaller ranch and same amount of hunters....it will be even harder to maintain and sustain that type of quality. If I am going to pay $10,000 to hunt WT there would have to be very few hunters with a lot of mature deer on large acreage. Enough acres to hold a large number of mature deer 160+ and not have them roam or be pushed off that ranch during the rut. I would want that ranch/acreage to support multiple mature bucks to hunt for every year. If you look at the record book bucks taken in Texas you will see that the large number years align with high spring rainfall years. Those bucks will mostly come from areas with very high mature deer populations. There is such a small % of bucks that score over 170 gross that to maintain that every year is going to be difficult. Throw in a low fence ranch that might be smaller than a mature bucks home range and you could lose bucks to the neighbors. Large enough neighbors and you could gain bonus bucks. Hunting pressure around a ranch is as important as the pressure on the ranch. If a ranch has not been hunted heavily in the past, a sudden surge of new traffic and hunting pressure can push bucks off.


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Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313214 07/05/21 11:26 PM
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My uncle and a few of my dad's friends were paying 6-8K each in the 1980s. House to stay at was included.

If you have the bucks you are talking about, people will pay.

Last edited by texasag93; 07/05/21 11:26 PM.
Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313217 07/05/21 11:33 PM
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I'll assume NW to DFW, possibly Throckmorton County. What I could afford and elect to relinquish are incongruent most of the time. For me, I get cold feet around $4-$5K range but if it's as good as you say, I can see peeps paying $10K for that quality within 2 hours of metromess

Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313222 07/05/21 11:37 PM
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I know guys who lease big deer country down south, where a 200” deer isn’t a unrealistic possibility and a 170-180” buck is expected.

They pay anywhere from $10-15k/gun not including feed. Some super exclusive clubs are $20k/gun but that is on the real high end.

There are always going to be guys that will want to shoot a big deer and $10-$12k/gun they don’t bat an eye at.


For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313238 07/05/21 11:55 PM
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I will attest to the OP in that this lease is legit. Several thousand acres and lots of deer, lots, with many mature bucks. In the immediate area, there are significant genetics to push out a 200” deer on a bad rain year…i say that as past year this area had poor spring and summer rains and yet there were multiple deer on the lease pushing 160-170, several pushing 180, and some from the year before that would have pushed 160+ but dropped a little due to the subpar forage. A 200” deer was shot within a short distance from the lease this year in a low pressure hunting area in a down year. My place is a short drive away and it was a bad spring and summer for rain and growth, but the genetics still played out to have some decent deer. My first sit on this lease was eye opening to the caliber of deer that this lease holds. My buck in the “got the text today” thread was the smallest scoring deer taken off the place last year.

I will also attest this area is not heavily hunted. Several sits with tally sheets for deer numbers showed plenty of deer, plenty of mature deer and based on trail cam pics of what was coming around prior to season there was no adverse pressure related deer “no-shows”.

Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313250 07/06/21 12:10 AM
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One thing that has not been stated are season lengths and specific weapon seasons. For a NR hunter those licenses can add up if you hunt all 3 season....that give you maximum hunting days for a buck. If you only hunt rifle season then you are now only going to hunt for 16 days. Muzzleloader is around 9 days. Archery is the longest season for a NR hunter. Each of those weapons take a separate $300 license IIRC. For a Texas hunter used to longer rifle season that will cover the rut, that is a huge change. But in the long run anyone who is going to drop $10,000 for a spot along with the extra lease expense budget... they are probably not concerned with the money part of it or the weapon choices.


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Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313564 07/06/21 12:09 PM
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within 2 hours of DFW has to be considered GOLDEN

Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: txtrophy85] #8313591 07/06/21 12:39 PM
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Originally Posted by txtrophy85
I know guys who lease big deer country down south, where a 200” deer isn’t a unrealistic possibility and a 170-180” buck is expected.

They pay anywhere from $10-15k/gun not including feed. Some super exclusive clubs are $20k/gun but that is on the real high end.

There are always going to be guys that will want to shoot a big deer and $10-$12k/gun they don’t bat an eye at.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The best places I know of down south....really southwest in Maverick county run $15/acre and those hunters pay for 1,000 acres each plus a buy-in for all the equipment that is already in place, plus feed.....and in super dry years as much as another $3k for shipped in water. Feed (protein, cottonseed, corn) is another $4k+/year.

They kill 165" - 225" deer for their trophies and are allowed multiple bucks a year up to 155" in addition to their trophy.

Ridiculous money no doubt but it is as good as it gets when it comes to low fence WT hunting ANYWHERE.

So, your price of $8k-$10k to me sounds very, very reasonable and if I read correctly and it is within a couple hours of DFW I couldn't see how there wouldn't be a bunch of folks jumping at the chance for that kind of place as you described!


High fence, low fence, no fence, it really doesn't matter as long as you're hunting!
Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313593 07/06/21 12:42 PM
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I concur. With all those posers up there in TX Lite (DFW), you may have lil' issue filling the slots.

Last edited by Hudbone; 07/06/21 12:56 PM.
Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: Hudbone] #8313596 07/06/21 12:50 PM
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I have multiple years on one of the top ranches in South Texas. Good ones are not cheap.

I have seen the place Freerange is talking about and I can attest that it is first class. Great accommodations. It is a cool looking property with some areas of super thick brush. Lots of water on it. Just overall a great set up.

Some awesome deer on it and you will not find someone better to run it than Freerange - knows his stuff for sure and a straight shooter (no pun intended). It is worth 10K all day long IMO.


You can't fix stupid
Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313613 07/06/21 01:08 PM
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Nobody I know loves deer hunting more than I do. I wouldn't pay $10k for a whitetail deer no matter what size it is, especially on a place with a bunch of people I don't know very well.

Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313638 07/06/21 01:27 PM
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Lots of guys from the east side of the country love hunting this area for some reason and it’s a pretty sweet deal since they normally only hunt a few times a year. The responses I got were they would rather pay for a lease they can visit multiple times a year verses paying for a so called “Canned Hunt” so it’s the guys that hate high fences yet want to have a shot at a big deer that will pay these prices. It definitely takes more effort to fill the spots but once you get the ball rolling it just keeps on going and the hunting pressure is extremely low so it’s a win win IMO.

$10k is a lot of money to most people for a lease but their are a ton of people out their that its chump change to. My go to motto is theirs an [censored] for every seat so don’t think for a second those spots can’t be filled. Not many places in the south that you have a true shot at a 200” free range deer and can routinely see big deer so these places are pretty rare to find so they demand a solid price of admission.

Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: tlk] #8313646 07/06/21 01:39 PM
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Originally Posted by tlk
I have multiple years on one of the top ranches in South Texas. Good ones are not cheap.

I have seen the place Freerange is talking about and I can attest that it is first class. Great accommodations. It is a cool looking property with some areas of super thick brush. Lots of water on it. Just overall a great set up.

Some awesome deer on it and you will not find someone better to run it than Freerange - knows his stuff for sure and a straight shooter (no pun intended). It is worth 10K all day long IMO.

And if I lived within 3 hours or so I'd have already PM'd him to save me a spot.
That is one hell of a good deal to hunt LF deer of that class!


High fence, low fence, no fence, it really doesn't matter as long as you're hunting!
Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: Jgraider] #8313649 07/06/21 01:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Jgraider
Nobody I know loves deer hunting more than I do. I wouldn't pay $10k for a whitetail deer no matter what size it is, especially on a place with a bunch of people I don't know very well.

Well, evidently there is plenty out there that do I guess.


High fence, low fence, no fence, it really doesn't matter as long as you're hunting!
Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: Ol Thumper] #8313657 07/06/21 01:45 PM
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Originally Posted by Ol Thumper
Lots of guys from the east side of the country love hunting this area for some reason and it’s a pretty sweet deal since they normally only hunt a few times a year. The responses I got were they would rather pay for a lease they can visit multiple times a year verses paying for a so called “Canned Hunt” so it’s the guys that hate high fences yet want to have a shot at a big deer that will pay these prices. It definitely takes more effort to fill the spots but once you get the ball rolling it just keeps on going and the hunting pressure is extremely low so it’s a win win IMO.

$10k is a lot of money to most people for a lease but their are a ton of people out their that its chump change to. My go to motto is theirs an [censored] for every seat so don’t think for a second those spots can’t be filled. Not many places in the south that you have a true shot at a 200” free range deer and can routinely see big deer so these places are pretty rare to find so they demand a solid price of admission.



You are exactly right. $10k to one man may as well be $1m to another.
I a person is in a good spot financially and can afford it, why the hell not?!

Hell, I'm sure there are plenty of guys on this forum that make $50k-$60k a year, have a house and truck payment as well as other bills and they don't bat an eye at spending $2k-$3k or more a year to hunt.
So how is that different from a guy that makes $150k/year or more and has everything he owns paid off spending $10K+/year to hunt?

There is no difference IMO.


High fence, low fence, no fence, it really doesn't matter as long as you're hunting!
Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: ILUVBIGBUCKS] #8313670 07/06/21 01:55 PM
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Originally Posted by ILUVBIGBUCKS
Originally Posted by Jgraider
Nobody I know loves deer hunting more than I do. I wouldn't pay $10k for a whitetail deer no matter what size it is, especially on a place with a bunch of people I don't know very well.

Well, evidently there is plenty out there that do I guess.



There aren't too many with the hunting success previously achieved by JG. The bet here is many have full wallets and boxes to check.

Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313677 07/06/21 02:00 PM
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I’ve hunted (as a guest) on a south Texas high fenced ranch that was priced in the $20,000+ range per lessee. The deer were not as big as the OP referenced, but they do have some exotics. Most of the people I met there were from Dallas and Houston, and had money to burn. They would fly private down on Friday afternoon, and return on Sunday afternoon. $10K to these folks would be couch-cushion money. I think a quality $10K lease in the DFW area would have a waiting list a mile long.

Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313690 07/06/21 02:11 PM
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If for this year, you are getting a late start.

Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313696 07/06/21 02:18 PM
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the distance from dfw i think would allow you to be able to fill it easily, very few places within 2-3 hours away from dfw that you can have a consistent chance 160-200

Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313740 07/06/21 03:05 PM
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The area is one of the best in the country. With that said, the people part is the hard part. Not many people can pass on 4.5 160/170 gross deer to let it hit 200.


Personally the higher the price, better off you are IMO.


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Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8313749 07/06/21 03:16 PM
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Candy man will give out some more PPP money, no problem.

Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8314005 07/06/21 09:08 PM
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If it's as you describe it, I would certainly be interested. I'm paying more than that now for a Panhandle lease and a South Texas lease. I'm driving 4.5 hours west for a legitimate shot at a 150" and 8 hours south for a legitimate shot at a 160". Bigger bucks exist, but not every year.


How come everybody I meet is a deer hunting expert?
Re: SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest [Re: freerange] #8314074 07/06/21 10:00 PM
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For that much money I’d pay a high fence I think. Make sure I get the big one

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