At what price per acre is your threshold for a year round lease of deer, turkey, dove and all the varmints you'd like, no exotics, assuming average to good genetics.
Personally, getting to $25 an acre would probably knock me out of the leasing hunting game....

On average size deer $15 per acre.

Guess it would all depend on the place really and the overall deer numbers and how many acres per man is allowed.
Hell, some smaller places are getting absolutely ridiculous $ per acre and jamming way too many hunters on it to keep the cost of the lease lower.

It’s already there for the most part.

I feel for you guys with deer/hunting leases. I gave up years ago on them after we got the boot for no reason. We were good tenants, meaning no wild parties/drinking, respected the land, picked up/cleaned up, paid on time, and followed the rules. Once the LO figured out how nice his place could be, we were out.

I am getting up in years, but hope I can hunt another 15 yrs. maybe. I’m at that point now. Our lease went up to $3000.00 a piece (4) guns 400 acres. I kill a couple of deer for the freezer every year. I still enjoy the anticipation, observing wildlife and camaraderie. But just doesn’t feel the same when you are up against possibly putting in the time money and work and lose a lease. This seems to be an expectation every year. No I don’t have resources to purchase my own land. But for now, who’s ready for deer season.

Dang, 12,000 for 400 acres. Thats pricey. Out of my desires for an average place.

When I leased, I paid 4000 for 400 acres all by myself. Average deer, but we had fun.

When the LO put too many cattle on it, I got off there and got a place around 200+ acres for 4000, all by myself. Shot more deer and hog off that place than I can remember. Good deer, fun times. left that place when I bought my own land.

Now I pay way too much for my deer "lease" and have a blast on it. We have a great population of deer, great genetics, and a solid management plan to help bring out the best. To me, it isnt about the money per se, its about the place. I would never pay the amount I do for a lease, but I will do it all day long for my own piece of land. its an investment, in memories, comradery, family love, and of course money (its near doubled in value since I bought 5 years ago).

I think you need to pose the question, "At what price is your threshold for a year round lease of deer, turkey, dove and all the varmints you'd like, no exotics, assuming average to good genetics." The whole price per acre part of the question kind of convolutes the question. Then, you still have to know what you're getting in terms of acreage per hunter. Our price per acre is very low, but we each pay what I think is on the higher end of what most year round leases cost per hunter because truth is, most hunters don't want to hunt the way we do so there's only 4, sometimes 5 paid hunters on our 16k acres.

yelp also add commute etc.

No, not trying to get that complicated; regardless of land arrangement, leasing arrangement, etc., what highest per acreage price, $ are you willing to pay for a spot or whole lease yourself? Simple and easy to interpret, how I like my posts - Keep it Simple Stupid (KISS), Big lease - Big ticket lessors need not play if they can't or don't want to answer post as posed. Thanks

I generally think in terms of ticket price overall, not price/acre, mainly because some of the worst hunting I've done was on the biggest lease I had, and the opposite is true for a smaller lease. In other words, it's more about the piece of land than the price per acre. Just for my general willingness to pay and budget, it'd have to be a pretty perfect spot for me to pay $3,000+ per year. But I also don't mind hunting public either.

In the past few years, I've paid $2,500/yr and $2,000/yr. One I left because it wasn't great, the other I left because the land was sold.

agree, to me anyway, it's about the lease cost and hunting than the price per acre.

we are on a large LF south texas ranch with awesome deer - our lease cost is reasonable considering that the LO does all of the labor such as filling all the feeders, shredding, etc.

Recently however with the doubling of the corn, cottonseed, and protein cost our feed cost is almost as much as the lease fee cost -

Ok, do either a per acre $$$$ or total spot cost for your avg. to above average lease, not mega lease please....

If you can't afford it find a new game. Its that simple. You have to pay to play

I paid $10,000 season before last for 300 acres low fence in the hill country near Marble Falls - it was for four spots but I did it for family so was just me, my son, and SIL - had a nice house on it with a beautiful creek running through it - awesome fishing - and we killed a 160 inch 10 point -

so IMO it is all relative - $30 an acre is considered high - but it was worth every penny - cannot pin this stuff down because there are too many things that factor into a lease

Very nice TLK, $30+ per fir that exclusivity and a 160", 10pt. seems worth it....

Agree, if it gets too high, I'll just be stuck hunting my place and no leasing....Not there yet but you never know...

It was totally worth it - good memories with my kids and grandkids - the mega ranch situation is also awesome - so it is all about what someone is looking for and if it is worth the cost - the exact same thing that we all make decisions on every day - do I buy a new car or keep driving this one? end of the day it boils down to the same thing

I'm perfectly content paying $1 per acre right now. Extrapolate that out across 10 guns and we are at $10 an acre

Had the opportunity to hunt 300 acres with 6 paid guns. Most times some guys would sit together and was thick brush country hunting senderos. Anyway, total cost was like $4k electric and water but on wet years half would be under a foot of water. It is the only place that I would gladly pay the $4k for sole rights to hunt it plus corn, 5 hour drive and 3 tanks of diesel per trip. I've paid up to $3250 plus protein, corn, electric, rv spots, old farm house and 2 tanks of diesel per trip and felt the value was there. 2500 acres with 6 primarily bow hunters. Paid $2100 no camping on property and gave it up. 1500 acres with 6 paid hunters staying in town. Price was great and deer better than average age structure and herd size but the lack of community with the other hunters made it feel over priced.
I guess in short, my breaking point is whatever my bank account/saving skills dictate at the time of consideration and what the lease has to offer drives my value more so than just a place to hunt.

Totally depends on location. Where I hunt in Montague the population isn't high so our $11 an acre is good. I could maybe stomach $15 but 5 of us killed 2 doe off 1,100 acres this year. The land might have gotten sky high but the deer are the same.so hard to justify paying a ton. Now I would pay much more like $25 to $30 in the hill country.

20 tops for river bottom and I am happy where I am currently at. For the most part getting out of the city is priceless for me so anyone who wants to overpay for that access should.

I am lucky because I have access to thousands of acres of private land in CO. Here in TX I am happy to hunt does and can do that on public land or on inexpensive day hunts. The cost of a non-res deer, bear or antelope tag in CO is a lot cheaper than a lease here in TX.

What he said