With general hunting season in TX either having just finished or soon to, looks like the traditional lease hunting for 2024 season is beginning to "ramp up". With that said and to possibly help or further inform those currently lease hunting, what are those lease necessities, nice to haves and/or icing on the cake items/needs in a hunting lease that you look for. For me, necessities are as follows: relative proximity to home - 3 hour ea. way max of travel time (this allows me to justify those short weekend/one nighter hunts), game - the place must have animals residing or moving through it regularly as viewed by game pics, prior harvest pics, gametrails on sight, scrapes, rubs, fresh scat, crossings under fencing, etc., cover - must have sufficient but not excessive brush and cover to allow for animal movements and concealment of movements but still allowing huntability of property, pond/s or tanks on property to hydrate animals, not Overhunted - surrounding properties and topo not show strong or hard evidence of overhunting or overshooting - current hunters or landowner indicating this, multiple blinds erected on or near fencelines, campsite showing multiple trailers, cabins disproportionate to acreage size, etc., no game cam pics of recent deer or hunter harvests, etc. Finally, if joining an existing hunting group, I do not prefer, "private or non-open" hunting situations - big turnoff for me. If trust or respect of each other cannot be extended or maintained for myself or others to fairly hunt the entire property or blinds, that's a big turnoff to me. ATV/UTV traversing of property should not regularly occur so as to put all animals in county on high alert, lol...
Nice to Haves - Electricity and water (Can do without for stays under 3 full days but anything beyond that gets tough), game management program in place or expectations (looking to shoot deer within realistic mature expectations given county, acreage size and surrounding acreage sizes and hunting pressures (not looking or thinking to take typical 150+ ea. year off 500 acres, when 130+ is much more realistic potential - that said, mature bucks should and need to be taken as you'll never know the land's true potential, property must not be overrun or overgrazed by livestock. Nothing will dampen hunting like an overgrazed property - this probably goes more into necessities than Nice to Have.
Icing on the Cake - Year round Access or close to it. I have generally had access to properties from Sept.-Mar. down in South Texas with ability to setup prior to season and adjust things after quail season in Feb. Unfettered year-round access for me is not required nor needed though I suppose is an "Icing on the cake" situation. If I or the family want to getaway, I prefer to camp/hotel somewhere else more scenic than the hunting lease, Hill Country, Big Bend NM, beach, etc.
Those are some of my thoughts on acquiring or joining an existing hunting lease situation but surely not exhaustive. Obviously pricing, existing hunter makeup, personas come into consideration. If some or most of these things can help or further inform any lookers or lessors, I wish you great luck in your lease pursuits...

Last edited by DQ Kid; 01/08/24 02:33 PM.