Lease Available - vs - People Looking For A Lease

Well, the lease I used to belong to had 33 members. The club was already formed with established rules, so if I wanted in, I had to agree to the rules. For the most part the rules were focused on safety, which was fine by me. About the only time I didn't like it was the year the club voted to ban putting corn out. Which I thought was dumb, and was changed the year later.

Anyway, I've never started one, and haven't started looking for a lease yet. But I do miss hunting with a group of folks with similar views.

You are right; you will never find one size fits all. However in this forum, I believe we could get several folks together to form a club.

I liked what I had before, with one exception. I hunted that lease for 3 years and only took one deer. It wasn't in Texas, but it was a nice set up.

We had approximately 2000 acres. Each member could have two perminate stands. Inside the tree line you couldn't set up within 100 yards of another hunter, and in an open field it was 200 yards of another hunter. If you had a mobile stand, ie climber or blind, you could go anywhere on the lease, as long as you didn't set up on someone. I will need to find my rule book to see what the actual distances where but from memory I believe they are correct.

In the three years I was there, the club officers had only one dispute on distance in an open field that needed to be measured. It was handled without commotion, because the guy that wanted to setup, asked for the measurement before he placed his perminate stand.

The lease was open year round, but its primary use was deer hunting, but I did manage a few turkey hunts on it.

As for methods of taking game, we had bow, black powder, and firearm of your choice.

You could put out deer feeders and food plots, but it wasn't required.

The first, and only deer I got, was off of a friends stand. It was a nice 105 lb doe, and I was proud of it. Sharing that moment with friends was great, which is what makes a lease something worth looking into for me.

The accommodations were nice. We had a loggers building as the camp. Half was for cold storage and deer cleaning. The other half included two bathrooms, kitchen, dinning\tv room, and sleeping quarters. To me, it was a 5 star hotel in the middle of the woods. Talk about being spoiled. I only had to drive 1hr 15 from the house to get out there. And for those with kids, they loved hanging out around the camp. And during the off season, there 4-wheel trails to ride and stock tanks to fish.

Right now my focus would be a place I could hunt all season long, with the method of my choice. And a place that I could go on all year long to scout or take my kids and expose them to the outdoors. Also looking to make new friends and enjoy the commerodery that comes with hunting.

Distance, well of course I'd love something close to home, but if the place has somewhere to stay, then driving 2 - 3 hours doesn't look to bad.

Questions, comments, and Opinions please.

Hopedale, that sounds great. If you find a place please let me know of any other openings. Thanks.

I think it's a great idea.

Since I've been monitoring this forum, I've seen little get done in the way of hunters matched with leases. If you're a single hunter, you've got little chance of getting onto a lease by coming here.

There are a lot of variables. No one has even mentioned the drinking vs no-drinking divide.

Myself, I think you have to first decide how many deer of each sex can be taken off the land, consistently, each year and then divide that up by the number of members. A member could give or sell his right to a deer to another member. As for what Crazyhorse wants -- guests to take deer without it counting against a member's alotment -- that makes no sense to me. How would that possibly work?

What I'd like I don't think many would want:

1) No drinking on the property
2) Year round access but emphasis just on deer hunting
3) No baiting or food plots
4) Enough land so that the hunter could fill all his tags allowed in that county
5) Emphasis on portable stands or hunting from chairs
6) Not in an AR county and each shooter decides what he wants to shoot as long as it is within the bounds of the number allowed.

About 2 years ago i almost nosed dived into one of these type groups. The group was mainly out of the Houston area. There were 12 of them and they were looking for 2 additional spots. This lease was in Crockett County, near Ozona. They gave me the insight on the place and I met them at the lease, to look things over. The main guy was not there, but I had spoken with him numerous times, by phone. I asked him about bowhunting, muzzleloaders and such, more so if they were Ok with it. He stated no problems. This group did the lease kind of like a military type ranking order. From a commander, on down. My buddy and I were at the very bottom. The place was nice and looked like they took really good deer, in prior seasons. I had 2 deposits in hand, if we decided to go with it. I was then advised of our "chores" . My buddy and I would be responsible for painting and repairing the hunters house They advised me this was done this way with all new members. I asked what they did to help out the lease, they stated they had already done their share, when they came on years ago Anyhow this place was pretty run down, as far as the house. I asked the Lt about muzzleloaders and bowhunting. He advised me the man in charge was against it. Loaders were a fire hazard and the bowhunting left too many deer to flee and not be harvested(wounded). I wasn't into either at the time, my buddy was. I was also advised that there were 3 pastures we could place our feeders and blinds, the other places were taken. The Chief had also advised we could take a cull, and a trophy. I was advised by our chubby Lt. that since we were at the bottom of the pole, it would take a few seasons before we were eligable to harvest a cull. It seemed this pyrmid worked in there favor, as you can see why. All new guys get the shaft, and the older guys in the club feasted like Kings, breaking the new guys back. We didn't get on as one can imagine. The days of a handshake and word of mouth are gone. A lease or club agreement is needed to keep everyone in check, IMO.

I would have laughed in his face as i was driving off which im sure you did 7mag..to many people have leases or are lease managers that dont want to do anything and leave the work to someone else ,,been on leases like that before

"But that's the complete opposite of what he's trying to do. He wants people on board before land is found."

Kinda hard to "I'm on board without knowing the location and price don't ya think?

btw, my 2 "lease guys" that are currently with me, came right off this Forum. I didn't know them for squat. Took a chance..................the rest is history.

I have thought about doing the same thing. Everytime I find a good lease it is to costly for me and a few buddies. If I could find a few good people then we could afford a larger, more productive lease. I am in favor of deer management, so mature bucks and does would be my goal.

Keep me in mind if someone decides to follow thru on this idea. I prefer West Texas, for there deer size and numbers.

Having had to fill four spots on our lease this past year, I know that this idea can work. Yes, the lease was already in hand, but we were not looking for bodies to fill spots. We were looking for folks that would fit with us, and we found them. I believe a person could start a thread describing the type of lease and expectations of those who might be on the lease and would get some response. There would be many advatages in working as a group in finding a lease. I had always hunted with lifelong friends and family before this year, and when we were facing having to fill four spots, I was not sure as to what or who we would find. We described what our group was about and found like minded folks to join us. So far so good. One exception that we have from others (that I have read on here) is that we do not divide the lease into individual areas. Everyone hunts the entire lease and nobody has a private stand. No arguments over who hunts where, we flip a coin if two guys want to hunt the same stand. My $0.02

7Mag,

Don't blame you a bit for not want in on that deal. But what I'm talking about is trying to link people together on this forum with similar hunting ideals.

For example, if you only want a lease for bow hunting, then other folks could find you. Form the club. Establish the rules. Decide on a member fee. Decide on size property needed, etc.

Were I work, only a couple of folks hunt. The leases they are on, are with family and are to small to let new members join. So, I've looked to this forum.

I read several post of people looking for a lease. Like I said earlier; it just seems that a club could be formed and a group effort to find property could begin.

This post went up yesterday and has had 212 views and 15 replies. Seems to me the title got alot of attention.

Does anyone have club rules they could post? I may or may not have mine, but will see if I can find a copy. It may take a few days.

Basicly, I like what Crazyhoarse has described so far. It reminds me of my old club.

Hopedale there is no doubt it can work. Like I said. I found my 2 lease partners off this Forum. If you can get a group that is interested in the same thing you are and share the same ideas, it's worth a try.

Finding the right people is what is tough, more so finding the people that EVERYONE in the group gets along with. Some people are more sensitve then others and get pretty irrate quickly ect. I think you have hit on an idea. Put out what your looking for, in lease partners, and some guidlines and have a go at it. It can't hurt nothing.

Come up with rules, once you get your group. Every person can have their input, and you will find who really wants in, and who doesn't like to play by the rules. If you have it set up correct, the memebers can start looking for a lease. Might even split the gas and go see different properties ect. I think it can work, if you lay out what the memebers want. First agenda is what price is each individual willingly to pay??? Some may think 2 grand is way too much, others may say it is the norm ect.

Best of luck, hope it works out for you

Hopedale,
I'm interested in a lease/club idea. Where do you live?
What part of the state are interested in?
I have been part of a club before and had they had rules I had to sign. I will see if I still have a copy, its been a few yrs now.

I have about 6- 10 people that would be intrested in this as well.

After having no luck finding a lease the last two years, I have been having the same thoughts. I don't know what data collection capabilities this website has (such as surveys, polls, questionnaires, etc.) but if someone could put together a thread collecting all lookers requirements, they could then be matched with like-minded indiviuals.

For instance, I'm 40, happily married, and hunt with my 9 yr old son, so I'm looking for a family environment, not a bunch of guys looking to get away from their wives to play cards and drink beer (not that there's anything wrong with that!)

Also, I would like for us to be able to share a spot since we would never take more than 3 deer per season combined and we always hunt from the same blind anyway.

I would like to be within 3 hrs to the west of Fort Worth.

I believe in herd management to a certain extent (I wouldn't let him shoot a 2.5 yr old 8 point in Baylor County this weekend), but also would tend to lean more towards quantity than quality. Anyone who has spent much time in a blind with a 9 yr old knows that seeing any deer is more important than seeing a trophy buck.

I'm mainly looking for whitetail, hogs, and turkey and would prefer a year round lease with loding of some sort.

I would be willing to bring two blinds and two feeders but am not looking to spend $1000 per year on protein.

My budget for a lease for the two of us would be up to $2500 per year.

I subscribe to deertexas.com and huntingpages.com so if anyone has similar interests and think that we might get along good together, please feel free to send me a PM and we can discuss further.

Hello all,

Sorry hit the wrong key. I just found this site today. I have looked at it for a few hours now and I like it. I got on a lease over in Bagwell other side of Paris this year.(that was a joke and waste of my money) I didnt even hunt it because they kept changing the rules and adding people. I showed up early this year (March) to start scouting an area and set up my feeder and blind. I ended up never setting up because it just seemed too shady. I was able to hunt as a guest on a friends lease west of Bowie. A great set up for the budget hunter. 6 guys 600 acres, no running water no electric. Bring out your own camper leave it set up year round. You can have guest all year, only exception is whitetail season. Then you can bring one at a time and they can only shoot a doe ,but it does burn one of your tags. (seems fair to me). Every body hunts thier own blind,feeder and foodplot. This is you get out what you put in or, you raise you chances atleast. Some guys did not keep corn in thier feeders except when they came out. You could hunt old abandoned blinds as long as it did not interfere with another hunter. You could not leave your blind untill 10am. Basic common courtesy. Anybody know of smething similar let me know. I would be willing to pay a little more. Must be family friendly, responsible and ethical and have fun

Well, this thread is going nowhere -- just like all the others.

Look, if we're going to get this off the ground, we need to have everybody who is interested leave their name and what part of the state they're interested in. Later, maybe someone can gather up those in one section and do something about it.

Let's divide the state into the same sections the TPWD uses:

Trans Pecos
High Plains/Pan Handle
Cross Timbers
Hill Country
Post Oak Savannah
Pineywoods
Oak Prairie
South Texas Plains

If you aren't sure where these are you can visit the TPWD site and find out.

I'll start out in my next post. Just leave user name and region.

chestnut - Pineywoods

Later edit:

To be flexible, I could go with Postoak Savannah and Oak Prairie, also.

Have you had any luck with deertexas.com and huntingpages.com and/or would you subscribe again to their services?

Thanks.. Timbo

Well I guess I haven't really had any "luck" since I am still without a lease. However, I have seen several on both sites that interested me enough to call about. If I were to only do one of the two I would choose deertexas.com. I believe the guy that runs it is also a member of this forum. Maybe he could incorporate some type of "matchmaker" service into his site.

i am in the hill country

I live in Austin area. Not interested in any one part of the state over the other.

I guess like most folks I like some place close, so that would put me in Hill country. But, if the lease was 2 or 3 hours away, and had the right set up, then that is where I'll be.

I'd disagree that the thread is going nowhere.

Several other forum members have posted good information on what they are looking for. And even you have gotten this thread pointed in the right direction.

Just got back in town, so I'll look for my old rule book tomorrow.

Wife is sick, so I'm taking care of the kiddos by myself tonight.

Post deleted by Hopedale

2000 acres between 33 hunters thats 60 acres a person. I truly believe that a lease should have a min. of around 120 acres a person. To many people not enough land will run a area down. I think the only way that your idea could work is for you to lease the land make your rules and see who signs up. You get 20 people trying to make a list of rules and no one would ever agree

I'm intertested in Hill Country, South Texas, Piney Woods, and Oak Praire in that order.

Here's a link to the region map that I believe Chestnut is referring to.

TPWD Region Map

Personally, I'm interested in the Eastern half of the Cross Timbers region, no further west than Abilene.

Thanks ThreePeppers, I should have thought of that. Here's another map for your edification. I hope it doesn't confuse more than it helps.

Texas Ecological Regions

Summery:

More people in this area of the forum are looking for a lease then there are leases available.

Would it not make sense for everyone to work together in finding a lease everyone could join in on? Yes it does based on the comment, “having no luck finding a lease the last two years’.”

Form the club before we have the area to lease by matching like minded hunters. Besides matching similar views, ie family oriented, deer management, the other criteria is probably geographic area wanting to hunt and budget.

Everyone that in viewing this post is interested, so we need to form what the club rules would be. At that point, groups will begin to form.

Once the groups are formed, a budget can be established. And once the budget is set a search for a lease can begin.

It seems to me by getting a large group together, it be possible to get an area that only large corporations compete for.

Problem that has been pointed out is not everybody wants the same thing in a lease, and not everyone can play nice together which is why you, the forum member, needs to post what you are looking for in a lease and where. This is how we will separate our selves and can begin forming clubs.

I’ve gone through all the post pasted comments that IMO, where good comments and things to consider. I will make my best effort to organize these in some fashion that makes sense.

If I took your comment out of context, then I ask for your forgiveness now.

If you blast me, it’s on you. I’m apologizing in advance.

Again, I am making an effort to organize the thoughts and comments into some fashion. My ultimate goal in starting this thread is finding a lease with people to enjoy it with.

Here is what I’ve gotten from all the post, the heading are not in any particular order, but, I believe if you answer each, it will aid all of us in forming the group we each fit in:


Means and Methods:

Some folks want a lease to be archery only

As for methods of taking game, we had bow, black powder, and firearm of your choice.


Herd Management:


Some worried about trying to manage the place.

I would look real strongly at making opening weekend does only or requiring everyone on the lease to kill a doe, before trying for a buck.

I believe in herd management to a certain extent

9 yr old knows that seeing any deer is more important than seeing a trophy buck

The place I am looking for now is one where I can tag out on does but if I see a buck I can kill it.


Acres:

Take my situation. I am looking for a place between 80 and 200 acres for 2 to 4 people.

We had approximately 2000 acres.

A great set up for the budget hunter. 6 guys 600 acres, no running put in

I truly believe that a lease should have a min. of around 120 acres a person.

4) Enough land so that the hunter could fill all his tags allowed in that county


Restrictions:

I don't want a place in any county with antler restrictions. I want a place where the land owner does not care what I shoot as long as it is legal.

6. Definitely not in an AR county.

6) Not in an AR county and each shooter decides what he wants to shoot as long as it is within the bounds of the number allowed.


Guest:

I want to be able to take a guest if I want to and I expect that guest to use their tag and I do not want a place where I have to "burn" one of my tags if a guest shoots a deer.

And a place that I could go on all year long to scout or take my kids

I also want a place where any guest I bring can shoot any deer they see, not just a doe.

looking for a family environment,

If I am going to be paying for the place, and I want a guest to come and hunt with me, I want them to be able to shoot anything they want to, and I don't want it to count against my tags, simply because there is no shortage of deer over most of the state, and on most if not all leases, not nearly enough deer are shot every season.

You can have guest all year, only exception is whitetail season. Then you can bring one at a time and they can only shoot a doe ,but it does burn one of your tags.


Club rules:

made the rules prior to inviting members.

dispute on distance; must be addressed before new stand goes in.

kept changing the rules and adding people.

You could not leave your blind untill 10am.

3. Everyone will contribute and help with the set up/maintenance/filling/purchasing of feed and establishing food plots.

1. Drinking = As long as it is done responsibly I have no problem with it what so ever

1) No drinking on the property


Geographic Location:


consider; depending on where the land is located there might be either smaller land owners adjacent or even small towns adjacent to the lease

Distance, well of course I'd love something close to home, but if the place has somewhere to stay, then driving 2 - 3 hours doesn't look to bad.

3 hrs to the west of Fort Worth.

Use this link to look at what region you prefer:

TPWD Region Map

(Let's stick with TPWD; they post the season dates)


Members:


the lease I used to belong to had 33 members



Stands & Food Plots:


Each member could have two perminate stands. Inside the tree line you couldn't set up within 100 yards of another hunter, and in an open field it was 200 yards of another hunter.

You could put out deer feeders and food plots, but it wasn't required.

Will you give each member a specific compartment or allow first-come; first-serve for that particular day?

I would be willing to bring two blinds and two feeders but am not looking to spend $1000 per year on protein.

5. Nothing portable unless a hunter is going to be on the place by themselves that day. All stands and tri-pods, whatever, would be built the same, and there would be none of this,

If a person wants to set a tri-pod in a particular location, that is fine, BUT, if they are not going to be there that weekend to hunt it, it is open to anyone that does show up.

3) No baiting or food plots

5) Emphasis on portable stands or hunting from chairs

Every body hunts thier own blind,feeder and foodplot. This is you get out what you put in


Lease Uses:


The lease was open year round, but its primary use was deer hunting

focus would be a place I could hunt all season long, with the method of my choice. And a place that I could go on all year long to scout or take my kids

2. Year round access to ALL hunting and hopefully Fishing.


2) Year round access but emphasis just on deer hunting


Lease Camp:


We had a loggers building as the camp. Half was for cold storage and deer cleaning. The other half included two bathrooms, kitchen, dinning\tv room, and sleeping quarters

would prefer a year round lease with loding of some sort.

A great set up for the budget hunter. 6 guys 600 acres, no running water no electric. Bring out your own camper leave it set up year round. You can have guest all year, only exception is whitetail season.


Budget:


Only one person has stated their budget; it was $2500; a $1000 for food plot\herd management with the rest going to the lease for dues.























.

Hopedale - Sounds like we might be able to work together to get this thing up and running. PM me your e-mail address and I'll send you a spreadsheet that I have made up.

Good work, Hopedale.

Seems like everybody agrees on wanting a year-round lease -- and nothing else!

I think 120 acres per person is good for much of the eastern half of the state. In the hill country, probably half that would be fine because of the deer density there.

My budget would be about $1200/year, $10 per acre.

I could be somewhat flexible on most things, which I think is going to be necessary to get any groups going.

Here is how I broken down the catogries and in the order that was important to me:

Club rules:

Safety first

Establish club board; President, treasure, etc.

Establish rules once groups have been formed.

What I liked in old club:

Disputes were handled by club board

No changing of the rules without club member vote.

You may leave your stand at anytime, but must not interfere with another club member’s hunt directly. So if you leave on a 4-wheeler on the main road back to camp, you are indirectly interfering, so you are ok. You didn’t go riding through everyone’s area, while they were hunting.

Two mandatory work days; set in enough time to adjust schedule. If you couldn’t make one, you had the second.

Drinking was aloud, but you needed to be responsibly and respectful of other hunters. No parting at 2:00 a.m. while folks are trying to rest.


Means and Methods:

I want to be able to use any legal method I choose, ie, bow, black powder, and firearm of my choice.


Restrictions:

It does not matter to me if I am in an area with antler restrictions, but would prefer to hunt where there are no antler restrictions.



Geographic Location:

Area 4, Hill Country would be my first preference.
Area 5, Post Oak Savana would be my second.
Area 3, Cross Timbers would be my final choice

I’d like something close to a small town, real small.

No more than 3 hours away from Austin.





Members:

the lease I used to belong to had 33 members; it was a total of 2480 acres. This equated to 75 per hunter.

I am not apposed to limiting the number of members, but the more members, the bigger the lease needs to be.

Guest:

I am all about bring guest, but needs to be a limit on how many times the same guest can come during deer season.

Need to establish a guest fee.

No more then one guest at a time.

I’d like a place where guest can shoot what they see, but, again, the land needs to tell us what type of harvesting is going to be done. With that said, it may be only bucks for guest, but it may be shoot what they see. Don’t know.

No guest first two weeks of rifle deer season.

Family members are not to be considered guest, and can come when ever you are at the lease. So, if you have two or more children, you can bring them, but they are your responsibility.


Acres:

I say 75 to 100 per hunter.

Herd Management:

I’d like to have herd management to an extent; I want the land to tell us what needs to be done. If the first year, we need to thin out the does and spikes so be it. However, if the land has a low population and needs to be built up, then I have no problem with only hunting for bucks. What I don’t like is for the club to choose what I am going to shoot.



Stands & Food Plots:

Each member could put out two perminate stands; you can only hunt on your stand, unless you have worked something out with another member.

You can use mobile stands, but you can not set up on someone else area. And you can not leave a mobile stand out. Must be reclaimed before you leave the area.

Food plots and feeders are your choice; not a requirement. If you don’t have the money or time; you shouldn’t be excluded from joining the lease.

Lease Uses:

It should have year round access.

The emphasis should be on deer hunting.

If it has stock tanks, I would like to duck hunt after deer season.

If I get a 4-wheeler, I want to be able to ride around on the lease, again, after deer season.

Looking for someplace I can enjoy all year long, and if I want to bring my kids I can.


Lease Camp:

Where I used to hunt, we had a loggers building as the camp. Half was for cold storage and deer cleaning. The other half included two bathrooms, kitchen, dinning\tv room, and sleeping quarters.

I know that this may be hard to come by, but I would want to put up some sort of building; could look at a Morgan Storage Building. Set it up for sleeping, cooking, cleaning deer etc.

My Dad just got a portable storage building for $3k and would work great for a camp. Just an idea.

Budget:

For me, I’d like a lease with annual dues not to exceed $1,000 to $1,200. Think with just starting a lease, it may cost a little more to get set up, all depends on what we want.

Agree with you; there is not going to be the perfect place. Everyone will need to pick and choose what's important and given in a little on few issues. Otherwise, you need to continue on your own to find a lease.

Hopedale.

Sign me up. I'm looking for almost exactly the same thing.

Some questions about your list:

1) Did you mean people can drink while on-stand, etc.? I could stretch to drinking after guns are put away in the evening -- but that's as far as I would go.

2) I hunt from a climbing-tree stand. I envisioned the lease being cut into equal size sections. I would have a section where I could move my stand around as long as I didn't intrude on another stand just outside my area -- unless no one was in that stand that day. I can't see how people could place stands without having preassigned areas. There'd be disputes over most-valued sites.

3) You said you wouldn't want the members telling you what you could shoot, but would be for managing -- just shooting bucks or does as necessary. Isn't that contradictory?

Hopedale - Just sent you an e-mail.

I would love to get in on something like this and I agree that the land should dictate the deer harvesting. I also would like the management to be a balance so kids would not have to wait for a true Trophy before being able to harvest a deer.
I also would put a limit on the use of 4 wheelers, even after the season. Nothing seems to drive the deer off a property like 4 wheelers running around all the time. This is the main reason I have not joined some of the clubs I have been invited to join. I am not saying you cant use them for hunting but recreational riding of them puts strain on the roads and the wildlife.

My budget would be $2000 and must be within 3 hours of Houston.

Sounds like something I'd like. Budget is $1500. Keep me in the loop and let me know if there's anything I can do.

I am interested also. Piney woods or hill country, family/guest friendly. Thanks.

If you got a land owner willing to work with you on approving the land than tpwd's mld program would be great if you got over 1000 acres. Then you could divide up the bucks and does between all the hunters and all the guess work of buck and doe harvest would not be guess work or argued

I dont think that deer move off the land due to traffic I just think deer learn to pattern people a little more than we give credit. Also you should have a section of land where humans are not allowed under no condition in the center of your lease. This will also help them feel better about traffic. I do agree with 4 wheelers going all over but roads are find (farmers and ranchers due it all day)

I didn't know what you meant by drinking but I wanted everyone reading this thread to know what we were talking about. I was just told a story about a guy who was drinking whiskey while in his stand and got so plastered he shot and killed a mule! Also, I once hunted with a guy who drank 3 beers while we were riding the lease in his truck. So it does happen.

Some of the clubs I have heard about specify at least 300 yards between permanent stands -- 400 yards if on the same shooting lane.

Not meaning to throw dispersions on to what has been worked out, but there are somethings that do need to be considered.

Everything I am saying comes from first hand experience, and is directed at no one.

1. Too many people involved means too many chances for things to go wrong.

The THF is a great site, and there are lots of great folks on here, but putting together and maintaining and managing a hunting lease of any size, means that EVERYONE involved is going to have to be able to devote the exact same amount of time/money/effort.

Anyone in the group that isn't able to do such, will be treated differently by those that are, and definitely by those that are able to devote more of the three things I listed.

Again, this is a case of "Been There-Done It-Got the T Shirt".

Having scheduled work days are fine but the more people involved in such an undertaking, just means the more chances for LIFE to come along and bite people with the best intentions of being an active and contributing member, square in the arse.

2. Even though everuyone on here is great folks, time/distance/financial/social restraints are all going to play their part in working as dividing lines in keeping a large group together.

Example, two or three or more of the club members are either related, which brings a whole nuther set of issues into the picture, or are in the same social cirole and live close enough to each other to converse daily, and have known each other for a while, perhaps even before getting together on the THF.

When there is some history and rapport between a couple or a few members of a group, there is the potential for trouble built in to the equation.

3. Individual differences in philosophies on life and hunting.

As an example, the issue of drinking. Everyone views drinking differently. Some think there should be no alcohol on or around the lease, period.

Some don't have a problem with allowing alcohol after hunting is over for the day.

Safety is the main concern, but the underlying issues are that not everyone's system can handle alcohol the same way, and conversely people that drink very little or no alcohol at all, can/do/will, mis-interpret how the alcohol is effecting another person.

One person can set and put away a bunch of beer and show no visible effects. Another person will have a mild buzz after 3 cans of beer and they clearly show it in their actions and behaviors.

People that don't drink and are even slightly uncomfortable around folks that are drinking, get even more uncomfortable, and even sometimes begin acting irrationallly thinking that something is fixing to happen, when if they would just stay calm, everyone will just go to bed and no one will be the worse for wear except the person that was drinking. Some of this could be applied to people smoking in camp or on the lease also.

4. This is just my opinion of things, but the more stuff on a lease that is standardized, the better.

a. All feeders are built the same way and everyone kicks in $$$ to have them filled.

b. All blinds/stands are built the same, or at least built of one or two consistent designs, such as some stands being large enough for two people to set in, some just large enough for 1 peron.

The only exception to the above would be archery tri-pods, and those would be built in such a manner that any archer could use any of them.

There would be no exclusive stand/blind/tri-pod use. It is fine if everyone is going to be there at the same time, it is not fine if say 1 or 2 people are going to be there by themselves for a short hunt and are limited to one or two spots on the place.

c. Driving, even of 4 wheelers limited to existing roads, except for filling feeders or game retrieval.

d. When hunting, everyone in their stands by a set time both a.m. and p.m., everyone out of their stand by a set time both a.m. and p.m., unless a person is planning on hunting all day.

This would have to be flexible because say only 3 or 4 hunters are on the lease and each one of them is going to a spot pretty far apart from each other they could adjust their times.

e. All members would need to meet the landowner/leasing agent, so those folks would know who was supposed to be on the property at any time.

And the list goes on. I think a group lease or club could be created that would work, the big thing is for all members to be committed to making it work, and flexible in what they try to set up. JMO.

Great spreadsheet

Addded a few headings and sent it back to you for a look over. Let me know.

Without a doubt you are right. But I figure if I can find somefolks looking for the samething as me, then the effort to find a lease are increased. I certainly can't afford to get on a lease by myself, nor would I want to. I can hunt WMA all over this state by myself now, and it only cost $45.

I've been in a club before and its alway nice to see a few friendly faces and share the experience.

Don't get me wrong, I hope you are able to accomplish your goal.

I just tend to be a pessimist when it comes to getting people to agree on even simple matters.

When it comes to getting folks to agree on something as complex as managing a deer lease when several hundred dollars per person is involved, with egos/pride and competitiveness lurking in the background.

I wish you the best of luck and do hope it works for you.

Thanks Crazyhorse, but I wouldn't call you a pessimist, more of a realist. This is difficult to find folks with the exact same belief and vaule systems. So for this to work, people are going to need to pick and choose what is really important and what isn't. Otherwise they have to continue the search on there own.

Thanks for all the input.

Hopeedale I just left a large company that had a very large south texas lease, I really enjoyed the times I hunted the place. It was set up with one ranch manager and had a strict set of FAIR rules. I have started thinking anout this idea of setting up a club myself. I have read all of the previous comments and agree with most of the other members view. The only thing was on the previous lease the land owner set the ranch rules. It was heavily managed and worked well. There was a kill a doe before a buck rule, and a slot on the bucks to be kill that was fair. All of the herd management was set up by a biologist from A&M. No one had a set stand and was allowed to hunt any stand. I think that this is a great idea and would be on board. I am not picky on any area of the state. Keep me in the loop on this.

ALL,

ThreePeppers has created a spreadsheet from the heading I came up with, plus a few he and another forum member thought of. He then stood up a web site, which if approved to be listed on this forum, you will be able to input your information.

Once the information is collected hunters with like ideas etc will be able to find heach other and combine their efforts to find a lease. TPWD currently offers this, but I am not to fimiliar with it, and not sure how folks are able to onnect with one another. The common thread with all of us is the membership of this site.

If JP feels the web site is close to becoming a THF number 2 site, then the plan will be to PM Threepepers, myself, and who ever else steps up to help. You will need to send your personal email, so we can send you an excel spreadsheet to fillout. At that point, you will send it back to who sent it. We will then need to consolidate it to a master sheet, and at some point send it bak to all concerned.. Many details need to be discussed on this subject, but again, its something new, and if it works, it will enhance the value, at least to me, of the THF web site.

More to come.

Yes, Hopedale is right. We think this will be a big benefit for everyone that is viewing this forum for the purpose of finding a lease. The problem we've identified is that no one really seems to have a large group or company that they hunt with. Most of us hunt with our immediate family or maybe a buddy or two.

This becomes a problem when you see what appears to be a good lease listing for "1200 acres, 8 guns" or "700 acres, 5 guns". Suddenly you are scrambling to think of who all you can talk to about going in on it with you. Normally by the time you get some semblance of a group together the property is already leased.

Our goal here is put you in touch with people that you would be comfortable hunting with before the lease search process starts. If this sounds like something you would be interested in just send me a PM or you can e-mail me directly at trey@tyl4u.com. If you have any problems with the e-mail try the PM. We have a pretty strong spam filter on our e-mail server.

Once I hear from you I can either send you an Excel spreadsheet or direct you to a website where you can fill in an online questionnaire. Keep in mind, there is no charge for this. We are not looking to make money by doing this. For me, it is strictly a selfish venture. I want to find good people for me and my son to hunt with, period. I figure by helping others I will help myself.

I could be intrested in something like this as well.

e-mail and pm sent

I am interested in Hill and Cross Timbers, I am looking for a lease that is family friendly and can accompany 4 hunters with guests allowed even if it takes away from one of your tags. I am not opposed to drinking after a hunt around camp, but do believe that there does need to be rules and regulations to everyone on the lease, I like to bow and rifle hunt. If anyone that reads this post knows of a lease that can comply to what I am looking for, please email me at fritz_bill@yahoo.com

Bill, thanks for joining in. I sent you an e-mail. If have any problems receiving it send me a PM.

I sent you a pm.

just sent you an e-mail.

I filled out the spreadsheet and the website. I don't know if the email document took my data. Also, is this a business or are you just doing this to help others and yourselves find a lease?

He just started up the website and spreadsheet in response to this thread and the fact that after a week or so I posted that it was going nowhere -- as all these threads do. So Threepeppers picked up the ball and ran with it!

Great, thanks

Batman - I did get your info e-mailed to me. I get an automatic repsonse when anyone fills out the questionnaire on the website.

Bill270 - I got an e-mail reply from you but there was nothing there. It was just a copy of the e-mail I sent you.

threepeppers,

just wanted to find out about this hunting lease sreadsheet you are talking about and put my name out there.

My name is Gabriel. I work offshore and most of the time i don't have access to the internet when i'm out here working. I even forgot my login name for the THF website it's been so long since i've logged in. I finally got in again and should be on for another month off and on. I of course went directly to THF as i'm looking for a lease just like everybody else and there mama.... ANYWAY...

I live in Corpus Christi so South Texas would be my preferred area to hunt but would go to the hill country with great relish.

I don't really drink but don't mind anybody else if its in moderation and they aren't hugging me and telling me they love me at two in the morn.

I hunt with a bow and just bought one for my wife( i would love to get her into the whole hunting scene) so allowing a guest would be a must.

my greatest pashion is walking up to a troop of bacon with my brush gun so hunting with a rifle would be a great plus.

I have two babies in diapers so a famly environment would be great during the off-season.

I have definatley done my part of the whole upkeep of a lease before so i don't mind sharing the chores. (emphasis on SHARING.)

I understand if a place needs to be managed but allow me to find and chase at least one good buck and a managed buck a year. plenty of does and unlimited hogs.

I will set up my own feeders and blinds but am willing to share with anybody else if they put the same effort into there own and share alike.

I am willing to pay up to $1200.00 for the dues but only because i always invest at least that much in feed and am willing to sign a contract making me put my money into the feed and upkeep of the place. I am willing to pay more if someone else has a better deal on feed than i can find and will buy it there.

well i think i got everything but probably forgot something.

gabriel

I believe all PM's and e-mails have been returned to those interested. It appears we are growing by the day. Keep spreading the word and hopefully we can start making some connections. I know I have already seen profiles for members that I'm interested in contacting.

I'm thinking as we keep increasing in numbers trying to arrange some kind of lunch or dinner setting to meet everyone face to face. It seems there will be a few groups - D/FW, SE Texas/Houston, Austin/San Antonio, etc.

I will keep sending out an updated spreadsheet every Friday. If you see anyone that you feel you might want to share a hunting camp with please start contacting them.

Trey

I filled out the questionaire and submitted it, if there is any problems please email me at fritz_bill@yahoo.com

I did get the information. Were you able to open the spreadsheet I sent you the other day?

Just to let eveyone know, I posted an ad on Craigslist to expand our database outside the THF circle. I've already received the first hit from it and have directed Curtis from Bonham to come on here and PM those he might be interested in. Please welcome him with open arms. The updated spreadsheet will be sent out to the mailing list on Friday.

Wow, that craigslist thing works pretty fast. I've also directed Chris from Waxahachie to the THF.

Sweet, good work ThreePeppers

Thanks for all the kind words... I was wondering if this was working out for anyone yet. I just found out that one of the guys that found us through craigslist lives in my neighborhood. Not only that, he has a son the same age as my son and they go to the same school. Small world...

I ran a lease like this for 25 years.Believe me it can be done but its not easy.We finally left when the landowner deciced to sell off 2/3 of the land we had leased.I found what worked best for me was there was one lease manager(me) and I set the rules accordingly with the owner.He had one contact in case of a problem(me) and I took care of it.He met and knew all the members as well.When we left,I still had people on a waiting list wanting to get on.Each person had their own blind as well as feeder they maintained themselves.All work was shared by whoever was able to go at anytime.We never had any real big problems arise that couldnt be taken care of with a termination agreement upon joining.Anyone breaking the rules were subject to termination of membership with no refunds.

I too would like to meet like-minded people who want a lease. Email me the spread sheet at jkreviere@aol.com. Thanks

I'm in. Spreadsheet and info to bryanlmorris@sbcglobal.net please.

E-mails sent. Please return the spreadsheets to me after adding your info so I can update the database.

I'd be interested in a family lease; one price per one license of tags...with like minded people...I'd want year around access even if not hunting off season, but access to work and feed and such. Prefer North Central Texas Region, but would consider east texas as well...

I'd like the club idea, but I think it's going to be hard to group the hunters and lease the land this way...

Have you requested a copy of the spreadsheet?

My buddy and I are in the same hunt for a lease right now. We have a few leads on some places but would need a few more hunters with like ideas and goals from a lease. We are bow hunters but our kids would be using guns so we are looking for a group that has a family hunting experience in mind but we do drink and have a good time when the kids don't make the trip! My goal is the experience with meat as my main trophy, horns are a plus but not a deal breaker.
Eric Lambright
ericx.lambright@intel.com

Please send me a spreadsheet. We are primarily looking in the Hill Country and below San Antonio areas.

Thanks. BTW, I just joined this board and really like reading all the insight and stories. This is just one more way the internet has slowed me down at work!

Eric - Welcome to the site. Believe me, you'll waste more time here than you can possibly imagine. I just sent you an e-mail.

I would also like to receive the spreadsheet. Sounds like this could possibly work. hotiron01@yahoo.com

E-mail sent...

Trey,
Thanks for all your hard work with the data base. Is there a possibility of having a second database page with leases available? I was thinking that with a central spot to quickly glance at the possiblities would be nice. I understand I'm not the one doing the data collection so if not, no problem.

Yes, that would be nice. The problem is where to get the lease listings from. I think if we all had an "in" on lease listings we wouldn't be browsing this thread. I personally am a member of deertexas, huntingpages, and hightechredneck and I browse them everyday looking for that hidden gem. Of course all the information gathered from these sites is protected and can't be republished so it basically comes down to all of us doing the same thing, hitting these websites, scanning the papers, and checking the c of c's.

I would like to recieve a spreadsheet as well jdafonte2000@yahoo.com

Just sent you an e-mail...

ThreePeppers, we've gotten a lease in Ozona so in my best "Kramer" voice < I'M OUT !! >.
Just wanted to publicly thank-you again for all the hard work you're doing on this.
Richard

Please e-mail me the spread sheet as well please at jelliott@valmont.com

Thanks

You can fill out the questionnaire on the website here.

Click me

I am a member of deer texas,hunting pages,huntingandfishingconnection,and a couple other places that i can look. I would like to recieve a spreedsheet as well and if i can help just let me know. rgwalker@walkerac.com

Just wanted to let everyone know that I have updated the website to include a couple of pages for people to add their lease listings. I don't know how this will work out but we'll give it a try and see what happens. Also, it looks like we are now at about 110 in our little match maker club so hopefully some good will come from all of it. If you're new to this thread and don't know what website we're referring to just shoot me a PM.

Trey

We took a different approach. 4 like minded, long term friends, formed a LLP and convinced our wives to each throw in the $ we typically spent hunting and we purchased a place. Sold it at a nice profit after several years of work / management and moved to bigger and better. I'm convinced investing with others and buying is better than leasing.. harder to get a lease sold out from under you this way.

Web page update

Thanks Hopedale, we continue to try and improve this thing for everyone involved. Just a few quick stats on our little group:

181 Total Contacts
74 THF Members
5 Firefighters
7 Law Enforcement Officers
1 Game Warden
1 US Marine

I personally would like to thank those last 14 individuals for their service. They are doing a dangerous job in order to make all our lives a little better. I would be happy to share my hunting camp with any of them.

Trey

Just wanted to check and see how everyone's lease prospects were going.

So far not so good.
Ive looked at 6 property's in the last 6 weeks.
2 had no sign of any wildlife or any natural reason for a deer to even walk across the place.
2 were taken sight unseen by folks willing to pay double what was being asked.
1 the price went up $750 per gun from Saturday when I talked to the LO about it to Wednesday when I met with him. Because he had 7 other guys coming to look at it with 2 spots open.
1 I cant even talk about in polite company.

Looks like a good place to post this.....

Me and my wife are looking for 100 or more acres around the Lake Limestone area to lease for Deer hunting. Willing to put up $1,000 (maybe more depending) for the lease. We recently moved and live on Lake Limestone and had to give up our previous lease....too far away. We are honest and ethical hunters, if your tired of leasing out your land to clubs or whiney hunters then were your couple.

Email me if interested ... raymond.a.horrocks@fluor.com

Add me to the list of people looking for a lease. Primarily a hunting buddy of mine and I. Looking north and west of DFW area. 1 - 3 hour drive.

Add me to the list, i'm from nm and looking for something intx. brady, menard, sonora, ozona area. 1000-1200

I'm getting on at the end, but here are some rules on a ranch a few of my relatives are part owners of outside of Rocksprings. The place is 1100 acres and there are 12 owners.

ALL of the stands and feeders are community property. The ranch buys and replaces stands as needed, and the location is done by consensus. If you have a stand you want to put out there, fine, but it is community property.

Each owner contributes an equal share of dues, determined at one of the 2 annual meetings. This money pays for corn, stands, maintenance, etc, etc. You don't pay, you don't hunt until it is paid.

Each owner is allowed 1 hunting spot for the first 2 weeks, and 2 hunting spots the rest of the time. If you have more than 2 hunters, you have to "borrow" a guest spot from another owner.

Adult children are considered "qualified members" and can visit the property without the owner, but their behavior is the responsibility of the owner.

Each owner is allowed an allottment of deer. 4 white tails, of which one can be a mature buck, 8 points or better. Only owners can shoot "culls" or spikes, which count as one of the 4 deer. There is also an allottment of 4 Axis deer, (2 bucks and 2 does). Your guests deer count against your allottment.

At 9PM each night, the owners meet in the main camp house and draw cards. This determines the order of "tagging". All stands are mapped on a big board and there is a hook at each stand. Each owner has a dog tag for themselves and one guest tag. All stands are tagged and considered to belong to that person until the next night. This way everyone has equal chance to get the "best" stands, and you know where everyone is. You can hunt however you want in your tagged area as long as you don't screw up anyone else's hunt.

No shooting during season or the month leading up to season, except for between noon and 1pm at the designated target area, and then only to sight in guns.

You drive only on existing roads and trails except to retreive game, and no riding around during hunting season.

No loaded weapons in the camp area, and everyone outside of the camp area must wear an article of orange.

All people on the property must sign in and sign out, and all kills must be logged. Guests must sign a liability release upon arrival.

There may be more rules, but that's all I can think of right now.

i think you messed up that shooting rule and if you did get it right i dont think i want to be apart of that hunting club.

oops, you are right. I meant no plinking. Shooting to some degree would seem to be important to a good hunt.

I still think this is a good idea. May have to get off my arse to see if it can be done.

Count me in if you can get a group together.
Lease to Hunter ratio is pretty difficult these days.

Crap..just saw the dang date..thread is 6 years old...whatever happened?

Didn't even need to read the other 5 pages.

good read anyway, put me down for a lease, all I do is bow hunt.

Count me in if a lease comes together....
Emmett

12 hunters willing to put up $2500/ea is $30,000 bucks... You could get a nice corporate lease for that! Finding a reliable group ready to put the money up early is the problem. Prob would need some type of contract, definitive rules, etc...maybe even incorporate...but it could be done.

I have been in charge of a south texas trophy LF lease for 8 years. I have learned a lot during that time. First of all it is very difficult to find a good ranch where the owner does not want to put ten guns on 300 acres. Most are way overcrowded. The other issue is the ranch owner himself. Many want your money but don't want you to be there. Many claim they are into management but many really are not - it is just given lip service. We were lucky in finding a ranch owner who is fair and serious about management - and our results show the impact of good management.

A big issue with many leases is the guest rules. Some hunters want to bring family and friends no matter how many people that may be and some leases are set up to deal with that - but it is very difficult to do on a trophy ranch especially if guest and family are allowed to sit out by themselves. Mistakes will be made in that situation.

Another issue that seems to arise is how stands are allocated. We have community stands on a first come first serve basis. We use a large map of our ranch and each hunter has a marker - if they mark a stand or area then they can stay there until they leave the ranch or move their marker. This seems to eliminate competition for deer or a hunter protecting their "area". Maybe not for everyone but for us this has worked well. We also respect each other and attempt to keep a reasonable distance from each other while hunting.

Camp life is huge and one bad apple can ruin it for everyone else. We are very careful up front before we sign a new hunter up on our lease. We meet with them personally and discuss their experience, hunting philosophy, etc. It is not perfect but it seems to help in making sure the hunter is a match with our group and vice versa.

Some hunters do not like a lease with rules but we have found a well written, straightforward set of rules eliminates confusion, grey area, and the wrong deer being killed. We communicate regularly with each other and we also utilize a lot of game camera pictures that are placed in our camp house to identify younger bucks with potential (do not kill) versus mature bucks that can be taken.

Not a perfect scenario but one that has worked well for our group for 8 years - end of the day it all boils down IMO to respect - between hunters, between hunters and the ranch owner, and for the rules. So a club could certainly work but trust me it would take hours of effort and work to get it done the right way and where everyone involved comes away pleased

TLK, I have always been in favor of "community blind setups" and will always be so. IMO, much more like hunting to be able to hunt the whole ranch, not just a pre-assigned/designated area. A person will not always be the 1st one every time and a deer IMO is not "one's" dedicated deer, simply just one that frequents or resides on the ranch, eligible for all to attempt to kill. I know a lot on here don't feel that same way but that's ok too.

DQ Kid, I agree with you. Besides, everyone won't be hunting at the same time after opening weekend it seems. There are those of us that hunt during the week mostly. After all everyone pays for the entire lease.
Just my .02. I to realize not everyone agrees with that and I'm good with that.
Emmett

Well guys, this thread is from 2008, and the guy who started it isn't even a member anymore. See my thread if you're in the market for a lease starting in 2015. I am putting only two restrictions. 1) During deer season, no family or guests, and 2) for bowhunters, you have to wait until rifle season starts so as not to get an unfair jump on the rifle hunters.

Got that - just having a discussion on this thread about forming clubs, etc. Interesting topic even if its old - not saying I don't agree but you just as an FYI you will eliminate lots of folks with the no guest/family hunting rule.

Do you know something I don't?

Still here.

Just saw a bunch more looking for lease threads the leases available post this year, so I decided to bring this idea back up.