Crazy Leases You Have Been On..

Mine was in 1987, it was 1,300 acres in Cass county just west of Atlanta, TX, suppose to be only 13 hunters with no guest and especially No Wives or Girlfriends!! No one other than the 13 paid hunters on the lease period at anytime during the deer hunting season.

Okay it is Saturday morning opening day around 8:00 am, I am in my tripod and the only thing I had seen up to that point was a huge Coyote that I thought was a German Shepherd until something spooked it was gone? All of the sudden I am hearing voices and thinking E.TX poachers right
Nope it was one of the guys on our lease with his wife having a nice casual conversation taking a stroll through my hunting area
Yes I did give them a hard time

Several of us from work were on the lease and our manager at the time lived in Las Colinas and he was also the lease boss who was originally from Texarkana, he had a couple of his brothers who lived either in or by Texarkana were on the lease also.
There is no telling how many of their other family and friends were out there all week while we were in Dallas working, these folks did not adhere to any game laws.

We all liked to have fun and party but these cats took it to a whole nutha level
I shot one doe and decided not to join them on the lease again.

Oh Don't even get me started. It makes my blood boil on this topic. Thus for my sake, I'm passing

Sisterdale lease in the '80's. Our company's corporate lease. Lots of customer stories, some funny, some not so. One guy with Houston, Lighting, and Power would take forever to come out to the Bronco to go out in the mornings. He'd be in the bathroom a long time, mostly applying hair dye and cologne. You could smell him a mile away. We put him in a tower blind and he said a buck circled round and round the blind, lifting his head up and sniffing.

Another customer with Central Power and Light shot a doe. When we came to pick him up, he said he'd need help cleaning her. Apparently he started to clean her and she reared up her head and looked at him. He threw up. Then he shot her in the back of the head with his .22. Then he started again. She raised her head up again. He threw up again. And shot her again with his .22. Apparently she finally died from embarrassment. This is the same guy that wouldn't get the gate when I was taking him out, rainy and cold.

Close friend of mine at church asked me to be on a lease with him and I was on it for 1 year before the countryside burned up. 20 guys. One cook shack. And they all relieved themselves about 40 yards behind the cook shack. No outhouse. They didn't even dig a cat hole. Just crap on the ground. TP blowing everywhere.

I remember hearing the bar bottles rattle in the morning before everyone else got up on that corporate lease. Guy with Texas Utilities. Poor bastard. We had to watch him like a hawk.

This is hilarious

1200 acres where the owner lived on. He had a buddy living in an old house on the property. Every Friday night there was a party. The guy would invite some family members out on the holidays. They were a bunch of outlaws and poachers for sure. They would be driving down the road at sunset and shoot at deer off the road. I never new them but man did they stir the neighbors up until one lady met them on the road one night blocked it with a combine then called GW and sheriff. It was a sight to see.

Another south Texas lease some of the oil field workers decided they could hunt during the week since the paid paying lease guys weren't there. They said that one of the supervisors told them they could hunt and all their projects were shut down and the company was run off for all types of violations. We would be in the stand when a truck would roll up ruin a hunt. All that was changed.

I feel like there are two types of people:

Guys who truly enjoy the hunt and are there to bag game ( or enjoy others who are like minded ) and guys who go out to act a fool, make a bunch of ruckus and get out of hand.


Some of these stories of other “ hunters “ people have had to suffer are terrible.

I’ve only been a part of two leases. Both leases were ok and were with friends/family and nothing got too out of control.

I recently sold a ranch to a friend who the previous owner leased to a group of plant workers from Corpus. These guys were heavy drinkers but I don’t think a beer can ever left the ranch. Every single ranch road was littered with cans, there was bucket loads of .223 brass out in front of the barn. Tons of rubbish everywhere. Those guys must have been some real gems to be around in camp

With you, it's one thing managing the lease, another managing the drama.

Where's the guy on here that watched through his binoculars a lease mate get frisky with his wife/gf? Great story, written well. Was it on the hood of a vehicle, or is my memory embellishing?

I've related on here before how the LO asked me to help him go down to another windmill, pick up a garden tiller and help him lift it out at his house where they were starting a new garden beside the house. ("House" is a very loose term in this case.) As we pulled up, 'seems his then wife was working on something else besides her garden - her full body tan. She grabbed a bathmat on the clothesline and ran inside. He just hollered "Caught ya!" and didn't mention another word. There've been times I've seriously envied that crazy bastard, although I'm not sure I could have handled their "couples weekend", if you catch my meaning. I did come across his weed patch. Then it was my turn to not say a word; hunting Turkey I think it was.

And, I have to say, aside from the two days that my daughters were born, the happiest day of my life so far was on that lease with my current wife. Spring - filling feeders, cold left-over backstrap, a killer Cabernet, a running creek, a large, flat rock in the middle of it, and...a gentleman stops here. 'Place has been sold and busted up. Life goes on. But I'll always have memories in "Ghost Canyon".

Was on a place in Sutton County we located from a lease broker (I know. Lesson learned). It was an old family ranch that had been split up between 3 or 4 older siblings.Lease broker told us our portion was 1600 acres. That's what we paid for The older white gentleman that owned it lived there and had a young hispanic kid living there that he claimed was his son. Found out it was not his son. People in town would ask where we were hunting, and when we told them, would look at us kind of funny and change the subject. Found out from a local that the owner was gay. Not that there is anything wrong with that. The kid we speculated was his piece of _ss. Found out the kid was from California. No idea what kind of trouble he must have been in to hook up with an old geezer in the middle of nowhere Texas. Oh, and then the owner told us the place was 1200 acres. He was just as pissed at the broker as we were. We stayed the one year and moved on.


Hunted another place north of Bracketville one year. The owner claimed there were lots of deer and nice bucks. Showed us pictures of some of the bucks taken in the past. The place was once set up to hunt corporate hunters and had good accommodations. It also had some free ranging exotic sheep. It did not take long to determine the deer numbers were really low. It turned out to be more of a hog and sheep lease. We found out the ranch had been hit by anthrax a few years earlier. The owner knew and never told us.
Almost every time we were there, there were illegals seen or evidence that illegals had recently been there. One time we got to camp and they had made a huge mess of the camp house with food eaten and thrown everywhere. Another time we found a tower blind they had knocked over so they could build a fire next to it and sleep in. We caught them one time camping from the smoke from their campfire. I had an old Chevy K-5 Blazer that looked similar to the ones the border patrol used back then. We hauled [censored] toward their camp and they went scattering leaving some of their clothes. We tried to stake it out for awhile to see if they would return to get what they left, but finally gave up. We discarded the clothes. Another time, we found one wandering around, and he was sick as a dog. My buddy that was with me speaks pretty good spanish and he said his group had left him because he was sick. Thought he might have had malaria. We kept our distance, gave him some water, and told him adios.
Lastly, this was the year of hurricane Charley that flooded the area surrounding Del Rio. 3 of our hunters woke up to about 6 inches of water in the camphouse. They were stranded and had no cell service back then (it was over 20 years ago). That area may still not. On the second day, a helicopter spotted their trucks and flew them out of there. They had to lease a vehicle to drive home to Dallas then return several days later to pick up their trucks. That lease was similar to 2020. We left after the one year as well.

I too could tell many stories over my 50 years plus hunting leases. Takes too long. But I have been running a lease now for 13 years. We do it by the book and the right way. We have common sense rules. Don’t follow them? You are gone.

I always laugh to myself when a thread comes up about lease rules and the guys on here who say “I paid my money. I will do and shoot what I want.” I just jot down the name/Avatar of who says stuff like that and keep it so I remember who NOT to let on our lease.

Very similar to those who bitch because the HOA neighborhood they moved into should not be enforcing the rules.

You realize this was meant to be a fun thread, right?

The only problems I've experienced with hunting leases involved battles between landowners/heirs that bled into lease members deciding to choose sides. Needless to say, it didn't end well.

I pay $1,700/month not to deal with this crap, plus $5k/yr in taxes

I asked my wife if she wanted to lease a place and she said, "Hell, no, we need to buy" I try to give the lady what she wants...I wonder what that venison costs per pound?

My dad had to point out to John Connally once that he was on the wrong side of the fence. Tarpley.

That same lease had a big swimming hole on it. My oldest brother (by 18 years) was mentally handicapped (high forceps in 1941). He lived at Marbridge, a group home in Manchaca (now a suburb of Austin). He was home with us over the summer and we went to that lease. We were wading in the swimming hole and he dives in and starts swimming like an Olympic swimmer. Poetry in motion. My parents had never taught him. Someone at Marbridge had the incredible patience to do so. Mom cried and cried out of happiness. There are angels among us.

Was his last name McDonald?

LOL. It’s fun when people follow the rules

Craziest lease I was on had guest rules /limits but were not enforced. So guys would bring 5-6 guest at a time. You would go to the map to pick the stand you planned to hunt and they were all taken already by guest. No thanks

I've leased property but I've never been on a lease with others, pretty sure it wouldn't go well. Now I don't worry about it.

The worst I was ever on was also the best I was ever on, tons of deer, exotics, and hogs. Problem was the lease manager treated it like his own personal kingdom (he had been on the lease for 25 years and managed it for 15+ as I recall). Everyone was welcome in the kitchen, but you had to be invited to sleep in the bunkhouse/shower/use the bathroom, by him. No skin offa me and pops we had a travel trailer( that were much nicer accommodations). Rules were selectively enforced depending on your relationship to his majesty. Only he and his buddies (the remains of the original group of lessees) were allowed to bring guests and they did all the time and in large numbers. Rules were 8 pts or better and one doe. We had this very quiet, very nice older gentleman who shot a dandy buck that turned out to be a 7 point as it only had one brow time (the other side just had a small bump). They(his majesty and his minions) treated the old man like he had killed a fawn with spots. Mr. Gentleman, recognized his mistake, did not try to hide it, and was willing to do whatever needed to be done to make it right. Well the lease mgr and his cronies decided they would call a lease meeting to figure out what they were going to do, most likely a warning or maybe a small fine.(this is important)
Now, I like this old fella, a lot, I mean how can you not like an elegant old geezer who hunts in Filson tin pants and carries a model 86 Winchester in 40-82. I was embarrassed at the way these people Jerry and his inside circle were treating him, so I skipped the lynching er I mean meeting and just hung out with him. So they came back and fine him 500$, He was a little shocked at the price tag, but like I said he owned his mistake. As he was about to hand over the check he made the comment that while it was a lot of money, at least it was going to go into the camp fund for food, bills, repairs, etc.
When Jerry said no, it was to be used at his discretion as he was the lease manager, that stately, elegant, old gentleman changed. he ripped that check in half, and proceeded to tear Jerry into a few pieces too! Turns out Ol 'Boy was a retired judge (who knew?) at the state level. He pointed out that nowhere in the lease agreement he signed was a fine system in place, that he was going along to keep the peace, and that by instituting one on the spot Jerry was guilty of theft by intimidation, and by pocketing the cash to use at his discretion he was dangerously close to the line (and maybe over) for committing fraud, and that all the sudden he had decided he wasn't playing this game anymore. Packed his [censored] and left, within 48 hrs Jerry had been removed as lease mgr by the landowner, whom he had known for close to 3 decades.
The land owner installed his very good and lifelong friend retired state judge Mr. Gentleman as lease manager, lets just say lots of things changed after that. The next year the judge brought his old bailiff in as lease manager and most of the old crowd drifted. The good guys won, The land owner died a couple of years later ( and the Judge a year or so after that) and his daughter lived in Michigan so she sold out and the lease is probably a subdivided neighborhood now..

Yeah, I chased the dream of my childhood experiences on leases with my dad for a long time, but hell, there was probably drama on those too, I was just too young to recognize it. I remember Dad worrying about his older brother talking too much when he brought him to the lease. Maybe he did, but I loved my uncle Johnny very much and thought he did great. Johnny had hunted with the Petmeckys in Austin a few times, back when Austin was a great town and not the freak show it is today.

I got off the last lease when I showed the "manager" a trail cam pic of a decent buck and he obviously got really excited, but said "We need to pass on him this year." A few weeks later I showed him another pic of another buck. He assumed it was the same buck, but when I pointed out that it was a different deer, he said we need to pass on him too. This "manager" always had his whole family out the day after Christmas through New Years, and it was too crowded for any other lease members to be there (or observe what actually got shot at the end of the season). I was born at night, but it wasn't last night. That, his son deleting trail cam pics after he wounded a deer, and his wife coming in the cabin with the whole brood and a guest, after having drunk the whole way, in the middle of the night and her throwing up 2 or 3 times (it wasn't the flu) finally pushed me over the edge.

We sold our small Fbg. place and bought a bigger place. 'Happy as a clam.

That's one great story! I'm sure there are some great, friendly and reasonable lease "managers" out there, but the megalomaniacs always get remembered.

I was invited to visit a lease in South Texas. Good country and Big deer and the price was pretty decent.


Rules were one blind and one feeder per member. No community blinds. Basically you were confined to one spot the whole season. Kinda boring but whatever.


What turned me off was that they wanted you to video tape any potential shooter for review by other lease members before you got the green light. I was out on that.

I've heard of this bs more and more. I don't hunt by committee. I've heard of a square-head up in Harper doing this, and it fits his obnoxious personality perfectly, but it is his land and his rules. If his hunters agree to that, that's their problem.

Deer leases with stupid rules and people who think that the land is theirs because they are the "Manager" are the reason that hunters get off leases and buy their own land.

My deer lease experience has been universally bad. Thankfully I am blessed to be able to hunt a buddy's farm. If I had to lease again, I would not hunt.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

When I was in college (late 70's) I was on a lease near Blanco on the Little Blanco River. Nice old German owned the 500 or so acres and lived on it. There was supposedly several lawyers from San Antonio also on the lease, but during the 3 years I was there, I never saw another person other than the landowner and his family. Even on opening weekend and over Thanksgiving, I'd be the only hunter out there. After college I got a job in Ft Worth and decided it was too long a drive so I got off the lease. Probably a big mistake.

I lease a couple hundred acres close to my house. I am The only hunter on it, but during offseason I only go there to fill feeders and then leave, I don’t do a ton of work there, hang out, shoot or whatever. I have year round access but don’t make myself common until bow season and then it’s only to hunt. I get along real good with my landowners in large part because of it.

I hope I can keep the lease for another 3 years at least but if it doesn’t get renewed I’ll be in the market to buy and hunt at friends places in the interim

I got on a lease near San Saba my senior year in high school. Found it in the classifieds. Great piece of property-3000 acres with the Colorado river running through it. Went down on Monday after opening weekend to avoid the nine other hunters. Got there and there was one truck there. As I stepped out of my vehicle, a guy came stumbling out of the cabin with a rifle in his hands. He was drunk as a skunk at 10 AM. He promptly missed the first and only step to the cabin and face planted. He didn't move. I thought he might be dead. I took his gun, unloaded it and put it inside. He had a pulse but was out cold. I left and went to just look around and get an idea where I wanted to hunt that evening. Came back a couple of hours later and he was gone. Keys must have been in his pocket as they were not in the cabin. I looked for the keys because I didn't want him driving around but I didn't go fishing in his pockets. After that I only went back during the week and moved on after that year.

Welcome to adult hunting.

Have been on present lease 18 years and have hunted with 7 or 8 hunters that I can remember. Never had a problem with those guys except once. One of the hunters shot a pig about 80 lbs. and just left it there. When I ask about it he said it was a very big boar...I found it the next morning and it was not a big one. I would have taken the pig for my on use if he had told me the truth. Not much of a problem.

Back up a few years and was on a lease with about 12 other hunters and half of them brought their wives out weekly which was fine. One wife got to be real friends with the foremans wife (foreman) was in charge of the property. Had a real blowout there between 2 hunters when one of the wives told one hunter that another hunter had said something negative.

Few hunters may be better than many, choose good people.

My most recent lease was a 120 acre tree farm in Anderson County just outside of Montalba. I was the only one on it, excellent landowner (My best friend's brother), lots of deer sign, lots of hog sign.

Leased it for 3 years and did not see one legal deer or hog while hunting. Antler Restriction county, does could only be taken without a permit on Thanksgiving and following Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

It is what it is.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

It's okay Leon. Maybe some pro guy on here will teach you how to hunt.

I am adding Leon to my list

Some great stories! I have family land and feed protein/corn like crazy. Do all the maintenance, mowing, fence repair, etc...cousins show up the evening before opening season, dump corn around all their areas and blast away. I cannot tell you how many younger bucks I’ve found dead after the season that I assume in most cases they made a poor shot & never recovered. They throw trash everywhere and overall piss poor excuses for “hunters”. Pisses me off!!

I do ok when a LEGAL deer walks out.



I can only imagine what list that is

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

'Reminds me of "Quiet Man"..."Put him on the list...Strike a line through it!"

Run 'em off, family or not. Life's too short.

We had a lease around Gatesville for 25 years. The one “major hunter” thought he was God’s gift to hunting.
It finally got to the point that whatever that fool said, we did the opposite! Basically in one ear and out the other. We finally left the ranch in 2009 and as far as I know that fool is still there bragging on all the wonderful hunting adventures he’s had...

'Woods are full of 'em. "Experts."

I was thinking the exact same thing.

Nothing pisses me off worse than someone littering. I taught my son from literally the time he could walk to stop me when we were in the old cj5 and he saw any kind of trash laying around while driving on a ranch. He'd jump out and pick it up and throw it in a 10 gallon can I had tied in the back. I was taught as a child myself to respect the land and leave it better than you found it.

I learned through my years of guiding and hunting on leases this:
If you want to find out if a person is a really good guy or just a jerk, go hunting with them a day or two! Deer hunting brings out the best, and unfortunately, the worst in some people!!!

Apparently, the children (old enough to know better) of my last lease mates thought a maid came around all the blinds to pick up and empty their pee jugs and gather any trash.

On the plus side, you pick up a few new headlamps, etc. left behind in that situation.

That idiot was fighting out of his weight class and never had a clue till he was on his back. Love it.

I've been on four leases only really enjoyed one of them. Two were okay one was bad.

The one I enjoyed was 100 acres in East Texas and it was just me and one buddy we could do whatever we wanted we brought people down there when we wanted to we pretty much always hunted the same time the same weekends we were young enjoyed it.

The two that were okay one was a large lease with a lease boss. And I just don't stroke egos well enough to enjoy that, a friend of mine has been on that lease for probably close to 25 years in the lease world it is probably the best thing I ever walked away from I was only on it one year but again just don't do that good with that many personalities and one guy that thinks his word is written in stone.

The other one that was okay was a hundred acres in Grayson county with a lot of big deer and I realized on that lease that I really do not care about killing big bucks as much as I do getting out and enjoying camp and peace and quiet. We did not have a camp on there and every time we were there a neighbor was mowing or shooting rifles neighbors dogs running through etc I just did not enjoy it.

The one that was bad was maybe a thousand acres out south of Jacksonville on some timber company land and I went down there two times and both times I thought I was on an ATV Park bunch of white trash on it and they used it as a place to go ride four wheelers and drink beer I just didn't enjoy that either.

I’ll never understand, it’s just a deer. No point in losing good friends over a deer.

Mind blowing. Even if you have harvest criteria and someone messes up... they where obviously happy with it or they wouldn’t of shot it, so no point in ruining it for them more and making them highly resent their mistake by dogging on them. Well defined rules And restitution make mistakes more bear able. It’s not life ending and shouldn’t be treated as such. Leases are about fun, friends/family, and hunting. If it’s only about a deer, there are better options

It's not like they didn't bring their range finder.

You might be surprised

Great story Kevin.

X2. I understand management practices but to see a deer, ducks or any other animal destroy a friendship or family relationship is ridiculous. As mentioned, guidelines can mitigate these concerns but when a rule is broken it doesn’t have to result in a lost friendship. I was caught up in the middle of a lease situation (which I had nothing to do with but because of my friendship with the manager) and I lost a great friendship with a family member because he was not invited back on the lease the following year. It was explained why and done in a very cordial manner. He took it personally and it escalated to him losing his temper in the middle of a family gathering in front of our kids, ultimately telling me never to come back to his house. All because of some birds, ridiculous.

Wait a minute we are talking about ducks now? I've had to run a hen killers and shot jumpers off.

SOA!!! Lol now you got hudbone on this!!

Ironically I’ve been looking for my rangefinder for 30 days now. I think I may have loaned it out but forgot whom....

T-Rex sent me this pic from your Colorado trip couple of years ago....and I always thought you were BS'ing me about that lion you called in to under 20 yards. I can tell that is you in the pic..no rangefinder...

I need new friends.

You need to learn not to open up about the misadventures of BOBO the Clown as much. You could write a best seller of your adventures to date...and it would be as many pages as a Cabela's Limited Fall addition....

This story is strangely comforting...to know that other families have members in it with their priorities completely and unequivocally out of whack!!! It's not just me! Thanks...for...posting.

I have never heard of dispute over a deer ruin a friendship?

Only been on two leases and then one tract of land that was a great friends families property.

The lease I was on in E.TX in 1987 you saw very few deer, it was a 1 buck county and you had to have a permit to shoot a doe.

In 1988 I got on a lease with my then BIL and his friends in Coke county, property backed up to EV Spence reservoir. I was shocked with how many deer and turkey I saw out there
It was a two buck, two doe county and I thought I died and went to heaven until I froze my rear off in the tent many nights there were lots of Dove, Bob White and Blue Quail, Jack Rabbits life was good until they told us they were not re-leasing it.

Side note my BIL and his buds thought I was goofy for taking baths in the lake, man when it was hot dove hunting and warm opening weekend dip in the lake was awesome.

Hygiene is a real challenge for some guys.

They were really good guys and fun to be around, there were no hygiene issues especially for a deer lease.
I did it for two reasons, one to cool off and it felt great, most important to me was the no scent soap for obvious reasons.
I loved to have fun but took my deer hunting seriously.

Cool story!

If it wasn’t for mis-adventure hunting would be boring, plus entertainment factor is second to none.

I have nothing to add...I have never been on a lease and pretty sure I will avoid it if possible. I guess just spoiled with public land in Colorado/Montana etc...

IMO you have to find the right lease that fits your goals. There are many many Lease members across our state who love where they hunt including me. I have hunted public land too. It can have its own issues for sure

I guess good leases are pretty easy to find. On my first one for 14 seasons and now on my second, beginning my 15th.

Great story and all too often this happens.
Glad the sorry SOB got what was coming to him which happens most of the time......sooner or later!

Amen Brother!!