Pain $$$$$ Threshold Tolerance

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

I see both sides. Inflation is whacking everybody. Thank the politicians at all levels for that. They’ve destroyed the economy.
The landowner is getting whacked on taxes and expenses. The price/value of his land is escalating due to demand . So are the taxes.
Maintaining and replacing equipment is much more expensive.

On this site, we often hear about greedy landowners. But, the wildlife is a marketable asset.

And, just like us, he badly needs a raise to keep his head above water. Some that I know figure to have to sell the land to some guy from California.

So if you're sharing the lease with others you're looking for your cost per acre rather than the total cost per acre? Needless to say there can be a tremendous difference between the two based on the number of people on the lease.

My target has been $10 an acre for a lease that's within a 2-hour drive from Houston. Right now a friend and I share a 75-acre lease in East Texas at $8/acre each or $16 total to the landowner.

acreage price isn't as relevant as total cost per hunter in reference to what the hunter over lap is.

I've got a great deal on my lease with a great land owner and great hunters. I can't complain. Here in the Hill Country I've been hearing of large numbers of hunters getting on small tracts and actually alternating weekends to hunt. Think 12 hunters on 3-400 acres with 4 out any given weekend. Those places are going to get shot up.

Paying 10 prolly stop at 15

Yep, agreed! If you're not a diehard B&C guy, there are so many public-land opportunities in Texas, despite what forums/media may tell you. There are also a lot of 0pt opportunities in CO.

yelp. I really find it funny. Public land 15min from my house has bigger deer then my last two whitetail leases.

reminds me I need todo some draw apps this weekend

$6000.00 for the right place. I paid less than 1/2 that on my previous lease and felt like it wasn't worth it. Too many hunters, too many guests, etc. The lease I'm fortunate to have now, worth every penny.

agree totally - too many hunters on a property plus too many guest has ruined a lot of leases IMO -

I could see a scenario similar, 2000 acres at $50K total spread over 8 spots, effectively being $25 per acre. In this scenario, I would not agree to doing it if it was just a dedicated 250 acres per gun of the full 2000 acres, that would not appeal to me. Would need to be "open" stands on the full 2000 acres.

We have 5 paid hunters on 16k acres. Five stands, you only hunt your own stand unless you have permission to hunt someone elses spot. The rest of the lease where there are no stands is open to all. I wouldn't have it any other way. Also, no guests. Wives and kids only, one game limit per paid hunter. We don't need guests, we like each other enough and are great hunting partners to one another. So when I say $6000.00, it's something like this.

We allow either direct family or one guest but not both at the same time - most weekends we only have half or less of our total hunters so it does not get crowded - also any family or guest must sit with the paid hunter and can never be out on the ranch unless the paid hunter is with them.

We have community blinds with first come first serve - that way we can all hunt the entire ranch - our LO keeps our protein, corn, and cottonseed feeders filled so there is no reason for us to have designated stands - overall this whole set up has worked well for the past 15 years -

That's what it's all about, having something that works for you.