Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Cost for Texas Deer Leases?

Hey Cub if you are looking for someone to go in on one, let me know. I'd make a few trips over that way a season but turkey is a MUST.

So cub is moving from Ak to Texas for better hunting and fishing opportunities?

You could easily get enough guys off the campfire to put a lease together.

Problem being most of them hunt too damn much lol. I always liked getting in on leases where guys showed up once a year (or less in some instanecs) and shared the lease fee just the same.

Nope, moving to Texas for better living.....period! This 6 months of hibernation crap is for the birds!

Will keep that in mind Scott. The prices for leases hasn't changed much from 10 years ago, on decent leases. We paid between $1000-$1200 for year round leases back then in Texas for a section or less. I am not looking to win the Muy Grande competition or anything, just a place to go and get away and possibly whack that leary buck that you get a glimpse of from time to time and of course fill the freezer with fresh venison (does). I have friends and family in Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado and will most likely be putting in for tags in all 3. I got really into the BASS fishing circuit when I used to live down there, and I have a 18' Skeeter sitting at my inlaws in Utah that I will be picking up on my way south. The thought of spending the day on the boat flipping for chunks in Mesquite bushes does appeal to me. Caught 5 Bass that weighed over 10 lbs when I used to live down there, and one that went 12lbs 12oz and nearly made the Share Lunker program. Plus its a heck of a lot closer to Miami when I want to go fish for sailfish in Jan and February with my kin. Lots of doors get opened when you can drive just about anywhere and the distance is within reason. Chit I drove 900 miles to shoot one wolf in March, how many states is that across in the lower 48?

There definelty is the appeal of being to hunt "something" 365 days a year. I kinda made a similar decision here. Live/work somewhere you can at least hunt everyday all year and make enough money to be able to afford to hunt out of state for other stuff that have a limited season.

I had always heard about the high cost of living in AK, but it never really sank in till I visited there and on the way to go fishing on the Kenai I stopped at a gas station and bought a coke and a candy bar and those two items alone were double what they were down here.

Yep! I for one would be interested in a lease with guys from here. Just got off the lease I was on - too many people and too close to folks, kids riding 4 wheelers on it, etc., when no one around.

I've got family in central TX - we love it over there.

Oh yeah , hows about averaging $800 a month in heat and electric. Gas is $3.65-$5.09 a gallon at the pump and everywhere you go to play is at LEAST 450 miles round trip, a box of Federal Premium 30-06 165grain TSX's is $62, yeah it adds up real quick!

Move to Ketchikan, you couldn't drive 450 miles in a year on that island.

Public hunting in TX is tough...I've done it some and it's too much trouble for me. I was lucky enough to marry into a good size ranch in West TX, so I only pay for feed and improvements to the land.

A good round number for a decent lease is $10 an acre. It can be alot more in South TX and the hill country, but at the same time deals can be had if you look hard enough.

$10 an acre........wow!

But it won't buy much therapy.

BTW I pay $4.00 per acre for my deer lease. That seams to be average in the "one buck" county.

$4 an acre......wow!

How big is the place?

Well in Texas' case......1

Cub,

I lived near Killeen for a couple of years. If you wind up there, find a place well outside of town. The town itself is trashy: it's mostly strip clubs, pawn shops and used car lots ripping off young GI's. Some of the countryside, especially out west, towards Lampasas is nice. You can hunt on Ft Hood, but they drop you off at a box blind and have to stay in it until the return to pick you up hours later.

San Antonio is a big city and has some nice areas and there's lots of very good hunting and fishing in the region. San Antonio's being 2 hours closer to the coastal fishing than Killeen is a huge plus in my book. Trout and redfish are fun to catch and taste great. For a big city, SA is relatively cheap.

Public land is limited and seems hunted hard to me.

Hope that helps.

I have 100 acres in deep South Texas (Starr County) that I lease to a hunter for $10 an acre. It has a one room house (with bathroom) on the property.

My Company leases a 7,000 acre ranch in South Texas (2 hours south of San Antonio) for $10 per acre. It is full of BIG bucks.

These deals are probably on the low end, but I bet you can come close or equal if you put alot of effort into looking...

Don't forget, if you live in San Antonio: you could drive 2.5 hours to the coast and do good duck hunting and on public waterways. You can also find plenty of hog hunt day leases that go for about $100 per hog... or you can befriend a rancher that will beg you to shoot as many as you possibly can.

AlaskaCub, I'd be happy to help you any way I can when you get down here. There are deals to be had in out of the way places for way less than $10/acre. We pay about $1.50/acre on our whitetail place (3200 acres).

One thing I can't emphasize enough is the cultures, costs, terrain, and deer vary significantly accross Texas. Examples: Austin is full of flaming liberals.... then drive 70 miles South to San Antonio and the folks are mostly all conservative. Hill country deer run pretty small in body size... drive 2.5 hours south and the bucks run 200 lbs. with much heavier antler mass (less deer per acre, but much bigger deer). Leases convenient to San Antonio, Austin or Dallas will command a high price... but drive 3-4 hours West and you will find vast stretches of scrub brush for very low prices. Don't get me started on the differneces in terrain. Thorough research is key.

After reading this thread I can't believe anybody actually thinks Texas is a good place to hunt. A lot of you guys must make a heckuva lot more money than I do.

Don't forget land that is leasing for $10 per acres is carrying a deer for every 5-6 acres and producing trophies at that density as well. You can easily kill 30% of your herd a year and not even scratch what you really need to kill every year.

I've worked with several ranches in that price range that have to bring people in to kill does in the late doe season after buck season has closed because even with permits people either can't/won't kill enough deer or they get tired of killing deer and quit coming for the year.

But like I said earlier in my post even with my access in the past to some of the best ranches in TX I've wound up killing my biggest deer on either public land or land that can hunted for $48 per year.

Even in big buck areas not everything leases for $10 per acre, and normally that includes extras such as a house with electricy/water etc...to stay at during season and that includes deer season (that last 4-5 full months), dove season in September, spring turkey season, year round hogs/varmits etc....not just a days or even weeks of a season that some other states have.

So when you divide out $1,000 to $2,000 per year by 52 weeks/weekends it's pretty damn cheap.

It's not perfect and not for everyone. I really don't mind spending $1250 a year for 13,000 acres with 9 other guys when we have exclusive hunting access year round and I can kill a damn near unlimited number of deer. Nearly any place in TX that has a lease is eligible for extra tags. I write the management plan for our lease and get extra tags like nearly everyone else. I can nearly get tired of killing deer before I run out of tags. The number of deer a hunter can kill here with management tags might/probably shock some out of state people.