In Texas, it is easier to find a Telephone Booth than a lease of much promise to hunt on. Nearly every lease has a "quality management program", meaning you'll never see anything better than a 120 if you're lucky. Owners are after the money & really have no concern for your success even though they charge you $2500 or more annually. High fence leases must feed their animals gold dust for the prices they charge. True trophy leases cost a 401K or an IRA. There is constant argument that the indigenous animals belong to the people of Texas, yet most of them are stacked up behind high fences. It is illegal to own Whitetails in Texas unless you have paid the right money to the right people. Once you find a lease you spend money, time & labor in an attempt to prepare your hunting area. Later, the owner decide you don't fit into his "Good Ole Boys Club" and does not extend your spot for the next season. So, you improve his property & get nothing in return. I once had a lease boss who offered my camping spot to his buddy and they moved my trailer out of their way. Had they asked me to move it I would have done so without issue. Went to the lease to hunt, arrived after dark and had no idea where my trailer was. It wasn't where I left it.
Paid hunts offer variety as you mentioned. They are readily available. You can get into them for as little or as much as you care to pay. Paid hunts do not require me to haul a flotilla of travel trailers, blinds, feeders, ATV's & other related equipment hundreds of miles across the state only to have to haul it all back the next season. Feeding costs. Protein costs. If your lease is in deep East Texas, the safety of your equipment is suspect at best. If you are on a lease you can go hunt as often as you please. If you do that on paid hunts you can run out of funds quickly. Paid hunts are hospitable, trustworthy & cordial if you get with the right folks.
