All of that hassle is why I quit leases years ago. It’s much easier to pay for a guided hunt. I get fed, waited on & don’t have to get my hands messy.
Never did that, but I have found a place about an hour away that has trophy deer only hunts with very limited hunter numbers. Not cheap, but nothing like Texas or one of the big-buck states. Will likely try it in the next few years. Ain't getting any younger, and dragging a deer for a mile or so and throwing it in the trunk gets tougher every year.
In the meantime, we have lots of public land here. Took two deer with a crossbow last season about 20 minutes fom home, and passed on a few meat deer during the rifle season. It's very unlikely that I'll ever see a big buck there, let alone shoot one, but except for weekends and the rifle opener, not that many people hunt there, so it's practically all mine a lot of the time.
