Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Tell me about deer leases

We are thinking about moving to Texas but it seems to be a land of deer leases with little public land. Could anyone tell me how they work? What is an average cost and for how much land and would it be for our exclusive use or are they generally shared? is maintenance and improvements our responsibility, can we hunt other types of game throughout the year? Are any of you guys who have a lease satisfied with how they work and are there any pitfalls that a greenhorn should know about up front? It just doesn't seem right to have to pay for hunting in a land as big as Texas when you can hunt for free in most all parts of this U.S.A. Thanks for any info you have.

Its because most of land in Texas is privately owned which stems back to when Texas was its own Republic. It took me some getting used to ... esp. coming from PA where there is mucho public hunting land. I haven't hunted much in Texas, but I will tell you one of the nice things about hunting here, when you're out hunting you don't see too many if any other hunters (from my experience). This is a stark contrast from hunting back east on public lands, where on the first day of deer season, you can walk through the woods and every 150 - 200 yards your will walk past another pumpkin waiting for his chance. Why I did most of my hunting back in PA during archery season. Just darn scarey during the first few days of deer season back home! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

As far as prices go ... I have seen them as low as $500-600 per gun for the deer season upwards of several thousand dollars for year round usage. Right before the season I have seen deals for $75-100 for weekend leases, which doesn't seem all too bad of a deal.

Good Luck!

I worked for a couple of years in Texas in the �70�s and had a preacher friend who used to take me fishing and hunting on the Neches River north of Spurger, Texas. He used an old hand crank telephone when cat-fishing. Not real sporting but we did pretty good most days.

I went hog hunting and deer hunting with him a few times; headed north on the river out of Spurger, and got out on the right bank a mile or so below the dam. Now bear in mind that I was from Kentucky and had no clue about the whole lease hunt idea. Well one day we and just got in the woods and I spotted some guys on horse back headed toward us through the timber and brush at full gallop. I yelled back at him in a nonchalant manner that there were some guys headed our way. He did not respond so I looked to see where he was and he was running back to the boat.

Well, I still didn�t know what was up so I walked back and he was already pushing the boat out in the river. I managed to get in the boat and asked him what was what. It was about then that the horse riders caught up with us, but we were in the river.

I learned some new curse words from the riders, and all about lease hunting within a few minutes. I then figured out why it was that my preacher friend could kill a hog and skin it so fast that he�d leave the hide rooting in the woods.

There is a big misconception that there is little public land to hunt in Texas. While I have had a deer lease for the past 25 years, there is still over a million acres of public land to hunt in Texas. The permit costs $49, and is available when you purchase your hunting license. Most of the land is in the national forests of east Texas, and on leased (by the state) timber company lands. There are some great bucks taken each year on public land. It's rarely crowded, except on opening weekend. It's not widely publicized, but we have more public land available for hunting than most other states. If you decide to lease, a fair deer lease (by trophy hunting standards) will set you back about $15 to $20 an acre. If you want to hunt really quality deer in south Texas, plan on spending about $20 and up an acre, and with about 500 acres per hunter. I have several friends who spend over $10,000 per year to hunt whitetails. Crazy? Maybe, but until you've hunted that part of the country, you really can't understand what it does to you. I used to shell out $7000 per year, minus my expenses, but a growing family has cut that cost in half. You can do a lot of good hunting on public land for $49 per year with the Annual Hunting Permit (AHP) available through Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. Feel free to email me if you need any additional information. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Oh boy, you are in for some culture shock...... There is a permit from Texas Parks and Wildlife that allows you to hunt on Type 2 public lands. Something I do not recommend during deer / idiot season. Or you can put in for drawings on some of the TP&W controled hunts. Better and safer if you are the lucky type of person who can win a lottery.

Most of my life I was able to hunt for free just by being a nice guy and asking permission. That's over with....

Leases vary from cheaper in one buck counties to "way more than I can afford" in the big buck areas of South Texas. The $500 deer lease is rare.... unless you have a good friend who owns the land. Average year around leases go for $1,000 per gun up to $5,000 and more in some areas. Even season leases are becoming less common. Lot's of ranches now lease to outfitters who guide hunters and "day lease" the ranch. Some will Lease to you for the first half of the season and someone else for the second half.

I've been on a typical "working man's" lease for several years in the San Angelo area. When I first got on the place it was $700 per gun and that included deer and turkey hunting with year around access for recreation. Meaning we could camp and shoot rabbits. The land owner reserved the quail and dove hunting for himself. I was on the lease for 7 years. Each year the price went up, I left it when it got to $1,700. I didn't feel it was worth that much. The lease I am on now is in Ozona. It is about 3000 acres with a ranch house. Nine of us pay $980. each for year around hunting. But, we do not have exclusive hunting rights. We have to allow a son and a friend of the family to hunt one day each.

In a nut shell, the closer you are to a large city, the more you have to pay. The closer you are to Big Bend - Mexico, ( more large trophy bucks )the more you will pay.

Good luck hunting for a deer lease. I'm always looking for something better, that I can still afford.

All the details generally depend on your agreement with the land owner. Just be sure to cover all your questions up front before you pay.

You didn't say what area of Texas you are thinking about moving to. It's a big place and leases vary considerably from one part of the State to another.

I've lived here all my life but have hunted other places (public hunting) and will take the lease system anytime over public hunting land.

It really depends where you are living, but in my part of the state, South of I-10 and East of I-35, you can get on some really good places for around $1500. South of I-10 and West of I-35 will up that to about $2500. They can be found cheaper, but you've got to live in the area to find them. If you are in a Metro area, about the only source is the ads in the newspapers. To be honest, I haven't leased any land for over ten years. I've leased it to others as I bought my own place.

Landowners face some of the same problems, getting "good" hunters that they trust. Locally here, if a landowner wants top dollar they advertise in the Dallas, San Antonio, or Houston papers... get top dollar of about $10 an acre and will have to find new hunters every other year. Some landowners say screw it, and lease to somebody locally that they know for $3 to $5 an acre. Most landowners now a days are in TPWD management programs and won't kill more than 1 buck per 100 to 250 acres (in my area). It just depends on habitat on the place but there are still does, turkeys, javelina and feral hogs to hunt.

To answer your question about maintaining the place, other than a campsite... no you won't assist. Speaking for myself, everytime a hunter "helped" me do something I ended up doing it again, getting my tractor repaired or unstuck. In my opinion, the best thing a lease hunter can do is pay on time and abide by the laws and lease.

Others have mentioned the TPWD public hunting sources... drawings can be extremely unproductive as a source of hunting... good luck. I enter every year but have been picked in about 5 years for any type of hunt. That's a long time to wait. There are also drawings on many of the NWRs.

It really boils down to where you live, that is going to determine how easy or hard it is to find a place to hunt.

Not much I can add to what has already been told. It is going to depend on where you are as to what you will pay. South Texas brush country and Hill country are high. East Texas is usually less expensive.
One thing for sure look at the place and get the fences straight before you put any money down. I know first hand of a guy that lease a hundred acres to deer hunt on sight unseen for five bucks an acre. He thought it was too good a deal to pass up. When he saw the place he found out it had exactly one tree on it. All the rest was open pasture.

BCR

Ranchdog:

I would like to get some of that $20 an acre hunting lease money someone mentioned. Send them my way. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I come on this topic from a different perspective than most. I'm the landowner, that is the lessor. For me, and I could use the money, I don't lease my "home" place because the landowner/lessee relationship is something like a marriage. When it is pleasant it works out well for everyone, and when it isn't, it is pure Hell, especially for the landowner. In my experience, it is very difficult to find a group of lessees that will abide by a set of common sense and relatively simple rules. For instance, NO LITTER (one of my hot spots), no bucks under 8 points, etc. If it is a group someone is almost always going to fudge somewhere. Some landowners, mostly the absentee ones, just lease it and let the lessees do what they want. They are usually the landowners with no game management plan, and little concern for the deer population. Therefore, the lessees usually get a hunted over place with a very poor buck/doe ratio or maybe, worse case, almost no deer at all due to poor habitat, over hunting, etc. That is OK if they can obtain a renewable lease and everyone on the lease agrees to help make the necessary sacrifices on the hunter's part to make it better in future years. This usually equates, at a minimum, into shooting almost no bucks for at least 2 years and probably a good many does if they work with TX Parks and Wildlife (which is a pain in the butt but a necessary evil)and get a game management plan set up.



As someone said, Texas is a big state and it depends heavily on where you are located. The area I'm in, extreme NE Texas, has a decent deer population and a few good bucks (one in the 180 class was killed a 1/2 mile from my ranch last season)but in general they are not the quality of the South Texas deer nor of the quantity of the central Hill country which has some of the highest deer populations per sq mile anywhere, some places around 300, I've heard. We carry about 25 to 40/sq mile, with 25 being about right for most habitat around here.



Now to answer your questions based on what I know, which may not be very true way out West where the places are MUCH larger and the populations are thinner but can have very nice deer among them.







If you don't know the landowner, you will likely have a formal written lease spelling out your costs, responsibilities, rules, what you can do and can't, etc. And, almost certainly will have to sign a liability release, which isn't worth much, but makes the landowner feel better.







That is an extremely variable answer, the costs range from lows of $2 to $3 an acre, although the norm has risen more towards the $5 to $10 range with $5 to $6 being about average in my experience. Really small places are on the high end, but don't cost much total money, and really large places may be on the lower end, but add up to a giant pile of money, (100,000 x $3 an acre, for instance)I personally don't know of any "normal hunting" land that has exceeded $10 an acre, but I'm sure there is some out there. But, that depends on a few other factors, some places lease by "guns", not acres and that usually raises the average per acre, because they lease to quite a few guns. If they are considerate, the won't overlease it (too many guns, but that is not always the norm either, not all landowners wear white hats). The exclusive use part is up to you and your wallet. Certainly it can be, but you'll probably have to put up quite a bit of money, or lease a very small place. Most larger tracts are leased by groups that often have a set of rules that reflects the land owners concerns as well as the hunting groups, work days, for instance.







Again, that depends on the lease, usually the hunters maintain anything they put up, deer camps,stands, etc and the landowners maintain the fences, etc. As far as hunting other game throughout the year, again, depends on the lease and where you are. Most leases in this area are for deer season only often with the Spring Turkey included, but you can normally hunt anything available during the lease period. Further West and South, it is fairly common to divide the hunting up between deer and birds. For instance, one lease I know of in the Cotulla Area (S Central Texas) costs $4000/gun including deer and anything else, and $2000 for quail, ducks, turkeys etc. but no deer. If the place has a lot of quail, it will likely lease for quite a bit more, or the quail and deer hunting will be split. This is fairly common since the two types don't mix all that much, there are a lot of exceptions, of course.







The main problem I see is finding a group of hunters with similar goals and values to yours. Second is finding a place with good hunting opportunities, but if your aren't happy with your fellow hunters, the hunting will be outweighed by the poor fellowship or downright hostility. YOU CAN TAKE THIS TO THE BANK, TEXANS ARE REAL SERIOUS ABOUT DEER HUNTING AND DON'T LIKE PEOPLE SCREWING THEIRS UP. So if you are not sure of the local etiquette, for instance, can you get out of a stand and walk, if so, how far, then be sure to ask ahead of time. Obviously if your are leasing a place solo then none of these caveats apply, but most people can't afford that option. For instance, if they are a bunch of drunks, unless you are one too, most people don't want their wife and kids to be around that. Find out the "guest" policy, that is can your bring your kids, wife, etc. What about friends, most don't allow that, but sometimes they give out "free" days to try to expand the group, etc. The formal clubs, with lots of members, a big place, and an often complex set of rules are more controlled, but will likely not have many of the problems of the smaller less regulated groups. Of course, if they are a good Club, and have a good place, they won't be looking for members very often. Ask around, church members, other hunters, newspapers, neighbors, FEED STORES, etc. Except in the bigger cities, almost everyone in small town Texas knows deer hunters with leases or people with places they might lease, etc. Just like buying a used car, use your head, kick the tires, don't commit large amounts of money for longer periods until you are sure you will be compatible (remember my marriage analogy, deer hunting groups are the same thing as well)with the land, the landowner and the fellow lessees. BTW, in spite of all of my glum tales, most deer hunters and their camps and leases are great places, with great people and produce grand experiences to be relived for years to come, you just need to find them. It only takes one rotten apple, be sure you don't find one, and, in particular, be sure you aren't one.







You don't have to pay for it, if you go out and buy your own land, otherwise, with relatively rare exceptions, you will. If you don't like that idea, either give up hunting, pay for day leases or guided hunts, or don't move to Texas. Sounds harsh, but that is the way it is down here.

PS:

I am always amazed at the amounts of money some people spend on their deer hunting. I know lots of working class guys, that taken in toto, spend more on their deer hunting lease, guns, blinds, travel, food, etc than they do on their car payments. Land in Central Texas and around the big cities is so high, or the available tracts are so large that most can't afford to buy land, but in my area, many people could afford a decent sized place if they committed to save and spend the money they spend now on deer leases on the mortgage payments. Two of them could do it for sure. Food for thought and I'm not in the land selling business.

Gee, thanks to all of you guys for your informative and eye opening responses. It seems like Texas might not be the place for someone retired and on a fixed income. If I did end up in Texas it seems like it would be better to get an out of state license for Arkansas or Oklahoma or Louisiana. A friend who lives in West Virginia is allowed up to 8 deer and usually gets them off of public land. I think I might cross Texas off of my retirement sites. Thanks again.

It depends on where you live in Tx, but for the majority of Texans, Ar, Ok and La are a long ways off. There is very little public land in La. It uses basically the same type system as Texas. And, duck leases are very expensive in South La. Not to mention that a La and an Ar non-resident hunting license are well in excess of $200. Ok is less, $85 IIRC.

There are more factors as well, Texas has no income tax, but higher property taxes than say, La. Arkansas is nice, but I'm not all that familiar with how much public land is available for hunting. Missouri is highly touted as a hunting and fishing paradise.

To give you an idea of local values, I am thinking about buying 160 acres of land on the entrance to a 26,000 acres wildlife refuge (but huntable) locally for about $500 an acre. I think land like that will appreciate in future years.

One other factor to keep in mind with deer leasees. If you live fairly close to the lease, and most of the others live a ways off, say in Dallas, Houston, etc. you will get a heck of a lot more hunting for your money and have less people to contend with much of the time. Opening weekends and holiday periods are exceptions but many people pay fairly serious money for deer leases and only go there for 5 or 6 days out of the whole season.

Just thankfull here in Alberta there are miles of crown land and miles of private land where hunting is allowed free of charge, more than I can hunt in a lifetime.

Guys,

Here in Northern Va., I am paying $900 for a 4000 acre hunt
club I belong to.

Believe me, it is worth every dollar, to have a quality place to hunt away from the idiots from DC !!!

Tony.

Jusme, one other thing that cat and the others haven't menitoned for you to think about in lease hunting VS public. I wouldn't attempt to change your mind but consider. If you lease then the place is yours subject to landowner rules. That means if you find a prime spot you don't have to worry about somebody else sitting there when you get there. You don't have to try to beat the crowd to a good spot. If you find somebody else wandering around the place you don't have to be nice you can tell them to get the heck out of Dodge and the landowner will back you up or should. That might be worth something to you, not having to compete with others to hunt.

I used to lease some of my scattered places but it is a headache for the landowner. I know I leave money on the table for not doing it but life is too short for me to put up with all the hassels of leasing.

I have a couple of out of the way places that I allow a couple of guys to hunt in exchange for some sweat equity. I do it more to pre-empt sneak ins which will happen if nobody is there. It is too good and somebody is going to hunt it and I'd rather it be somebody I know than somebody I don't.

BCR

Boggy said a mouthful, as usual, the saying up here is, if you aren't hunting your land, someone is. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Do it! Do what ever it takes to buy the place. You are correct that it will climb in value... only so much land. I have just sold a place, getting ready to buy my forth tract of land. I'm an average guy but my wife and I have put our minds and checkbook to it and we have never looked back.

With the folks in the Middle East upsetting the world, drilling activity has started again. I now get mailbox money that has paid for every acre I've ever bought (641 acres!) and is buying me a new place. The last three places I've bought, I've sold for 3 times what I paid for them in a matter of 3 to 5 years.

I think I'm buying my last place as it is more per acre than I've ever thought possible. River frontage, 3 miles from town, loads of game... I will build a nice home on it.

First, like some of the other posters said, there is a LOT of public land it Texas. There are even places to duck hunt. Most of the deer country is in E. Texas, however.
As far a leases, most leases in E. Tx. are from timber companys. At least the large ones. There are private owner leases, but generally, you have to "know" someone to get on those. As an example of a timber company lease, our lease is about 2200 acres, two different timber companies, ajoining tracts. We have about 12 hunters. (Occasionaly losing/taking a new member) Cost runs between $500-$550 per gun. It is a year round lease, providing deer, hogs, dove, crow, coyote, squirrel, bobcat. The thing that varies so much from lease to lease is controlled BY THE MEMBERS. i.e. We have a "six point or better" rule, and no guests (including wives) until after Thanksgiving. The yearly lease fee normally includes a small "bump up" to cover general expenses such as maintaining the "camp house", planting food plots, etc. We have 2 "work weekends" for tasks such as mowing right of ways, shooting lanes, planting, general maintenance. If you don't make a work weekend it costs you a $100 fine. That's the way ours is run-others may be different.
It can be difficult to find a lease to get on-and you need to ask questions about the folks on it if you don't know the folks. i.e. Do you like your beer? Some have no drinking rules, some don't. What about gun safety? (Ours, no loaded guns in camp) Probably the best way, if you can, is to get a friend to take you as a "guest", if available. This lets the group "look you over" and you get to "look over" the group. It's kinda like marriage-don't jump in at first lust... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
There are other alternatives. You can get a group of friends together and start your own "club lease" (They are organized as clubs, with officers, etc.-a requrement of the timber companys) Some of the timber companies advertise leases available on the 'net. Don't have a link handy, but a search should turn something up. They come in all sizes, from a couple of hundred acres to several thousand. Obviously, going this route, you'd want to check out the land before plunking your money down...

Justme and others...

I was going through a file cabinet full of documents related to my ranch and came across this publication that I had received from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.



It's titled "The Texas Deer Lease" and highlights all the legal considerations for both the landowner and hunter. It includes a "release of liability" that the hunters can sign and give to the landowner... nowadays, that seems to be one of the biggest fears for the landowners and this document is intended to cover that fear and get you in the door.

You can download this report from the Real Estate Center's web site by clicking here.

Landowners that lease... my attorney used the consideration to help right a simple lease that protected my interest yet did not discourage the hunters.