Back in the early 80s, my father paid $400 for 440 acres for me and any of his friends that wanted to go. Camp Wood Tx. turn left at the post office continue on thru the Nueces river and into the hills. Great times we had in camp, it was cold every weekend in those days. Hunt morning and afternoon, then dinner as a group at the "Old Timer" restaurant in town. I miss those days. My father and I still hunt together as much as possible. Now I pay the lease fee. My sons join us. But I cannot afford to pay for my friends!! wonder why.

First deer lease cost two bottles of Old Crow. Carried a Montgomery Ward "sporterized" 7mm Mauser. Among our family and hunting buddies the surplus 303's and 7mm Mausers ruled.

$175 lease. Reminds me of a song by the bottle rockets called $1000 car.

Like my $150 lease, just some middle class good ol boys looking to kill something. When I got on lease I didn't have nothing but my rifle and camo. Was told to rig up a 5 gallon bucket, cut a baseball size hole in the bottom, drill 2 small holes 180* apart and push a wire hanger thru holes. Tie string to hanger which went thru a soda bottle cap, that screwed on to a plastic soda bottle. Turn the hanger to get the bottle to go up in bucket hole. Hang between 2 trees, put in corn, put on lid and your ready. Deer bump bottle a little corn comes out.

I have a 55 gallon feeder now, but I also have 2 of these buckets set 100 yds across from each other with 55 gallon in middle.

I think we were well below middel class. At least as far as our hunting budget was concerned. No camo!! that was for them folks raised on concrete. You know from in town!!

All my camo is what I wore for dove hunting before I really started deer hunting. Gotta late start on deer. 10th year to be a lease member and on same lease. First lease at 36 years old. I hunted a few times as a guest before. My old foreman asked if I wanted to get on their lease only $100 year round. Said that's in my price range. So in 10 years it went up $50. Was an 8 man lease, now it's a 5 man,which we all like better.

Only creepy thing about lease is camp location. Just across fence about 100 yds away is a 200 year old cemetery. It can make your mind wonder when your there at night alone.

Man, guess I will tell off on myself, I was hunting a lease in Mason, same one as mentioned earlier and it was so long ago that you had to have doe permits. In Mason county no less, can you believe that.

I was raised hunting. Never heard of a lease you just ask and hunt. It would have been unheard of if someone told you not to hunt on there property. Now there were no deer at all. We hunted squirrel and coons. Trapped coons and possums in the winter, sold there hides and saved money for a 30-30 rifle. Never got that 75 to buy the rifle but we tried several years. I dreamed of the day I would take that 30-30 and go to a place where there were deer!!!

Something you will not see me post on this forum: SCORE THIS BUCK. Do they score spikes?!

When I told my dad what I was paying for my lease (less than 2 grand) he almost had a stroke. Now he hasn't been on a lease in 10 years and the last one he was on he paid $750 a year for a 1200 acre lease in Llano Co. with 9 other hunters. Things have changed.

One big difference in a high $$$$ hunter and a low $ hunter. A person that hunts on a low $ lease lets say $250 is really grateful to hunt a high $$$$ lease with all the perks, bells and whistles. Turn that around and it's the complete opposite.

I've taken such a hunter (co-worker) that tagged his trophy on his lease to my lease. And all he did was rag on everything. No water, electricity, no kick a$$ cabin or house to sleep in, just on and on. Started pissing me off. Told him all this before he came out and he came anyways. Everybody wanted to kick his a$$.

This is not to rag on guys that pay the big $$$$.