First time poster. Hey everyone I had a question for the group. For the past 15 years my Pops and I had an amazing deer lease. 400 acres/$2k TOTAL and year round access in Throckmorton County. We knew it wouldn’t last forever and wouldn’t you know it…the landowner finally sold and we were without a place to hunt for last season.

Prices for leases have skyrocketed. But add to it, the entire game has changed with all of these rules and hunting partnerships and camps with exhaustive lists of who can be there, when , etc. And to make it worse, even these types of leases, paying and arm and a leg, are hard to come by. We just wanted a place to hunt that is safe (don’t mix drinking with guns ever, etc). And now I got a little boy of my own that I want to have similar experiences.

So my Pops and I were scrambling. How do you make connections to hunt when you haven’t had to for 15 years? TPWD website? Craigslist? This forum? Facebook? I tried them all and nada.

We finally had a bite on a lease. (We are in the Abilene area). 5k for each of us! We love to hunt, but more than that this is a time for us to just hang out and bond. This lease has like 6 other people on it already and we didn’t get a good feel for it. So…..we decided to put pen to paper and said what if we just buy some land of our own.

Now obviously land prices have skyrocketed. Our budget would not get us anywhere near 400 acres. I also wanted to be in Shackleford//Callahan/Throckmorton County as it’s close to my parents house. Well, we looked all spring and happy to report we found approx 50 acres in Shack. We are officially landowners! Now of course you may say it’s only 50 acres and I would agree. But we are surrounded by large landowners on all 3 sides of us. And to be honest we don’t shoot everything, to me a successful hunt it hanging out with the old man. If we happen to get a buck then that is icing on the cake. In any event, we have a camera up at our new place and we have been getting hogs/deer/turkey regularly.

So Although it’s small…it’s ours….we don’t have to worry about finding a lease ever again. I was just curious if anyone else had “downgraded leases” acreage wise but enjoyed smaller hunting trade nonetheless.

Congrats! Nothing like having your own place!

And a hearty congratulations! I think y'all made the right decision, especially since hanging with your dad and having your boy around is important, as it should be.

I had a small place and was on a large lease further west. 'Got off that lease, sold the small place and bought a bigger one. 'Couldn't be happier. My rules, my friends and family only. I remember looking at one lease "managed" by a guy on here. There were several pages of rules on just how to shut the cabin down, including, if you were the last one out, mopping the whole place. Nope.

Could probably guess whom was the Rule Sith. If it's more than 6 lines I'm not interested. Common sense should rule the day and if not, prepared to be dumped off the place. No questions asked.

He used to be a "big deal" on here. Not so much anymore.

Congratulations! I did something very similar as I had hunted on a 460 acre lease with others for 25 years before losing it. I didn't get my own land until 6 years later but even though it is smaller, there is something to be said for having your own place.

I leased a few places in my life, mostly close to home. Last place I was on was - couple hundred acres about 20 miles from my house. Super convenient, deer quality was good, had free roam of the place, but it wasn’t mine. Landowners were wonderful people but I could see the writing in the wall that they wanted me to share with some some of their friends so when the opportunity came available I was in a position to purchase my own place and moved on it.

The hunting is very good, deer are not huge but we haven’t had a problem taking mature bucks so far and there are hogs along with some exotics. But best of all it’s a place to escape….I enjoy working on the land and having a getaway, the hunting itself is secondary. I’m content currently feeding and improving the land and hunting it when and if the mood strikes

congratulations! and

have to start somewhere ... sounds like you are on track for a cool little hunting and bonding place with family

Congratulations. Owning land can be great, for many reasons. It can also be a big headache, and everyone is different.
Personally, I prefer to hunt very large places so I have never considered owning my own hunting place(couldnt afford the size I would want.) With leasing there is always the risk of things going wrong, but Ive spent a lifetime trying to find the right place that keeps that issue at a minimum.
Welcome to our forum, its great.

Pluses and minuses to both sides; I do both and in different counties so works well for me.

Congrats on purchasing your place. We bought a small place in 2019 and built a little 2/2 house. Did alot of the work myself. It's not huge and it's not fancy...but the memories are special and it's ours.

congrats on owning your own place, def rewarding hunting your own ground i would love to own my own but unfortunatly i wont be able to own anything close to size properties i would wish to have. leasing is def tough because you never knwo if/when it will end i lease 3 decent sized properties so not all my eggs are in one basket.

^^^^ I'm similar to this. Been on 3 great large acreage leases over lifetime and eventually all lost due to landowners passing and heirs selling. On a special place now for hopefully another 20+ years.

Congrats and

I bought my own place about 40 years ago. Only 133 acres at $405 per acre. All trees, rocks, gullies, Etc. About 70 miles North of Fort Worth. Hunting for quite awhile was fantastic. Then we had a serious 4 year drought that wiped out a lot of wildlife. Now, the hunting isn’t great but it’s free to me and the grown grandsons.

Problem is that the value has increased to about 8 to 10 thousand per acre and it makes more sense to sell it, take the money, and lease a place. But, doubt that I’ll do it.

Guys, look for a place to buy. Even if it isn’t convenient, close, etc.

Just sell and buy a better place! Do it for the grandsons. (It's just dirt. Have some fun. Keep life interesting.)

Leased a few places and made several great memories but didn’t like the uncertainty. Started considering and looking coupe years ago and pulled the trigger on our own place just over 100 acres. Wasn’t in an area I had considered but has a small home with utilities and was ready to hunt. Has decent WT, some hogs and exotics. We have loved it and are hoping to purchase the neighbors place in the future.

You and me both brother. Not your same neighbor though. After looking at, what seemed like a ton, but probably not for my real estate agent, we found exactly what we needed. Just enough. Ya gotta be able to see potential through some trashy situations sometimes.

Creekrunner, at 79 yoa, I have zero interest in starting over. And, every chunk of dirt within driving range is priced ridiculously high.

Heck, I have all the toys I need or want so no need for the $

I have leased most of my life, since 2014 I haven’t had a lease.
I own my own places and wouldn’t have it any other way.
I can come and go as I please and say who can and who can’t.
I don’t hunt much anymore, but my kids and grandkids do.
Congrats on your own property, y’all will enjoy it.

Yup have an open mind and be willing to at least take a look. Worked out and if we can pay off some other bills may add another 100 acres before retirement.

Just buy in Oklahoma

The end

Buying property is an investment. The hunting is just a benefit of owning a tangible asset.

Leasing your paying a fee for the right to hunt.

Both have their benefits but you can’t look at hunting as main driver to purchasing land, as there is so much more to it.

The people saying “ I don’t buy because I can lease more land for less money” are not looking at it thru the correct lens.

Land is an appreciable asset that should be a part of your portfolio. A lease is just a lease, whose value is derived off of the entertainment aspect it provides.

To me it comes down to what you can afford to spend. A fairly decent lease is going to run you $200 per month or so. Buying a piece of land big enough to hunt that actually has wildlife if going to run you more than that a month. Buying land is going to probably make you money in the long run unless you get goofy and pay more than it is worth. I have been around for a long time. What I have seen with hunters that have bought their own property is that the first few years they really enjoy the hunting on it. Then for some reason it is not as enjoyable as it first was. Some then go get a lease again and some just quit hunting the deer and just look at them. Strange

The last few sentences hold very true…..and that’s why it’s not about the hunting in and of itself for the majority of landowners.

Also, nothing wrong with owning a place and leasing a place/going on hunts. Variety is the spice of life

This.
Buying land is an investment, my best investments have been in raw land.
I cashed in some retirement accounts in 2019 and bought a ranch, it has more than doubled in value plus the enjoyment you get from it.