I have hunted on leases in Texas for well over 50 years. I have also owned my own ranch - so for those of you who gave up on being on a lease and were frustrated - I understand - many (and most) can be a bad experience - you pay your money and the place turns out to be a mess - too many guest. Too many members shooting deer that should not have been shot. On and on.

But at least for me ........... When I sold my own ranch and got onto a first class south Texas lease I realized that the difference was this - on my own ranch it was pretty much just me - I managed it and had fun doing it. Problem was it was just ME doing it all.

When I sold my ranch and got on an awesome STex lease I realized that hunting was just as much about hunting deer as it was about the people you get to share it with. Have made lifelong friends over my 15 years on this lease that I would not trade for nor would I have never met had I just kept my own ranch. s I have no problem with those who buy their own place - I get it. But in my case being on a well run lease over all these years and making so many lifelong friends has been well worth it - just my 2 cents - again ........ to each his own - God Bless

From all the drama deer lease stories posted here I'm out.
I have my own place and yes I do all the work, but I'm retired and enjoy every minute of it. I have friends that come out and I let them shoot any deer they want. There is no don't shoot this one or dont shoot that one. The idea is to have fun and enjoy it.
Yes there are good leases but the majority of them have people problems.

Now that I'm retired, I live on my ranch, it's a wildlife paradise and I don't have to deal with all the negative aspects of living in the city. I couldn't have done this if I had just leased property. Renting vs owning is virtually never monetarily sound either, but if you're happy, that's why they make chocolate and vanilla.

I was on deer leases for quite a few years. A couple of the leases had great people and a couple didn’t. Finally we bought some land and built a home, and I hunt there. Usually by myself, which is fine, but sometimes I do miss the social aspect of the good leases I had been on. The oldest grandson was hunting with me a lot, until he got into the rut. Hopefully he’ll get married before too long and we can get back to the important stuff - hunting.

I could invite people to hunt with me, but just don’t feel the need.

Been on some Great leases, but still rather have my own place & invite who I want ,when I want. To me, nothing like driving through the gate onto my place.

Both and hunt both

Don't have a lease now just hunt my small properties. Last lease I had I was the only one on it for most of the 20 years I had it. I paid what they would have charged for 2 hunters and took a guest out on occasion worked out well for me and several got their first Deer or turkey on that place. Introducing coworkers or them and their kids to hunting. Over time it developed into more of a close friendship than typical landowner leasee.

Own. We bought this place May 2019. It's more than doubled in value since then, plus, we've improved it a lot. Previous owners didn't spend a dime on it and it was a cedar-choked, trashy, dark, depressing spread with a bunch of beer lease hunters (and their blinds) on it. I certainly understand the camaraderie appeal of a lease, but...I'm better off running my own show. 'Looking for a mule deer lease though.

I look at what it costs me to hunt strictly from a business case point of view. That is, buying property to have a place to hunt is akin to buying an RV. I can stay in a lot of hotels and pay zero for maintenance for what it costs to buy an RV and spend many years leasing for what it cost to buy enough land to ethically hunt deer. And like the OP, being a member of the pack is far more enjoyable to me than being a lone wolf. I even sold my trailer a few years ago after doing the math and determining staying in hotels was cheaper than having to maintain it and pay for utilities year round.

Nope.

dont waste your brain cells.

Mostly i see a lot of horror stories about leases. Both from the perspectives of the hunters and from the perspective of the landowners. So thanks for posting something nice about leasing. At this point i think if i had time to enjoy it and work on it, I would probably get a lease. If for nothing else, fellowship with other men who like to hunt.

My ranch has been the greatest investment and one of the most fulfilling accomplishments of life. I’m coyote hunting in my bedroom at the moment

[quote=Texas Dan]I look at what it costs me to hunt strictly from a business case point of view. That is, buying property to have a place to hunt is akin to buying an RV. [quote]

Nothing could be farther from the truth. RV’s go down in value fast. Land goes up in value. I bought my ranch in 2020, have done about 125k in improvements, and could easily sell it for about 200k over what I paid for it and the cost of improvements.

I doubt values will consistently go up this much this fast but so far my ranch has been adding 50k/yr on average to my net worth. That sure beats paying 5k a year to deal with all the drama on a lease.

One thing I haven’t seen mentioned in this thread about leases is they nearly all come to an end when you least want them to. The landowner dies, sells, his kids decide they want to hunt, someone else offers more, you name it. I don’t think I have ever heard a story where someone had a lease and was able to keep it their entire life. I like to put a lot of work into where I hunt and it would drive me absolutely bonkers being at the mercy of other people.

I've been paying for a yearly lease for about 35 years on different places, some very long term. Two of those have ended at a time not of my choosing due to land owners selling, all others I left on my own decision for something better. Leasing has allowed me to hunt all over the state and eventually end up in what is in my opinion the best all around hunting in the state. Most of my long term friends are from the different leases I've been on. I've learned a lot from them and every time I went to a new place I grew as a hunter.

Owning would be better, of course and someday I may but that's doubtful. Leasing the types of places I have, and currently do has spoiled me. For me to be happy to hunt a place I own it would take at least 3,500 acres in the panhandle with river frontage. I like hunting huge places and leasing makes that possible. I go into a lease with my eyes wide open and enjoy it every day I have it.

I’ve done both. I leased for years before I bought. It’s a small 133 acre place about 60 miles from home. Considering land cost, taxes and maintenance, leasing is cheaper with less headaches. And, if something better or different comes along, you have options. I don’t. I can no longer afford to elk or antelope hunt. No more trips to Africa.

Kinda like getting married and having kids.

Sounds like you've made it work out for yourself very well. That's what it's all about.

Owning our property has brought my family so much more joy, much more so than a lease ever could. Yeah, I could probably lease for slightly higher quality deer, but our land is for so much more than hunting. I'm covered up with people every day of my life, and our property is my escape and it provides the privacy we need. The last thing I would want is another group of people to contend with on my time off. I enjoy being the boss and doing all the work because everything that happens there is all done the way I want. I answer to no one.

All this doesn't mean I'm anti-lease. I have leased before and would do so in the future, but if the question is own or lease, I'm owning, all day everyday.

P.S. I also own an RV. And a crossbow.

How blessed are you to even be able to consider whether whether you want to buy or lease. I’ve always leased bc buying property to hunt has never been an option financially, which I’m sure is the case for 99 percent of people on here. However, I finally have the opportunity to possibly buy a place and if I can pull it off, there is no question, I’d buy in a second. Hoping I can get it done.

Depends on what you want from it. IF you find the right lease contract like I have for the last 15 years, for what I want from it leasing is best for me. I pay 5k a year for year round access to 5800 acres I share with a very small group of family and friends. No one bothers or checks up on us as long as we follow the rules and the law. Can bring family and guests when we want to. I don’t have to maintain it or pay taxes so it’s a sweet deal for what I want from it…..

The stories I could tell...I own my own ranch, and have since 1998. I meet and spend time with lots of good folks, and make money doing it. I also like just having 2 of us trophy hunting 1080 acres. I love my ranch and plan on living the rest of my life on it. I was on several leases before buying my ranch and each one had drama...nope, leasing is not for me.

Been on all sides, has leases, had family land that was leased for hunting and now own land.

I had pretty good experiences with leases, one in west Texas was a great lease, but with leasing you never really have any certainty. The last lease I was on I had exclusive hunting rights, was 15 min from my house, tons of deer and a lot of mature bucks. Had a great relationship with the non-hunting landowner but their friend moved into the house on the property, I started seeing him in the pasture more and more, the landowner started dropping hints on how much he liked archery and hunting with a bow, etc. I saw the writing on the wall…fortunately I was in a position to buy so I ended up getting a little place a bit over an hour from home and after the season ended we shook hands as friends and I let the lease go.

Owning land is an investment, leasing is just a license for use for entertainment. They’re not an apples to apples comparison. Both have their advantages and disadvantages when it comes strictly to a hunting aspect.

But leases are in a finite supply ( and getting scarcer ) and we can’t just all walk down to the lease department and pick out what we want and have it rung up.


To me, the hunting aspect is nice, but what I enjoy doing is going out it the place, piddling around, cutting wood, burning piles, etc. I get an inner peace from being there, that I never got from any leases or even our family place. It’s very therapeutic

Both, there are benefits to each.

I’d love to own my own place, but when I only spend $2150 a year for 1800 acres, it makes it very difficult to justify the expense of owning.

I leased for a little over a decade, newer hunter, and always wanted to have my own place. I enjoyed the time around the lease with friends and family. But as others have said on each lease there was drama, some small some large enough which led to finding a new lease. Learned early not to get too comfortable, and to enjoy it while I could. One thing I miss outside of communing with lease members was the amount of land we had access to. Now we own our own place and it’s substantially more expensive but it’s okay because as others have mentioned it’s money for me that I’m investing back into our own place. There’s always something to fix but I know it’s at my own pace now. I don’t have to worry about shooting the wrong animal or skipping a hunt because I slept in. I make the rules and get to reap the benefits of my work. It’s also really great driving into the gate knowing it’s ours.