SUPER TROPHY LEASE.....Gauging Interest

Im fairly familiar with lease prices but not certain what the market is like for a real high end Super Trophy lease. Im talking about a real good setup that has significant documentation that a person could have a legitimate chance at a low fence 160” to 200” buck with some sustainable regularity. This isn’t just hypothetical since I lease a place like this.
-My dilemma…. Im trying to decide whether to pick up more of the Ranch and to sign a long term lease. Im in love with the place but don’t want to bite off more than I can handle. I manage/hunt another lease in NW Tx for the last 15 years with almost 20 hunters, so Im not new to the issues. They pay in the 4k/5k range to hunt bucks in the 140” to 160” range and I have no problem recruiting/retaining hunters for it. My new place has MUCH BIGGER DEER but ITS DOUBLE THE PRICE per hunter. Im uncertain if this higher price will make it difficult to recruit and retain hunters. I know I could “make it happen” but Im just too old to play the game of recruiting and retaining quality hunters. I would like to know this type place is a slam dunk to have guys wanting on. My immediate circle of friends are priced out at this cost.
-MY QUESTION…. Are there a good many hunters out there willing to pay $10000 for a quality lease with a legitimate chance at 160” to 200” deer on a somewhat regular basis???
-More info??.... Im sure yall would have some questions about the place but ill have to be secretive and not give out much more. If any of you know me, I would appreciate you keep from posting any specific info about it. If any of yall are real serious about more info then you could pm me. I will say that its many 1000’s of acres, low fence, only been hunted very very lightly by family for decades and within 2 hours of DFW.

Within 2 hours of DFW sounds amazing. Still, I wouldn't pay it. Some would, but I seriously doubt they're on this forum. Some may like to act like they would, but no...when it comes down to the nut cuttin', they wouldn't.

There are very very few ranches that can sustain year in and year out pressure to take that quality of deer off of it. The ones that do it are doing habitat management, food plots, protein supplement and take a huge number of lower deer off every year. They take a limited number of the top end mature deer. If you have 5 hunters then those 5 hunters have to be satisfied with out filling a "trophy" tag every year if needed. It takes a special hunter to not fill a tag. Eating a $10,000 tag sandwich is not for the average hunter. It takes that special hunter with the money to afford that. You factor in fuel, food, blinds, feeders, corn, out of state license fees etc into the lease and you are now closer to a $15,000 tag sandwich vs $10,000.
The biggest issue or hurdle that I see as that most ranches put to many hunters on it for the habitat and number of bucks to be taken. Most ranches in South Texas can support taking one high end trophy for every 1000 acres due to thick and higher end habitat. For example with a density of a deer to 25 acres that would have about 40 deer per 1000 acres. 20 bucks of all ages classes would be a lot to choose from and hopefully find that one buck over 170 to shoot from in South Texas. But realistically of those 20 bucks very few are going to be mature and very very few are going to be high end 170+. There are very few well managed ranches that can do than in South Texas year in and year out. You take it down to a smaller ranch and same amount of hunters....it will be even harder to maintain and sustain that type of quality. If I am going to pay $10,000 to hunt WT there would have to be very few hunters with a lot of mature deer on large acreage. Enough acres to hold a large number of mature deer 160+ and not have them roam or be pushed off that ranch during the rut. I would want that ranch/acreage to support multiple mature bucks to hunt for every year. If you look at the record book bucks taken in Texas you will see that the large number years align with high spring rainfall years. Those bucks will mostly come from areas with very high mature deer populations. There is such a small % of bucks that score over 170 gross that to maintain that every year is going to be difficult. Throw in a low fence ranch that might be smaller than a mature bucks home range and you could lose bucks to the neighbors. Large enough neighbors and you could gain bonus bucks. Hunting pressure around a ranch is as important as the pressure on the ranch. If a ranch has not been hunted heavily in the past, a sudden surge of new traffic and hunting pressure can push bucks off.

My uncle and a few of my dad's friends were paying 6-8K each in the 1980s. House to stay at was included.

If you have the bucks you are talking about, people will pay.

I'll assume NW to DFW, possibly Throckmorton County. What I could afford and elect to relinquish are incongruent most of the time. For me, I get cold feet around $4-$5K range but if it's as good as you say, I can see peeps paying $10K for that quality within 2 hours of metromess

I know guys who lease big deer country down south, where a 200” deer isn’t a unrealistic possibility and a 170-180” buck is expected.

They pay anywhere from $10-15k/gun not including feed. Some super exclusive clubs are $20k/gun but that is on the real high end.

There are always going to be guys that will want to shoot a big deer and $10-$12k/gun they don’t bat an eye at.

I will attest to the OP in that this lease is legit. Several thousand acres and lots of deer, lots, with many mature bucks. In the immediate area, there are significant genetics to push out a 200” deer on a bad rain year…i say that as past year this area had poor spring and summer rains and yet there were multiple deer on the lease pushing 160-170, several pushing 180, and some from the year before that would have pushed 160+ but dropped a little due to the subpar forage. A 200” deer was shot within a short distance from the lease this year in a low pressure hunting area in a down year. My place is a short drive away and it was a bad spring and summer for rain and growth, but the genetics still played out to have some decent deer. My first sit on this lease was eye opening to the caliber of deer that this lease holds. My buck in the “got the text today” thread was the smallest scoring deer taken off the place last year.

I will also attest this area is not heavily hunted. Several sits with tally sheets for deer numbers showed plenty of deer, plenty of mature deer and based on trail cam pics of what was coming around prior to season there was no adverse pressure related deer “no-shows”.

One thing that has not been stated are season lengths and specific weapon seasons. For a NR hunter those licenses can add up if you hunt all 3 season....that give you maximum hunting days for a buck. If you only hunt rifle season then you are now only going to hunt for 16 days. Muzzleloader is around 9 days. Archery is the longest season for a NR hunter. Each of those weapons take a separate $300 license IIRC. For a Texas hunter used to longer rifle season that will cover the rut, that is a huge change. But in the long run anyone who is going to drop $10,000 for a spot along with the extra lease expense budget... they are probably not concerned with the money part of it or the weapon choices.

within 2 hours of DFW has to be considered GOLDEN

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The best places I know of down south....really southwest in Maverick county run $15/acre and those hunters pay for 1,000 acres each plus a buy-in for all the equipment that is already in place, plus feed.....and in super dry years as much as another $3k for shipped in water. Feed (protein, cottonseed, corn) is another $4k+/year.

They kill 165" - 225" deer for their trophies and are allowed multiple bucks a year up to 155" in addition to their trophy.

Ridiculous money no doubt but it is as good as it gets when it comes to low fence WT hunting ANYWHERE.

So, your price of $8k-$10k to me sounds very, very reasonable and if I read correctly and it is within a couple hours of DFW I couldn't see how there wouldn't be a bunch of folks jumping at the chance for that kind of place as you described!

I concur. With all those posers up there in TX Lite (DFW), you may have lil' issue filling the slots.

I have multiple years on one of the top ranches in South Texas. Good ones are not cheap.

I have seen the place Freerange is talking about and I can attest that it is first class. Great accommodations. It is a cool looking property with some areas of super thick brush. Lots of water on it. Just overall a great set up.

Some awesome deer on it and you will not find someone better to run it than Freerange - knows his stuff for sure and a straight shooter (no pun intended). It is worth 10K all day long IMO.

Nobody I know loves deer hunting more than I do. I wouldn't pay $10k for a whitetail deer no matter what size it is, especially on a place with a bunch of people I don't know very well.

Lots of guys from the east side of the country love hunting this area for some reason and it’s a pretty sweet deal since they normally only hunt a few times a year. The responses I got were they would rather pay for a lease they can visit multiple times a year verses paying for a so called “Canned Hunt” so it’s the guys that hate high fences yet want to have a shot at a big deer that will pay these prices. It definitely takes more effort to fill the spots but once you get the ball rolling it just keeps on going and the hunting pressure is extremely low so it’s a win win IMO.

$10k is a lot of money to most people for a lease but their are a ton of people out their that its chump change to. My go to motto is theirs an [censored] for every seat so don’t think for a second those spots can’t be filled. Not many places in the south that you have a true shot at a 200” free range deer and can routinely see big deer so these places are pretty rare to find so they demand a solid price of admission.

And if I lived within 3 hours or so I'd have already PM'd him to save me a spot.
That is one hell of a good deal to hunt LF deer of that class!

Well, evidently there is plenty out there that do I guess.

You are exactly right. $10k to one man may as well be $1m to another.
I a person is in a good spot financially and can afford it, why the hell not?!

Hell, I'm sure there are plenty of guys on this forum that make $50k-$60k a year, have a house and truck payment as well as other bills and they don't bat an eye at spending $2k-$3k or more a year to hunt.
So how is that different from a guy that makes $150k/year or more and has everything he owns paid off spending $10K+/year to hunt?

There is no difference IMO.

There aren't too many with the hunting success previously achieved by JG. The bet here is many have full wallets and boxes to check.

I’ve hunted (as a guest) on a south Texas high fenced ranch that was priced in the $20,000+ range per lessee. The deer were not as big as the OP referenced, but they do have some exotics. Most of the people I met there were from Dallas and Houston, and had money to burn. They would fly private down on Friday afternoon, and return on Sunday afternoon. $10K to these folks would be couch-cushion money. I think a quality $10K lease in the DFW area would have a waiting list a mile long.

If for this year, you are getting a late start.

the distance from dfw i think would allow you to be able to fill it easily, very few places within 2-3 hours away from dfw that you can have a consistent chance 160-200

The area is one of the best in the country. With that said, the people part is the hard part. Not many people can pass on 4.5 160/170 gross deer to let it hit 200.


Personally the higher the price, better off you are IMO.

Candy man will give out some more PPP money, no problem.

If it's as you describe it, I would certainly be interested. I'm paying more than that now for a Panhandle lease and a South Texas lease. I'm driving 4.5 hours west for a legitimate shot at a 150" and 8 hours south for a legitimate shot at a 160". Bigger bucks exist, but not every year.

For that much money I’d pay a high fence I think. Make sure I get the big one

I have some interest, but need more details.

as he said send a PM and you will get details

Nothing wrong with that - pay for HF and you get your buck and it is all done. LF and you may have to hunt hard for a few years to get your buck and pay a little more - everybody has different goals

If I pay 10k I’d rather have lots of country to roam, feeders and spot and stalk. Not nearly as worried about the size of the deer compared to the land I get to treat as my own for much less than what it would cost to buy my own.

Im happy that so many of you have had optimistic comments and I appreciate you taking the time to post. I certainly understand the vast majority doesnt want to pay that much to hunt. A high dollar endeavor of any kind will usually only appeal to a few and I would never expect it to appeal to many. Even if I add country, I have no intention of having a large number of hunters. However, I will always be very selective about who I hunt with so I need enough interest to sort through in order to find the right fit.
Also, be clear about my description and notice I used terms like "legitimate chance", "some sustainable regularity" and " somewhat regular basis". If anyone "expects" to kill a 160 to 200" buck EVERY YEAR then to pm me for details likely wouldnt be worth it.

Yea -- I'd probably even go higher depending on a wildlife survey and what sort of animals you have on the property + depending on the property. You shouldn't have a problem finding someone to pay that price.

It costs me that much to hunt Africa. But, I doubt that I would pay that much for Texas.

Like others have said $10,000 to some is like $1 to others. I know people who spend more than $10,000 a month on Jet fuel for personal trips to see their kids play sports in college. Just a matter of finding the right people. They’re out there.

Txhunter65, thats how I feel and Im glad to keep hearing it. Especially your last two sentences, "JUST A MATTER OF FINDING THE RIGHT PEOPLE. THEY'RE OUT THERE."
I know its not the "norm", but I know there are a lot of guys that pay that much and a lot more to hunt WT. I need to find enough of them to sort through to find the right fit. The small, less than a handful, group we have out there is not filthy rich but we are passionate about hunting huge WTs enough to spend most of our "extra" money doing that. What I do not want is one guy that wipes his butt with 100 bills while another member goes behind him and cleans it up to make his lease payment with. My OTHER lease im used to managing 18 hunters from all walks of life and varied income levels and its not easy. This lease is so special that I will diligently hand pick the few lease mates so that its a joy and not a challenge to coordinate.

I wouldn’t even want to try managing 18 hunters….. 7 is more than I can handle now.

How many spots?

The 18 member lease is a labor of love. It can be time consuming and challenging but I get satisfaction from managing the people and wildlife. The new lease I’m not needing to get that out of it. Once the smoke clears after a couple years, I don’t think I ever want more than 5 or 6 total guys and likely just 4 of us will be enough.

Maybe a certain Sand Aggie will hunt with you then.

The money is not going to be an issue and you will find the right group of guys.

Your overthinking it. Build it and they will come

The landowner is a huge Sand Aggie alum and supporter. Besides him, the only serious Trophy hunting Sand Aggie I know expressed another reason for probable no interest.

Great comments Txtro. My motto all my life has been “build it and they will come.” Bite off more than you can chew so you never go hungry. As I’ve gotten older, I still love all the work, as long as the stress is less.

You won't have a problem.

My problem would be that a $10,000 lease turns into a $20,000 problem. I can hear the wife now...."You want to spend how much to chase a deer??! That's fine- so if we have that kind of money to blow then I want a new sofa, new bedroom suit, a new kitchen...." You get my point.

It sounds like a great terrain ranch with great genetics that hasn't been hunted until recently........as stxranchman pointed out.......this will be short lived for year to year consistency.......for that kind of money the hunters all kill the top end bucks.....when they're gone you will see a tremendous drop off with a domination of mature 8 and 9 point bucks and that's when it all falls apart for that price IMO......I wouldn't put any equipment out there for the long term......but you can certainly enjoy the first few years.....

I strongly disagree.

If managed right and the correct deer are taken each year it will sustain itself and probably even get BETTER if a few inferiors are culled out along the way.
What you are talking about is when a place is hunted too hard on the mature animals and that only happens when you shoot the wrong deer and have to few of acres per man. I seriously doubt that would happen wiht the gentleman that is in charge of it.

That kind of management doesn't currently exist in Oklahoma.......the regs and season lengths make it very difficult to cull and manage......and NO, that's not what I'm talking about.....I'm talking about shooting all the top end mature animals because there is never an endless supply of them on low fenced non-intensely managed ranches......just ask tlk about how many bucks they have to cull each year on a similar type of setup in South Texas....

WTH is a Sand Aggie?

We've decided to consider him quaint and charming, us in the southern faction, of which, you're part of. You need to get on board with this.

This happens far to often on places that have limited hunting pressure in the past. The number of top end mature buck are there due to limited to zero hunting pressure. I have seen a new lease on places likes this and then only bucks are taken off of it. No does taken off it and after a few years the ratio gets skewed from what it was. Taking off only mature top end bucks leaves the ones passed over to continue to breed. Those mature bucks were passed for a reason. Only taking top end bucks long-term can hurt a place that had no hunting pressure in the past IMO. Then throw in length of seasons and it makes sustaining the top end much more difficult. I saw this first hand on a very large South Texas ranch with great genetics that had limited hunting up until the early 80's. In 1992 they produced numbers of net book bucks with many many more grossing over 170. The hunters there wanted to kill a 160+ deer each year and after 92 season they started shooting younger age classes to fill that 160+ tag. By the late 1990's it was rare to see a 160 deer taken on this ranch and that was only very wet years. Very few does were even taken off the ranch. The ranch was now full of very mature 8 pt type deer and tons of low end mature bucks with 6 to 12 point frames that would not score over 130" at any age. The doe herd was old and had the same genetics as the bucks. They top graded the herd to where it took years of management to recover.
If it were me and I was on a current lease that could produce 140 to 160 class bucks with 18 hunters now, I would cut that number of hunters in half.... and pay more per spot. With the same current harvest quotas on bucks(18 to 20), each hunter/spot would get to shoot 2 bucks(one trophy and 1 management) and does to keep the numbers in CC. I would put my money and emphasis on the current lease in Texas. With Texas you get longer seasons and better management tools(i.e. MLD) available to produce top end bucks. My current lease would be setup and running now. Not many ranches that are large enough to support that number of hunters and produce that caliber of deer are void of genetics to produce 160+ deer consistently. A lease that size, in that part of state should be producing a few 160+ deer every year. The genetics are in the herd now to do it. IMO most places fail to produce those deer year in and year out due to putting to many hunters on it to start. It shines in very wet years when it should be consistent even in dry years and then really shine in the above average rainfall years.

We moving?

I'd pay $10k to have a legitimate chance to somewhat consistently kill a LF deer like that.....I spend way more than that currently to hunt my properties. You'll have zero problem finding people as long as you don't have too many hunters and it has decent accommodations.

I have been around the block like some of you guys posting here. Done this all my life as has Freerange.

I know him well and been to this property. It is truly a diamond in the rough. He found an awesome LF piece of property that is very very unique and has a great LO.

Of course there will be hills to climb but this place is special - large acreage but few hunters - tons of water on it - the amenities are incredible - there are food plots - it has all the makings of a special long term lease for the right hunters. And trust me you could not find anyone better or more knowledgeable to run a place like this than Freerange - so let's reverse back to his original post - this is not a management thread - it is a thread about who is interested in this lease?

In my opinion finding people to pay the $10K will be the easy part. Finding people to shoot the right deer will be the hard part. People talk a good game when it comes to management but when it comes time to fill your tag or go home empty handed to many people will choose to punch that tag. Seen it on every place I have ever hunted.

Shouldn't this be in Lease section?

I know exactly what it takes to maintain a top notched place and how much culling is required. Years back when I was active in guiding my son and I combined would kill 10-20 each year on one place I worked on.

And just because you say this kind of management doesn't currently exist in OK, why can't it? Their bag limit is only slightly different than ours here in TX with one less buck allowed.
If the paid hunters are allowed guests then why can't it be culled correctly?
The bottom line is that if the acreage per hunter is enough per man, there is no reason in the world each paid hunter cannot kill a mature, trophy buck each and every year....for many, many years if done right.

No MLD……2 week gun season……limited doe harvest…..I have hunted on a 185k acre ranch in Texas for over 15 years that doesn’t hunt more than 1 hunter per 1000 acres….. it takes more than harvesting mature bucks to keep the genetic dynamics consistent…… I have seen what happens to the average top scores over the years without intense culling and deliberate lower score harvest of mature bucks….scores have dropped dramatically since the ranch opened for hunting to the public…

Yes, I understand that a 16 day gun season does definitely make it much more challenging to get the culling done but there is a bow season that lasts from Oct 1 all the way through Jan 15 as well as 4 more days allowed to kill does in late december. I do believe that crossbows are allowed in OK just like in TX during that archery season. That is a deadly tool for culling. My son's is not the most expensive and it is extremely accurate out to 60 or so yards.

I'm not arguing that it will be as 'user friendly' as TX is when it comes to the management tool of culling a herd. I'm simply saying that it can still be done to the extent needed to maintain a great place to hunt trophies for years to come provided the allotted acreage per man is what it needs to be and something tells me that freerange is not talking about stacking 3-4 hunters in 1,000 acre pasture.

I would assume we are talking about at least a section per man and if the deer density is just 1 per 15 acres with a balanced B/D ratio and the age structure of the bucks is pretty balanced as well that would mean somewhere around 3-5 mature bucks per section each year. How would killing 1 of those mature bucks dismantle the deer herd?

It won’t…..my point is this was advertised as a consistent B&C book scoring opportunity yearly…..if you are killing 170+ each year in that section without intense management the scores won’t hold up IMO…..

It won’t…..my point is this was advertised as a consistent B&C book scoring opportunity yearly…..if you are killing 170+ each year in that section without intense management the scores won’t hold up IMO…..[/quote]


No, that is not what he said at all
Below is his original post with what he said it is bolded. He is not claiming 170+ each year. Somewhat regular basis to me does not mean yeary to me.
And I will once again say it all depends on how many acres per man we are talking about here which I've noticed you have not touched responding to yet.
You were at first talking about hunting 185 acres for years. I'm talking about each hunter having at least 4X that much country........HUGE DIFFERENCE.

I would assume a legitimate chance at a 160-200” deer on a somewhat regular basis would mean you may get an opportunity to take one every 3-5 years. Management bucks would help cure trigger finger itch in between trophy bucks.

I really appreciate all the replies but I really wish this would not turn into a "how to manage a deer herd thread". That was not the intent of the thread and I have purposely not given out nearly enough info to debate the management of the property. I also feel that any management challenges would be similar on most any properties and nothing more or less with this one.
In a bit I will be on the road for a few days to visit both my leases so I wont be able to chime in here very often. I have received a few pms about details on the place and I havent been able to give them the time they deserve so please be patient with me for a few days.

I'm with this guy. Most hunters can't judge age of deer worth a crap in the field. Also, it definitely takes a guy with the right mentality for a lease like this. Also, chances at 1602-200" bucks "with regularity", means that it happens quite often. Other than high fence places that's a very tall order.

I will chime in after letting this play out to say the area is very lightly hunted, there are good deer numbers in the area. There are plenty of mature bucks in the area with great antler size which fluctutates some (as expected in rainy vs dry season) and field judging these deer is not difficult at all if you are slightly aware of how to do so. The country and stands are such that these deer are not a come through a sendero and be gone in 15 seconds type set ups, they are set up to give much time to analyze and study the deer as much as to give plenty of shooting opportunity in a lot of directions.
Hunting in OK does have some limitations that TX does not, yes gun season is shorter, but for someone wanting to shoot does to get those in line there is ample opportunity with bow, xbow or gun (there are specific rules on that too and not all the deer can be taken via rifle but the holiday antlerless season allows for some extra doe to be taken if desired) so there could be some decent management on this place, pretty easily, but as we all know it is just work.
I don't want to get into management discussions as FR is trying to stay away from that , but I will echo tlk's comment that this place is a diamond in the rough. very unique place,

I hunted Oklahoma for 15 years, and also guided hunters (150+) over a 15 year period in OK, TX, and NM. Most hunters cannot accurately field judge the age of an animal. In fact, the biologists themselves always took hair, tooth, and tissue samples to send to the labs to get an accurate age assessment. It isn't as easy as some make it out to be, it is a very educated guess at best. The most experienced are good at it, the vast majority are not.

I agree. But that all applies everywhere and is certainly not more or less of an issue with this particular property.

What I meant when I said what I said about field judging deer on this property being "easy" is that you are generally not constrained from a time perspective like southern texas can have, hence my sendero comment. Yes, we all know field judging is an art and an educated guess at best, but this place will allow some time to look at a deer and get a rough idea what that deer scores.

Im not sure I know how to copy and paste links but I tried to do so below. This is a link to one of the best "managing deer" threads that I have ever read on here. Lots of civil back and forth discussions from many of the regular and well respected members on here. If yall want to post on a thread about managing deer then I suggest you revive this thread. Also, I offer a lot of insight on my management ideas on the thread, so if you may ever consider hunting with me some day then I suggest you read my comments. If the link doesnt work, the title is MANAGEMENT BUCKS from last spring/summer. Look it up.

https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/7875498/1

I'm pretty sure I haven't overlooked this in the thread. If not, either my post has been overlooked twice or is being ignored. <scratching head> Maybe the third time is the charm.

No, that is not what he said at all
Below is his original post with what he said it is bolded. He is not claiming 170+ each year. Somewhat regular basis to me does not mean yeary to me.
And I will once again say it all depends on how many acres per man we are talking about here which I've noticed you have not touched responding to yet.
You were at first talking about hunting 185 acres for years. I'm talking about each hunter having at least 4X that much country........HUGE DIFFERENCE.

[/quote]
You need to read more carefully……185k(185,000). And that was a typo meant to type 160+ which still ends up the same result IMO….

Mickey I sent you a pm. For anyone else, i would prefer any specific questions about the lease to be done through pm. I am rushing trying to go to both my leases now so i wont be able to post a lot or get to all the pms but believe me this is all important to me so I will follow up in time.

Will this lease be filled? Absolutely it will be filled. The issue is going to be the right people to blend in with the existing group....the money is not the issue but when managing the people...that can be the issue. For me is hunting with a group I do not know nor do they know me. Different hunting styles and amount of time one can hunt vs another can become issues. This is just part of the "management" of a lease come into to play.

Appreciate it STx. I agree on all the above. Deer management is one thing and people management is another. Both important, but it you have the right property then the people becomes MORE important.
There are only 4 of us on it and they were handpicked from my other lease after years of hunting together. One may not be able to stay on so I may have to find just one more like minded person. If I pick up more country then I would need maybe just one more or two at the most and that may not be this year.
I am very experienced at screening/vetting prospective new lease members and Im certain I can keep these few number of hunters all on the same page.

freerange your posts and threads regarding yalls harvests last season were awesome. goodluck finding right guys to fill it, one day i hope to be on a place of this caliber, but to do that i probably would have to stop bass fishing to offset the cost, just not ready to slow down in that sport yet.

True. About ten years ago I worked offshore with an old feller that paid $10k + feed + other expenses, on a big lease in S Texas. Was allowed 1 trophy, 1 cull, and a couple does per year. It probably costs more than that now. At the time, I told him he was nuts to pay that much but looking back now....Hey, if you can afford it go for it! It was and still is too rich for my blood, but hey. Maybe some day later in life when I'm not paying so much in child support, big house note, other expenses etc I can afford to do something like that. Or better yet (my dream is to) buy my own place. Reckon I better hurry up, not getting any younger LOL.

To me the cost of a deer lease is no different from any other cost. People typically pay what their budget can handle - maybe they buy a smaller, compact car versus an expensive SUV or truck. A 2000 square foot house instead of a 5000 square foot house.

The other thing most folks do is prioritize how they spend their money. If a guy does not play golf, fish, vacation a lot, etc. then he may be able to pay more for a high end lease if that is his passion. If someone can afford a private jet then more power to them . It is all relative IMO like most everything else in life.

Tlk’s thoughts on this mirror mine, which happens often, as we are like minded on alot. He is real smart and not just about deer, so his posts are often recommended reading.

Even though I haven’t deer hunted for a few years, I enjoy reading posts from tlk and free range.

FR, that sounds like a humble brag there my man…


just harassing you. You are smart. There are a few people on this forum you can listen to about deer management and lease management, you, tlk, stx, a few others….all day every day.

Now ya done it freerange.
TLK gonna have to spend some cash now on new hats cuz them old ones aint fittin' anymore!


Seriously, I think he is exactly right.
My thought is that life is about choices and if a man's passion and choice is to have a 'top end' deer lease....why the hell not?
I mean there are a lot of folks out there that make very good money but blow it as fast as it comes in with $100 meals, weekend trips to the coast or somewhere else, of multiple trips to an expensive golf course weekly. To each his own is what I feel. And there are plenty of folks that spend $10k+ per year to hunt that are NOT multi-millionaires!

Now ya done it freerange.
TLK gonna have to spend some cash now on new hats cuz them old ones aint fittin' anymore!

Now that is funny! Years ago I was buying a new cowboy hat and the guy measured my head - after he did so all he said "watermelon head". But my head ain't big because I am smart - I have just lived a long time and have tried to use a little common sense along the way - lots of savvy people on this forum though

Amen my brutha!!!

And no doubt....lot of sharp folks and good info on this forum for sure and folks willing to share that knowledge is pretty awesome.

I agree on lots of smart folks and the willingness to share. This forum just blows me away-it’s amazing.
There is no telling how much knowledge is out there either on or off the forum, but until they post enough to be noticed, there’s no way to know or quantify or appreciate or acknowledge.

Im back and a little caught up from a long hard weekend at both leases. I was able to catch up on pm's so I think all are answered. I appreciate all that have commented on the thread and to those that pm'd. Ill reiterate that anyone that may have a serious interest in this lease please pm me and we can go into some details. Any further comments on the thread are welcome as well.

How's the country looking at both places? Green???

You can be the judge.

Looks like you need a shredder.

Ive never been on a Ranch that shredded, except maybe on roads rarely traveled or at camp. Not the rancher or the hunters. I guess there are reasons, but it just doesnt happen on places Ive hunted.

I’ve been on a couple places that a member had a bobcat with a shedder, or a grader. Makes setting up feed pens sites easier if you can clean them up before hand.

Beautiful looking country, I sure miss hunting around those mesquites but I simply have to much to hunt around here to justify running off. One day I’ll get back in them again hopefully.. Must be nice not having to shred to If I don’t I’ll have an absolute impenetrable jungle in a couple years to deal with.

We spent 3 days shredding our senderos and roads in South Texas prior to the start of the each season - LO did some and we helped out - it was work but also fun -

Pretty sure a NR only needs the $315 license and a $7 archery endorsement to hunt archery , muzzleloader and rifle.
Actually pretty cheap if you get to fill more than one of those deer tags on the license.

For OK this is not correct. Gotta get a new license for each weapon, not endorsements

"Hunters are allowed to carry both archery equipment and a muzzleloader during the muzzleloader season provided they have the appropriate licenses and follow other muzzleloader season regulations. Hunters are allowed to carry both archery equipment and legal firearms during any modern gun season, provided they have the appropriate licenses and follow other regulations to participate in those seasons."

THIS

Wow.....looks like a tropical forest!!!

Amazing what good rainfall in the summer can do!

I bet you didn't find any rattlebugs shredding those roads and senderos either. lol