# Deer lease Saga



## Timemachine (Nov 25, 2008)

It is amazing how many deer leases want BIG MONEY to be on the lease but don't want you to shoot any of the deer. :headknock


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## Gilbert (May 25, 2004)

Timemachine said:


> It is amazing how many deer leases want BIG MONEY to be on the lease but don't want you to shoot any of the deer. :headknock


been that way for a while now. "management minded" :rotfl:


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## BretE (Jan 24, 2008)

Deer hunters are ahead of the curve on trout fisherman....


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## rcw (Feb 10, 2005)

Its simple economics....limited hunting space with an abundance of hunting demand and you get high prices. Since we aren't making any more land I fear it will only get worse.


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## steverino (Mar 8, 2006)

*Leases*

Deer are the "commodity" on a hunting lease. If you use up all of the deer or all of the more desirable deer you reduce the value of the lease, both to you and to anyone following you. Therefore, the property owner/leasor would want you to limit your use of his saleable commodity. Just economics my friend! In the long-run the management approach to harvesting game (or fish, etc.) should benefit everyone. I own a small ranch for hunting but still "manage" the harvesting of animals there. That may not be the case of my neighboring property owners though.


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## old 37 (Nov 30, 2014)

steverino said:


> Deer are the "commodity" on a hunting lease. If you use up all of the deer or all of the more desirable deer you reduce the value of the lease, both to you and to anyone following you. Therefore, the property owner/leasor would want you to limit your use of his saleable commodity. Just economics my friend! In the long-run the management approach to harvesting game (or fish, etc.) should benefit everyone. I own a small ranch for hunting but still "manage" the harvesting of animals there. That may not be the case of my neighboring property owners though.


Yes, but some of these high dollar "managed leases " are nothing more than a way for more profit, like $7500 per year, plus corn, portein, electricity and the chance to get one 160 class deer. That is ridiculous and the reason for game ranches to proliferate.


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## BretE (Jan 24, 2008)

older 37 said:


> Yes, but some of these high dollar "managed leases " are nothing more than a way for more profit, like $7500 per year, plus corn, portein, electricity and the chance to get one 160 class deer. That is ridiculous and the reason for game ranches to proliferate.


Ok, say you own 5000 acres in Webb county where the suggested harvest of trophy deer is 1 per 1000 acres. Tell me what youâ€™re gonna charge on your ranch.....


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## banpouchi (Feb 21, 2011)

I most likely will regret replying on this thread. I am only giving a bit of insight on the Lessor side. I have been doing this for over 30 years. Have seen quite a bit during that time, good and bad.

1. I am sure all the folks reading this are good respectful hunters.

A. The hunter will not shoot anything they see but be selective.
B. The hunter will not tear up the owners property by thinking, " paid my lease fee so I can make this my own ATV/UTV/4 wheel drive mud park".
C. The hunter will keep the property clean as when they got there.
D. The hunter will not pick up and move or steal from the barn or property.
E. If I am lucky enough to find a lease where I can pay the lease fee in two payment, I will not hide, not answer the phone for two or three weeks.

I have been pretty lucky in the fact most of my hunters have been with me 25 plus years. Everytime I have to find a hunter, I dread the process. It really is a guessing game. Everyone tells me that they are honest, management minded (whatever that means, as it is different for all people) and will pay on time( However I came today and can't pay till next month).

A couple of things to remember:

1. You are paying a trespass fee for the right to hunt what is outlined initially. This does not give you ownership of anything on the lease or land.
2. If you don't have the money, don't waste the lessors time.
3. If you are going to look at a lease and you tell the lessor " I need to bring John, Fred, and Marty to look at the land before I commit", just don't go unless you all go at one time.
4. One of my favorites, "I will let you hold my Rolex and I will come pay in three weeks".

I am going to have to go through this soon and I am not looking forward to it. Hunting is expensive. We all want a trophy lease in South Texas for $300 per year. If your parents own the land, maybe. These things just aren't there.

I could most likely go on for many pages, but as I am an old guy with poor typing skills, I will end.


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## DUKFVR2 (Sep 12, 2018)

Easy to fix. Don't get on a lease that doesn't fit your wants or ideas. They tell you up front what the quota is. If they want trophies killed,go find a lease that lets you shoot whatever.


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## antman1984 (Apr 27, 2015)

I feel if you just want to shoot a trophy deer it is way cheaper to pay the 2500 and up 3 day guaranteed kill hunt, than a lease these days. If you want the whole experience of setting up stands feeders and camp fires than lease and plan on spending a lot of money and not getting that trophy deer. We bought a place back in 2002 in freestone county and haven't look back at a leases. Just my thoughts.


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## Jaysand247 (Aug 19, 2012)

I guess it's all in what you want out of a place. Sitting over a feeder doesn't blow my skirt up.. I like spot and stalk or hunting a tree climber in a river bottom. Scouting finding scrape lines trails etc.. I'm planning to buy property in the hill country this year to shoot exotics on. For the price of a lease you can pay the note on a good bit of land..


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## antman1984 (Apr 27, 2015)

Also if you don't have management minded neighboring ranch's your just wasting time and money. Cause you could have all these good rules in place and next door a buck jumps the fence and its dead, so you'll never see your return on a high dollar so called management lease.


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## old 37 (Nov 30, 2014)

BretE said:


> Ok, say you own 5000 acres in Webb county where the suggested harvest of trophy deer is 1 per 1000 acres. Tell me what youâ€™re gonna charge on your ranch.....


I wouldn't hunt where the suggested harvest is one trophy per 1000 acres as to me , a 160 class is not a trophy and certainly for that kind of money, just my opinion.


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## TexasSlam18 (Aug 26, 2010)

Timemachine said:


> It is amazing how many deer leases want BIG MONEY to be on the lease but don't want you to shoot any of the deer. :headknock


To me the issue at hand is other lease members have a jealousy issue most of the time. They would rather you "let one grow" even though they will pull the trigger on the same animal.


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## emed (Mar 16, 2015)

Its really hard to find 8 like minded hunters that agree to let deer walk and continue to mature. We fortunately have 3-4 on our place that are really good at that, letting 5-6 year old good deer walk. Last year we had 3 members that aren't coming back this year who shot 4-4.5 year old deer that scored high 140's - low 150's and because they knew they weren't coming back it was ok with them. 2 of us had seen these deer they shot several times previously and let them walk. This was a high $$$ ranch in Webb but because they paid it felt they were owed it. Its tough getting the right people.


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## grayson (Oct 21, 2011)

banpouchi said:


> I most likely will regret replying on this thread. I am only giving a bit of insight on the Lessor side. I have been doing this for over 30 years. Have seen quite a bit during that time, good and bad.
> 
> 1. I am sure all the folks reading this are good respectful hunters.
> 
> ...


You Sir are dead on with this - leasing a place does not translate to owning a place. Now there are some crazy LO's out there no doubt. But if the right hunters match up with the right LO then it is good stuff. All boils down to mutual respect -

I am the head of our lease - told our LO 12 years ago when we leased it that I would treat it as if it were my own. He appreciated that and that is what we have done. Close the gates - let him know when we are there - follow his rules - pick up trash when we see it - and on and on. Pretty much common sense stuff


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## grayson (Oct 21, 2011)

antman1984 said:


> Also if you don't have management minded neighboring ranch's your just wasting time and money. Cause you could have all these good rules in place and next door a buck jumps the fence and its dead, so you'll never see your return on a high dollar so called management lease.


Unless you have a LF ranch large enough that the neighbors do not matter and your place has water year round and feed year round so the deer don't jump the fence


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## Trouthunter (Dec 18, 1998)

> Easy to fix. Don't get on a lease that doesn't fit your wants or ideas.


Pretty much spot on lol.

TH


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*over hunted*

the reality of it is, most of south Texas is over hunted and over priced. South Texas just like Kansas is known for B&C class deer. Consequently, high demand -- high price. Everyone from around the country flocks in to S. Texas competing for the same property, money talks BS walks. Problem is, it's a free for. The minute one of these high dollar trophy hunters sees horns, boom, game over. Now, S. Texas is high fence central. Everyone has their deer caged up(some of these cages are quite large), takes the fair game free ranging aspect away disqualifying them for the B&C book. With every square inch of property being leased out, and most not having a true trophy management program in place, the results are less then expected. But on the other hand, there is a lot of free ranging fair chase property in S Texas, where they kill some of the biggest horns in the country.

The beauty of Kansas and most of what they call the mid-west (Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois) , rifle season is very limited. nine day black powder season in sept, and a nine day rifle season in late-nov/early-dec, bow season is from opener of black powder til dec 31. Hence, deer die of old age. So if you own five acres in Kansas, you can legitimately be hunting 200 class deer. And bow lease prices are very very reasonable. It's a completely different type hunt then S Texas, hunting draws and river bottoms in the middle of prairies and crops. :texasflag


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## BretE (Jan 24, 2008)

c hook said:


> the reality of it is, most of south Texas is over hunted and over priced. South Texas just like Kansas is known for B&C class deer. Consequently, high demand -- high price. Everyone from around the country flocks in to S. Texas competing for the same property, money talks BS walks. Problem is, it's a free for. The minute one of these high dollar trophy hunters sees horns, boom, game over. Now, S. Texas is high fence central. Everyone has their deer caged up(some of these cages are quite large), takes the fair game free ranging aspect away disqualifying them for the B&C book. With every square inch of property being leased out, and most not having a true trophy management program in place, the results are less then expected. But on the other hand, there is a lot of free ranging fair chase property in S Texas, where they kill some of the biggest horns in the country.
> 
> The beauty of Kansas and most of what they call the mid-west (Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois) , rifle season is very limited. nine day black powder season in sept, and a nine day rifle season in late-nov/early-dec, bow season is from opener of black powder til dec 31. Hence, deer die of old age. So if you own five acres in Kansas, you can legitimately be hunting 200 class deer. And bow lease prices are very very reasonable. It's a completely different type hunt then S Texas, hunting draws and river bottoms in the middle of prairies and crops. :texasflag


How long have you been hunting S. Texas and where?


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## Bukkskin (Oct 21, 2009)

Yeah, I have to agree.
Texas grows in population at 250,000 people per, so it is not going to get better.
More people, less land.
Sad but true.
This is one of the main reasons that I am a fan of high fences.


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## Capt. Marcus Canales (Aug 25, 2005)

c hook said:


> the reality of it is, most of south Texas is over hunted and over priced. South Texas just like Kansas is known for B&C class deer. Consequently, high demand -- high price. Everyone from around the country flocks in to S. Texas competing for the same property, money talks BS walks. Problem is, it's a free for. The minute one of these high dollar trophy hunters sees horns, boom, game over. Now, S. Texas is high fence central. Everyone has their deer caged up(some of these cages are quite large), takes the fair game free ranging aspect away disqualifying them for the B&C book. With every square inch of property being leased out, and most not having a true trophy management program in place, the results are less then expected. But on the other hand, there is a lot of free ranging fair chase property in S Texas, where they kill some of the biggest horns in the country.
> 
> The beauty of Kansas and most of what they call the mid-west (Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois) , rifle season is very limited. nine day black powder season in sept, and a nine day rifle season in late-nov/early-dec, bow season is from opener of black powder til dec 31. Hence, deer die of old age. So if you own five acres in Kansas, you can legitimately be hunting 200 class deer. And bow lease prices are very very reasonable. It's a completely different type hunt then S Texas, hunting draws and river bottoms in the middle of prairies and crops. :texasflag


Hey now, dont lump us all in that HF thing...we are land owners right at 5k LF no protein, no DD, just some corn feeders and cattle ranch....there is plenty of low fence ranches down here and they are plenty big as well, some are for sale as well.....down the road from us is 378 acres LF for sale, 700k.....
























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## Capt. Marcus Canales (Aug 25, 2005)

And just gonna say, the reason most HF is because they got tired of the brown and down mentality that was alive and well down here, so, they HF their property to let deer grow and keep out inferior genetics. Simple.

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## grayson (Oct 21, 2011)

Capt. Marcus Canales said:


> And just gonna say, the reason most HF is because they got tired of the brown and down mentality that was alive and well down here, so, they HF their property to let deer grow and keep out inferior genetics. Simple.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


Yep - there are plenty of quality LF ranches in South Texas - most are locked up with long term lease agreements.

These threads always make me laugh - deer leases are no different from every other commodity in this country - free market dictates the price - LO will charge what they can get in the marketplace and hunters will pay what they can in order to hunt the place.

The Definition of fair market price? A willing seller and a willing buyer - Simple.


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## BretE (Jan 24, 2008)

Huntman3 said:


> Yep - there are plenty of quality LF ranches in South Texas - most are locked up with long term lease agreements.
> 
> These threads always make me laugh - deer leases are no different from every other commodity in this country - free market dictates the price - LO will charge what they can get in the marketplace and hunters will pay what they can in order to hunt the place.
> 
> The Definition of fair market price? A willing seller and a willing buyer - Simple.


X1000.....I have buddies every year tell me about these great deals they run across. Something like 5000 acres in south Texas, 10-12 guns, $4500. I tellâ€™em, walk away. There are NO good deals. Ranchers that are serious about their deer know exactly what they have and youâ€™re gonna pay accordingly.....

Now, thatâ€™s not to say there arenâ€™t some ranchers/brokers that will tell you anything you want to hear to get your money. If a ranch has a regular turnover or â€œhasnâ€™t been hunted in X amount of yearsâ€ you better look long and hard at it. Preferably get references if at all possible.

Bottom line, if you wanna shoot quality animals, youâ€™re gonna pay. And along with that donâ€™t be expecting to shoot a â€œtrophyâ€ every year. If youâ€™re serious about trophy hunting itâ€™s highly unlikely youâ€™ll find one every year.....


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## Overboard (Feb 20, 2008)

Jaysand247 said:


> I guess it's all in what you want out of a place. Sitting over a feeder doesn't blow my skirt up.. I like spot and stalk or hunting a tree climber in a river bottom. Scouting finding scrape lines trails etc.. I'm planning to buy property in the hill country this year to shoot exotics on. For the price of a lease you can pay the note on a good bit of land..


Agreed! I finally quit looking and just bought my own in Rocksprings. It's beautiful and I love it.


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## Stumpgrinder1 (Jul 18, 2016)

I'd love to have a deer lease but I cannot afford it anymore . I make a decent living but if I had a lease it would eliminate too many other fun activities I like ( finances ) . I cant afford a 1000 dollar a month habit


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## BantyRooster97 (Jan 3, 2019)

BretE said:


> X1000.....I have buddies every year tell me about these great deals they run across. Something like 5000 acres in south Texas, 10-12 guns, $4500. I tellâ€™em, walk away. There are NO good deals. Ranchers that are serious about their deer know exactly what they have and youâ€™re gonna pay accordingly.....
> 
> Now, thatâ€™s not to say there arenâ€™t some ranchers/brokers that will tell you anything you want to hear to get your money. If a ranch has a regular turnover or â€œhasnâ€™t been hunted in X amount of yearsâ€ you better look long and hard at it. Preferably get references if at all possible.
> 
> Bottom line, if you wanna shoot quality animals, youâ€™re gonna pay. And along with that donâ€™t be expecting to shoot a â€œtrophyâ€ every year. If youâ€™re serious about trophy hunting itâ€™s highly unlikely youâ€™ll find one every year.....


Spot on. Haven't killed a "trophy" on our lease in 2 years even though last year yielded some of the best deer yet.... been on the lease 7 years... finally seeing results from a shot out lease when we got on it.


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## 98aggie77566 (Jul 7, 2009)

I miss the days when hunting deer and ducks was a sport for poâ€™ folks and red necks like me.


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## grayson (Oct 21, 2011)

98aggie77566 said:


> I miss the days when hunting deer and ducks was a sport for poâ€™ folks and red necks like me.


Texas has plenty of places to hunt public land - if somebody really wants to hunt deer they can


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## BretE (Jan 24, 2008)

98aggie77566 said:


> I miss the days when hunting deer and ducks was a sport for poâ€™ folks and red necks like me.


Says the guy fresh back from a guided Arkansas duck hunt and planning a guided Elk hunt.....:biggrin:


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## 98aggie77566 (Jul 7, 2009)

BretE said:


> Says the guy fresh back from a guided Arkansas duck hunt and planning a guided Elk hunt.....:biggrin:


Stalker!! :wink:

You know what Iâ€™m talking about....fishing, duck hunting, and deer hunting were poâ€™ folk sports when I was a kid.

Yes....Iâ€™ve been blessed...pinched my pennies more than most....and from time to time I splurge with those pennies and enjoy it with my kids.

30 years ago I could have done it with a LOT fewer pennies.

60 years ago my Dad did it with NO pennies and a simple ask to a local landowner.

Times change....sometimes not for the better.


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## BretE (Jan 24, 2008)

98aggie77566 said:


> Stalker!! :wink:
> 
> You know what Iâ€™m talking about....fishing, duck hunting, and deer hunting were poâ€™ folk sports when I was a kid.
> 
> ...


Lol, I hear ya.....I started deer hunting with my Dad in east Texas. I was probly 12 yrs old. Iâ€™d head out in the woods with a .257, alone, and look for deer. At night my Dad would drive all over the open pasture with my brother and I on the hood spotlighting rabbits.....with loaded shotguns. The shack we stayed in had no electricity or running water. Seemed like it was colder inside than outside......so yeah, I know exactly what youâ€™re talking about....:biggrin:

To be honest, other than my Dad not being here now, I much prefer the way I hunt now. And thereâ€™s no way in hell Iâ€™d let my son do the things I did....times were different....


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## Spec-Rig.006 (Nov 2, 2007)

Timemachine said:


> It is amazing how many deer leases want BIG MONEY to be on the lease but don't want you to shoot any of the deer. :headknock


Hunt public if you just want to "shoot deer".


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## Bukkskin (Oct 21, 2009)

Texas is pretty much sowed up as far as leases are concerned.
You see guys looking hard to find a lease , but no land owners looking hard to find hunters.
It's Done in Texas, sad but true.


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## Bukkskin (Oct 21, 2009)

Timemachine said:


> It is amazing how many deer leases want BIG MONEY to be on the lease but don't want you to shoot any of the deer. :headknock


It's $10,000 to $25,000 just to have a spot on some of these leases in Texas.
Plus feed, and have to bring a photo of the deer to the "head honcho" before you shoot!!

Ridiculous


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## Ready.Fire.Aim (Sep 22, 2009)

Wait until the next recession hits, like in 2008 or 2009. 
Plenty of spots on leases will open up.
Economy has been strong for 10 years, lots of disposable income and high confidence to spend on hobbies.


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## Lovin'Laura (Jun 28, 2016)

Huntman3 said:


> Texas has plenty of places to hunt public land - if somebody really wants to hunt deer they can


Public hunting is more like real hunting than those hunkered down in a heated box, overlooking a corn feeder that is set to go off at a certain time all while being surrounded by a tall fence. And, some wonder why they can't enter their buck in B&C. LOL.


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## Capt. Marcus Canales (Aug 25, 2005)

ROCKPORTJACK said:


> Public hunting is more like real hunting than those hunkered down in a heated box, overlooking a corn feeder that is set to go off at a certain time all while being surrounded by a tall fence. And, some wonder why they can't enter their buck in B&C. LOL.


Well, BC is a private club, there are other places to enter said bucks....ain't no thing but a chicken wing.

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## banpouchi (Feb 21, 2011)

The hunters I know hunt what they can afford or choose to afford.

Really no difference as in choosing a beef steak, some want prime, some want choice and some want select. Some will pay the difference if they can or want to. 

I don't think it makes any difference it is all beef, that is the same as low fence, high fence or public land.


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## gary.curlin (Apr 11, 2015)

I agree. Why does a pickup cost 70 thousand dollars? Oh. Wrong thread but same thing. Same with boats and a lot of other things. If you want the top end you pay top dollar.

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## Gatorgar (Feb 1, 2019)

Well on the table, top would be a steak
Why not pay to shoot a cow it grows horns , priced about the same.
Heck Y not its just about the same as marching a tagged deer out for you to shoot as someone points out wich to shoot for what price.
Thats not hunting imo.
Want a real rush hook a wild pig on a deep sea rod, now thats a real mans sport.

Just kidding, had y'all going didn't I ðŸ˜


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## Capt. Marcus Canales (Aug 25, 2005)

Gatorgar said:


> Well on the table, top would be a steak
> 
> Why not pay to shoot a cow it grows horns , priced about the same.
> 
> ...


Was fixing to ask, leader or no leader?

LOL

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## Kyle 1974 (May 10, 2006)

If a person is on a deer lease for A trophy deer and nothing else, then thatâ€™s their fault. A deer lease is a lot more than just THE deer you kill.


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*Hidalgo/Webb/Zapata/Duval/Cameron and Mexico*



BretE said:


> How long have you been hunting S. Texas and where?


I'm from the Valley(Harlingen), and grew up hunting there. My grandfather was a cattle rancher. He left my all five of his kids a little over 700 acres each, my mother was the youngest, she is ninety now. Two separate pieces of property in San Manual-Linn, just north of Edinburg on 281. I currently lease my mothers property to hunter for her, and we have it in the CRP program. Too small for trophy hunting, I have absolutely no interest in it, my brothers don't hunt. My mother is ninety, and the last of the siblings left. When all of my uncles and aunts were around, I hunted both ranches heavily. My nieces and nephews now have their tracks of property. With that being said, there have never been 170 plus deer on either of the ranches. Too much surrounding pressure.

I'm primarily a bow hunter now, I like Kansas. Had to give up my 7500 lease there a few years back for personal reasons, but I'm ready to find a place there again. Looking at a mexico deal as well, that would most likely be rifle. :texasflag


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## grayson (Oct 21, 2011)

Bukkskin said:


> It's $10,000 to $25,000 just to have a spot on some of these leases in Texas.
> Plus feed, and have to bring a photo of the deer to the "head honcho" before you shoot!!
> 
> Ridiculous


So I am curious - where did you see the deer you have on your avitar and your other pics? They look like $10-25K deer to me - just asking


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*Keith Warren*



Huntman3 said:


> So I am curious - where did you see the deer you have on your avitar and your other pics? They look like $10-25K deer to me - just asking


that looks like a Keith Warren home grown pin raised bruiser. And probably only 40K. :dance::rotfl::cheers::texasflag


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## BretE (Jan 24, 2008)

c hook said:


> that looks like a Keith Warren home grown pin raised bruiser. And probably only 40K. :dance::rotfl::cheers::texasflag


Lol....been watching that show lately. Never ceases to amaze me what lengths people will go to nowadays to kill a big deer......:headknock


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## Capt. Marcus Canales (Aug 25, 2005)

What is a pin raised deer? Lol

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## BretE (Jan 24, 2008)

Lol....itâ€™s like â€œpen raisedâ€ only way bigger.....:wink:


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## Kyle 1974 (May 10, 2006)

Capt. Marcus Canales said:


> What is a pin raised deer? Lol
> 
> Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk


They put steroid cream on acupuncture pins and poke the deer all day long with them. Big horns and tiny balls cuz of the steroids that they use.


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## Bukkskin (Oct 21, 2009)

Huntman3 said:


> So I am curious - where did you see the deer you have on your avitar and your other pics? They look like $10-25K deer to me - just asking


My avatar pic is a 3 yr old buck that I bred all my pure South Texas does to a few years back. I kept all their doe fawns, and they are most of my big (mature) breeder does. The others are Dreambuck granddaughters. This makes all of them 7/8th Texas.
Why do you ask?


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## Haute Pursuit (Jun 26, 2006)

emed said:


> Its really hard to find 8 like minded hunters that agree to let deer walk and continue to mature. We fortunately have 3-4 on our place that are really good at that, letting 5-6 year old good deer walk. Last year we had 3 members that aren't coming back this year who shot 4-4.5 year old deer that scored high 140's - low 150's and because they knew they weren't coming back it was ok with them. 2 of us had seen these deer they shot several times previously and let them walk. This was a high $$$ ranch in Webb but because they paid it felt they were owed it. Its tough getting the right people.


I can certainly attest to this. My late father and I leased and managed the same ranch for 33 years. If you became a problem to the owners of the ranch you were told to leave that day. Other problems like shooting under aged deer, not cleaning up your mess or be a slow pay on feed and lease invoices, etc... you got a warning. We finally got it into an exact science for us as managers. We had 3 managers on a 10-12 gun lease. One of the 3 managers had to personally know and vouch for you to be a member. We really had very few problems after we adopted that policy. We finally lost the lease due to a sale because the rancher passed away, then his only son passed away and the widow didn't want to live there by herself. She and I are still good friends to this day, even though she is in her mid 80's now.

The moral is treat the ranch owners with respect and let them know that if there is a problem... you are there to remedy it. We got rid of a ton of arseclowns before we figured it all out.


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

*south Texas brutes*

visiting with a friend at the gym yesterday evening, he said he will have approximately a dozen deer in the 200 class, if anyone is interested. He's in the Cotulla area. Has a 10,000 square foot lodge on it. If interested let me know, I'll put y'all in touch. :texasflag


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## Capt. Marcus Canales (Aug 25, 2005)

Interesting, which ranch? PM me if you want....I live here. Lol

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## boom! (Jul 10, 2004)

Haute Pursuit said:


> I can certainly attest to this. My late father and I leased and managed the same ranch for 33 years. If you became a problem to the owners of the ranch you were told to leave that day. Other problems like shooting under aged deer, not cleaning up your mess or be a slow pay on feed and lease invoices, etc... you got a warning. We finally got it into an exact science for us as managers. We had 3 managers on a 10-12 gun lease. One of the 3 managers had to personally know and vouch for you to be a member. We really had very few problems after we adopted that policy. We finally lost the lease due to a sale because the rancher passed away, then his only son passed away and the widow didn't want to live there by herself. She and I are still good friends to this day, even though she is in her mid 80's now.
> 
> *The moral is treat the ranch owners with respect and let them know that if there is a problem... you are there to remedy it.* We got rid of a ton of arseclowns before we figured it all out.


Well you guys are rare for sure. The stories that I can tell you about "ethical management minded hunters"....


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## fy0834 (Jan 18, 2011)

If I went full blown HF and selective genetics, I believe my hunters would leave.
We enjoy the challenge of LF hunting for fair chase wild quality deer.

160 - 200 deer are present but do not make themselves available easily. 

My HF neighbor is a breeder and raise 200-300â€ deer... when visiting their place
And these pen fed raised genetic creations are standing around looking at you...
Well, it doesnâ€™t feel like one should be shooting them...

My other neighbor has a very impressive trophy room with 250 deer on the wall... all mounts from sheds of the pen raised deer.


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## BATWING (May 9, 2008)

After hunting the hill country on the same ranch for 30yrs, land owner passed we soon realized deer hunting as we knew it is no longer feasible. Good luck to the corporate and big wallet hunters.


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## Spec-Rig.006 (Nov 2, 2007)

gary.curlin said:


> I agree. Why does a pickup cost 70 thousand dollars? Oh. Wrong thread but same thing. Same with boats and a lot of other things. If you want the top end you pay top dollar.
> 
> Sent from my LG-K550 using Tapatalk


Inflation. Risk. Insurance. Market share. Regulation. Compliance. Etc, etc ... seems like some of you guys need to jump.


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## Kyle 1974 (May 10, 2006)

older 37 said:


> Yes, but some of these high dollar "managed leases " are nothing more than a way for more profit, like $7500 per year, plus corn, portein, electricity and the chance to get one 160 class deer. That is ridiculous and the reason for game ranches to proliferate.


Whatâ€™s the scam 10 guys on 7500 acres at $7500 per person with big deer, or 10 guys on 750 acres at $3,000 a person?


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## Bukkskin (Oct 21, 2009)

Kyle 1974 said:


> Whatâ€™s the scam 10 guys on 7500 acres at $7500 per person with big deer, or 10 guys on 750 acres at $3,000 a person?


Yeah, Agreed. $7,500 won't get you but about 500 acres a man at best these days.
Everyone is gonna see a lot of the same deer everyday.
Texas has become way too small in the last 30 yrs for my tastes.


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