Thanks for the advise. After consulting a friend that has been elk hunting for 30 plus years I think I have finally made a decision. He told me that he also had access to some excellent private property for years and took several nice 6pts and some real giants, but the land got leased and he never got to hunt it after that. He advised me to go with the 4th season deal because of the uncertainty factor. I also just realized that the elk on this property don' t have to deal with any hunting pressure so they won' t be pushed out. Plus there' s thousands of acres bordering his property that is open to the public so I' m now thinking that it would be a perfect refuge for the elk on public land after being hunted out plus the snow factor always helps in the late seasons. So 4th season it is, although there would be no greater thrill than to bugle a big ol herd bull in.