Hunting in Texas
 

I've tried searching the forums about leases in Texas. Generally speaking most people I know can't find a lease in Texas and if they do it is an outrageous price.

Thoughts?

Can someone direct me to the right forum??

You've already found out the scoop on Texas. A lot of places have a waiting list that are reasonable in price and many cost so much most average people can't afford them. Before my Dad died he had a couple different year around leases for $1500 and that was well below the average price at that time. Lord knows what they're going for now 10 years later, but I know guys pay in five figures for good leases down near the Mexico border.

I quit hunting Texas leases years ago due to the rise in lease prices and the difficulty finding the smaller acreage places acreage that the group I hunt with could afford. Last Tx lease I participated in was on 2000 acres of land near Ft. Mc Kavette (sp) Tx. The owner high fenced it in 2009, so the group I hunted with never even considered leasing it after that. We hunt only free range. A person I know very well has the hunting lease on that place now. The cost now is a whopping $80,000. That is almost 4X what we paid 8 years ago.

Anyone or group that would pay $80K for 2000 acres is nuts beyond belief! You may as well go out and buy your own place when we're talking that kind of money. The couple leases that I mentioned my Dad had for $1500 covered a little over 1000 and the other about 1500 acres and they were both good properties for deer and hogs and were both year around leases.

WOW!!! Thats 40.00 an acre! High even by most Texas standards!
High fence, "trophy" ranches can probably get that kind of pricing, especially with 10-15 thousand-dollar "package hunts."
The problem is that with the expanding popularity of Whitetail hunting is that "someone" is always willing to out bid you for the hunting rights!
I once had a Sonora Texas season lease that was 1000 per hunter, with each hunter having 250-300 acres to hunt! (that was considered cheap even then.) Not anymore!
I recently called about a Hill Country lease that ended up being 3000 per gun. Barely 40 acres per gun! Outrageous!
Even the East Texas Timber companies are charging 8.00 an acre now!

I have many relatives in tx, they all say the same thing, deer hunting in tx is now a wealthy mans sport.
RR

Wow that's steep. Good places in Iowa are about $10 per acre.

Try texashuntingforum.com Usually lots of leases there.

What part of Texas are you looking at? It is expensive but there are exceptions those are really hard to find. If you are in central Texas look at fort hood. You can purchase a permit to hunt rates varies by status military, retired, civilian. I was lucky enough to find two small
Farms to hunt. I worked around and helped as needed and got access really cheap. They are out there it's just the approach. It took me 2 years to get access on one but its full of hogs and deer. Good luck on your search

My sentiments exactly , Topgun. The price of $40/acre is way beyond my pay grade !!!

First hunting lease that I participated in was here in Alabama .... 1976-2000. We started out paying $4/acre to hunt about 600 acres, plus we had the use of a decent 3 BR "older house" that we fixed up some and added full utilities. That price rose steadily and had about doubled by 2000. The property owners decided to forego leasing hunting rights. These days good hunting land around where I hunt eases for anywhere from around $7.50 to $15.00/acre. .