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Advice for finding a hunting lease

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  • RevolverGuy

    Active Member
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    1   0   0
    Aug 8, 2013
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    I was blessed most of my life with 360 acres of family-owned land in Jack County which I had mostly to myself.

    I’ve never had to share a hunting lease in my 62-years on earth. Yes, call me spoiled.

    That had to be sold off several years ago when my mother developed dementia.

    I currently own 30 acres not too far from there, but I’m probably going to have to sell to send my son to college.

    Which I guess would leave me looking for a lease. But I not only do I not know how to look for one, I don’t even know if a season lease would be worthwhile for me.

    I don’t really enjoy deer hunting that much anymore. The only Texas hunting I truly enjoy are turkey, quail, and capping feral hogs with a pistol.

    What would miss is being able to roam the brush with a handgun and popping hogs, or ambushing them occasionally (that’s the only “hunting” I do over a feeder), locating turkeys & calling in gobblers (sometimes coyotes & bobcats), or following a good dog in search of Bob whites. Pond fishing is definitely a plus.

    If a season lease is a matter of “here’s your little corner to setup your stand & feeder”, count me out. I do keep feeders, but only for supplement, baiting hogs, and letting the youngsters get their feet wet taking their first doe.

    So, after reading my life story there, what advice do you have for a Texas hunting lease virgin? Is a lease even suitable for my needs? If so, how do I go about finding one? My budget would be $5k annually.
    Guns International
     

    RevolverGuy

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    Aug 8, 2013
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    Kept the land sell the kid. Seriously I would try to find a different way to pay school. I put three thru college but all three had to contribute. The bank of dad did not pay 100%

    Out of curiosity, how long ago did your last one graduate?

    We’re looking at 27K annually. That’s for Tech, about the cheapest 4-year school in Texas.
     

    toddnjoyce

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    Sep 27, 2017
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    Boerne
    Out of curiosity, how long ago did your last one graduate?

    We’re looking at 27K annually. That’s for Tech, about the cheapest 4-year school in Texas.

    Sent two thru from 2012-2016; at at A&M, one at Texas State. Both went in with 27 credits from high school. Both were on the three legged stool plan. Leg 1 was our investments, Leg 2 was scholarships, Leg 3 was up to them.

    One of the chose to get a full ride from the Army for his last two years and graduate with zero debt. He’s a Company Commander right now. The other lost her academic scholarships, lifeguarded full time, changed majors, and took some loans out in her name…we did not do any parent/parent plus loans or cosign for her. She’s a teacher now and has paid off the majority of her student loans.

    Both went to college because what they wanted to do required a degree just to get hired. Unless the kid knows what he wants to do AND doing that requires a degree to even get hired, I’d advise a taking time to work (at a place that also has a tuition assistance program), save up for tuition, and maybe look less the in-resident option. Room and board counts for more than half the total college expense, regardless of living on campus or near campus.
     
    Last edited:

    candcallen

    Crotchety, Snarky, Truthful. You'll get over it.
    Emeritus - "Texas Proud"
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    2   0   0
    Jul 23, 2011
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    Little Elm
    My kids got free room n board reduced insc phones free internet and needed equipment plus interest free loans for other stuff.

    They need to work their way thru the rest of the way and make decisions on loans and and such and make sure they know how much a particular degree will be useful in the future.

    They will both graduate with very minimal loans and worked lots of over time and know the value of their work and what life costs.

    College is too easy now days. It's part of the scam many fall into. Getting stupid degrees. If folks flunked out or figured out a gender studies or liberal arts degree is useless, you make more per year at walmart as a supervisor SERIOUSLY, people who normally couldnt hacking wouldnt go.

    It has its place but not at the Expense your talking. You will pay more for a lease than the school itself if managed properly.

    I got one graduating saturday and a second in December.
     

    Haystack

    Active Member
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    1   0   0
    Jan 2, 2021
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    Edom, TX
    Don't sell the land. It's the one thing they are not making any more of.

    As for the lease, I've been on several. Unless you can find one spot of ground that you can lease all by yourself, doubtful, you're going to have to share the lease with several people. Hunting leases have become big business in Texas. In many parts of the state the hunting rights generate more revenue to the land owner than any type of agricultural endeavor.

    With a group on the same lease, either the land owner sets the rules (most likely) or the group decides the rules. Group of know it all's equals bad rules.

    You might join one of the hunting forums and poke around there. $5K should buy you a one gun slot on some good quality leases, but you'll have to find an opening.
     
    Last edited:

    candcallen

    Crotchety, Snarky, Truthful. You'll get over it.
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    2   0   0
    Jul 23, 2011
    21,358
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    Little Elm
    Just for info
    Both will have less than 20 grand in loans. Easily paid off in a few years.

    Both have Bachelor's with minors one Buisness marketing with buusess administration. The other Criminal justice with psychology minor.

    Both entered college with varying amounts of credits. There is no excuse not to take college classes in high school now days.

    Most people find out having A degree is more important than which degree. If its tech related an actual tech school is probably better.

    Ofcourse it's up to the person what it's worth to them but parents are less than optimal in intelligence if they co sign or get parent loans or if they dont completely educate their kids on the cost of life and degrees and what jobs are available and what they pay and what it costs to actually live now days.

    One kid wanted a degree that is more expensive and doesn't pay well and I made them do lots of research and said if you have to get a minor in that degree but dont waste 4 years in school and 15 more paying for it and living at home forever to do so. They decided other wise.

    There are other ways to pay for school and loans thru service.

    This is where real adult time begins.
     

    Fishkiller

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    7   0   0
    Jul 22, 2019
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    Frederickburg
    Out of curiosity, how long ago did your last one graduate?

    We’re looking at 27K annually. That’s for Tech, about the cheapest 4-year school in Texas.
    The baby graduated from CalPoly. Cost was about 15k per year, she had a scholarship for 4k per year and we kicked in another 8. She picked up the rest by working as a caregiver for a quadriplegic. This led her to go to nursing school for a masters The masters was all on her

    The older two went to a state schools with no scholarships. We paid 1/2 they took out loans. And both lived at home and commutes to school

    All three graduated in 4 years
     

    Texasjack

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    1   1   0
    Jan 3, 2010
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    Occupied Texas
    There are a whole bunch of lease finding web sites.

    Every single one of them sucks. Not just a little.

    You get "3 acre lease right next to my neighbor's property which has lots of deer. Open for 5 people." or "Great lease, never developed, lots of game, $50,000 per gun" or "Bow only, Wednesdays only, $5000 deposit, Extra charge for each antler." "Great lease, call us, well run ranch, camping area available, cabin available for a small fee, easy to find location (ad posted in 1987 and no replies from the owner since then)".

    There are some SE Tx leases available for fairly reasonable prices on timber land. The roads are mud, opening day will bring out 200 kids, wives, girlfriends, dogs, drunks, and all sorts of confusion. 90% of the hunting in the area is for pigs, and people run them with dogs. As a result, the deer only show up at 3 a.m. And those dogs? They may show up from other leases in the area because nobody seems to recognize fences or signs. Leave a stick of gum in your stand and it will be stolen while you step into the woods to pee. Do you know what a bullet sounds like when it flies past your head? Get on one of these leases and you'll find out. We had to pay extra to use the "camp area". Nothing was marked off - just find an open spot and set your truck, trailer, or tent. There were maybe 15 of them that were there permanently, and constantly occupied by drunks (or worse.) One guy put those GPS trackers you use for dogs on his kids and let them ride the property on broken down 4 wheelers. He had a long trailer with a dozen 4 wheelers.

    You kinda have to know someone to get on a decent lease. I was on a really nice one in Leon County for several years, but the guy managing the lease died and the owner decided to sell. The property buyer offered to let us stay on the lease for quadruple the price we'd been paying.

    Don't sell property unless you have to do it to survive. I don't know how to be more clear about that. It may be the last thing that you can actually call your own. Just be sure that you hand it down to the next generation and don't let the government own it.
     

    RevolverGuy

    Active Member
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    1   0   0
    Aug 8, 2013
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    Sent two thru from 2012-2016; at at A&M, one at Texas State. Both went in with 27 credits from high school. Both were on the three legged stool plan. Leg 1 was our investments, Leg 2 was scholarships, Leg 3 was up to them.

    One of the chose to get a full ride from the Army for his last two years and graduate with zero debt. He’s a Company Commander right now. The other lost her academic scholarships, lifeguarded full time, changed majors, and took some loans out in her name…we did not do any parent/parent plus loans or cosign for her. She’s a teacher now and has paid off the majority of her student loans.

    Both went to college because what they wanted to do required a degree just to get hired. Unless the kid knows what he wants to do AND doing that requires a degree to even get hired, I’d advise a taking time to work (at a place that also has a tuition assistance program), save up for tuition, and maybe look less the in-resident option. Room and board counts for more than half the total college expense, regardless of living on campus or near campus.

    He’s already taken a year to work.

    We knew (so did he) he wasn’t ready right out of HS.

    He went to a private school (which was better than public, but NOT worth what we paid). Anyway, he was stressing senior year about what to do while everyone else had college plans. I kept telling him it’s OK to not know what you want to do, take a year, get a job, go to JUCO part time & think it over. Maybe 1 of 5 of those with college plans will finish.

    Boy was I wrong, a bunch of the kids we know from his class, some with scholarships, didn’t last the first semester. They’re dropping like flies. Some have switched schools already, but if they didn’t like their first choice, what do they think will be better at next one?

    Definitely not selling the land until he successfully completes a full year.
     

    baboon

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    May 6, 2008
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    Out here by the lake!
    If I was given a choice between going to college or 30 acres of land in the future I'd take the land & find an apprenticeship or trade school for much less. That land could be the future of your grandchildren. You might get old fast dealing with leases.

    My dad told me we were not college people. Told me if I had applied myself in high school & got scholarship I would have proved him wrong. The old man insisted on a high school diploma no GED either. He dropped out of scholl for WWII. Once he had a family he found out the high school diploma kept him from better jobs, so he went and earned it in night school. The wife dropped out of high school but her parents pushed her into debt with college. Bother her parents went to college, but her I am 20+ years younger in better financial shape. I have no college education.
     

    rotor

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    Nov 1, 2015
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    I had a military guy come to my door and ask if he could hunt my property. He used some app to locate me. He had free access for the 2 years he was here and always got deer and hogs. There are landowners that will allow hunting but you have to find them. I never charged for use of the land.
     

    toddnjoyce

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    4   0   0
    Sep 27, 2017
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    Boerne
    Spend four years in the Air Force and get a bunch of money for college. Get an admin type job and skate through it.

    Or join the Marines.

    Or go Guard. The more and more I learn, the more and more I’m convinced most males need to be put in a semi-independent structured growth environment from 18-24.
     
    Every Day Man
    Tyrant

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