Lease prices-Per person vs per acre

[txhunter83]

I think a lot of the reason prices are getting out of control is because instead of focusing on a per acre price, hunters are only concerned about how much they have to pay in total sum terms. I see people bash a $5000 lease spot and say how it's prices like that which ruin the sport, but the price per acre is $10-12. At the same time, they are completely fine with the 300 acre place with 6 guys paying $1000 a person. The second lease is DOUBLE the cost!!!

In reality, it's the 6 guys who accept a $20 per acre price who are driving up the cost of hunting leases, not the ones who pay $5000 to be on a lease. I know there aren't a whole lot of people who can afford $5000 a year to be on a lease, so I dont mean to say that if you can't afford that kind of place then dont hunt. I think if we all tried to keep in mind the per acre price of a lease and refuse to overhunt a piece of land by putting too many people on it, prices would go down.

Thoughts?

[Txjourneyman]

I agree. I have been on the lookout for a lease for a while now and have had the opportunity to get on a couple I could afford but turned them down because of the price per acre or overcrowding or both.One of them amounted to $1500 for 40 acres. It looked like a nice place but I just couldn't do it. I have also been offered several spots I really wanted but couldn't comfortably afford. I'll be doing more side work before I go lease hunting next year!

[RdRdrFan]

Agreed.

[Jaybo31]

Dont see how the math works.

[bowhuntntxn]

This like many other things is an on demand system. The more people desire the "glory" of shooting a trophy animal the more they will pay. And some places take on a mystique of their own. Like Grayson county for example. One great deer is killed, and the whole county is flooded with people trying to get the next one!! So the land owners charge a price, and there is a line from Sherman to Austin of people willing to pay it, so they can be the "one " to get the next great deer!!!

We as hunters did it to ourselves as far as pricing and availability, so we have to be the ones to fix it. Doesn't look like that will be happening any time soon, when a day hunt for a "cull" or scrub buck scoring 100-120 inches costs $1200!!

[SOTXBOWHUNTER]

I agree but the demand for hunting spots is so high that we are willing to pay more now than we were willing to pay years ago. Everything has had a price increase and hunting is no exception.

[Slick8]

I agree with what you're saying.

Where I like to hunt most of the small pastures seem to be priced per spot not per acre. For years you could find a reasonable lease for around $400-$500 then it jumped to $700-$750 for some time. Now with more and more people hunting and the price of leases and fuel to hunt the hill country it's gone through the roof. I've seen these same small pastures that are just a place to get away and shoot some does and pigs with a chance that one in four may get a crack at a nice 120-130 deer soar to $1500. The worst of it is that many people on THIS site thank that's a good deal. Some have even advised to overpay in order to keep it from being taken by another group the following year! That's RIDICULOUS!

I'm considering a small pasture that I've hunted in the past but have decided to go back to the land owner with a more realistic offer. If he doesn't like it I'm sure he'll find someone willing overpay to put 4 hunters on 120 acres with neighbors all around.

Sorry for the rant, you struck a nerve that's been festering within me.

BTW...any pasture is only worth what WE the hunting public is willing to pay for it.

[bowhuntntxn]

I dont think hunting demand has increased as much as we think it has, based on the decrease in license sales. Just more people trying to find the "right" spot, and grow some huge deer with the feeding programs and all. Protein bills and things like that are being added to the total cost per hunter, skewing the apparent price per acre. Also creating sanctuaries cuts down the actual huntable property, so that will also make it appear higher per acre cost wise, if it is advertised with the sanctuaries deleted from the total land size.

AR and the herd improvements are also contributing to the increase, because now people are seeing more and bigger deer in places that were thought to be "hunted out" in years past.

[flatlander]

I saw an add on Craigslist the other day for 60 acres in Benevides with 4 spots at $1500 each. $100 per acre!!!! The bad thing is somebody will jump on it.

[Shane]

I think a lot of the reason prices are getting out of control is because instead of focusing on a per acre price, hunters are only concerned about how much they have to pay in total sum terms. I see people bash a $5000 lease spot and say how it's prices like that which ruin the sport, but the price per acre is $10-12. At the same time, they are completely fine with the 300 acre place with 6 guys paying $1000 a person. The second lease is DOUBLE the cost!!!

In reality, it's the 6 guys who accept a $20 per acre price who are driving up the cost of hunting leases, not the ones who pay $5000 to be on a lease. I know there aren't a whole lot of people who can afford $5000 a year to be on a lease, so I dont mean to say that if you can't afford that kind of place then dont hunt. I think if we all tried to keep in mind the per acre price of a lease and refuse to overhunt a piece of land by putting too many people on it, prices would go down.

Thoughts?

You're exactly right.

Dont see how the math works.

Lots of people don't, and that's how it happens. It's the same thing as focusing on what the monthly payment is on a new car instead of what is actually costs.

[M16]

The price of land has doubled and tripled in some cases. Lease prices should have doubled as well. With more people moving to Texas and the same amount of land prices will only go up.

[ShaBow]

I want at least 200acres per man or I'm out on a lease.You can pack as many people on whatever size piece of property you want but it still can only produce so many trophys per year.The more hunters packed per acre on a property the less chance you will have of consistantly arrowing a mature buck and the more problems the members are likely to have with one another!

[Halfmoon]

Yep, you have to look at it from a per acre perspective to make any sense out of it. It is the only way you can determine if you are getting value (lol) for what you are seeing and shooting.

[Jaybo31]

You're exactly right.



Lots of people don't, and that's how it happens. It's the same thing as focusing on what the monthly payment is on a new car instead of what is actually costs.

No I ment in the OP. To pay 5K a person it would have to be a place over 3K acres with only 6 people on it to get $10 per acre. That doesnt happen.

[gekko man]

The price of land has doubled and tripled in some cases. Lease prices should have doubled as well. With more people moving to Texas and the same amount of land prices will only go up.

From your lips to God's ears.....

The reason I say this is because I own land. That being said, I also lease land to hunt. I could hunt my place but the quality of the deer are not what I want to BOW hunt.

I know that I am going to have to pay to play and they will aak what the marketplace will bring for their land.

We are fortunate that we have access to their land!