Quick howto question: finding a year round lease?

[Davoh]

So, for the first time in my life, I'm looking at getting a East Texas lease to satisfy my... addiction... Long story, but short version is that driving to the other side of Texas to hunt family land, is getting time-prohibitive...

How in the world does one actually FIND a good year round lease? So far I've found a few on Craigslist... jury's still out on whether I actually get a positive result from it. Everything else on-line that I've found is typically behind a "pay me for contact info" type website, which is irritating...

Any other ideas?

Feel free to let me know if you have any openings on a lease you're on!

[DRow]

there are a bunch of lease listings on texas parks and wildlife's web page. short of that, craigslist, here in the classifieds, or word of mouth is all i can think of.

[SmTx]

When you find a lease you can squirrel, hog and deer hunt(in season for east texas haters ) year round let me know

[jcso139]

southeasttexas.com, then go to classifieds, then hunting. there are prolly 10 or more leases needing members in southeast texas/east texas listed on there.

[ColinR]

Yep lots of east Texas leases available. If they are any good, well that is anyone's guess...

[Russ79]

If you are looking for one to get on go to www.crownpinetimber.com. Go to the drop down box that lists the states and select Texas. Click the "accept" button on the next screen and you will go to Campbell Group's lease listing page. There is a box in the middle of the screen that says "standard hunting leases", click on the down arrow and change it to "leases looking for members". On the next screen pick the county that you are interested in and you will get a number of names and phone numbers you can call and get info.

[Russ]

Just wandering, why is it irritating to pay for a service to help find a lease. It's no different than paying a realtor to help find a house. If your going to spend money on a lease, feeders, gas, blinds, guns, bows, ect.......then what's another $20 to help you find the right place?

[rocky]

Just wandering, why is it irritating to pay for a service to help find a lease. It's no different than paying a realtor to help find a house. If your going to spend money on a lease, feeders, gas, blinds, guns, bows, ect.......then what's another $20 to help you find the right place?

More than likely, he's like me and can't justify the added expense with his money.
Like me, his money may be tighter than you and your money.
We all justify expenditures according to our income.

[TUCO]

Hey D: You might do well to poke around the towns you are interested in hunting, and seek out the places where all the old timers hang out in the morning and have coffee. There are a few of these places in every town. These fellas know everybody in that area, & everything that's going on, you can bet on it. If anybody knows they do. Feed stores too; they know all the ranchers in the area. Give it a try…

[sqiggy]

I'm looking at getting a East Texas lease. How in the world does one actually FIND a good year round lease? Any other ideas?

Been huntin East Tx all my life. For starters, here is what I recommend.
1. I would stay away from "timber co or paper co" land. It's gotten to where they are chargin like they do in S Tx and you will be huntin with a lot of people you won't know.
2. You can always check the Chamber of Commerce in each town. A lot of the "paid lease sites" get most of their info from anyways.
3. Figure out what part of E Tx you want to hunt. Once you do this, it will narrow your search greatly.
4. Once you figured out #3, place an ad in the local papers.
5. If you see or know of a particular piece of property you would like to hunt, look it up. Find out how big the acreage it is, who is payin the taxes on it and how much the taxes are (gives you an idea on where to start as to a offer on price). For example, my brother was leasing 50 acres. He went to the appraisal office for that county. Looked up all the owners of adjoining property. Got the names of the people along with the address and phone #'s of each. Then started calling and talking to them. You would be surprised how many owners lived out of the county and some even out of state, yet they had never even thought about leasing the land for huntin. Then he offered to pay what they normally paid in taxes for the property. He now leases over 1000 acres and started his own huntin club. He has 3 of theses places all within 30 min of his house!!!
If you have the time, it can be done.

[Davoh]

Thanks for all the great information guys! That really helped!

[Russ79]

Davoh, I would take squiggy's #1 with a grain of salt. East Texas timber company land is one of the few places left in the state where you can hunt for a reasonable price. Will you be hunting with people you don't know? Don't we all start out that way if we join an existing lease? Charging like south Texas? I have an east Texas lease and charge my members just over $500 each/year. When I can find a south Texas lease for that kind of money then I will expand my hunting range. Do some of them pack more hunters on them than most would like to see, of course. East Texas does have a bad reputation for thieves and poachers but I had to deal with poachers when I used to hunt mule deer in Terrell county out west. East Texas leases may have to be scrutinized more before joining or lease your own tract and manage it yourself. I am lucky enough to have land leased about a mile from my house. I have lived here for about 30 years and the locals know I won't put up with any trespassing or poaching plus I have a good relationship with the game wardens who keep a close eye on things. Squiggy does have some good tips and having hunted east Texas all his life he knows the "landscape" but like anything do your homework before you commit.