Why do people complain about the rising price of deer hunting...

[Lonestar_HOYT]

People gripe because they have antler envy of what their friends are shooting. They feel the need to keep up with the Jones’s and it cost more to shoot a bigger deer.

The gripes about breeder deer are a different gripe altogether than what the guy leasing a piece of land are fussing about.

My only gripe is not being in the woods enough.

[Mike D]

I don’t think there’s a correlation between breeders and leases as far as prices go. The needed deer are a very small niche market overall.

Regarding lease cost increases they have increased above the inflation rate and well above salary increases. The last lease I was on went up 61% in 7 years.


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[Jspradley]

Hunting doesn't have to be expensive.

[TexasCanesFan]

I do not see the correlation between the 2 at all. Most guys looking to have a deer lease are not the same folks looking to shoot a 250” “trophy” for $10K. And surely the majority of landowners are running cows on their land and not paying attention to gigantic high fence buck prices.

[kyle1974]

Well historically speaking.... first it’s was...drum roll..

Texas Trophy Hunters mag,
then it was TTHA(really heard this agruement),
then it was High fences, as if you where going to be allowed to hunt the property when it only had a 5?strands of barb around previously.
now it’s Breeders.


I remember when 5 strand fence was .50 a foot. Darn Breeders driving up cattle fence prices, lol

high fences were here a LONG time before TTHA and texas trophy hunters magazine. as a matter of fact, there were high fences here before they even made 8 foot rolled wire!

there's certainly a factor from the marketing to hunting... just like duck hunting explosion after duck commander. Everyone wanted to grow a beard and bite the heads on a duck before you knew what was happening.

[txwhitetail]

All the fencing has only strengthened the low fence market. High fence deer are taking a beating on pricing and clearances on those sales.

Another kicker to the lease pricing is most the ranch purchases over probably the past 20 years are recreational purchases. Meaning that those purchasing the land will be using it for hunting not leasing. There is a dwindling supply of land to lease for many reasons.

Back to your original question I don’t think you can really tie complaining about low fence hunting rates to complaining about high fence kick and shoots. What guys may not realize that are complaining is the kick and shoots may be taking the “easy” hunters out of the lease market pool that just want to drive out and shoot versus lease.


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[Slicefixer]

Newsflash to all those who constantly say "hunting is too expensive". EVERYTHING increases in cost over the years - it is called inflation.

Hunting is no different from buying a truck, going on vacation, or buying a house. Each of us can afford what our lifestyles/income allow us to afford. IT is all relative. Lease cost have increased over the last 70-80 years and will continue to do so (as well as everything else on this earth).

Federal government keeps telling me there's very lil' inflation.....hehehe 😉

One other thing to consider is this, why are lease costs per acre considerably less expensive in every other state I've hunted??

Very interesting discussion btw....

[meltingfeather]

I don’t think the folks complaining about the price of hunting are the same ones in the saturated market for 250”(+) deer. A $15k whitetail exemplifies expensive hunting, even if that money will buy you more inches than a few years ago.

[Mohawkman]

Another kicker to the lease pricing is most the ranch purchases over probably the past 20 years are recreational purchases. Meaning that those purchasing the land will be using it for hunting not leasing. There is a dwindling supply of land to lease for many reasons.
This.
Also; How many acres have been taken out due to development. How many large ranches have been turned into 25 acre farms.
If you have a lease and you haven’t had a price increase you might want to pay more.
Farming and ranching is not as profitable as it once was. Why should that aging Land owner continue to struggle when he can sell and retire. In 2002 when I bought my place land was selling for $700. Per acre. Now it is selling for $6000.

[Traildust]

But then hate deer breeding which has lowered the price to the consumer of big deer?

Note:

This is a discussion thread, not a bash thread.

Let’s explore our core values as hunters and be introspective about what we truly value, because all of us value things slightly differently.

Deer farming may have lowered the price on store bought monster bucks, but it hasn't helped lower the price of deer hunting.

[TX_Hoghunter]

Why do lease prices go up? Lets look at it this way. You are selling movie tickets. You normally sell them for $5. A new hot movie is coming out and you raise the price to $7 and people just keep buying the tickets, so later you raise the price to $10 and people just keep buying them. That is how capitalism works. If you raise your prices and people keep buying your product then you had it too low before. For the most part we have a fix supply but the demand keeps going up. Anyone that purposely sells their product below what the market will bear is just throwing money away. If you think the price of leases is too high then quit paying them.The only way to decrease price naturally is to increase supply or decrease demand.

-john

[curtintex]

Why do lease prices go up? Lets look at it this way. You are selling movie tickets. You normally sell them for $5. A new hot movie is coming out and you raise the price to $7 and people just keep buying the tickets, so later you raise the price to $10 and people just keep buying them. That is how capitalism works. If you raise your prices and people keep buying your product then you had it too low before. For the most part we have a fix supply but the demand keeps going up. Anyone that purposely sells their product below what the market will bear is just throwing money away. If you think the price of leases is too high then quit paying them.The only way to decrease price naturally is to increase supply or decrease demand.



-john

No John. Lease prices should stay at $300 per family forever because that’s what grandpa and dad paid and it’s our God given right to kill deer. [emoji6]

I agree, lease prices are simply a product of capitalism and the economics associated with the sport, supply and demand and the hunting community as a whole.


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[zztex]

Deer farming may have lowered the price on store bought monster bucks, but it hasn't helped lower the price of deer hunting.

"store bought monster bucks"? You misspelled furniture shopping

[Snakelover]

In 1989, I leased for $3 per acre. According to this link, adjusting for inflation rate only, that is equivalent to $6.27 per acre in today's dollars. The lease prices have way outpaced inflation and that has caused a lot of people to devote an increasingly larger portion of their discretionary income toward hunting. That's why people are complaining.

[GarGuy]

Not sure what high fence has to do with lease prices over all. Leases have been going up ever since they moved the dimmer switch off the floor board where god intended it. Shortly there after prices doubled.

Looking at it another way though... Huge racks are much more common than they once were and the value of a huge deer is lessened regardless of how it was killed. I was talking to johnny morris about that. He said he used to pay big money to a hunter that killed a booner in order to display it in his stores. Now folks barely glance at a 250 inch deer. Everyone has already seen much bigger ones so the value is diminished.