Amen!!! Jason,

I am also new to Texas hunting and tried finding a lease, but decided the money was too much, there were too many people on the leases I could afford, everyone wanted "management minded" hunters but management minded is not the same for everyone.  I ended up hunting the national forest north of Houston.  I feel for you, good luck!

"If God didn't want us to eat meat, he wouldn't have made animals out of food!"

Finally a comment.  Here I thought I was being ignored since I'm from PA and a Steelers fan....  Dont threat my wife is a cajun. 

On a serious note I was hoping someone might give me some advice or tips... 

Anyone...

Leasing in Texas is a big business now. It's not what it used to be. My suggestion to you is to find an area you want to hunt then go post flyers around town. In feed stores, etc. You need to get to know the good ol' boys that are still left. In my opinion, if you find a leas online it means that the person leasing is aware of the current leasing situation and is only in it for the $$$. It is not easy to find, but there are still some landowners who just a few good hunters on their land and are happy to get a little cash out of the deal. Good luck!

Your story is a familiar one Jason.  The two leases I have been involved with have always came to me through a network and friends and family.  For example, the one I am looking at right now is through my buddy's fiancé's grandmother. 

When I was in college in west Texas to dove hunt we often just drove the areas we wanted to hunt and then went up to the farm houses, it worked at least half the time.  That being said, that was dove hunting and this is deer hunting so it really isn't comparable.

Aaron has a pretty good idea with the feed stores, etc so I might give that a shot.

Good luck.

I hear that Arron.  I made sure to go around to the local diners, hardware stores and anything else I could find to ask around.

I know what you mean Allen.  Thats exactly what I did with the amish farmers that lived around me back home in PA.  Not being from Texas I really dont know to many people except for who I work with and go to church with.  Only reason I got on my current lease is because of a guy from church.

I'm beginning to think I should up placed an add that said:

Veteran, Harley riding, former Eagle Scout and father would like to take his son hunting......  Only part I dont know is to end it with a Hook'em Horns / Go Aggies or something about TCU being west Texas. LOL!

I would agree that the only leases I've ever been on that were worth anything came through friends, church members, work acquaintences, or family.

Some other suggestions: Some of the local chambers of commerce have sites that might help.  If you happen to know anyone in real estate that can be a big help too, as long as the folks aren't out to make a mint off of you (which admittedly is a rare thing).  Another contact, especially in west texas, would be if you know any oil and gas landmen.  They deal with landowners every day and probably have some leads - especially if they're hunters.

BTW, you're not the only one originally from PA on this site...welcome!

Go Cards!!!!!

Guns don't kill people....Its those pesky little bullets making lots of holes that all the blood leaks out of.

LOL...  Now I've done it. 

What?  No terrible towel?

Ok, lets keep this to hunting now fellows. Before ya know it the bullets will be flying!

Jason, where do you want the lease?

I think he said east of Heinz Field (sorry Lamar...couldn't resist).

Besides, in parts of Pittsburgh (The Hill District, Oakland, Schenley Heights) bullets fly 24/7/365 even if it isn't football season!

Um..oh...OK...where did Jason want that lease?

LOL, I'm not going to argue. (Might have something to with me looking for a lease in Texas.)  Some around Coleman County or maybe south of there.  I'm open to ideas.  (Unlike Jerry Jones)  I keep hearing south of Coleman, TX is a good area for whitetail deer.  I wouldn't mind something that may have mule deer or axis, but that would depend on the drive and cost.  Coleman is about 3 1/2 hour drive from where I live.

Since you guys are being so much help I figured I'd attach An Application to become a Steelers Fan so you wont feel left out this Sunday.

I'm no expert, but in parts of Coleman County you have to watch agriculture (too much of it) and like any place in that country, proximity to water.  Also, a lot of that land has been changing hands and it seems to me (though it may not be true) that the tracts just get smaller.  That is, look at the ranches next to you as well as the one you might hunt on.   

If you don't have Google Earth I'd get it...its a great tool to evaluate any prospective lease. 

It wouldn't have been so bad where I was if the rancher wouldn't have increased the heard by so much.  I saw plenty of signs for deer and hogs, but since there was so many cows the deer would come out at night while the cows were bedded down.  I saw 15 deer driving around the lease at night the last weekend of the season.  I wouldn't mind releasing the land but I learned the neighboring properties are being leased for alot less.   I would want something in writing though about the maxium number of cattle he would put on it.  Plus I'd have to find 3 replacements for the ones who quit.

Thanks for the tip about Google.  I tell those guys for PA..... LOL

Anyone who has 50 mama cows on 700 acres is not a long-term rancher in Central Texas -- 250 mamas on such acreage is obscene!  Suggestion: Contact the Chamber of Commerce in each county -- they will have a listing of leases available.  Now is the time to think about  a 2009 lease.  Also remember that anyone who uses the term "under deer management" needs to explain what that means.  That term is over used by many folks and many times doesn't mean anything.

Nice looking buck.

Yeah, its a shame about the cattle otherwise I think we would of had a nice lease, but I wasn't their when the group I hunted with agreed to the lease.  I know I would of asked him the max head of cattle, rotation habbits and what type of planting he does.  My feeder was pointless since all of the deer I shot were in wheat fields.

I've been looking at the County websites for Coleman and Concho Counties.  See that is the other issue I have is I'm not sure what areas have good populations of whitetail.

As for deer management.  Different strokes for different folks.  I've read on this site "No meat hunters", had people tell me 8 point or above or has to be older than x many years old for you to be able to shoot.  I'm fine with that but the leasing price should go along with what ever rules they have.  I hunted in Centerville, TX and the lease manager would not allow us to shoot any doe even though he was issued over a 100 MLS tags (I hope thats correct).  The lease was pretty cheap though...

So for all you rule makers please tell me if this buck fits in your rules.  I shot him opening weekend.  He was a 10 almost 11 point.  I think he was around 4 years old (I'm working on how to tell a deers age.)

If you're seeing that many deer and you think its a good lease it really might be worth trying to work with the rancher, because good leases are very hard to find. - especially one you can afford.

I've also seen 'rules' all over the place.  at some ranches all the rules are 8 pts and beyond the ears.  Others are you can't shoot a buck before you take a doe.  They vary from landowner to landowner and sometimes from year to year. 

I suspect a lot of these statements you're hearing are more about a buck's age being related to his peak antler growth.  Deer usually reach peak antler development anywhere from 5.5-7.5 years, depending on where you hunt and to some degree who you ask.  And really, unless a landowner has enough acreage to really control a deer population's age structure, finding deer in that old in fair chase conditions is not all that common. So, shooting a 4.5 year old deer may be fine depending on hunting pressure and several other factors.   

I can understand about the difficulty in aging deer.  Back where I grew up if it had horns you shot first and asked questions later.  We're still relatively new to it too.  One of the best books we've seen on aging bucks is "Observing and Evaluating Whitetails" by Dave Richards and Al Brothers.  The Quality Deer Management Association has also recently come out with another publication from these same authors, "A Field Guide for Aging Whitetail Bucks on the Hoof".

http://www.masontxcoc.com/hunting.htm

One of the things that I have done that either make for a very good first meeting with a new land owner or tells you something about the person right up front is to have a "contract" of my own for what I expect of the landowner and what he can expect from me as to how the lease will be managed based upon information from what ever ad I got the contact from, phone conversations we may have had or comments made by the owner to others that we both may know.

I have had owners become very offended and defensive thinking I was telling them "what they were going to do" but some have appreciated that I knew what I wanted and was not afraid to clarify what I would do and what I would expect. This has helped me avoid the type of scenario that you have described.

Just wait until you get one where the landowner does day leasing out of your stands over your feed areas while you work M-F and hunt the weekends. I caught one of these back when I first started leasing land to hunt.

I agree Alan.  Since I wasn't there when it was signed I'm not to sure about anything.  I'm just not wanting to step on anyones toes.  You know I'm a Yankee so thats a task by itself.  LOL!

Ouch, I found a couple of my stands left open after coming back a couple times.  I said something to the Rancher, and it soon stopped.  Maybe I need to put some trail cams on my stands.

I just found this site, but wanted to post because there are many things that can go wrong with a POS deer lease.

My dad got us on a "trophy" lease outside of Brownwood.  It was not cheap.  It was for one trophy and one managment buck.  2800 acres with 17 people on it, with each hunter having at least 2 and sometimes 3 or 4 feeders.  I have never seen so much nit picking in my life.  There were no rules, except for the lease managers favorite saying, "What I say goes, and this ain't no democracy." 

There were no log books kept for maintaining records and there were no rules as to checking or scoring deer.  Many shots could be heard only to find out when you came back to camp that no one ever knew who shot, but someone had always just come in a packed up and left.  My dad and I were told we had to move our blinds because some of the original members didn't like where they were. We saw lots of deer and evidently that is a no-no for new members.  The blinds we used were in place when we bought the departing members spots.

We decided to get out of there when nearly half the lease got into the drugs one Saturday night by the fire.

We have now gotten on a lease in West Texas.  It is almost as high as the Brownwood lease, but my dad and I will have right at 2 sections for hunting by ourselves, the rules are clear and concise, and there is an established management program in place with record keeping, and we will be able to go down and take care of the place when we need to.  We could only go to the other place 2 times before the season, and not until the next summer after the season was over.

Leasing sometimes can be hard.  The reality of it is that alot of leases you get on really belong to a quarter or third of the members already there.  Yes, you are on a deer hunting lease, but if it is already established then you are just there to help make the lease payment for the rancher. 

Monty,

That sounds terrible.  Hope things work out on your new lease.