Ok guys...we've all heard stories or been on a deer lease where crazy stuff happens. So let's hear some stories about your deer lease and what goes on that might drive you crazy.

I'll start by telling a story about my very first deer lease in Webb County. I had just started making enough $ to have disposable income for a deer lease, so I go to the Houston Chronicle, find a deer lease ad that sounds good and sign up.

I was very naive and trusting at that time and it finally took the lease manager who was running the whole show "sneaking" a deer off the lease without anyone knowing it to get me to jump ship. Well, that and the fact that he was pocketing $30K from all the lease members AND hunting for free! That is what $3500 and 20 guys on 12K acres gets you! I've learned much since then....and the biggest thing is that NO deer lease if perfect.

DVM

Got on a small lease in Louisiana since I was working out there so much. Real good group of guys and had been a guest year prior, so I knew the deer potential (which was pretty good). Got out there one weekend and shot a nice cull 7pt around 100 inches for a guess. Get back to camp and the 'manager' says, "well that will be $2000, please'. I tell him I am confused as I was told that my dues allowed me a cull and all the does I wanted. He told me that was not the case and I owed him money. Turns out, since I was the new guy, he was trying to scam me. He was thrown off the lease the following year.

This past year, I got on a bow only lease near my parents house. 600 acres surrounded by managed land, somewhat promising. Was told beforehand I could put my stand anywhere I wanted, as long as I was 150 yards from others. Yeah, I show up a month before season opens to scout and the same guy I talked to before, walks me to a sh***y stand and says its mine and I can only hunt there. We get into a disagreement and so I show him our contract and he gets real pissed. Once it was said and done, he paid me my dues back along with a little extra for feed and such I had already purchased for the lease.

ours this year is pretty horrible. made a decision to get on one late this year and grabbed what was left within driving distance...just out of silsbee. about 20 hunters, about 10 of whom are there regularly (and, evidently, their kids...cousins...brother-in-laws...friends) on 3K acres. place hasn't been hunted in about 5 years and is somewhat surrounded by rural silsbee's finest citizens who have been hunting it at their leisure. now that it is a lease, they are pretty pissed off and have been causing a lot of problems (most of which the lease manage failed to tell us about). they've shot up feeders, burned some guys blind, hauled ass through camp on fourwheelers in the middle of the night, leave trash everywhere...and one of the old bastages got all liquored up and clocked one of the members in the face (in front of his child). most of this was before the season started and we haven't had any discernable problems since the season started, but it's still pretty messed up.

if anyone knows of anything w/in 2 hours south or west of houston (~victoria) for next year, let me know.

I cant wait till my wife is done with school so we can buy our own place and not have to deal with this crap as much.

Buying my own land, so we don't have to deal with this stuff is definitely my goal. Of course, I have to get out of school myself.




Think. Feel. Be.

Is Silsbee near Doss?

geographically, i have no idea. politically, they're right next door.

and, yea, i'm probably going to be in the market for a 100-200 acres or so pretty soon.

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and one of the old bastages got all liquored up and clocked one of the members in the face (in front of his child).

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That old bastage would have found himself on the business end of my fist. I hate people that feel entitled to something that is not theirs and then they strike out at those who do have a legal right to it.

[This message has been edited by jasontjames (edited 11/23/2008 8:53p).]

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I cant wait till my wife is done with school so we can buy our own place and not have to deal with this crap as much.

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+1

1) Land owners hunting and bringing in guest hunters on the land when the lease people aren't there. Not giving doe tags out until late in the season.

2) Guests hunting before the cutoff date and members who are too old to shoot straight letting their grandkids hunt opening weekend in their spot instead of getting off the lease and letting the next person in line get the spot, violating the waiting list rule.

3) Land owner's kids riding 4 wheelers thru the lease in hunting season on a Saturday morning at 8AM.

Lots more, but these are the ones that have really pi$$ed me off thru the years.

A few years ago in the Oklahoma panhandle, someone offered a farmer way too much money for some land (I think about 4 or 5 sections) for hunting purposes.

After they bought it, they asked the seller if he would mind running cattle on it to keep it from getting too overgrown. They just wanted them off from about a month before the season until the closing day.

The farmer was happy to oblige.

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3) Land owner's kids riding 4 wheelers thru the lease in hunting season on a Saturday morning at 8AM.

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Yeah about that. I was in my bow stand Saturday morning at 5:30 ready to go. About 7:30, three four wheelers come by within 100 yards of me with a bunch of kids deeking around. I get off the stand and go over there and tell them what I thought about it and then called thier dad. Needless to say, I dont think those kids sat right the rest of the weekend once their daddy got done with them.

Hunt on an MLD. We can take does and agreed upon culls (verified by game cam) w/rifle during bow season and month after regular rifle.

Basically, we have one guy who likes to ignore the "agreed upon cull" rule, and likes to shoot a bunch of what are just young bucks, and then petition after the fact for using a cull tag. Basically, shoot first and ask questions later.

Last year, he shot a 130-inch 3.5-year old 10 point with paired G-2 kickers in January, a deer that multiple hunters had discussed and passed up during the regular season. He claimed a cull because the deer was limping and it was going to die anyway. This all after he shot a 2.5-year old 8-point in rifle season he thought was a cull. Most of the people are long-time friends of this guy, so nothing gets said.

Other than that, I hunt with a good group of guys. Yes, no lease is perfect.

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Basically, we have one guy who likes to ignore the "agreed upon cull" rule

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Nail the guys wife and then say, "Oh, I didn't think you'd mind. She was a cull with a limp." If he insists that she doesn't have a limp say, "well, she sure was walking funny after I got through with her."

[This message has been edited by Sean98 (edited 11/24/2008 9:05a).]

LOL Sean

how about landowners having hunters bringing there whole family (brothers family, parents, cousins), just to many people at the camp site. it is not a resort. people driving threw pastures (not on the road)after rain and saying that they did not put the ruts through improved grasses. or driving around to hunt from the truck.

Here's a good one...the rancher leasing the land for cattle sprays huisache with a crop duster and lands the plane on the biggest right-of-way between 2 deer blinds to load more herbicide....on opening day.

[This message has been edited by 95 Buzzbait (edited 11/24/2008 12:09p).]

95 Buzzbait wins so far!!! That is some classic sht!! Our current landowner was having a fence built through our pasture and had his hands stop building it for 2 months during the season so as to not bother us during late Nov, Dec, and early Jan. Nice move we appreciated much.

DVM

I have family that owns some land so I'm lucky I guess. I can't imagine paying someone big bucks to hunt on a piece of land and then getting screwed around like this.

Count me in the "I want my own land" group as well. Not sure how I'll ever afford it, though.

We had some issues with one guy killing everything in sight. He is no longer on our lease and now we see more deer. surprise, surprise

He does own adjoining land. Last year he told me that my new stand was in his bullet path from his land onto our lease. I just looked at him, shook my head and walked off. Also, last year his road is out so he decided it's kewl to cruise through our lease(he had ok'ed access with the landowner) at 15 minutes till sunset, driving right past two stands(within 10 feet) with hunters, to check his feeder that he put hanging feet above the shared fence. Very good chance it gets shot shortly. It's sore subject b/c his brother is the greatest guy in the world and is still on our lease and the cow guy runs stock on both properties so gates are always open.

Are there really that many jackasses out there?

In my experience, hunting family land has even MORE BS that you have to tolerate. At least leases have rules. Family land - you're at the mercy of someone's quirkiness b/c they own the will.

Family land has its issues as well.

A buddy has a place about 2 hours from FTW, 2:45 from Dallas. He lives in FTW, the rest in Dallas. So he does all the work(corn, repairs, etc) and they all just want to show up and hunt. His dad lets them slide. I would never ask to shoot a deer out there but we help when we go b/c I know what a beating filling 4 feeders by yourself can be.

we have a lease that has primarily family on it. we still have problems with this kind of crap. the guys who "runs" things (grandad) has a son that does whatever the hell he wants. we are heavily game managed, and we watch our numbers closely. we have set "rules" in place as far as what is managment and what is concidered trophy. most everybody follows the rules. (of course mistakes happen) except for this one dude. he shoots whatever he wants. then he gets his dad to skin and field dress it. Last year each spot was allowed one trophy, and two culls per spot on the lease. he is the guy who shoots the young ten and claims it as his cull. pisses EVERYBODY off

I have a great group of guys on our lease. The guys on the East side of us are a different story. Opening weekend of rifle for them is a party. Drink as much as possible, shoot as many AR rounds as they can. I'm surprised someone hasn't been killed. I quite huntng opening weekend after hearing bullets whine overhead. We've talked to the landowner with no results. I tried talking to the fine gentleman on the lease but all I got was "we not on your side of the fence". Luckly, they wear themselves out opening weekend and don't resurface until the weekend after Thanksgiving so we get a few weeks thru the rut to get in some good hunting.

Four of us (3 of us Aggies) spend years managing a place, filling feeders, planting crops, etc. You shoot every spike and fork you see, plus lots of does. For 30 years, no does have been shot on this ranch and any buck that moved was fair game.

You don’t shoot a ‘big buck’ for the sake of pissing someone in the family off, but you enjoy the weekends with good friends anyway. You’ve waited for years to see the fruits of your labor. One of the Ags even flies in from Seattle for summer work weekends. We know that our buddy will one day have ‘possession’ of said property, we just have to be patient, and play by the rules, and we are happy to do so.

Then, one day, while filling feeders, your buddy gets a call from his MIL, who asks him to show the property to some guys she just leased it to. She’s got property taxes to pay ever since Grandpa parceled out the property! And, heck, since you are the guy who knows where YOU have set up all the feeders and stands, YOU would be the best guy to drive out and meet them and show them around! She leases it for next to nothing to pay taxes. We told our buddy we would pay whatever she was getting, but he didn’t feel it was right to take money from friends, which we all respected.

So, our buddy writes into the lease one hunting weekend a year for us.

Question is: Do you shoot this guy, and maybe piss someone off, or let him walk because the place is now leased?







Could be Dodd TX all over again….


[This message has been edited by texrover91 (edited 11/24/2008 2:06p).]

Blam!

BANG



___________________________________________________________
MYSTERY ARROW? >>>>>> hunter + hunter + shots fired + oh no he didn't + oh yes he did + oh no he didn't + what do you know + 430 acres + 2400 acres + oat patch + mixing fifty-five gallons of iced tea + trial of the century + multiple kegs of beer + TexAgs Outdoors forum road trip to Doss + I'm the man on the Titty Mountain[/Ronnie James Dio] + he ain't heavy he's my brother + calledupthatdangedolgamewardenmandangedoldvoicemailgonnacallmebackman[/boomhower] + oh no you didn't + I'll get you my pretty, and your little lease too >>>>>>>>>>>>>> 209 > Companies that make a helluva tough knife and yummy, squishy baby food

I forgot this year's shananigans. I had been hunting a hillcountry place for 8 years. The same 8 guys have been on the place for all 8 years. Managed the population pretty hard to the point that the 6th year was the first year we shot anything outside a cull and doe. Show up opening weekend for bowseason and the landowner tells us to pack it up and be gone by rifle season, as he sold a large chunk to a developer. As DVM told me, always get something in writing. Only good thing to come of this was that he reimbursed our dues and other things too.

bang...

I'm lucky in that everyone gets along for the most part and treats each other with respect. It's my in-law's place, and they're great people.

We have a place downstate that we allow family to hunt with a maximum number per weekend and a set amount per gun. This allows us to control the numbers and get some money for feeders, fixing up the stands, etc. Every gun that shows on that weekend draws for a stand

There is one stand that is reserved for any kid under the age of 14 or anyone who hasn't yet shot their first deer (first deer ever, not first of the season). This stand is near a great spot for early morning runs, and we always plant 3-6 acres of oats in a field near it.

If there are none of those kinds of hunters, and none of my immediate family (spouse or mom) then the stand sets empty. No ifs, ands or buts.

I know it's a kooky rule, but we want it to be special for our nieces/nephews, younger cousins etc.

There's always the one guy who tries to sneak over to that stand thinking no one will notice, and then there is an arguement back at deer camp about it and lots of *****ing on the phone. I swear, it's enough to make me lease the whole thing out to people I don't know or care about!

I have to say that I am one of the lucky ones-Family land that only family hunts on which comes to a grand total of 7 hunters to 500+ acres. Now it is in East Texas so the deer are on the smallish side but we are trying to improve our herd. FIL leased out his property last year but after I caught said leasee riding around on a Mule drunk as hell during dove season, needless to say me and BIL are the only ones hunting there now.

We have a couple of rules for the guys that lease our place.

1. We will shoot 1 doe for my dad during the season.
2. You may let your kids/grandkids shoot a doe during the youth season. After that, they don't hunt. You paid for 4 guns, that's all that hunt.

We had a problem with our lease that we had for 10 years. We improved the quality of deer that were being taken by implementing our own rules and managing the place and what we take. The last year that we were on there, the landowner started to get a little hot headed a lot of the time with us. We always cut cedars and cleared brush to help manage the cedar control for their cattle and to give us open areas. One day they got mad because we did not cut the cedars all the way to the ground. We always wandered why they were getting upset for something that we are helping them with. Come to find out that they already leased the place from us to another group of people that worked on joining land. They were going to pay them more and never gave us a chance to compete. At the end of the season, we also started noticing gun shots close to us, we decided to walk the fence line and we found where they have been shooting deer on our lease and dragging them to their work station to clean them. But now we have a great lease with bigger deer. Just miss shooting the doe. The county we hunt now is permit only.