I'm "kind of" in the market for a good South Texas Lease, and I've been looking on leashunter.com and talking to some people. So many leases I've seen are in the 600 to 1000 acre range and have 8 or more hunters on them. That just seems like way too many guns for that kind of acreage. What are y'all's thoughts on that? Do all 8 hunters seriously take a buck every single year? I only ask because I've seen people post on this board with pictures of great bucks they've seen on 400 acre leases or less? Am I fooling myself to think I could ever get on a 1000 acre lease with 4 hunters or less for a price that's not astronomical?

This is how ranches get shot out! On most S. Texas acreage 2-4 bucks per 1000 acres is normal harvest, this includes culls etc. I have seen some ranches take as many as 5-8 bucks per 1000 acres, but this is very rare in my opinion and should not be done year in and year out.

As a point of reference we shot 18 bucks off 9000 acres in Mexico including culls. The Chittm Nunely takes 2-4 bucks per 1000 acres on avg as does the JUNCO, these are very well managed ranches one low and one hi fence.

DVM

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How many bucks should be taken off how many acres?

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This depends on several factors including annual rainfall, hunting history, and management program. You will want to get a local biologist involved as well. I've seen multiple reports that say on a well-managed place in South Texas, there is roughly one mature buck per every 300-400 acres.

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So many leases I've seen are in the 600 to 1000 acre range and have 8 or more hunters on them. That just seems like way too many guns for that kind of acreage. What are y'all's thoughts on that?

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That is way too many hunters!! Not only will it be a total cluster f*&$, but it's also a safety issue. Additionally, going back to the mature buck per acreage, you can see that not everybody on the lease will even have a chance to shoot a mature buck. This is exactly how you shoot out a deer herd which will ultimately take years to recover. It's also a reason why larger land owners are fencing out smaller land owners. "Rich man Bob" that owns 15,000 acres and spends many $$ managing the herd doesn't like his neighbor "Poor man Joe" leasing out his 300 acres to 8 hunters and having them take 10-12 bucks a year.

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Do all 8 hunters seriously take a buck every single year?

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No. Again, it goes back to mature bucks per acre. We are on 10,000 ares and have 17 hunters. That means each hunter has almost 600 acres to hunt. Out of 17 hunters, each hunter is required to take 2-3 doe, 1 mature cull buck (6-7 point), and 1 mature management buck (8-9 point). In regards to trophy bucks (4.5+ year old, 150"+), I would say that on average, we take 5 per year. This year, there was 1 trophy buck shot that was right at 150" and personally, I would have never shot him. With a healthy rainfaill in 2012 and another year of growth, that 150" buck could easily be in the mid-160s. We let many 150" class deer walk this year due to the drought and are keeping our fingers crossed that 2012 brings more precipitation than 2011 which will help antler growth.

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I only ask because I've seen people post on this board with pictures of great bucks they've seen on 400 acre leases or less? Am I fooling myself to think I could ever get on a 1000 acre lease with 4 hunters or less for a price that's not astronomical?

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You gotta understand that lease price is determined by $$/acre. Right now, South Texas is around $10-12/acre. That's just for the land and doesn't include utilities, corn, protein, maintenance items, etc. There is a reason that it's expensive to hunt down there.....it's the best hunting in Texas and is one of the best, if not the best, whitetail hunting in the country. If you get a South Texas lease for cheap, it's because something is wrong.....either been shot up in the previous years or because they are piling too many hunters onto little acreage. If you want a cheap lease, head to East Texas.

[This message has been edited by txaggie02 (edited 2/7/2012 12:25p).]

I think y'all are confirming my thoughts. I just want to make sure the ranches and prices I'm looking at aren't way more expensive than I need to be able to see trophy class bucks.

[This message has been edited by 909Ag2006 (edited 2/7/2012 12:52p).]

At the end of the season, when you review your annual expenses of a South Texas lease, you are probably looking at around $9,000 per year. That includes everything......lease, corn, protein, maintenance cost, gas, food, beer, etc. If the lease doesn't have a lodge, then you are probably looking at close to $15-17k for startup cost (camper, ranch truck/atv, feeder, stand). It's damn expensive and I've thought about not doing it several times. Hell, for that much money, you can take a larger guided trip (elk, moose, mule deer, caribou) or two smaller guided trips (antelope, black bear, whitetail) per year.

Lots of variables already mentioned, but a very rough general rule is 1 buck per 500 acres.