How many people are each of your 3 leases?

You can put as many or as few as you want, or lease it just for yourself. Depends on how deep your pockets are. The first tract I got was over 10 years ago and I was pretty much broke- it is 300 acres and always had five people on it. I bid on a 60 acre tract a year or so after I got that one just to demonstrate to someone how it works and ended up winning the bid on it- there are two brothers hunting it. My third tract is 664 acres and eight of us hunt it. Every time I lose a member I ask the others if they want to absorb that cost or fill the spot and I always hear "fill the spot" so apparently nobody feels like it is too crowded.

What is a reasonable bid/acre for an east Texas lease?

I have been leasing timber company land for over 10 years now an only once has there been an instance of theft- had a pipeline go thru one of my lease and while it was "open" while that was going on we lost one feeder and two ladder stands...and that is on three different leases. Has anyone else been hunting (poaching/trespassing) while nobody was there? Can't really say but seen no evidence of it. Gates and logs dropped across openings are your friends- most thieves and poachers are lazy so if they can't ride a four wheeler to where they want to go they don't. They have a set amount to start the bid at. My advice is to get with whoever you might go in with, decide how much you are willing to pay individually, divide that total by the number of acres in the tract and that is your bid. IF you don't win the bid then it went for more than you were willing to pay to be on it so no real loss. Also remember that it will probably go up every year you have it by 25 to 50 cents and acre.

Do you have year round access to the lease? Any restrictions on family members (kids)?

The closest ones to B/CS look like they are not too far. I can see how that would be a very attractive option to anyone in that area, or from Houston.

Only restrictions, once you win the bid, is don't do anything to damage the pine trees or saplings that are planted. There website has rules for what you can and can't do. One thing to remember, they are in the business of growing and selling trees so they will come in and do what they need to do on their schedule- not according to when deer season is. They generally try not to work on weekends, but during the week they could be out there cutting, planting, spraying, etc. I was once bowhunting and a helicopter was flying over a clearcut area that had been replanted spraying.

Yes, it is year round. And no restrictions on who you bring out to hunt.

Oddly enough, I don't think this post qualifies for the ETB.

Forgive me for showing my ignorance, but what is ETB.

Kind of a strange process...just put down the highest price you feel comfortable paying...then hope you get picked, even though you could have potentially gotten it for a lower price???

This is a new concept to me so maybe this is really common. I will definitely plead ignorance on this one!

Well, it may be a strange way to do it but that is the way they do it. The first tract I leased I most likely bid more than I needed to but it is less than a mile from my house and I didn't want to lose it for maybe 25-50 cents an acre. That is why I say determine what you would individually want to pay and use that as your basis for your bid. What difference does it make if you paid more than you needed to- you are paying what you determined was acceptable for you and you got it. If you don't win the bid and think maybe I should have bid more then you should have bid that in the first place. If you don't win the bid then the thinking should be that it went for more than I was willing to pay so no big deal.

Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess

When you don't win a bid, do they share the winning bid ?

John Cocktolstoy said:

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Happens everywhere I know, but in east Texas you will always have folks hunting and stealing on your property and when you catch them the authorities will laugh at you when you want to prosecute. I would rather deal with the illegals in S.Texas than east Texas trash. At least the illegals clean up and close the windows and doors when they leave. Just my 2cents.

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Best we could get was the county sheriff to show up at the thieves house and tell him he's got his eye on him. At least he claimed he did that.

I was surprised we got that far.

Friend of mine hunts on timber land in orange county. They have 10k acres. Theres around 20 people on the lease. Not sure if they bid on it like this system, but they've been on the same place several years. This year the timber company notifies them in october that they will be coming in November to harvest some trees. The timber company sends a map and it just so happens my friends stands and feeders are in the harvest area. Since they can't alter the trees they use existing "roads" from past logging as shooting lanes. So you can't just pick up and move anywhere on the property. He was pretty nervous, but they came in for a couple weeks at the beginning of the season when he couldn't hunt anyway and ended up clearing out large areas around his stands. Probably one of the better spots on the lease now at least the next couple years.

Yikes...I would be scared hunting on 10 acres....but then again, if that acreage is covered with trees, hunting on 1 acre may be fine I guess.

How long after the bid ends before they notify you? Thanks for sharing. I just put a bid on one of these.

They don't notify anyone but the winning bidder I think but I am not sure. Each tract has a "clock" on it- it says how long the tract will be up for bid. It has been a long time since I bid on one so I am not sure how long they take once the bid time has closed to notify the winning bidder. They also don't share what the winning bid was so you never know how close you came to winning the bid. One more tip I would share- although the aerial photo of the tract is pretty good, you really don't know how old it is and nothing beats boots on the ground to check it out. You can find out a lot about roads and their condition, clearings for food plots, drainages and where the best mast trees are, etc.

Get to know your game wardens-they will probably show up quicker than the sheriff's department. I have gotten to know mine pretty well and have always gotten them to respond when I call.

I had a lease from a timber company in Cass county about 10 years back. Man, 100 acres feels really big out there.

Place was kinda scary. Definitely dealt with trespassers, never saw a warden or sheriff. Had to go to Domino to get beer. That place sucks.

But the lease was a lot of fun and definitely challenging. It was dirt cheap.

Ok...went ahead a placed a bid on one. No idea if my bid is competitive or not. I will update with what happens if anyone else is interested!

Same for me...I bid $12.50. We might haven been bidding on the same one.

If you didn't win a bid, and your first thought is "maybe I should have bid X", then that is what you should have bid in the first place. Bid the amount it is worth to you to get it and if you didn't then no regrets.