Price per acre vs huntable acres

[carter]

i started my life by hunting on people that we knew. My family got turned down very seldom. we would occassionally hunt on the old weirhouser land.

after college, i moved to KS. we would drive roads and ask to hunt pheasants. we might get turned away on openeing weekends, etc. we would offer the landowners a couple of cleaned pheasants when we hunted.

when i moved back to Okla, i hunted pulic land and many of the old friends had moved from the farms. those that had land were hunting it or starting to lease it. deer hunting and duck hunting was good around Ponca City

i got into an arguement as a person decided to use my tree stand mid day. i then decided to get on a lease ..... this was about 15 years ago.

i tried leases as they got more and more expensive.

i went back to visit in KS and found no one would let us hunt as the land was leased.

about 10 years ago - everywhere that i went was leased. Leasing is a good income generating ssytem for land owners. the landowners just looked atTx to see the possibilities. if you wish to have as=ccess to good land - just face teh fact that it will cost you.

 

[AllOut]

Oh we have plenty of leases, I have no problem paying for a spot I want. We normally pay pretty decent at that.
My rant isn't about leasing in general.

But just to add on the KS deal... The first year we hunted in KS (2008) we landed 3 different private land spots to hunt for free. But we spent most our time on public cause we had some sweet public spots all to ourselves lol

 

[donovan]

Supply and demand......... period..........have had good lease that have been back doored and out bid the next year.......Im in the southern part of the state and have lost leases to people from texas , what Ii thought was a crazy price texans paid with a smile..... have a friend in texas and he pays 10k a year for 2000 acres with about 30% cover to hold deer...He was proud to get it had it 2 yrs and the farmer was offered more.....supply and demand.......... try buying said land and the lease doesnt seem to bad..........

 

[makeithappen]

It's all about the money these days. With the drought, crops are failing and herds are being downsized, so the lease prices will go up this year and the next few until farmers/ranchers are able to balance out crop and herd numbers. Sadly, with QDM becoming big prices continue to go higher and hunting is moving toward a rich man's hobby.

 

[fishfurlife]

Oh we have plenty of leases, I have no problem paying for a spot I want. We normally pay pretty decent at that.
My rant isn't about leasing in general.

But just to add on the KS deal... The first year we hunted in KS (2008) we landed 3 different private land spots to hunt for free. But we spent most our time on public cause we had some sweet public spots all to ourselves lol

This is just helping the cat out of the bag but I have had the same experience hunting the WHIP land in kansas. Two seasons ago, I picked up a leftover tag and hunted up there on public ground. Other than the guy that was hunting with me, I didn't see another archery hunter during three separate trips up there. Heck, we even hunted opening day of the season (also muzzleloader opener) and didn't see a single smoke pole hunter. This was on a huge tract of land too.

On years that I don't draw a tag out west, I plan to pick up leftover tags from Ks.

 

[AllOut]

No! Kansas is so crowded with hunters no one should ever go there lol
At least that's what everyone thinks.
IIRC, Kansas only has about 15-18k registered bow hunters annually, I believe we have closer to 90k. With a one buck limit and a season that starts in September (bow and ml) those guys get the easy pickings of catching bucks in summer feeding patterns. A lot of those guys seasons are done before us okies ever even get to step in the woods. The part that makes me laugh is KS residents are in a fury over the change in non resident tags. BUT guess where those KS residents who kill out early every season come to hunt the rest of year... Here is a hint, they can kill two more bucks as non res for half the price of a non res KS tag.

 

[makeithappen]

The grass is always greener....lol.

I'd love to have an earlier start to the season. A chance at a velvet buck would be great. I know there's an off chance of velvet still on the antlers if you kill one the first week of October, but it's a slim chance.

 

[JWE]

Not to rain on your parade. But higher prices are due to the chumps from Texas willing pay double what most of you native okies are willing to pay for a lease. I'm speaking as a land owner. Why lease it to you for $5/$6 an acre when I have some guy willing to come up from Wichita Falls and will pay me $12 or better? I know Ridgehunter been preaching how well you have it with the cheap lease prices over the past few years, and with the Texans waking up and finding out that with the lease, drive, and lodging is alot cheaper than trying to secure a place to hunt that's close to home for them. Be prepared to put up the bucks or find somewhere else.

 

[AllOut]

^^^^^
because I pay the $10-$15 an acre when it's worth it
Like i said earlier in the thread, I don't mind paying for what I want and we normally pay well "IF" it's worth it. My problem is with land owners who's properties are NOT worth the $10-$15 and acre still wanting it.

I know all to well about Texas guys, I've had them try to lease from me or ask to go in with me on a lease. Typically they get shot down and told to stay on the other side of the River where they allowed themselves to be over ran.

 

[AllOut]

Be prepared to put up the bucks or find somewhere else.

That's just it, I don't have to if I don't want to. I choose to lease out of fun, change of scenery and i like to travel.
I have TONS of land I can hunt for free that will probably always be available to me.
BUT we have tight relationships with the guys we lease from, if a hunting club, rich guy or Texan was to come in and offer 10x the $$$, they would get laughed at and told to GTFO.