Guys and gals, I am thinking about moving east to Texas. My biggest concern is that I have spent almost my entire life in public lands states such as Oregon, Washington and New Mexico. In Oregon, 53 percent of the entire state is federal land, in Washington 42 percent and in New Mexico 34 percent. Except for asking permission to walk some private cornfield stubble for pheasants, I have never in my life needed anyone's permission to hunt, hike or fish.
Texas could not be more different -- only about 4 percent public.
So, other than doing guided hunts, what about this business of leasing? Are there affordable leases that you go in on with others? I would guess that rates and terms range from reasonable to orthodontists-only.
Any help?

Bill,
Most of my adult life hunting in Texas has been on private land, either leased or short term guided. That said, there many interesting big game species to hunt on the exotic ranches and that makes it most interesting.

Ironically, a friend and fellow bird hunter shot woodcock on public land this year not very far from where I live-- we were unaware of this for many years until recently.
You are wise to research this now, before deciding where to settle as from where I live in NE Texas, it an be several hours drive to a good place to hunt.
Hopefully some more folk will chime in, but I am off to do chores now.

quote:

Texas could not be more different -- only about 4 percent public

A very good reason no to move to Texas.

What is the reason you want to move there.

P Dog: Very affordable homes in the Abilene area, lots of good fishing -- and hunting if you can figure out this access thing; lots of history and family history in particular; weather not terribly different from here in New Mexico.
Real estate is really affordable in Iowa and Wisconsin, too. But then there are those winters that absolutely kill the deal for me.
Oh, and New Mexico is run by Democrats and has been for 90 of the last 100 years.

quote:

Real estate is really affordable in Iowa and Wisconsin, too. But then there are those winters that absolutely kill the deal for me.
.

That is why I snow bird the best of both.

Bill,

I would love to welcome another AR member to the Lone Star State. However, I will be perfectly honest with you, the hunting scene here is getting more and more difficult to navigate. I grew up hunting on leased property throughout central Texas, but the lease situation has become an absolute nightmare nowadays. Quality hunting leases are hard to come by now....most are already leased by long-term folks, and if you find something available it is usually either very poor quality or outrageously expensive. The rapid rise in hunting lease prices are mainly due to the following:

1. People are moving to Texas at an alarming rate.
2. Residential development is swallowing up huge areas that were previously used for hunting.
3. Large ranches (many of which used to be leased to hunters) are now being subdivided into "ranchettes" and sold for a premium as weekend recreational properties for the urban/suburban population (no longer available as hunting leases).

These three factors have resulted in a drastically reduced amount of rural land available to lease hunters, and a drastic increase in demand.....resulting in very high prices. Most places stack hunters onto a property like cord wood, to help offset the high prices, but obviously this results in properties that get overhunted within a few years.

Many folks have given up on leases entirely (myself included) and instead decide to purchase hunting property. Unfortunately, the price of land has been skyrocketing as well....and to purchase a quality piece of hunting land for under $1 million is getting more and more difficult.

Our limited public land is usually overcrowded and nothing like hunting in the western states. There are lots of options for paid guided hunts, but these can get pricey as well.

I'm sure it sounds like I'm being negative, but that's not my intention. I just want to make sure you've got realistic expectations if you decide to move here. If purchasing a piece of land might be in the cards for you, the Abilene area still has reasonable prices (compared to most parts of the state). You could potentially get a decent place with a house already on it, where you could live and hunt on the same property and get a lot of use out of it. I'm not sure what your budget might be, but I now work as a loan officer for Capital Farm Credit, and we finance rural property across the state. I'm not trying to advertise on your thread, I promise haha....I just wanted you to be aware. If you're interested in learning more about the land buying process, I'm happy to talk to you and answer any questions you might have (I also sold farm & ranch real estate for 9 years as well, so I'm pretty familiar with the whole process).

I really enjoy leasing. Knowing I have 15,000+ acres that I pay $1,750/yr with 5 other guys. Can arrowhead hunt, bird hunt, fish, whitetail, turkey, hogs. The occasional exotic will come through the property. Not running into other hunters. We subdivide the area between all 6 of us.

Can still hunt public land in other states. At least Colorado still has some otc opportunities.

Around 1999 I could have purchased 2,000 acres with mineral rights in a good area for $100,000. With a canyon through the center and nice roads. Now it has many wind turbines and oil wells. It could have been paying for my guided trips to Alaska and everywhere else with the royalty checks. Oh well...I was only 12 years old so it would not have happened.

There are other states with lots of public land opportunities but they have humid summers.

With the Austin to Dallas corridor getting over populated by liberals the Texas I know is fading fast! We may loose control before I am too old to care anymore. Land in the county I live in has jumped to over $7500 an acre! That includes the bigger tracts! Try to change where you are, rather than try to move from it! It's the old skillet and fire thing!

Lease costs are ridiculous, if you can find one. Often, if people abandon leases, it's because it's not a good value, If it is, one of their friends usually takes it. ... (yes, I know, there are exceptions.)

Once you pay for a lease, corn, feeders, blinds, accommodations ... you might as well buy a guided hunt.

East Texas isn't known as big deer country. Plenty of smaller deer and lots of pigs. For bigger deer, you have to go to South Texas or North West Texas.

Big game opportunities on public land are scarce, with a few exceptions. There are tags to draw. $3 - $5 per ticket. odds are low, but, you can put in for dozens of different draws. Exotics, Whitetail, Mule Deer, Hogs etc. If it lives in TX there is a draw for it.

They have a Texas Big Game lottery for $10/ticket, on this one, you can buy as many tickets as you like.

Bill,

I also forgot to mention, if you do decide to look at purchasing a piece of acreage....by far the best place to start your search is here:

https://www.landsoftexas.com/

The vast majority of all rural acreage properties for sale in the state will be listed there.

I agree with what most of the folks are saying.

A couple of thoughts -

1. If you lease, that is where you will hunt. Your won't get the variety you may be used to.

2. Fishing is the best deal going in TX. Lots of lakes and the gulf area. No leases to fish.

3. If you want to hunt public land, you can easily travel to CO, WY and MT.

4. There is some public land in NM but not easy to access. Land owner tags are good deal usually.

5. I have given up on public land. Too many people. Bird hunting is not particularly good on most public land.

However, come to Texas, it is not as crowded as some would indicate. Abilene is a nice place. The only caveat to Abilene is water rationing. East TX does not have water issues.

You will find Texas very friendly and a good place to live.

Everything that Eland Slayer has told you is correct, unfortunately. I’ve lived in Texas for roughly twenty years and I’d be happy to talk to you if you’re interested. Just PM me.

Wade, thanks for the advice. I don't begin to have the resources to buy hunting property. My own naivete and an unexpected divorce foreclosed that option several years ago.
Good points about hunting out of state, and fishing in state.
My hunting list is short and simple: bump a few quail, harvest a little venison, make tiny dent in hog poulation.

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
I agree with what most of the folks are saying.

A couple of thoughts -

1. If you lease, that is where you will hunt. Your won't get the variety you may be used to.

2. Fishing is the best deal going in TX. Lots of lakes and the gulf area. No leases to fish.

3. If you want to hunt public land, you can easily travel to CO, WY and MT.

4. There is some public land in NM but not easy to access. Land owner tags are good deal usually.

5. I have given up on public land. Too many people. Bird hunting is not particularly good on most public land.

However, come to Texas, it is not as crowded as some would indicate. Abilene is a nice place. The only caveat to Abilene is water rationing. East TX does not have water issues.

You will find Texas very friendly and a good place to live.

This is good advice.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:

My hunting list is short and simple: bump a few quail, harvest a little venison, make tiny dent in hog poulation.

What are these "quail" you speak of? I seem to remember my forefathers telling us about them.

So rather unrelated to Bill's quest I want to comment on quail and other ground nesting birds.

A MAJOR factor which has been detrimental to such birds is the preponderance of spin cast feeders used to feed deer/turkeys corn and other concentrates. Not only do you feed deer but you feed and propagate millions of coons, possums, armadillos, pigs, rats and other predators that eat eggs and chicks.

The loss of these birds is also why ticks are so prevalent. You not only have more fur carrying them around and distributing ticks but no birds to eat ticks.

I trap year round to eliminate predators. All the coons I have killed of late are full of corn because the moron on my south side is spinning corn to get turkeys in. He's actually bitched about the low numbers of turkeys when I have seen him. I mentioned why that is happening. He's still feeding them. There are no longer any quail around my area.

Just an FYI.

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
So rather unrelated to Bill's quest I want to comment on quail and other ground nesting birds.

A MAJOR factor which has been detrimental to such birds is the preponderance of spin cast feeders used to feed deer/turkeys corn and other concentrates. Not only do you feed deer but you feed and propagate millions of coons, possums, armadillos, pigs, rats and other predators that eat eggs and chicks.

The loss of these birds is also why ticks are so prevalent. You not only have more fur carrying them around and distributing ticks but no birds to eat ticks.

I trap year round to eliminate predators. All the coons I have killed of late are full of corn because the moron on my south side is spinning corn to get turkeys in. He's actually bitched about the low numbers of turkeys when I have seen him. I mentioned why that is happening. He's still feeding them. There are no longer any quail around my area.

Just an FYI.

Actually, the reduction in quail numbers here in Texas has largely been attributed to the increase in fire ants.

When I see swarms of coons and possums on everyone's nighttime corn feeder photos I know the main story. There are no fire ants where I live. There are almost no quail, whippoorwill, woodcock, snipe- and turkey populations have been in major decline for ten years now.

It's feeders and exploding fur bearer numbers.

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
So rather unrelated to Bill's quest I want to comment on quail and other ground nesting birds.

A MAJOR factor which has been detrimental to such birds is the preponderance of spin cast feeders used to feed deer/turkeys corn and other concentrates. Not only do you feed deer but you feed and propagate millions of coons, possums, armadillos, pigs, rats and other predators that eat eggs and chicks.

The loss of these birds is also why ticks are so prevalent. You not only have more fur carrying them around and distributing ticks but no birds to eat ticks.

I trap year round to eliminate predators. All the coons I have killed of late are full of corn because the moron on my south side is spinning corn to get turkeys in. He's actually bitched about the low numbers of turkeys when I have seen him. I mentioned why that is happening. He's still feeding them. There are no longer any quail around my area.

Just an FYI.

Some years ago Ms AZW and I were driving from Chicago to a wedding in Iowa. Stopped at the gas station and saw a pickup truck LOADED with coon pelts. I said, "I haven't seen that many racoon pelts in my whole life."

He smiled and said, "I can thank the ethanol boom for it - every square inch of Iowa is growing corn and the coon population has exploded."

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
So rather unrelated to Bill's quest I want to comment on quail and other ground nesting birds.

A MAJOR factor which has been detrimental to such birds is the preponderance of spin cast feeders used to feed deer/turkeys corn and other concentrates. Not only do you feed deer but you feed and propagate millions of coons, possums, armadillos, pigs, rats and other predators that eat eggs and chicks.

The loss of these birds is also why ticks are so prevalent. You not only have more fur carrying them around and distributing ticks but no birds to eat ticks.

I trap year round to eliminate predators. All the coons I have killed of late are full of corn because the moron on my south side is spinning corn to get turkeys in. He's actually bitched about the low numbers of turkeys when I have seen him. I mentioned why that is happening. He's still feeding them. There are no longer any quail around my area.

Just an FYI.

Some years ago Ms AZW and I were driving from Chicago to a wedding in Iowa. Stopped at the gas station and saw a pickup truck LOADED with coon pelts. I said, "I haven't seen that many racoon pelts in my whole life."

He smiled and said, "I can thank the ethanol boom for it - every square inch of Iowa is growing corn and the coon population has exploded."

And now everyone who owns property or has a lease is feeding the damn things and propagating them! Ignorant.

Ann, yours is a very interesting observation. This whole business of feeders is foreign to me, as feeding is completely illegal in Oregon and environs, but I know it is a full-blown industry in Texas.
Your premise certainly seems sound enough to me.
Wendell, I have read about quail being under great threat in Texas. Have read that you must go west toward Lubbock to begin to find any.
Wasn't it George Bush the elder who loved his annual quail hunts near Beeville?

quote:

Wendell, I have read about quail being under great threat in Texas. Have read that you must go west toward Lubbock to begin to find any.

My ranch is more than halfway to Amarillo from DFW. We used to have Blue Quail, last one I saw was sitting on my hog trap in 2004.

In 2015 (I think), we got the right combination of rain and blessings from God, and you couldn't fart without kicking up a covey. It was the most amazing comeback I have ever seen. Next year, down 70% and then, back to almost nothing.

We don't have any fire ants where I am. They are blaming eyeworms.

A good read on the quail situation.

https://www.quailresearch.org/parasite-work/

How to check for eyeworms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUfqw8dGk5E

quote:

Originally posted by WBT:
unfortunately. I’ve lived in Texas for roughly twenty years

You must be a slow learner. Do you need assistance in leaving?

No dog in this fight but you have a bright future in punditry. Read in context, with proper punctuation he said nothing disparaging about Texas.

quote:

Originally posted by kda55:
No dog in this fight but you have a bright future in punditry. Read in context, with proper punctuation he said nothing disparaging about Texas.

My bad. I guess I’ve become jaded over the years. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been told how much better things were where the transplants came from. My solution was always to tell them go back. What the hell are you doing here?

Born and raised far west Texas, not including Anthony or Sunland Park. Family history back to the early 20th century west Texas and southern New Mexico. Left the state long ago.
For Bill- You are not in a bad place. The pasture is not always greener. And, winter is just another season of life, embrace it.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
P Dog: Very affordable homes in the Abilene area, lots of good fishing -- and hunting if you can figure out this access thing; lots of history and family history in particular; weather not terribly different from here in New Mexico.
Real estate is really affordable in Iowa and Wisconsin, too. But then there are those winters that absolutely kill the deal for me.
Oh, and New Mexico is run by Democrats and has been for 90 of the last 100 years.

If you are going to buy a lease or go guided in Texas, I hope you have deep pockets?

Buckeye, the pockets in my worn-out overalls have big holes in them, so to speak.
But I have seen axis doe cull hunts as low as $400, sometimes with a hog thrown in.

Bill,

The only two towns in Texas I have ever lived are San Marcos and Waco. San Marcos in 2014 for a federal agent academy for 5 months.

Waco for 5 months in 2009 to pick up a new airplane from L-3 for the Navy.

In either case there were too many people.

I really liked the Hill Country, but there are damn few places in the Hill Country that aren't a weekend escape from the 20 million people that live in DFW, Austin, San Antonio or Houston.

There are a lot of state lands that have lottery hunting programs. I have drawn a spot on those hunts 2 of the 3 years.

There are two programs a lottery and a raffle. The raffle is called Big Time Texas Hunts, and the lottery is called Texas Draw Hunts "go figure".

quote:

But I have seen axis doe cull hunts as low as $400, sometimes with a hog thrown in.

Ja, and I just booked one such hunt for my son and I at VERY good prices. After the hunt, I may post about it by month end.

Looking forward to your report, Charles.

If you have sharp trapping skills, you can earn your way in to some good hunting on private ground.
I love Texas and could happily live there if not for the May through September heat.

I spent 10 years in Texas, some in graduate school and some of it working in the oil industry. I was in the Bryan/College Station and Houston areas. Now I live in Utah and much prefer to be in a state with lots of public land. I go back to Texas to hunt sometimes, knowing I will be paying. Here in Utah I have lots of public land to hunt and fish, and can use it year round. This afternoon I drove up into the mountains until the snow stopped me, then took a drive through the desert. Only saw a couple of trucks the whole time. Can't do that in Texas. You could be in much worse places than New Mexico.

I own a couple of hundred acres in East Texas. I have tried to trade hunting privledges for someone who would do maintenance (Road Mowing and Trailer Repair, etc )and to keep several feeders loaded as hunting season approaches.
I have had no success. The folks locally seem to not be interested in doing the work, but would rather pay a fee which is not helpful.
I can tell you that acreage in the North=East Tx area currently sells for over #3500 per acre. Leases are in the order of $4 to $12 per acre.

quote:

Originally posted by Wendell Reich:

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:

My hunting list is short and simple: bump a few quail, harvest a little venison, make tiny dent in hog poulation.

What are these "quail" you speak of? I seem to remember my forefathers telling us about them.

The first 30 years of my life…I thought they were an unlimited resource. Now…I hope to see another wild bobwhite.

Sadly, much of what is said above is true. I really can’t disagree with much of it. I do like Texas and Oklahoma and their people. Summer heat just doesn’t bother me. I just switch from hunting to a fisherman and baseball coach.

quote:

Originally posted by Wendell Reich:
A good read on the quail situation.

https://www.quailresearch.org/parasite-work/

The bottom line however is that no one still has a handle on the decline.