lease a 40 that is home to many monster bucks and is part of 7000 acre block of qdm/trophy managed property. Lease isnt cheap $1600 and there is a 150" min on bucks now hunting with trad equipment how many would limit themselves to a 150 or better while paying for the privllage to hunt there?
I wouldnt do that, just an opinion. Most deer wont stand around long enough to score them. Not to mention hunting is more fun when you put your own limitations on yourself rather than somebody else telling you what you can and cant shoot.
I would if I had a chance.
No guarantees in life so with that kinda money I'd buy a couple of nice bows instead.... Phil
It would be easy for me to say no,,but I'm fortunate and don't have to purchase a lease to hunt,,,I'd look at it like this,,,I have a place to hunt the rules are the rules and it could be worse.
It all depends what your goals are and what your budget can afford. If you really want to shoot a 150 class buck you need to hunt where some of them exist. 7,000 acres of QDM land (properly managed) will certainly have some great deer. Of course, QDM is more than just waiting for a big buck. It also means managing the does, and killing an appropriate number of them as well.
Forty acres isn't much room to hunt on, and you would need to be very selective on how often and where you hunt it. But your chances of finding the buck of your dreams is better if you can hunt places that are home to them.
Sad in a way that it comes down to money to improve the chances of taking a great deer. But the way deer are managed by the states in many areas that are more accessible to the public has made leasing a reality for those who really want some high quality hunting ground to themselves. That isn't likely to change no matter how much we wish that weren't the case.
Hunting shouldn't all be about the money or the size of his head but the experience in life. I have only seen a track of land like that payoff for the guy that is collecting the money. I would be a hard sell but lots of guys have money for that.
It depends a bit on your other options and budget. 40 acres is not a lot as others have said. And 1600 is a fair chunk for that acreage.
If it were me I'd scout out other options.
no
Not me.
If I had another option, I wouldn't. I understand that some folks have to lease in order to hunt, but I personally think it's a great way to separate hunting into a have/have not situation.
I'd have a difficult time doing that one because it isn't much acreage. However, I spend $1,500 on a 120 acres adjacent to where I live and there is far less control on property adjacent to where I hunt -- a 152 (I measured it) was killed next door (70 yards from my favorite stand)on November 13th this year. However, I had been hunting this 120 for about 8 years for free and was going to lose it to some strangers if I didn't step up. I don't like writing the check but I'd like less some new guys with bait barrels setting up on my stomping grounds, next to where I live. Frankly, it felt just a bit like extortion at the time but I'm glad I did it because now I have much more control than ever what goes on this property. However, if the price goes up, I'm outta there.
As others have written, it depends upon what is important to you and your situation. If the area is close to home and will save you time and travel cash then the ledger starts to bend towards doing it. The quality of the 40 acres you are being offered is important as is what will be taking place on the tracts adjacent to yours. I could see prime spots on the 7,000 being set aside for favorite clients/guests/friends and you get stuck with nocturnal travel lanes. Getting to and from your 40 would be interesting as would the the ingress of those hunting around you.
Sounds like an area with high expectations though -- I imagine the compound shooters have a higher minimum score requirement?
theres 4 other people i know that will be gettign 40s as well we all agreed we will share all the land so a total of 200 acres the 150 minimum is for all weapons also you can shoot something smaller if u have a 100 dollar bill you want to get rid of. The land is about an hour and half from my home. right now im leaning towards not doing it its alot of money for a couple deer theres alot of public land around and im not sure i want to handcuff myself to that 150 mark. will have to do more research before i make up my mind thanks for all your thoughts
not me. i just got my first deer with trag gear this year. i gotta shoot a few more and not have 150" marck in the back of my mind. on the other hand i don't have 1600 bones to spend on a hunting lease.
This is a hard one, but I do have some thoughts in several areas of the issue because I have been considering the idea of leasing, buying, and the cost of the hunting I do now.
First, it is hard to find great spots to hunt. 40 is not a lot unless it is ideal. If I could get into it with easy access with the normal wind patterns working for me to get to good spots without going through the deer so I could hunt it quite a bit and not burn the place out I would consider it. It would be better yet if it had water, cover, and connected some major feed and cover area so it was used a lot as a travel area between bedding areas and beading areas to food. If it was just off to the side of some huge area and had nothing special to offer it could be of limited use and the deer could just move out if you hunt too much. I have someone I work with that ownes an ideal 50. They have shot multiple large bucks over the year with two this year and have seen two more. They hunt all the time and see a load of deer. A spot like that would be well worth it.
I hunt two 10 acre parcels that have limited deer, but two weeks a year the bucks roll through. Hunted correctly it produces 5-8 buck sightings in the pre-rut and early rut, and I see my best buck every year in this spot. I take at least one each year. I wouldn't pay much to hunt it. It is not that good all season.
While I do not pay to hunt, I would consider it. If it was close to home and work so I could get there with limited driving expenses it could be a good deal. When I figure the gas I burn driving to hunt I could afford a little private spot to hunt if it was not a lot of $.
I have thought about buying land, but the taxes around here could be close to what you would pay to lease this spot. So if it is a great spot why tie up your money and pay taxes?
You can always take that money and go on a great hunt. But what are you going to get for that a week someplace if you DIY? I could hunt the whole season in a spot like this if it is set up right plus I could take the kids and wife for free after the first cost.
I am a meat hunter first. I would love to shot a 150 or better. I would love to see one in the wild. I got to have meat. So if it is QDM and they shoot a good number of does, and I can shoot some does then I could let the small bucks pass. Now how do you shoot a doe when there could be a 150 around the corner?
It wouldn't and couldn't be a choice for me.
I recon I'd have to be satisfied with punching paper and shooting those nasty stumps.
God bless,Mudd
Sounds a bit high to me. I used to lease 250 acres in S.E. Michigan with some good friends, $500 per guy, and rules were archery only, and no guests for deer, only immediate family. Worked quite well. We had tons of does on there, and the bucks that were there were small. I only saw 1 10 point in 3 years, and the biggest buck I ever took was a 6 point. I'm sure if we could have gotten all the does off of there, it would have produced some big bucks.
I think I would pass. I love venison and I love bow hunting but when gun season rolls around, if I haven't tagged a couple of deer, then I pickup my rifle and put a couple in the freezer...just like I did this past weekend. An old doe and a management buck with a basket rack 4 on one side and a V sticking up out of his noggin on the other side. I always practice QDM on my lease and I because of that, I have some nice bucks that hang out in the deep timber on my lease.
But from another angle, I've killed several pretty nice bucks, not bookers, but nice none the less. I'd love to take one really buck before I have to quit climbing into trees but it's not an objective. In my crazy mind, any deer I take with a recurve or a longbow is deer enough.
I wouldn't, and would not be able to, but I know folks who regularly pay "trespass" fees out west for the right to hunt on a ranch for just a week. In that vein, I could see someone justifying the cost for that opportunity. It just won't be me...
OOOhhooohh pick me pick me!!!!!
$1600 is too much money for 40 acres.
Can't eat the horns and $1600 will buy a lot of flying and out of state tags.
Hogs in California or Hawaii, speed goats in New Mexico, deer in Illinois...
Nope not me, I wouldn't even know what a 150 would look like if it were under me lol. It also depends on what 40 acre track you have, you could end up with the worst 40 acres of the 7000. There are just some places that a mature 4 1/2-5 1/2 year old monster will not feel comfortable about movin through during daylight, but on the other hand it all boils down to that perfect 20 yards. Goodluck
No.......for $1600 I can go on a hunt for something, bear or a couple of trips to Ray Hammond's pig place. I think I could even do a DIY Elk hunt for that kind of money. In fact I know I could!!!
If limited like that on deer, I'd pass on the lease and apply the money towards hunting a species I couldn't normally hunt.
Definitely not, it wouldn't be bad if you weren't restricted to just 40 acres. If I'm paying to hunt I'm not going to be restricted on what I want to shoot.
Of course your additional information that five of you would combine 40s and have 200 acres to hunt could change things a bit. It would take a special 5 guys to make that work though. Wow, what a gig though, $8,000 per year for a 200 acre lease!
I wouldn't do it though. Too many guys on a 200 acre tract for my hunting habits. I have 7 stands on 136 acres now and I wouldnt' want anyone but my son or best (non son) friend anywhere near em when I'm resting them.
Many will find this wierd or even believable but I have turned down an invitation to hunt very highly managed big buck farms in IL for several years. The fellow who is inviting me is a great guy and I wouldn't be charged a thing except NR license. I know he'd point me to super stands (and that's part of the problem, I like to do my own hunting. I've never taken him up on it though because I can't get my fill of hunting where I live and then in Indiana where my best friend lives. Just not enough season to spread myself that thin.
Not a chance in hell. Besides my wife would kick my butt up between my ear's
I would question how "real" of hunting it would be on property like that.
I am for QDM as much as anyone but there is taking it too far.
Many people yearn to get a shot at trophy animals like that but if you do it in what I would call a "set-up" then how much of the work at hunting these animals was actually yours?
This is a border line canned hunt I would think and the owners of the lease know it full well and that is what they are banking their money on.
In short I dont think this is much different than paying to hunt on a game ranch.
I would not do it for these reasons.
and I dont have that kind of scratch.
I would not. But let me qualify this too.
I don't think it is too much money. I would likely pay it for true quality hunting.
My issues are two fold - a 4o is too small and you will not be able to hunt it much as you will push out the deer you paid to hunt.
And a 150 inch deer is pushing the limit of how big some deer can get. All deer will not make it 150 regardless of how long they live. To me, 150 is right "next" to the border of world class. Not world class but getting there. So you may wait a long time - years to shoot one. There is a lot of beautiful 120, 130, 140 class deer that will make us very happy. We all don't have the time to wait for 160s, 170s, or 180s. Sure we would love one, but be realistic.
And one more caution, I would be very careful sharing this land with friends as you suggested. Big deer, are few and far between and can (not always) make men nuts. They ain't worth losing friends over.
I'm a big deer hunter & love to match wits. I could never buy a head. Count me out.
I wouldn't do it. 40 acres isn't much area to hunt and a deer just isn't worth $1600 to me no matter how big it is. I'd hunt public ground, be happy with "lesser" bucks, and save the $1600 for a couple years to fund a elk/caribou/moose hunt the somewhere.
If you don't do it....let me know.
These guys are saving their money for golf or a boat. Not me, I'm spending my kids' inheritance.
I'd hunt the public land, and look for a private place with no fee.
First off, 40 acres for $1600. That's $40 an acre! That's way may than I would spend. Secondly, if I'm paying that much to hunt, I'm shooting whatever I want.
You also may want to make sure that you can share the areas with your friends. A lot of leases clearly state that if your name isn't on the specific lease then you can't even be on the property. Most also state that you're not allowed to even bring people with you that aren't named on the lease.
I'd rather go on a DIY elk hunt and shoot dinks at home.
With a 150 inch minimum and such a small piece of land, I wouldn't take it.
The most likely outcome is that you would drop the coin and not get a trad bow shot at a 150 inch deer on that forty acres.
So, if you paid $1600 for 4 years and finally stuck a 150+ buck; you'd have to say that you really spent $6400 to kill that buck. Are you willing to spend that much? I'm not.
Just My Opinion of course.
Brett