1st Im so glad I found this forum. Thanks for letting me roam around here.
I am considering leaving the deer lease my late Brother was iin for so long. Its nice to have somewhere you know you can go get in a stand a see deer most of the time.
Im wondering how the rest of this forum does it, Do you own your own land? Belong to a hunting lease? Hunt public land? Hunt with an outfitter once a year? I have access to public land here in Arkansas bjt most of it is a permit draw for deer hunting w a firearm.

BKS, Your saying the same thing that I said when I also found this site....I learned everything on my own about hunting with a handgun...this site is the ONLY true site dedicated to handgun hunting.....Gary was nice enough to make me a moderator and my life was complete

as for the lease... if you are enjoying it why leave? Whatever your decision.... I`am also glad you found this forum.....

I have lived in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and Wyoming and have never had a lease to date. Getting permission to hunt on private land and public land is where I have done my hunting.

I do all the above... I own a small piece of land (22 acres), I lease approximately 300 acres, I hunt lots of public land, and if I can, I like to go on a paid hunt at least once a year - whether it's in a pen on not (though I've never paid to hunt whitetails). But, the predominate method for me is public land.

The lease Im thinking of leaving is 3+ hours from my house, all primitive, no campfires allowed, and is partially paper company land. Never can tell when they are gonna start cutting timber. My brother, who passed in April was in the lease for 30 years and Im almost sure he stayed in it the last 5-10 years so my kids would have a place to go shoot a deer. Most of the time seeing a deer to shoot is not that difficult. The bag limit there is 6 deer a year. I am not a trophy hunter but even the guys that have been there the longest (best spots) arent seeing the bucks. An average doe there weighs about 80-90 lbs.
I spend enough to go down there and hunt 3-4 times a year that I could go to one of the hunting preserves and hunt something each year.

I hunt on land my GF and her brother own, and on a large farm that A friend I grew up with has (which has been in his family for generations).

I am extremely fortunate to be allowed there, and go several weekends a year to help with projects and maintenance to try to pay him back.

I hunt WT's on family land (wife's) now. I grew up on a dairy farm owned by my Grandfather and hunted there until my late twenties

My son and I are in a hunting club together. We also hunt several pieces of property that friends let us hunt free. My son also lives on his wife's family farm and hunts it also.

I hunt private land. Farm where I was raised, friend's land and now a 40 acre honey pot that that we bought from my wife's family.

IN TEXAS YOU EITHER LEASE OR OWN, OR ARE VERY LUCKY TO GET AN INVITE. PUBLIC LAND HUNTING FOR DEER IS ALMOST NON-EXISTENT, ESPECIALLY FOR HANDGUN HUNTING. EARLIER IN LIFE I WAS ABLE TO PIGGYBACK ON MY DAD ON SOME GOOD INVITES, THEN FOR AROUND 40 YEARS I HAD A PRETTY GOOD SOUTH TEXAS LEASE. SINCE 2003 I HAVE OWNED 1,284 ACRES IN EDWARDS COUNTY, TEXAS BUT I HAVE ONLY KILLED 2 WT THERE (USUALLY LEAVING THE DEER KILLING TO MY SONS) BUT AM HUNTING WT THERE THIS SEASON. A VERY GOOD FRIEND LET ME SHOOT A MANAGEMENT BUCK ON HIS SOUTH TEXAS LEASE LAST YEAR AND HAS OFFERRED ME A BUCK AGAIN THIS YEAR. I HAVE PAID FOR A LOT OF NON-LEASE HUNTS OVER THE YEARS BUT ONLY ONCE FOR A WT. I AM NOT AS MAD AT THE WT's AS I USE TO BE AND, TRUTH BE KNOWN, I COULD SURVIVE ON DOE'S AND CULL BUCKS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE AND BE PERFECTLY HAPPY.

I hunt on private land. About a 35 acre timber that is about 270 degrees surrounded by corn and beans. I have carte blanc to make trails, cut trees, etc. Took this guy last Thursday with my crossbow.

BKS,
I primarily hunt southern Grant County in the Saline River bottoms. Our club owns 7,000 acres. Last two years we noticed a decrease in total deer numbers, which translates into lower buck numbers. I've hunted Grant County all of my life and the deer numbers trend like all other wildlife. In 2000 we had the lowest numbers seen but they rebounded and haven't been as low since.

Prior to getting in my club, I hunted International Paper leased land, another 40 acre tract that we own as well as public land. My biggest buck came from Bayou Meto on a permit hunt. I'd suggest shopping around for a good lease (they DO exist) or hunt the national forest which could be closer to you. If I can help in any way shoot me a PM and we'll talk.

I hunted on leased land in NC and a close friends family farm for the past 28 years. Several years ago I bought a small farm in a perfect location 33 acres. Just spent the last few years getting food plots established and figuring out what works. I've also been fortunate to go on a few hunts with some of the guys on this forum. Been hunting with handguns for over 30 years and still learn new things from the guys on this forum. Not a better bunch around.

I hunt roughly 300 acres of family land that is close to home, but remote. I spend most weekends of season there at the camp. Once or twice a year I'll hunt with a couple of friends at their property.

Timber companies do offer some lands for permit hunting, but that's not my thing. There are also a few privately owned fenced areas around here as well.

I am fortunate to hunt out my back door, I also own a small farm 1 hour from my home, actually helped my Nephew track and recover a little buck tonight, I try and do 1 guided whitetail hunt a year, and 2 boar hunts, when I go to Pennsylvania for deer, it"s on state forest land.

I lease 1000ish acres in the Texas Hill Country with a few friends. It's year round and is set up nice (nice is relative). My goal in life is to own about 100 acres where the hill country and south Texas meet. Good land in Texas is ridiculously expensive.

I own forty acres, but hunt public land a bit too, it somehow doesn't feel right to shoot deer in my backyard from the hot tub, but......... the deer here have become so tame I can't keep them out of the garden, this year they again chewed down the tomatoe plants and the squash plants, and in the winter they come right up onto the back deck if I don't refill the bird feeders every morning. god thing I refrained from giving them names.

I own a 40 acre tract, and we have another 35 acres that we use for pasture for keeping the fences repaired and the fields cleaned up. We border a huge tract of timber land owned by a Flooring Company. It is now leased to a Hunting Club, but I can still hunt my old stand location behind the house on the lease. I do trail maintenance, oversee road repairs, etc. on the lease.

The place that people want to Bug Out to when the world ends. I already live their. The down side to living here is pitiful wages.

Bob

YEP, THEY CAN GET TAME, AND YOU CAN GET ATTACHED TO THEM. WHEN I AM AT THE RANCH I PUT CAT FOOD OUT ABOUT 20 YARDS FROM THE FRONT PORCH FOR THE FOXES, AND THEY, RACCONS AND POSSUMS COME IN AND PAY NO ATTENTION TO US ON THE FRONT PORCH. I ALSO POUR A 50 lb BAG OF MILO ABOUT 11 YARDS FROM THE FRONT PORCH AND DOES AND YOUNG BUCKS COME UP AND EAT AND, AS LONG AS WE ARE QUIET AND DO NOT MOVE AROUND, PAY US NO ATTENTION. I HAVE A HIGH PROTEIN DEER PELLETS FREE CHOICE FEEDER 50 YARDS FROM THE FRONT PORCH AND DEER GO THERE ALL THE TIME. ONE 7 1/2 - 8 1/2 OLD BUCK, DURING SOMETIMES IN THE YEAR, ALMOST LIVES AT THAT FEEDER, I CALL HIM THE CAMP BUCK. HE IS A CULL BUCK IF THERE EVER WAS ONE BUT I HAVE HIM ON MY "NO KILL" LIST. I HAVE PLENTY OF LAND TO HUNT ON SO I FIGURE I CAN HAVE A SAFE AREA FOR GAME VIEWING. WHEN I WAS GROWING UP WT WERE ALMOST MYTHICAL CREATURES SO I GET A BIG KICK OUT OF SEEING THEM UP CLOSE. THE HOGS, AOUDAD AND WILD SHEEP WILL NOT GET CLOSE TO CAMP WITH PEOPLE AROUND, THEY DO NOT "TAME UP" LIKE THE WT.

The majority of my hunting is on public land.

I do hunt some hunter management land that is managed by the game and fish. Most of it is private

Our camp is the family homestead from the late 1800's near the Canadian border here in MN, albeit with a newer building. Most of the original farmland has been sold off many decades ago but there are still two 80's of mixed woods/CRP, one of which borders a section of state wildlife management area.

Nice one!