Lease vs day hunts

[hully1029]

I'm at a crossroads. I have the opportunity to get on a nice lease. Great area, familiar area, close to home, lots of potential, year round access, priced right at roughly $10/ac.. all the usual species.. whitetail, hogs, dove, turkey, etc..

but..

im wanting to broaden my horizons on species. ive never killed an axis, elk, red deer, aoudad, etc.. so im considering not doing the lease and going on some day hunts instead to chase the aforementioned.

the last few years i have specifically only whitetail hunted for the purpose of filling the freezer and thats it. my yearly goal is to kill 2 does to fill the freezer and this year will to get my boy on a deer.


for those of you that have had this GOOD problem, which way did you decide?

[TheHammer]

I too had this situation and I just don’t think there is a right or wrong answer. Everyone will have a different opinion. My old lease of 12 years busted up because we all wanted different things. Luckily, I have a buddy that I go elk hunting with that gives me the feel of something different. Simply put, for me, I prefer to lease. I love the lease trips, the summer trips, the turkey hunting, the campfires, the cookouts. But the main reason I like leasing is the people. More often than not, my dad or my grandad is with me at the lease, along with the other lease members. I enjoy time with family and friends more than the killing, so whichever way I get to spend more time with them in the field, that’s what I’m doing. In my case it’s lease, all day long.

[Shane]

I did day lease and package hunts a few years ago for the same reasons you mention. I went back to annual lease after that. I've considered skipping a year or two on the annual lease again to hunt elk, etc.... I probably will before long. Right now, my dad can't do mountain hunts, and he enjoys our annual lease. So I'm sticking with that for the time being. Both good options.

[hchntr]

I do both.
I have a lease in the hill country that we enjoy. My wife and son usually rotate years in which who gets to take our “trophy”.
I also do a weekend hunt in south Texas for trophy whitetail. My wife and I rotate years in which who gets to pull the trigger.
We also do an exotic hunt annually where my wife, son, and sometimes myself will take an animal.


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[diamond10x]

I don’t think you could make a wrong choice, it’s all up to you and what you’re wanting. At worst you can always find some WT does to fill the freezer just about anywhere, lease or not.

[Russ79]

To me it depends on what you want from your hunting experience. For me, I enjoy doing food plots, matching wits with the game in trying to set up for the best opportunity for sightings or shots, hanging out at camp with folks you know, a place to go to get away from the garbage life throws at you. If you don't have time for food plots or trying to figure out the best places to set up and not getting a shot opportunity at least every second or third time you go hunt then pay hunts are the way to go. They are in business to provide an opportunity to take something so if that is your most important priority then that is the way to go. If finances allow it get on the lease and work towards one pay hunt a year for one of the species that you would like to chase.

[jshouse]

To me it depends on what you want from your hunting experience. For me, I enjoy doing food plots, matching wits with the game in trying to set up for the best opportunity for sightings or shots, hanging out at camp with folks you know, a place to go to get away from the garbage life throws at you. If you don't have time for food plots or trying to figure out the best places to set up and not getting a shot opportunity at least every second or third time you go hunt then pay hunts are the way to go. They are in business to provide an opportunity to take something so if that is your most important priority then that is the way to go. If finances allow it get on the lease and work towards one pay hunt a year for one of the species that you would like to chase.

Well said. I like working on my spots and strategizing too much to give up leasing. I would keep the lease and save money for a weekend hunt for a specific animal.

[HDWRENCH]

DO not forget the money going to and from said lease . I was going over my fuel invoices WOW spent way more than I had thought 4 hour round trip approx is a fair amount of diesel .

[Russ79]

Lucky for me I hunt two different leases and the farthest away is 35 miles so gas costs are negligible.

[Drycreek3189]

I used to lease, hunt my own places, and go to Wyoming for antelope. Wyoming got too far and I got too old. The Wyoming trip has been replaced with an exotic hunt. Much closer, axis is as good as antelope, and the cost is about half.

If you can swing it, nothing wrong with doing both.

[Kdog]

Cut back elsewhere and do both or find a way to increase your $$.

Don't give up a good deer lease, not that easy to find.