Law of Diminishing Returns

[asu-indian]

So at what point do you quit adding members to a lease to get the cost down?
Obviously if you over harvest, your likelihood of killing quality deer decreases and then decreases exponentially with each year of over harvest. I guess all this is contingent on each individual's hunting budget and goals but I'd like to get everyone's thoughts.

[JLivi1224]

The fewer the better. Easier to get a small number of guys on the same page of a management plan. But obviously that raises the cost. I don’t think there’s any one correct answer, but it’s just easier with less guys. Just not easier on the wallet

[hero_moneybags]

I would start by answering the following questions. I don’t have an answer but maybe others on here can help. Where is the lease located? How many acres does the lease cover? What kind of habitat is on the lease? How many deer are on the lease? What is your buck to doe ratio? Is there a harvest plan in place? You can also get a vague idea by going to the TPW website and drawing an outline around the property you hunt to see how many MLD tags you would be granted for starters. Even if you don’t plan on enrolling it will give you an idea of what kind of numbers the state recommends harvesting.

[Drycreek3189]

[QUOTE=hero_moneybags;14042113 You can also get a vague idea by going to the TPW website and drawing an outline around the property you hunt to see how many MLD tags you would be granted for starters. Even if you don’t plan on enrolling it will give you an idea of what kind of numbers the state recommends harvesting.[/QUOTE]

Not trying to be smart, but I can't agree with this. The TPWD doesn't have a clue about what happens on the surrounding properties, whether they are hunted or not, what kind of habitat or food is available, etc. It looks to me (as a former MLD III enrollee) that they have a template of acreage that they base their harvest numbers on. When I was Level III, I got three buck and five doe tags for 217 acres of land, although we never used them all. When the plan changed, and I chose the Harvest option, the tags dropped to one each. Same place, same management, more food plots, timber stand improvement to open up the canopy for more browse, but less tags. I chose not to participate and glad I didn't. On my 85 acres here at home, they wouldn't give me any tags. Go figure !

[jdavidson]

So at what point do you quit adding members to a lease to get the cost down?
Obviously if you over harvest, your likelihood of killing quality deer decreases and then decreases exponentially with each year of over harvest. I guess all this is contingent on each individual's hunting budget and goals but I'd like to get everyone's thoughts.

If you can provide a quality location with a quality infrastructure with a quality deer herd...there will be no need to over staff the members.
It won’t be cheap...but it will be good

[asu-indian]

I would start by answering the following questions. I don’t have an answer but maybe others on here can help. Where is the lease located? How many acres does the lease cover? What kind of habitat is on the lease? How many deer are on the lease? What is your buck to doe ratio? Is there a harvest plan in place? You can also get a vague idea by going to the TPW website and drawing an outline around the property you hunt to see how many MLD tags you would be granted for starters. Even if you don’t plan on enrolling it will give you an idea of what kind of numbers the state recommends harvesting.

Thank's for that info. I should have said that the property is in Kansas.

[T-roy66]

We looked at increasing the number of members on our east Texas lease last year. After doing the math we decided to pay the additional $40 per member instead of adding a member. We have 28 members on roughly 3600 acres.

[SmTx]

As soon as you stop having fun/aren't getting what you want out of the deal.

[Reelthreat]

We looked at increasing the number of members on our east Texas lease last year. After doing the math we decided to pay the additional $40 per member instead of adding a member. We have 28 members on roughly 3600 acres.

Y’all ever accidentally bump elbows while hunting?

[Throwin Darts]

Killing big bucks isn't cheap.

[2B4Him]

I think it is all about the number of acres per hunter. And that number varies by area and property.
When I got on the last lease I was on, there were 5 of us hunting on 880 acres (very target rich environment: deer, hogs, turkeys, etc.) on the Throckmorton/Young County line. Over the ten years I hunted there the landowner (who was one of the hunters) kept adding hunters so that in 2017 we had 9 hunters (along with guests the landowner regularly brought out).
I am not really a 'trophy' hunter, but I do try to harvest mature animals. The last three years, I harvested a cull each year (along with does) but never even saw a mature buck.