Just want to hunt a little without paying thousands!

[slas]

In my younger years I hunted a little. Not much, mostly rabbits and squirrels. Now in my old age I've gotten the bug and started preparing to hunt seriously a year ago. I have the bow, the gun and the equipment to get it done. Also, my only son has come of age to begin hunting, so I have his 243 ready. Now the problem, what in the heck is going on with all these thousand dollar leases????

What's a guy to do if he just wants to take his kid out for some hunting and doesn't have hidden gold or any family with land? Would like some opportunities at rabbits and squirrels, but also some deer. It seems these days that if you want a quality hunting location you have to have some serious resources or contacts in the right places. How do you go about getting these. I've asked around but most people don't want to share, or should I say jeopardize their opportunities. And I can't say as I blame them.

My folks have 5 acres, but that hardly provides opportunity. I can sight my equipment in and play hunter but other than that it's just an exercise in futility.

Any advice on what a man and his son with limited means can do to get some quality hunting without fighting the masses at public land?

Thanks

 

[Jeff405]

That's just the way it is around here. You might look into joining a hunting club or like you said go to public hunting. I'd be hunting public or not at all if it wasn't for my very good friend since childhood letting me hunt off his lease. You might get lucky and find someone to let you hunt rabbit and squirrels on their land, but pretty doubtful for deer season.

 

[dennishoddy]

Farming is such a low profit operation these days, that lease money comes in pretty handy to landowners.

 

[slas]

I've responded to a few of the ads with lease offerings. I've tried to offer my services along with furniture/appliances and other things we've had for sell. I guess it's just no competition for $3,000 - $6,000 cash a year. I can't say as I blame anyone for charging so much, it just doesn't bode well for us modest folks of modest means......

 

[slas]

That's just the way it is around here. You might look into joining a hunting club or like you said go to public hunting. I'd be hunting public or not at all if it wasn't for my very good friend since childhood letting me hunt off his lease. You might get lucky and find someone to let you hunt rabbit and squirrels on their land, but pretty doubtful for deer season.

Problem with many of the clubs is so often their prices are equivalent to leasing....not all families have thousands of extra dollars to spend on a few months of hunting...

 

[BryanDP]

I have 52 acres near Keystone Lake in Osage County with nice pond and a couple of basic but decent cabins with electrical, heat and air in the middle. One cabin is ours and the other is a guest cabin in a "bunkhouse" format with two rooms and a small kitchenette up front. There is a queen sized bed and a set of bunk beds on one side with two sets of bunk beds on the other. The restroom is about 20 steps off the front porch in a separate little "outhouse" building that also has a shower with filtered water from the pond. My wife calls the place "glamping." I don't hunt (thought I'm fine with people that do) and I don't think any of the neighbors do either so there's quite a bit of wildlife activity out there. There's also some pretty good fishing in the 2+ acre pond and about four miles of ATV trails that are fun to rid or hike.

We enjoy having guests so I have thought about doing a "bed and breakfast" sort of hunting experience out there but I have always been doubtful that anyone would want to pay what I would want to be interested in pursuing such an endeavor. Perhaps this is something that you and maybe some others here could help me think through and see if it's a viable business for me? I don't really have any idea of what anyone would be willing to pay for what I have in mind so that sort of input would be helpful.

Here is the type of weekend experience I'm suggesting:

• Guest check-in at 3:00 p.m. or later on Friday afternoon.
• Dinner Friday night provided.
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner provided on Saturday.
• Breakfast provided on Sunday morning.
• Guest check-out, noon Sunday.
• Private fishing and hunting during any times desired from arrival to departure.
• Target and skeet shooting.
• Access to three ATVs.
• Access to paddle/jon boat.
• Access to tractor in case you have something you need picked up from your hunt.

Pricing would need to be a base fee for two people and an additional fee for each additional person. I have numbers in mind and am happy to share mine but I don't want to taint others thoughts by sharing mine in advance.

What would this sort of thing be worth?

What other amenities should be included to give it additional value?

Thanks in advance for helping me think this through a bit.

Bryan

 

[slas]

I like the idea. My wife loves to fish so she could take advantage of that while me and the boy hunted. So, one full day of hunting/fishing and two nights lodging and food. A family package would be good with say a family of 4, an added cost per extra person. The question is hard because I will answer based on what I would/could pay for such a weekend. I personally think the "a la carte" method would work better where the ATV's and tractor are concerned. I could see me and boy going off on our own on one of them and I would gladly pay extra, reasonable price ($25/$30?), for use of it for the day. I could also see paying a small fee for the use of the tractor if game needed to be picked up.

I could easily see beginning at $100 per person, so at the very least $400 as a base price with the most basic accommodations. Personally I could see paying $400-$500 for that type of opportunity without issue, for a family weekend. Obviously I wouldn't expect high end cuisine or anything of that nature.

Another idea came to mind. Me and wife love to cook so maybe you could provide small discounts by offering others the opportunity to bring and prepare their dinner specialties for all. You, and your family would get to experience some new recipes. I like the idea of sharing the table also. Not sure how you do it currently but we went to a small resort that did that and we greatly enjoyed the experience of eating and talking with new folks.

I know the amount may seem like nothing to many but as I said before, to a person of modest means it could be a weeks worth of take home pay.

So Bryan, when can I book?

Dean

 

[YukonGlocker]

I've had great hunting on many of Oklahoma's public hunting lands, but it takes a little extra work. Find the places that most of the public hunters avoid...the animals already have.

 

[slas]

I've had great hunting on many of Oklahoma's public hunting lands, but it takes a little extra work. Find the places that most of the public hunters avoid...the animals already have.

Do share.....the closest public land to me is Lake Thunderbird. I asked a friend who has hunted there and he said they're falling over each other there's so many....

 

[YukonGlocker]

Do share.....the closest public land to me is Lake Thunderbird. I asked a friend who has hunted there and he said they're falling over each other there's so many....

get further away from OKC
put a lot of time in scouting various public lands
get geared up for longer hikes so that you can reach areas that most people won't
most people won't walk more than 20-30 minutes to get to a hunting area...so find some areas that are closer to an hour from any parking place, and you'll most likely be totally alone
get off the human trails and figure out what paths the animals are using to travel on