I grew up deer hunting on a lease in west Texas (Ozona, in Corcett County). My father and his friends leased this property every year. It was a ranch that gained income from growing sheep and goats and cattle, with some extra oil & gas revenue plus what they got from us hunters. They were doing just fine.
Each year, we would make improvements to the property. One year we built a walk-in freezer. One year we installed a hotel-sized ice maker. One year we installed a trailer with 2 bath houses (showers and flushing toilets). EVERY year we would take a trip there in the spring to repair/improve their roads, build/repair feeders, etc., and each year during our week-long hunt we would spend some days as "work-days" repairing roads (wash-outs, etc.).
After 35 years, I knew this land as if it were my own back yard. We had built it up to be far superior that it was when we began.
But time goes on, and the land owner aged. The land owner appreciated the long-term loyalty and the improvements we had made over the decades. He passed on his estate to his son who had no loyalty to us. His son realized that he could triple his hunting lease income by cutting us out and leasing to corporations from New York that would lease their land for their clients at a price way out of our price range. Money was no object for them as it was just a business expense. But we were squeezed out.
35 years of work and improvements down the drain. Now I don't hunt anymore. I don't have any private land available to me and I am scared to hunt on public land. On our lease we knew that anyone on that land was one of us. I'm just not going to take a chance on public land where some drunk idiot could take a shot at me because he hears movement through a bush. I've got some great rifles collecting dust.
Each year, we would make improvements to the property. One year we built a walk-in freezer. One year we installed a hotel-sized ice maker. One year we installed a trailer with 2 bath houses (showers and flushing toilets). EVERY year we would take a trip there in the spring to repair/improve their roads, build/repair feeders, etc., and each year during our week-long hunt we would spend some days as "work-days" repairing roads (wash-outs, etc.).
After 35 years, I knew this land as if it were my own back yard. We had built it up to be far superior that it was when we began.
But time goes on, and the land owner aged. The land owner appreciated the long-term loyalty and the improvements we had made over the decades. He passed on his estate to his son who had no loyalty to us. His son realized that he could triple his hunting lease income by cutting us out and leasing to corporations from New York that would lease their land for their clients at a price way out of our price range. Money was no object for them as it was just a business expense. But we were squeezed out.
35 years of work and improvements down the drain. Now I don't hunt anymore. I don't have any private land available to me and I am scared to hunt on public land. On our lease we knew that anyone on that land was one of us. I'm just not going to take a chance on public land where some drunk idiot could take a shot at me because he hears movement through a bush. I've got some great rifles collecting dust.