What is it worth to hunt?

[Optimusprime]

Hey guys, I am at a crossroad as of now. I have found that a private timber company close to my home sells permits every year to hunt the land. They do not allow people who don't have a permit to hunt the land, so there is an excess of deer. There is reported to be very large deer, 3pt, 5pt, etc in there. The permit is $250 and only about 5 are sold per year. You are issued your own private area of about 150-300 acres to hunt, usually next to a water source and 2 year old slash cuts. There is a possibility of having access to the gate keys as well in order to get to your deer if you get one. I also have a bear and cougar tag but those are strictly forbidden to be taken there. Basically, it is perfect land to hunt, close to where I live, and lots of deer. However, there are obviously othere places to hunt for free, but I have to travel at least 50 minutes to get there each way. Mostly around an hour or more. It is obviously a toss of the dice one way or another; pay and have a better chance to see larger deer, or not pay a fee, drive farther, use more gas and maybe not even see anything worth shooting. What do you all think? Any insight would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[tjthebest]

250$ dollars to be the only person around? seems like a good deal to me!

[turkeyfeather]

  $250 to basically have your own private land sounds like a great deal. Have you seen the cost of 250-300 acres lately?

[colockumelk]

 

250$ dollars to be the only person around? seems like a good deal to me!

[h20hunter]

Sign me up.

[hrd2fnd]

Sign me up.

x2

[Nilehunter]

If I knew what in fact the land held (personal knowledge or reliable source) I'd buy in.

Patrick

[Nilehunter]

If I knew what in fact the land held (personal knowledge or reliable source) I'd buy in.

Patrick

Only 5 sold a year and great hunting?  Sounds like only friends and family get in on that deal.

[400out]

I would get more concrete info before buying but if it all is up to par I would get it! Maybe ask for a little tour of the land  and fyi selling point of water source on that side is like me telling you I can promise you a spot to hunt with sagebrush to hide behind 

[hrd2fnd]

I would get more concrete info before buying but if it all is up to par I would get it! Maybe ask for a little tour of the land  and fyi selling point of water source on that side is like me telling you I can promise you a spot to hunt with sagebrush to hide behind 

I'll take that offer of sage brush  as long as you have concrete proof  but then agbain that would tell me it is right next to the road 

[huntingfool7]

I've paid for access both here and in WY and I would not pay to hunt 150-300 acres. 
320 acres is a 1/2 section or 1/2 x 1 mile.  If you're not sitting in a stand you could walk the whole area more than a couple times before lunch.  Is this wet side cover?

[CouesFanatic]

+1.  I wouldn't hunt 150 acres for free.

[UptheCreek]

Invest half of that in a trail cam and start scoutin!

[CAMPMEAT]

Can you give us a general idea where you're talking about ? Sometimes it's not as good as it seems.

[rtspring]

After seeing how they have to pay down south over the summer months of helping my buddies put up tree stands, I refuse to pay to hunt land. Sad as it is , this is what hunting will be one day. We are lucky out west to get to hunt state land.  The day i gotta pay is the day I quit hunting...... my


RTSPRING

[Optimusprime]

Thanks for all the replies folks. The area is northwest WA Puget Sound area. I know the land in question pretty well as I also mountain bike there. It sounds like the crowd is split. Still not sure if I wanna pay, however I could EASILY pay much much more in just gas alone driving to decent public areas with nothing but small does. Doesn't mean I will find more than that in this place, just seems to be a better place that I am already familiar with.

[bassquatch]

$250 wouldn't cover my fuel for deer season! Do it if it's legit!

[Fishhunt223]

I've paid for access both here and in WY and I would not pay to hunt 150-300 acres. 
320 acres is a 1/2 section or 1/2 x 1 mile.  If you're not sitting in a stand you could walk the whole area more than a couple times before lunch.  Is this wet side cover?

Hunting is not all about walking around.  Do some scouting if that is aloud, and when you find the deer you want to harvest, sit in your stand until he comes in.  I would much rather hunt 150 acres by myself than share thousands of acres with lots of other hunters, especially if your land is close to home.

[bobcat]

In my opinion it would be worth it, considering you will save at least that much by burning less gas. Not only that but think of the time you'll save by hunting so close to home.

 Even if it were only 80 acres it would be plenty of area to hunt, as long as the deer numbers are reasonably high. Being a relatively small area, your main hunting technique may have to be a tree stand or ground blind. But those are often the most effective ways to hunt blacktails anyway.

I don't think you have anything to lose. I would at least try it out for one season. The only concern I might have is that there may be a lot of people that trespass and hunt it without permission.

[rb2506]

Sounds like a good deal to me, the odd thing is the timber company not letting you shoot the bears:-

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[beagledog]

$250 wouldn't cover my fuel for deer season! Do it if it's legit!

[steen]

Does this mean u can only hunt this for the 250 or any of your buddies as well. Then there might not be very many left.  Any small tract of land is enough to hunt blacktails.

[SirSpencer]

If it's as you say this is a no brainer to me. Do It!

[NBhunter]

I would say try it out for one season. If its not good... don't buy in the next year. 

[xXLojackXx]

Get the logistics of the land, and if it sounds good, buy it for the year. Its only $250, not like its $1000. I'd pay $250 (depending on the area) to know that nobody will bust deer out of "my" area while in a treestand. You can always go and hunt public land as well, so it might be nice to have that chunk of land locked down too for a small price. Id pay $250  for my elk honey hole, you might be sitting on something dynamite!

[Optimusprime]

Man there is some great insight here. Thank you all very much. After talking it over with my wife, I think it would logistically make sense to do it. Saving time is a huge ticket puncher for me. I will let everyone know how it goes. Please pray there is a monster buck out there with my name on it:) Thanks again!

[xXLojackXx]

Of course! Good luck and hunt smart! get the big one.

[NW-GSP]

I would prob do it if I had knowledge of how many bucks were in there

[buck man]

Tell me where it is and I will hunt it this year and report back to ya how it went.

[arnoldmc1]

Its a no brainier buy the permit, you will make up the $250.00 in the gas your going to save by not going any where else.  Find a nice open spot and sit there and get yourself a trophy.

[Optimusprime]

Ok fellas. Took my bike, jumped the gate and went for a jont on down to my proposed hunting area. it is about 1.3 miles in and down on a logging road. It is a GIANT clear cut area with about, I don't really know, 5-6 years of growth on it. There is a small pond in the middle with an open space about 100ft between the road and pond. There is new growth in there but still pretty open. There is a section separated from the road on the north side with 8-10 ft trees and blackberries with obvious game trails leading from there into the open area by the pond. I mean tons of trails. Didn't wander down them yet and didn't want to disturb them but there are good perches where I have basically an unobstructed 180 degree shooting lane. There is a lot of bear scat on the road so here is my question. If it is an active bear area, will there still be deer around? Looks pretty fresh and I am also not allowed to take a bear. What are your guys' opinions?

[Chukarhead]

Deer and bear are not mutually exclusive.  If you saw fresh deer sign and fresh bear sign...well, there's your answer.