how many would..

[beetlebailey1977]

$1600 is too much money for 40 acres.

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

Can't eat the horns and $1600 will buy a lot of flying and out of state tags.
Hogs in California or Hawaii, speed goats in New Mexico, deer in Illinois...

[rogers]

Nope not me, I wouldn't even know what a 150 would look like if it were under me lol.  It also depends on what 40 acre track you have, you could end up with the worst 40 acres of the 7000.  There are just some places that a mature 4 1/2-5 1/2 year old monster will not feel comfortable about movin through during daylight, but on the other hand it all boils down to that perfect 20 yards.  Goodluck

[ron w]

No.......for $1600 I can go on a hunt for something, bear or a couple of trips to Ray Hammond's pig place. I think I could even do a DIY Elk hunt for that kind of money. In fact I know I could!!!

[bawana bowman]

If limited like that on deer, I'd pass on the lease and apply the money towards hunting a species I couldn't normally hunt.

[pitbull]

Definitely not, it wouldn't be bad if you weren't restricted to just 40 acres. If I'm paying to hunt I'm not going to be restricted on what I want to shoot.

[Bowwild]

Of course your additional information that five of you would combine 40s and have 200 acres to hunt could change things a bit.  It would take a special 5 guys to make that work though. Wow, what a gig though, $8,000 per year for a 200 acre lease!

I wouldn't do it though.  Too many guys on a 200 acre tract for my hunting habits. I have 7 stands on 136 acres now and I wouldnt' want anyone but my son or best (non son) friend anywhere near em when I'm resting them.

Many will find this wierd or even believable but I have turned down an invitation to hunt very highly managed big buck farms in IL for several years. The fellow who is inviting me is a great guy and I wouldn't be charged a thing except NR license. I know he'd point me to super stands (and that's part of the problem, I like to do my own hunting. I've never taken him up on it though because I can't get my fill of hunting where I live and then in Indiana where my best friend lives. Just not enough season to spread myself that thin.

[Gray Buffalo]

Not a chance in hell. Besides my wife would kick my butt up between my ear’s

[WidowEater]

I would question how "real" of hunting it would be on property like that.

I am for QDM as much as anyone but there is taking it too far.  

Many people yearn to get a shot at trophy animals like that but if you do it in what I would call a "set-up" then how much of the work at hunting these animals was actually yours?

This is a border line canned hunt I would think and the owners of the lease know it full well and that is what they are banking their money on.

In short I dont think this is much different than paying to hunt on a game ranch.

I would not do it for these reasons.

and I dont have that kind of scratch.

[lt-m-grow]

I would not.  But let me qualify this too.

I don't think it is too much money.  I would likely pay it for true quality hunting.

My issues are two fold - a 4o is too small and you will not be able to hunt it much as you will push out the deer you paid to hunt.

And a 150 inch deer is pushing the limit of how big some deer can get.  All deer will not make it 150 regardless of how long they live.  To me, 150 is right "next" to the border of world class.  Not world class but getting there.  So you may wait a long time - years to shoot one.  There is a lot of beautiful 120, 130, 140 class deer that will make us very happy.  We all don't have the time to wait for 160s, 170s, or 180s.  Sure we would love one, but be realistic.

And one more caution, I would be very careful sharing this land with friends as you suggested.  Big deer, are few and far between and can (not always) make men nuts.  They ain't worth losing friends over.

[straitera]

I'm a big deer hunter & love to match wits. I could never buy a head. Count me out.

[jsweka]

I wouldn't do it.  40 acres isn't much area to hunt and a deer just isn't worth $1600 to me no matter how big it is.  I'd hunt public ground, be happy with "lesser" bucks, and save the $1600 for a couple years to fund a elk/caribou/moose hunt the somewhere.

[Biggie Hoffman]

If you don't do it....let me know.
These guys are saving their money for golf or a boat. Not me, I'm spending my kids' inheritance.

[dirtguy]

I'd hunt the public land, and look for a private place with no fee.

[Buckeye Trad Hunter]

First off, 40 acres for $1600.  That's $40 an acre!  That's way may than I would spend.  Secondly, if I'm paying that much to hunt, I'm shooting whatever I want.

[Buckeye Trad Hunter]

You also may want to make sure that you can share the areas with your friends.  A lot of leases clearly state that if your name isn't on the specific lease then you can't even be on the property.  Most also state that you're not allowed to even bring people with you that aren't named on the lease.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I'd rather go on a DIY elk hunt and shoot dinks at home.

[Whitetail Chaser]

With a 150 inch minimum and such a small piece of land, I wouldn't take it.

The most likely outcome is that you would drop the coin and not get a trad bow shot at a 150 inch deer on that forty acres.

So, if you paid $1600 for 4 years and finally stuck a 150+ buck; you'd have to say that you really spent $6400 to kill that buck.  Are you willing to spend that much?  I'm not.

Just My Opinion of course.

Brett