Pineywoods / East Texas
$5 – $15 per acre
Timber country. Lower deer densities and heavy cover; the value is in acreage and consistency, not trophy potential.
Opening 2027 · Texas
Texas Hunting Leases & Private-Land Access
Texas is the purest private-land hunting market in America — roughly ninety-five percent of the state is privately owned, and effectively all serious deer hunting happens on a lease. It is also the most stratified: the same word, "lease", covers a $5-per-acre Pineywoods deer lease and a $150-per-acre South Texas trophy operation.
Access opens
2027
After the Colorado season
Lease range
$5 – $40/ac
Most of the state
South Texas trophy
$80 – $150+/ac
Top of the market
Dove bag
15 birds
Uniform across all three zones
Opening 2027
Texas is on the 2027 map. It is the deepest private-land lease market in the country and the least dependent on public ground.
Access reality
How access is actually bought and sold in Texas.
Before anything about a platform — this is the market as it exists today.
- The annual lease is the default. Most Texas hunters belong to a lease group that renews year after year, and turnover happens by word of mouth long before it reaches a listing.
- Multi-species access is systematically underpriced. A deer-only lease at $10 an acre can be worth $18–$22 leased for everything that walks and flies — dove, quail, hogs, and waterfowl are pure margin on ground already being leased.
- High fence changes the economics entirely. High-fence whitetail and exotic operations run $25–$80 per acre and up, and are managed as businesses rather than as leases.
- Day-lease hunting is a real, separate market, particularly for dove, hogs, and exotics — a Texas hog hunt runs roughly $350–$900 a day.
What it costs
Texas lease and access rates.
Published 2026 market guidance, so a landowner can sanity-check what their ground is worth and a hunter can budget honestly. These are market figures, not HunterPass quotes.
Quality low-fence whitetail
$15 – $25 per acre
Managed low-fence ground with real habitat work behind it. The fair-market middle of the state sits at $10–$25.
Premium managed / coastal multi-species
$18 – $40 per acre
Coastal counties combining whitetail with waterfowl, dove, and hogs reach $18–$22; premium managed habitat runs $25–$40.
High fence & South Texas trophy
$40 – $150+ per acre
High-fence whitetail and exotic operations start around $40–$80. South Texas trophy ground at the top of the market reaches $80–$150 and beyond.
Season framework
Texas 2026–27 seasons.
The published framework. Dates shift by unit, zone, and weapon every year — confirm with the agency before you plan around any of it.
| Season | Window | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Dove · North Zone | 1 Sept – 8 Nov 2026 · 18 Dec – 7 Jan 2027 | — |
| Dove · Central Zone | 1 Sept – 25 Oct 2026 · 11 Dec – 14 Jan 2027 | — |
| Dove · South Zone | 1 Sept – 25 Oct 2026 · 18 Dec – 21 Jan 2027 | — |
| Whitetail · Archery | Late September – early November | Confirm by county |
| Whitetail · General | Early November – early January | North and South Zone dates differ |
| Feral hog | Year-round on private land | No closed season |
2026 is the first year all three dove zones open on 1 September, with a uniform fifteen-bird daily bag. Whitetail season structure varies by county and zone — Texas Parks and Wildlife's Outdoor Annual is the only current source.
Texas Parks and Wildlife DepartmentWhat you have to plan around
Texas rules that change how a club operates.
Not an exhaustive regulatory summary — the four things that most often catch out a club, a landowner, or a traveling hunter.
Lease agreements do the heavy lifting
Texas has no licensing regime for a landowner leasing hunting rights, which means the written lease is the entire risk-management layer. Ambiguity about guests, rifles near property lines, ATV use, and stand placement is where lease disputes actually start.
Landowner liability
Texas recreational-use protections are the backdrop for free access. Once money changes hands, the analysis shifts and the lease terms and insurance become the real protection. This is a per-state legal question, not a platform feature.
Chronic wasting disease zones
Texas operates CWD containment and surveillance zones with mandatory check stations and carcass-movement restrictions inside them. Zone boundaries are redrawn between seasons.
Exotics are livestock, legally
Non-native species on private land are treated as property rather than game, so no state season or bag limit applies. That is precisely why exotic operations run year-round and price like a business.
Nothing on this page is legal advice or a substitute for current regulations. License requirements, season dates, and carcass-transport rules change every year and vary by unit — Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is the source of truth.
What you can hunt
Species in Texas.
Whitetail deerMule deerMourning & white-winged doveBobwhite quailRio Grande turkeyFeral hogAxis, blackbuck & other exoticsDucks & geesePronghorn
Texas questions
Asked most often
How much does a Texas hunting lease cost per acre?
Roughly $5 to $40 per acre across most of the state, with a fair-market middle of $10 to $25. East Texas Pineywoods ground starts around $5. Quality managed low-fence whitetail runs $15 to $25, premium habitat $25 to $40, high fence and exotics $40 to $80, and South Texas trophy ground reaches $80 to $150 and beyond.
Why do multi-species leases earn so much more?
Because the marginal cost of adding dove, quail, hogs, and waterfowl to a lease you already hold is close to zero, and the marginal value is not. A deer-only lease at $10 an acre can be worth $18 to $22 leased for everything that walks and flies. Most landowners price deer and give the rest away.
What makes a lease worth 30–50% more than bare ground?
Improvements and infrastructure. Leases that include lodging, food plots, established stands, feeders, and processing facilities consistently command 30 to 50 percent more than bare-land leases in the same area. Recording which improvements exist — and which are maintained — is the difference between asking for a premium and proving one.
When will HunterPass be available in Texas?
Texas is a 2027 region. Our first commercial push runs January to April 2027 through the Southeast lease belt, and Texas follows the same lease-signing calendar. We open a region when there is real ground on it, not when the map looks better with another pin.
Other launch states
Where else access opens.
Opening 2027
Hunting or leasing in Texas?
Landowners and clubs are contacted within a day. Hunters hear from us when the region actually opens — and not before.