this is why I've all but given up on deer hunting. I'm not paying $1000-1500/yr to see maybe 5-10 deer the entire season and maybe get a shot at one.....and I'm not paying $2000-3000 for a membership even if I'm guaranteed to see deer every hunt and get a shot at a couple of "good" deer every year.

So that leaves me with the public land option.........but I'm just not interested enough in killing a deer anymore to go to the trouble and effort that it takes to deer hunt on public land. I don't mind "working" for it during turkey season, but for deer hunting, I don't want to "work"...I want to sit in a comfy shooting house and relax and if something walks by, great....but I'm not paying big money for that "experience".

So....I'm at the point where I'll deer hunt a time or 2 each year if/when I get invited by a friend/family member that has their own land/lease, otherwise I'll stay home and watch football or something. I used to hunt with a few family members and a friend on the friend's land. It was roughly 400 acres and we simply split the cost of planting 4 or 5 ways. I think it usually worked out to a few hundred bucks/person and there were rarely more than 3 people hunting at any given time. It was a great situation, but for various reasons it didn't last.