Buying hunting land

Well, don't look here, we can only kill 150 does (yes, 150) and two bucks a year!

DM

I would trade all the unlimited doe tags and multiple buck tags I can get here for over the counter elk and deer, and easily drawn antelope tags Wyoming has. Second place would be Idaho with OTC tags for plenty of animals. Of course I'd have to live on that purchased land too or at least in those states, but that'd be okay with me.

Do you want quantity or quality?.....upper midwest farm ground provides the best food sources and with a strong ag economy your land would double in value in less than 10 years. Some of the largest deer in the nation, 180 acres an up would be a nice start.

Kinda have to agree with the south lots of deer during season and hogs year round.
BTW what's a tag?
The only thing we put tags on down here are motor vehicles and trailers.
Best
T

Plenty of real estate information about rural land on the Internet. Most of it is priced higher than a cat's back, though. Even large-enough tracts tend to run more than one or two thousand dollars per acre. Small tracts, say forty acres and less, are above that.

Hunting on the land is secondary to the practical aspects....buy something that can generate enough return to pay for itself. Don't forget to factor in tax advantages.

avs11054 said:

Shooting 1 doe in AZ will land you in a heap of trouble! I can't imagine what you'd get for shooting 150

Click to expand...

Yeaaa, then we have to suffer shooting bucks like this,



I guess "someone" has to do it!

DM

We aint gots no deer here,yall stay away!

Land is not cheap, and location is everything. I suspect that land you buy will probably be secondary to your primary residence. Land that is close by will be better utilized and more convenient than land that you have to travel a long ways to hunt, and rising fuel costs are not good.

Avoid buying land in areas with a lot of adjacent neighbors, especially ones that like to hunt.... Poaching and adjacent dogs will an endless problem in the wrong area...

The best case scenario, would be a private tract of accessible land that is bordered on several sides by a large "no hunting zone", like a national or state park. At a minimum, you would hope for an area with a large area of natural habitat suitable to the species you like to hunt, even better if that game species is protected somehow. A more likely scenario would be a WL refuge, a state or national forest, or BLM land, (you get the picture) - this opens up more land that is available for hunting, and you could establish a camp, shack, temporary residence on the private piece... Of course this can back-fire, and increase hutngin pressure on your property if not careful...

the possibilities are endless, and larger acreages generally can be purchased for lower prices per acre, though the price tag is often un-affordable. real estate prices are a bit suppressed in this area, so if you have the money, it's a buyer's market now. I wil describe the ideal property:

It's a minimum of 640 acres, holds a high degree of merchantable timber, contains a water source such a creek, stream, pond, or river, has several agricultural fields on it that can be leased to a neighboring farmer, and it borders a much larger area of natural habitat that is either closed to hunting, or has severaly limited hunting for whatever reason... The price is less than $1000/ acre, and once a timber thinning took place 1/3 to 1/2 of the investment was returned. The farmer leases the land with a agricultural crop of some sort that attracts WL from neighboring properties, and the revenue pays the perpetual property taxes on the place. An old 3 room farm house exists on the place, with windows overlooking the fields, woods, and stream, and gives a retreat of some sort to stay during hunting season... Of course, there are huge fish in the lake outside too.

We just got back from an exploratory trip to Rocksprings, Texas. Eventually, we're going to get up there. Saw a home I wanted today. I think we're going to buy a home up there, move, and when my land down here sells, I'll be out to buy up there. WHY? Low cost of living, low property taxes (that's relative), low population density, and lots of deer, hog, turkey, quail, dove, and exotics like axis, fallow, muffolon, Aoudad, etc running free range. I also like the Libertarian spirit and general political attitude of most of the folks up there. I mean, only think I don't like is the lack of gun shops in the area, no Academies, hell, not even a Walmart. LOL The internet will get used for stuff I'll need. And, as out in the sticks as it is, at least it has cell service in the towns, more than ART has.

I know of a 400 acre tract for sale that is in the middle of prime Tennessee deer country. Cost you about a million dollars however.

DM~ -

where are you? U.P?

to answer the original OP, I favor Missouri, myself. ('cept for those darn tornadoes)

Liberty1776 said:

DM~ -

where are you? U.P?

Click to expand...

Nope...

DM

In Alabama I think our whitetail limit is about 220 per year.
As far as available species I would think that MT or WY would offer the most species with the best price per acre. In AL 1000 acres is a big chunk of land because of the extensive riverine system and forestation in most areas. In MT you can see across 1000 acres quite easily in many areas of the state. In MT/WY you can see elk, mulies, whities and antelope in fairly close proximity while in the Southeast we are basically whitetail and feral hogs. Eastern turkeys are much more challenging than Merriam IMO so that is a plus to the southeast. Your chance at truly trophy whitetails will be better in the Midwest because of the agriculture and colder weather. The deer just get bigger there than in Alabama where we have limited agriculture, besides pine tree, and the weather is far warmer. I own land in AL that has a lot of deer and I hunt them religiously. I take trips to Ohio and Missouri every year to look for bruisers and I go to MT every year for antelope and Mulies.
If whitetail is your main interest then make sure you know when the rut occurs in your chosen location. In AL we have different ruts in different areas of the state which causes big problems if your deer rut in February when the season is over. Mine rut in Oct/Nov which works out fine.

I would buy a piece of land that is suitable for hunting in an area that supports the game animals you love to hunt. 20 acres is probably the absolute minimum. I would also plan on making a food plot or two. I'd also choose a geographical location that is close enough to you that you will actually go there beyond just during hunting season.

In my case, the land would have to be within 100 miles of me unless I plan on moving there.

MCgunner, I reckon you'll fall into a pattern of a monthly trip to Uvalde. It has grown into quite a supply center, these last twenty years.

Trivial travel distance; it's common for us Terlinguoids to go up to Odessa every month or so, and that's 240 miles one way. Can save enough money to pay for the trip and shop for stuff which isn't available in Alpine or Fort Stockton.

Yeah, Uvalde is pretty well populated with stores, come to think of it. There isn't even a friggin' restaurant in Rocksprings. We drove 50 miles up to Junction to eat Wednesday night. Coming home sun was setting in my face. Friggin' blinding me. So, now I know not to do that. Deer were in the road just as I was coming over a hill into the sun, on the binders. Turkey crossing the road, like a biological mine field, that road is. Life there will take a little getting used to, I reckon, but it's all relative. We could be in terlingua. ROFL!

Leading candidate is a little settlement 4 miles from Camp Wood called "Barksdale". Thing is, all the homes seem to be in little settlements to share a well. Drilling in solid rock is expensive. I like Barksdale, closer to Uvalde and Camp Wood at least has a few restaurants. The Nueces river is just right there, also, though at the moment it's kinda dry. I used to have a lease just across the highway from the South Llano River state park out of Junction. Supposed to be pretty decent small mouth fishing, there.

I ve been to the Lost Maples State Park in 2001, the Frio River is freaking cold and so clear. Deer abound all over the place. Would be nice to have a small property out there for retirement.

I guess you have to do with what you can afford. My best Indiana deer hunting woods was a 40 acre wood lot. I killed a lot of deer in there over the years. I'm going back to the Midwest and looking for 80 to 100 acres myself for deer and Turkey hunting and a small hobby farm. Illinois would be good for you if you want high quality deer. They have a short gun season which I love. I hate gun season in Indiana, everyone kills year and a half deer, and they wonder why we can't get age on any deer. I'm a gun nut, but prefer archery hunting. And yes, Arizona was horrible for me and hunting, in Oregon now and its not my cup of tea either. The Midwest may not have all the species the west has, but has much more opportunity in my opinion.

At some point id like to own my own land. In the meantime, in CA i joined an organization that for 1500 a year gives me access to many many nice private hunting grounds. For a bit more money i can hunt birds as well. Fishing included with initial membership. Many states have this kind of thing. One of the spots near where i live (90 min drive) i can go hog hunting on a vineyard. Makes for a very nice day.

At some point id like to own my own land. In the meantime, in CA i joined an organization that for 1500 a year gives me access to many many nice private hunting grounds. For a bit more money i can hunt birds as well. Fishing included with initial membership. Many states have this kind of thing. One of the spots near where i live (90 min drive) i can go hog hunting on a vineyard. Makes for a very nice day.

Click to expand...

I belonged to a club like that. It was enjoyable for me, though the ranches in the eastern part of the state were over hunted. I had some of the best hunts of my life, though, out in Pumpville, west of Langtry, Texas, in the Trans Pecos, on a 15,000 acre ranch there. I also had a local year around ranch 45 minutes from home with good squirrel hunting and some of the best goose hunting I've ever done was in that club. They had a deal with Larry Gore's Eagle Lake/Katy Prairie outfitters. All I had to pay was a 25 dollar guide fee when I hunted there.

I miss all that, but it started getting more expensive and I did have land, a place to hunt.