70 acres of private land good enough for regular hunting?

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BehindTheIronCurtain

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I'm a real estate developer and I come across land all the time. I came across a nice plot of land I was going to buy anyway, but now that I'm into hunting I want to know if this would be enough land to hunt on for things like deer, turkey, pheasant, etc?
 
It's according to many factors. Not the least of which is, cover, food, water. It will also depend on neighboring hunting pressure. 70 acres is not a lot to hunt heavily. You will want to hunt it very lightly or you will chase out any deer you have there. Maybe if you got into archery you would be able to hunt it a little heavier but not a whole hell of a lot. Establish 2 or 3 1/2 acre food plots to draw the deer in and hold them there. It will also help draw in turkey. Also, if there isn't a good water source there, try to establish one. Sounds like a lot of work, and initially it is. But it will pay off some really good dividends in the end game.
 
Depends on the neighborhood. But you're in real estate - location, location, location....

If the surrounding area is undeveloped open range, maybe. Two acres in the right spot is enough, but as the question is framed I'd say probably not. It would be hard to stand in the middle of 70 acres and not have neighboring property in range of a 7mm/308/30-06....unless it's heavily wooded.

Just not enough info here.
 
Teachu2 said:
Depends on the neighborhood. But you're in real estate - location, location, location....

If the surrounding area is undeveloped open range, maybe. Two acres in the right spot is enough, but as the question is framed I'd say probably not. It would be hard to stand in the middle of 70 acres and not have neighboring property in range of a 7mm/308/30-06....unless it's heavily wooded.

Just not enough info here.
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There is a river on the property, and some open patches of land. And the area is Saint Lawerence county new York, which is a pretty rural area of upstate ny.

I have not been there yet, but even if I did get there and saw the plot, I would not be able to tell.

I also have another property in the same county for 40k more and 215 acres. Would you suspect that acreage would be sufficient? It also has a fresh water source, a large lake.
 
My land is 21 acres with a variey of woods and a creek. It is surrounded by farmland and numerous other small wooded ditches.
I treat my property like a sanctuary and only hunt around the edges. Other run the deer out of the small ditches into my property.
It's been working for me for about 6 yrs.
 
I knew a guy with 3 long, skinny acres on the fence line with Aransas NWR that killed his 2 bucks every year. He didn't even hunt a feeder. A heavily traveled game trail crossed his place. If there's enough cover, too, 10 acres is plenty. I've hunted mine off an on for 24 years and have killed lots of game. Of course, there's land around it that sits idle and it's on the fence line with a large ranch.

Funniest thing I've seen was driving down 59 in the piney woods of east Texas, a single wide trailer house, one end of the back yard a deer stand, other end of the back yard a feeder. ROFLMAO! I shoulda stopped and got a pic, woulda been great on some of those redneck picture sites. :D
 
Have to agree with Teachu2, 70 acres is not a lot when you have to consider where the bullet might hit of being fired. Are there any hills, trees, ravines that would be a good back drop. I could see the benefit for archery and planting fields to attract deer and turkey, as well as dove.

Got a cousin who owns 40 acres and adviced him against shooting a 22lr since there aren't any backdrops that could stop a ricochet. It's okay for shotgun, proberty is to close to main highway and houses.
 
Our home sits on 80 acres. We take 4-5 deer a year off of it and have for 12+ years. We also shoot 4-6 turkey, 5-10 yotes, and many furbears each and every year.
 
My friend and I hunt on 80 acres here in North East Minnesota. It is our favorite spot and where we have the most success (deer, coyotes, turkey and squirrels). We are very careful as to how often and where we go on this land to not disturb the game. It is state land and anyone can hunt on it. There are several other option of larger areas near by so this one gets less pressure. What I find is it is enough land for 5-6 hunters (gets crowded) during deer season if people stay in their deer stand. But to small if even two start moving around. I don't like it when there is that many. When we hunt early season with bow the deer follow normal patterns and are predictable as to time of day they move and where they are. I think we are the only ones using the land during archery season. Once rifle season starts the land in too small and the deer movement moves deeper every day. I can tell right away when someone else has pushed through. If you manage it well and it's only you and a guest it would work great. I'd love to have my own 80 acre plot, I'd plant food plots and enjoy my own paradise.

David
 
Have to agree with Teachu2, 70 acres is not a lot when you have to consider where the bullet might hit of being fired. Are there any hills, trees, ravines that would be a good back drop. I could see the benefit for archery and planting fields to attract deer and turkey, as well as dove.

Got a cousin who owns 40 acres and adviced him against shooting a 22lr since there aren't any backdrops that could stop a ricochet. It's okay for shotgun, proberty is to close to main highway and houses.
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You'd need to be in the middle of several sections to be assured a stray bullet wouldn't leave the property. :rolleyes: Me, I sit in a 12 ft tripod stand and shoot down.
 
weve got 80 acres our camp is on. Its enough land for to stand hunters or one walking hunter. We are surounded by state land so that helps alot. Weve got about 10 hunters that hunt on and off out of our camp and without the state land wed be falling all over ourselves. So if its just you or maybe your wife and yourself youll be fine.
 
depends on species you are hunting, and cover you have avaialble.

Good thing is that you can now manage the available habitat to make it more suitable for the species you intend to hunt. Establish fruit, nut, and mast bearing trees, Establish native forages that your game species of choice will find palatable, manage the forest if any exist on the property. You are the artist now that you own the land, and should be able to manage the property potentially for a better habitat.

Contact your state Wildlife agency, talk to a wildlife biologist, and they can often provide good, and free assistance. sometimes $ is available to help in wildife management,


(Build it, and they will come)
 
I had a 75 acre lease and two of us have hunted it for years, we always take deer out of there. 45 acres is cut crops and we both sit in 35 acres of woods. It is going to depend on the deer density, travel corridors etc. Ask if you can put some game cams out before you buy it, scout it well. 75 acres in Texas is different than 75 acres in Illinois.
 
Update

I just found 7 acres that has 538 acres of state land on the border. Large lake, one of the great lakes, so plenty of water, small private plot, but I will pay around 29k for it and have all that state land at my disposal, any thoughts on that option?
 
I also like the state land option. How close is the great lake?
I have a small parcel in NY surrounded by state land and semi-abandoned farms. Plenty of deer. If you really need to know about game, put a time-lapse video camera up for a few weeks.
 
I hunt off of 60 acres and have killed plenty of deer, natural travel area, wooded with fields on both sides. This property looks good with water that close to fish from, only have to worry about flooding.
 
Sicari said:
I also like the state land option. How close is the great lake?
I have a small parcel in NY surrounded by state land and semi-abandoned farms. Plenty of deer. If you really need to know about game, put a time-lapse video camera up for a few weeks.
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Lake Ontario, About 5 minutes away. Also bass pond on the property. The property is said to have wild apple and wild pair trees on it good for human consumption, and also a candy store for deer. Will head there saturday. The guy has a 5 acre plot for 16k, same deal with public land behind it, same forest, sandy creek. I might go for that instead, he'll, I'll be hunting the public land more than anything anyway, why not save a nice wad of cash to buy some filson gear? Stuff is so expensive, the 13 k I'm saving might not be enough. Lol.
 
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Only problem with 7 acres with state land surrounding is that you might be able to get one hunting spot on your land and the rest would be on state. Could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the hunting pressure in the area. Could be you have 100s of acres to hunt for nothing or it could be that your tiny 7 acre parcel is in a war zone.
 
Also, while land in NY is often dirt cheap, taxes are sky high.
That's why I like the idea of a fairly small parcel surrounded by state land.
however, don't expect to do much shooting (besides hunting) if neighbors are close which I expect would be the case near lake Ontario.
 
Sicari said:
Also, while land in NY is often dirt cheap, taxes are sky high.
That's why I like the idea of a fairly small parcel surrounded by state land.
however, don't expect to do much shooting (besides hunting) if neighbors are close which I expect would be the case near lake Ontario.
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The OP needs to check out where there are buildings on adjacent properties. NY has a 500 ft setback from all occupied buildings to shoot a firearm or bow. A circle with a radius of 500 ft comes to nearly 20 acres, IIRC.

Yes, property taxes are sky high here. They run about $30 to $35 per thousand assessed value (or $3,500 per year on a property assessed at $100k).

The really perverse thing about the high taxes is that if you hold a property for 30 years you've paid the state the value of the property in taxes. Say you take out a 30 year mortgage at 5% for $100k to buy a property that is assessed at $100k. By the time you've paid off the mortgage, you've paid nearly $300k for it - nearly $200k in principal and interest to the bank and over $100k to the state for the privilege of being a landowner.
 
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