Opinions on whitetail properties

[Tauntohawk]

Bigger and closer, being able to spend more time on it would lead to more enjoyment than shooting bigger deer on a small piece.

 

[ScottP]

I spent 30yrs of my life living 65 miles from our little 70 acre 'farm' in SW WI. I'd say that 20 acres in that landscape is small, and unless you've got one 'cherry' spot on that piece you might not see or shoot the kind of bucks that live in the area. We have one maybe two of these stand sites on our place.

1- From my experience, you will get way more use out of the land if its close (we had another property 4hrs drive, much less use). I used to stay out at the cabin and drive to work in the morning... in summer you can get out there and work for a few hours on a weeknight and then an hour or two in the morning and head in to work.

2- Its nice to be able to wander around some while hunting. I'm always wishing we had 3x the land so I could actually get out and move around some especially when there is snow or leaves are wet. Also good for hosting buddies to have a few more places to set up.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[KINGSNAKE]

I have to agree with other guys on here, stay close to home you will enjoy it much more. Also i have hunted small tracks of land. 20 acres to be exact and it was a good travel corridor the problem was there were guys on all the corners all the time. I'm not saying that all the small tracks will be set up like this but it is a pain when you want to hunt and the guys leasing next to you from out of state are 100 yard up wind of your best stand set on the small piece of dirt. my buddy has 40 acres five miles from my house and it is perfect with minimal pressure so it really varies on the land. I can also say with proper management you can kill very large deer in not so notorious counties. i live in Adams county IL and everyone thinks pike and Adams are the greatest. But i have friends across the river with their own property that they manage in the 100 acre to 160 acre size and they kill really nice deer just about every year. the land is cheaper than Illinois and they get more entertainment for their money Right across the river. The decision is a no brainier. buy the 100 acres assuming it has enough cover on and around it to hold deer. I really like farms with large creeks or small rivers running through them.

 

[KINGSNAKE]

oh yeah buying land is an investment that goes well beyond deer hunting. Hopefully Im gonna be in the market for a piece of land in a few years, because im tired of leasing land to hunt and having no return on my investment. I would enjoy killing nice deer on my farm much more than killing big deer on an outfitted hunt. that just me . Also i would feel much better about my land payment as an investment over a 5 ore 6 thousand dollar guided hunt every year. If you look at your farm as an investment then your hunting got much cheaper to you wife.

 

[dangerousD]

Same answer from me. Stay close to home. Within the next couple years I will be in the process of trying to work a deal to purchase some family ground that is 10 minutes from my house in the hills near the Missouri river. Prime whitetail area. It's about 150 acres. No way I would buy land an hour or more away. I spend a lot of time there managing things and just enjoying it with my kids and family. I can't imagine it being further away and then having to decide if I want to make the drive each time I get the urge to go there. Even at 150 acres, it's tough to completely manage deer. Depends on the layout, but it still kind of boils down to what the neighbors do also. I have pretty good neighbors, but even then, for me, it's not just about shooting big deer. Land has certainly went crazy in price in recent years. What used to be hundreds an acre because it wasn't tillable or worth much to farmers is now thousands because it's prime hunting and almost as expensive as prime crop land in some areas. Kind of nuts. It's definitely not something that has a ROI like crop land, but still an investment and gives a lot of satisfaction that can't be measured monetarily. Good luck!