Owning Land vs. Hunting Trips

[HornPorn]

Have a friend in the East who recently came into a windfall/inheritance and is a big hunter. He has always wanted a piece of land for himself, but he lives in the city, so anything he owns is going to be at least a couple hour drive away. He is trying to decide whether or not to buy his own turn-key place with a house for whitetails, or just take annual hunting trips instead for elk, moose, sheep, and other big game.

I see pluses and minuses to both, and find, other than the investment aspect, it is very similar to owning a 2nd home/vacation property vs. just going on vacation somewhere and renting.

Thoughts? What would you do? I want to show him this thread so keep that in mind when you respond.

 

[Pickettpuncher]

Why would a hunting place have to be hours away from the city. Other than cost, I don’t see why it couldn’t be much closer

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

Does he have kids? I would think an inheritance is something he would want to continue to pass down.

I would think till all is said and done he would feel better about holding land he can hunt and own forever.

 

[MallardSX2]

Owning your own land just for hunting purposes isn't what everyone thinks its cracked up to be. I have owned land, leased land, and hunted by handshakes many times. Owning the land remotely was the most frustrating to me. You constantly deal with trespassers, taxes, more trespassers, poachers, buying tractors, buying buildings, gas running back and forth, lots of unexpected expenses, and you are constantly worrying about it while your not there.... ect ect.

The only way I would recommend he owns land for hunting is if he lives on it and can control the situation personally and deal with the day to day PITA of owning land......

I'm not sure how much money we are talking here.....but if I came into some money ($300,000+) I would just invest the money and take the dividends and purchase 2-3 hunting trips a year that were less than $4000-7,000 each for a week at a time....That would be pretty sweet if you had already saved for retirement and this is just all "play money".

OR, depending on his age, he should consider investing it and retiring early.....but thats just an outside point looking in. If he is 30 years old and comes into $300,000+....that can mean an easy gravy retirement at 55....

The choice is his. Hopefully he chooses wisely.

Not trying to turn this into a science project or financial advice reply but just for fun, below is a table of $100,000, $200,000, and $300,000....compounding for 20 years at 10% return....accounting for $15,000/year for hunting trips... and to be honest this seems like the most logical thing to me unless you can buy land, live on it, and manage it. If he goes that route he should talk to ALL of the neighbors BEFORE purchasing or he will regret buying the land trying to turn it into something that it will never be.....(been there).

YEAR	BALANCE	BALANCE + RETURN	MINUS $15,000 FOR HUNTING TRIPS
1	$100,000	$110,000	$95,000
2	$95,000	$104,500	$89,500
3	$89,500	$98,450	$83,450
4	$83,450	$91,795	$76,795
5	$76,795	$84,475	$69,475
6	$69,475	$76,422	$61,422
7	$61,422	$67,564	$52,564
8	$52,564	$57,821	$42,821
9	$42,821	$47,103	$32,103
10	$32,103	$35,313	$20,313
11	$20,313	$22,344	$7,344
12	$7,344	$8,079	-$6,921
13	-$6,921	-$7,614	-$22,614
14	-$22,614	-$24,875	-$39,875
15	-$39,875	-$43,862	-$58,862
16	-$58,862	-$64,749	-$79,749
17	-$79,749	-$87,724	-$102,724
18	-$102,724	-$112,996	-$127,996
19	-$127,996	-$140,795	-$155,795
20	-$155,795	-$171,375	-$186,375

YEAR	BALANCE	BALANCE + RETURN	MINUS $15,000 FOR HUNTING TRIPS
1	$200,000	$220,000	$205,000
2	$205,000	$225,500	$210,500
3	$210,500	$231,550	$216,550
4	$216,550	$238,205	$223,205
5	$223,205	$245,526	$230,526
6	$230,526	$253,578	$238,578
7	$238,578	$262,436	$247,436
8	$247,436	$272,179	$257,179
9	$257,179	$282,897	$267,897
10	$267,897	$294,687	$279,687
11	$279,687	$307,656	$292,656
12	$292,656	$321,921	$306,921
13	$306,921	$337,614	$322,614
14	$322,614	$354,875	$339,875
15	$339,875	$373,862	$358,862
16	$358,862	$394,749	$379,749
17	$379,749	$417,724	$402,724
18	$402,724	$442,996	$427,996
19	$427,996	$470,795	$455,795
20	$455,795	$501,375	$486,375

YEAR	BALANCE	BALANCE + RETURN	MINUS $15,000 FOR HUNTING TRIPS
1	$300,000	$330,000	$315,000
2	$315,000	$346,500	$331,500
3	$331,500	$364,650	$349,650
4	$349,650	$384,615	$369,615
5	$369,615	$406,577	$391,577
6	$391,577	$430,734	$415,734
7	$415,734	$457,308	$442,308
8	$442,308	$486,538	$471,538
9	$471,538	$518,692	$503,692
10	$503,692	$554,061	$539,061
11	$539,061	$592,968	$577,968
12	$577,968	$635,764	$620,764
13	$620,764	$682,841	$667,841
14	$667,841	$734,625	$719,625
15	$719,625	$791,587	$776,587
16	$776,587	$854,246	$839,246
17	$839,246	$923,171	$908,171
18	$908,171	$998,988	$983,988
19	$983,988	$1,082,386	$1,067,386
20	$1,067,386	$1,174,125	$1,159,125

 

[JjamesIII]

Land as an investment that you will see a return on. If you can mitigate the property taxes you’re in good shape. Almost like an interest bearing account, but the deposits are mandatory lol

 

[The_Jim]

Short term its probably more appealing to do hunting trips and have an adventure. I know personally I love checking out new places.

I would bet that in 20 years his view on that may change and the whitetail property would be more appealing. Especially if he has a family. I have a friend that has an awesome whitetail/turkey/fishing property in his family. They built a cabin there and get to spend a lot of time together.

Plus he is always going to be able to get whitetail tags!

 

[LCsmith]

Simple answer: both

My life goal is to own a property that I can hunt and take friends and family out on but I also want to take some hunting trips along the way. I know its not that simple or easy when considering the cost but that's my plan. If I were in his shoes, I'd get the property and try to make a hunting trip every couple of years if funds allow.

 

[schmalzy]

Have a friend in the East who recently came into a windfall/inheritance and is a big hunter. He has always wanted a piece of land for himself, but he lives in the city, so anything he owns is going to be at least a couple hour drive away. He is trying to decide whether or not to buy his own turn-key place with a house for whitetails, or just take annual hunting trips instead for elk, moose, sheep, and other big game.

I see pluses and minuses to both, and find, other than the investment aspect, it is very similar to owning a 2nd home/vacation property vs. just going on vacation somewhere and renting.

Thoughts? What would you do? I want to show him this thread so keep that in mind when you respond.

What state?

I used to dream about both and ultimately realized trips made more sense for my situation. Depends on how big of a property we are talking. 50 acres, 500 acres, 5000 acres etc.

A lot of variables obviously but pretty easy to deplete a property of deer if you aren’t disciplined on what you shoot each year and have halfway reasonable neighbors that share your ideas.

I think if it’s looked at as an investment that you have to maintain and pay taxes on AND you can sometimes hunt on it would be a win but if hunting is the main driver I’d look at trip route.

Full disclosure, I have never owned property so take that into consideration.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rclouse79]

I wish I had hard choices like that in my life. I would probably get the dream house and the take a hunting trip every few or so years.

 

[GunsAreFun]

Not sure what kind of windfall we are talking about here or what their financial situation is overall, but he can do both assuming he also has an income.

Buying hunting land in almost all cases will be an appreciating asset. It’s better than putting money in the bank that loses value to inflation. Why does he need to have a house on the property to hunt deer? Maintaining a second home can easily be more expensive than western hunting trips. Can he get by with a camper or small cabin for the two weeks a year he is there, and keep it low cost and low maintenance? He can buy more acreage that way.

I by no means make a ton of money nor do I have an inheritance. I do spend money carefully, and have managed to accumulate 80 acres and looking for more while also being able to afford DIY elk hunts each year.

 

[GunsAreFun]

I guess I should add that I enjoy public land hunting more than hunting my own property. The land I purchased was for two reasons: investment so I didn’t have cash in the bank and I didn’t want all my money in the stock market and 2) hedging that 20+ years from now the public hunting ground might be overcrowded and if I didn’t buy land now, it may be too expensive then.

My plan is to have three 40-60 acre properties in the next year or two. When I get to 55, I’m going to retire, keep the property I like the most, sell the other two, and use the funds to help bridge the gap until I can take penalty free withdrawals from my retirement accounts.

 

[hunt1up]

I've had this debate for a while myself. Recently I was fortunate enough to be able to buy some land about 20 minutes from home, in a area I've lived my whole life. It's 47 acres and I got a heck of a deal on it, it's probably worth 50% more than I paid for it. Decent chunks of timber aren't sold often in our part of IL so it was a gem of a find. It has enough tillable/CRP on it to cover the taxes and a little more so it's a good deal. It's not a large enough expense relative to our household income to stop me from taking some hunting trips so that wasn't a factor in this transaction.

Buying this particular piece was a no brainer for me due to the location and it was exactly what I was looking for. I know most of the neighbors so there's no trespassers and such to worry about. Convincing my wife to buy 50 acres three hours from home so I can leave to shoot deer would have been a tough sell. It would be a massive time commitment to go back and forth to maintain the place, stop trespassers, etc.

I'd say we need more info. What state/region, what's the market for land like there, how much is it per acre, how much does he want to buy, etc.? What's the cost of living like in his area? Wife? Kids? There's a lot of variables to consider.

 

[gonhunting247]

If he has enough money buy a nice property to hunt White tails and spend time on short trips etc. I personally love having property to work on and call my own. He can still go hunt other places as time and money allows. Sounds like a great problem to have to me

 

[conley417]

Buy land with a creek or river running through it for some fishing opportunities as well.

 

[elkstabber]

It wasn't a windfall but the result of a number of years of making good decisions with careers and some luck that allowed my wife and I to buy a farm. We were in our 30s at the time. The farm is 158 acres in Virginia and we live on it. It is almost a 1 hour commute to work for each of us. It is mostly woods with 50 acres of open land (usually corn). A local farmer pays us $100/acre annually for the field ($5,000/year income).

Early on I made food plots (10 of them at 1/2 acre each), enrolled some land in CRP programs, and built a pond. This resulted in a lot of work, especially for the food plots that I was happy to do. When I was in my 30s I loved the work. I was planting trees (sawtooth oaks, Dustan chestnuts, pears, crabapples, you name it). I loved seeing the results and the wildlife flourished. The deer numbers doubled or tripled in the first couple of years. Taking 4-6 deer per year with a recurve became typical after a couple of years.

Shortly after buying the farm I took my first elk trip. It started innocently enough with a short trip and almost killing an elk. Then the next year I took a longer trip and killed a 5x5 bull with a recurve at 15 yards. From there it only got worse. I'm so glad that the people on Rokslide won't judge me for this but I was on my way toward a full blown elk addiction.

Now almost 20 years later the food plots have grown over in weeds because I quit taking the time. I now draw 2-3 tags so that I can hunt 4-6 weeks each year in the western states. In order to help fund the elk addiction I lease out hunting rights on my own farm, which pays for most of my western hunting.

I never anticipated my elk hunting addiction. I certainly never anticipated leasing out hunting rights on my own land. But here I am. In 20 years my knees won't let me hunt elk any more so probably I'll switch back to deer in Virginia.

I'm not sure if this will help your friend decide what to do with his new money. But I would offer this up:

If he is the "homebody" type then he will probably benefit from owning his own hunting land.
If he is the "adventurous" type then he will probably prefer western hunting.
Or, he could do a blend of both if he has the will.

 

[WCB]

Depends on how much he likes Whitetail hunting. If I was in his position I would do both if it was affordable. If he is looking at taking annual Moose or Sheep trips I can't believe he couldn't afford to also buy a piece of land. The "turn key" makes me think he is looking for a groomed full blown farm type set up and not just good hunting land.

 

[Mike Islander]

Land to hunt within an hour or less is great. More than that, not so much. When it's close, you can just decide to hunt on the spur of the moment. That usually means a LOT more hunting, camping, enjoying the outdoors. If he can't get close land, or lease close land for hunting, then trips are the only choice. Wouldn't spend money on distant land.

Personally I've enjoyed our nearby hunt club lease more than anything. Hunted turkey there last night after deciding spur of the moment to go instead of heading to the office. It's only 36 miles away, so an easy drive. Spent the night in the old bunkhouse. Back to work by 7:30 this morning. The peace was priceless.

 

[Wallace]

Simple answer: both

My life goal is to own a property that I can hunt and take friends and family out on but I also want to take some hunting trips along the way. I know its not that simple or easy when considering the cost but that's my plan. If I were in his shoes, I'd get the property and try to make a hunting trip every couple of years if funds allow.

This is the answer. I've done it (just flipped the property last month) and it worked well. With that said, it is hard to manage a property when you don't live on site, especially if it's 2+ hours away. It is a commitment.

I like to have a 'home base' for hunting with my own land, then take a few out of the ordinary trips a year.

 

[Rich M]

My folks bought some land in 1985, we used it at least 2 weekends per month all year long, plus vacations - fishing, hunting, snowmobiling, etc. Had hunting camp and family gatherings. They still live there for 1/2 the year. Initial expense was $10K for 10 acres - has a meadow, babbling brook (w trout), ends at a river (also w trout), and has a beaver bog complete w beavers.

I on the other hand spent about 12 years leasing a hunting spot for $1,000-$1,500 + travel, license, etc. (the last year i did this was $3K out of pocket and a big "not doing that again") and taking a couple western trips 2 x $3,500. So figure about $30K I'll never see again except when a memory gets triggered.

Buy land over hunting trips is a "smart/wise" investment. Yes, you can still take some hunting trips. The land gives a return and if you play it right, a place to call home. If not, then sell it for a profit in 20 years. They stopped making real estate a long time ago.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Doing both is obviously ideal if possible. I would recommend he buy land that has mostly timber, and then manage it through plantings, thinnings, clearcut, etc. I clearcut some pines last year and netted $2,500 per acre. Will be spraying and burning this year and replanting in January. Have another section that was planted in 2016 that will have its first thinning in about 3 years. Depending on acreage this can generate some money for hunting trips between cuts, even after replanting, taxes, and other costs are paid.

Recommend he research where the closest mills are and buy something fairly close, as this factors heavily into proceeds.