Thoughts/advice on buying land

[timekiller13]

I'm finally at a place in my life where I can afford to buy a piece of land. I'm tired of the year end year out game of leasing property. My wife and I have talked extensively and she is on board. The property I will be looking for will be exclusively for hunting/recreational purposes. I have been looking heavily at properties that are 2-3 hour drive from my home because the land prices are lower, so I can afford more acreage. Also, the game populations are higher and trophy potential is generally better. There is nothing wrong with the hunting close to my home, but it is much better a few hours away. Not only that, but I can afford 3-4x as much acreage if I am willing to drive a few hours. But I am torn. Do I go for more land and better hunting a few hours and sacrifice easier access and use. Or do I buy less closer to home and be able to enjoy it more because of the close proximity? Thoughts and advice? Especially from those of you who own land?

 

[couesbitten]

2 - 3 hours isn't very far to drive to be able to escape the hassles of everyday life and enjoy yourself.

 

[philos]

I have pondered the same thing and the conclusion I've come to is to buy as close to home as possible-within reason. Here's why-you will likely do land maintenance and food plots, gates, etc. You might want to just spend some downtime there and there will be times when you just want a quick day or even half day hunt. 2-3 hours might not seem like much but it will add up if you intend to go to the property much.

You could camp there and if you were buying for hunting only and for hunting only certain seasons and specific game you might not go as much but buying it to be yours usually means you will spend more time there than you might initially think.

Of course there are trade offs but I believe I would try to buy within a close proximity-close is of course up for interpretation. 2 hours might not be a bad drive but much more than that in my opinion is too far.

That said I am jealous and happy for you. Hope it goes well.

 

[Gobbler]

One could write a whole book answering this. My place is 4.5 hours away. I love it but there are many trade-offs and sacrifices to consider being that far away. Best advice is start with your goals, what is your dream, why do you want the land and what do you hope to get out of it. Are you going to improve the land or enjoy it as is. Then how far do you need to drive to satisfy those goals. Then consider your family - are they coming with you or are you leaving them? Doesn't matter if it's 15 minutes away or 200 miles, not home is not home. I will go up and back in a day when I really need to, so to me 2-3 hours would be a piece of cake. The closer it is the more you will (get to) use it. But make sure you buy where you can satisfy most of your own goals. While my place is far away it provides the hunting opportunities I seek, and I just can't find them any closer.

A couple other thoughts - generally speaking the more land you can control the better. But carefully consider who your neighbors will be because their influence can quickly derail your best plans.

 

[Double Creek]

My land is 4 hrs away and with 3 kids it is hard for us to get there more than a few times a year. 2hrs isn't bad, much further than that gets tough.

 

[2ski]

My family has a cabin 3 hours from where I live. IT IS HOME. I will drive it most weekends during the summer. To me it's normal to make that drive.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[LostArra]

Listen to Gobbler especially regarding neighbors and size.
Decide on how much land you need/want then double it. Acres shrink with time.
Unless you are buying a dozen sections of the King Ranch you won't be "managing a herd" so the hunting philosophy of the surrounding neighbors and the trespassers/poachers will be important.

Will you be happy with the land if the hunting starts to go south even for a season or two?
If the hunting goes bad on your lease, you move on.

Buying land is rarely a bad idea since there is a finite amount but basing the purchase totally on hunting adds some risk to your long term enjoyment.

 

[Ohio Darin]

Not sure what part of the county you are in but maybe consider land that generates income as well. I paid more for my farm than I could have paid for similar acreage with no tillable ground. However, the rent received from the farming operation more than pays for the property taxes, insurance and utilities. A double bonus is the farmer mows and maintains the place and provides another set of eyes and additional activity. They are not making any more land and definitely not making any more farm ground so it will hold its value better than strictly recreational property. Good luck on the search. Took my wife and I three years to find our place 35 minutes from home.

 

[dvm_hunter]

Depending on the state you live in I'd also consider putting some sort of livestock on it for an Ag Exemption on your taxes. It's a significant difference here in Texas.

 

[RdRdrFan]

I'll go against the grain a bit. My place is 3.5 hours from home. Would I like it to be a bit closer? Certainly. But there is such a thing as too close. A good friend has two places. One is 30 min from his house and the other is 1.5 hours. He has told me many times that the reason he always goes to the furthest property is because he doesn't ever feel that he is truly away from it all at the closer property. Only being 30 minutes away means that minor issues at work and home can command his attention and never allows him to truly settle in and relax. He doesn't feel like he can truly get away.

 

[elkyinzer]

Very individual circumstances are going to answer your question. It would help to know where you are at and your target acreage.

Me, I'd rather have less land close to home I can use more often. There are vast public lands I can drive to that have mature (not trophy, but mature) deer and get away from people. A lot of days I wish I could just slip out my back door for an evening hunt and that would be why I would seek my own land some day. If you are in the Midwest that is going to be a different story obviously as there is not much public land in most of those states.

Aside from that I would say the biggest factors are your plans to manage it and the neighbors. Driving 3-4 hours every couple weeks to manage food plots would get old very quickly to me. As others said, if you have kids that are going to hunt it, they are almost certainly not going to hunt with you as much if they have to spend 8 hours in the car to do so for a weekend.

You didn't mention how much acreage you are looking at, but anything short of 750 to 1,000 and neighbors become a big factor. If you are thinking 200 or less acres, the neighbors are a huge factor and you can generally forget about quality deer management unless you and the neighbors are all on the same page.

Trespassing is also rampant in certain areas in the Mid Atlantic I am familiar with (PA and WV, a little less so in OH) and I am sure all over the country. If you aren't there to keep an eye on it around the clock and don't have a local helping you, expect some trespassing issues.

Also if you are a trophy hunter just keep in mind the soil fertility and quality of the habitat. If the land prices are cheaper it may be due to location or it may reflect the fact that the soil sucks and deer aren't going to grow really big there no matter how well you manage it. Good luck in your search!

 

[Johnboy]

My greatest fear against buying hunting land is that the hunting quality will eventually decline, and, because I'm paying a mortgage on it, I'll be left feeling obligated to use the land to the exclusion of far better hunting opportunities elsewhere. However, some of my fondest childhood memories are from hunting and 4-wheeling on Grampa's 80-acre farm up in Escanaba, MI. There was almost zero trophy potential, but as a kid I hardly cared. But I lost interest in hunting up there when I discovered places in the Midwest where I would see 5 bucks (whitetails) per day larger than the biggest bucks I'd ever see in the U.P. The farm was sold about 15 years ago, and now that I'm approaching 40 years old, I'm starting to feel the pull of nostalgia. I wonder what the old farm looks like now and what experiences/traditions I missed out on. Maybe lots, maybe none. Probably it's somewhere in between, so it's hard to place a value on it. But these are some of the considerations that would come to mind in contemplating buying land for hunting.

 

[timekiller13]

All good advice as usual from rokslide members. I feel like this will be a long, ongoing process. I am going to be picky about the property I buy. Although I now work in the medical field, I used to work for th forest service and wildlife resource commission. I scrutinize properties in terms of timber, agriculture, game populations etc. it should be a fun process.

 

[SnapT]

I'm about 2.5 hours from mine . Though I wish it was closer the price would go up substantially the closer it was , so...... . It's a tradeoff .
Check out some of the nearby properties . Good neighbors are priceless . Consider a lot a short drive from water if you fish etc (The road I'm on ends in a public boat launch for a lake with bass and pike ) . Make sure there are no right of ways (public atv or snowmobile trails through your lot) .Bigger is always better provided you don't stretch your budget .

Enjoy the heck out of it.

 

[Centralcoastca]

My friends have a piece of land that they bought for similar reasons and use. They have over the last 10 or so years turned it into a great hunting camp with a shooting range, etc. It’s about an hour away and they are there every weekend either working on making it better or just enjoying it. I am fortunate to be able to go when I want and enjoy helping out with whatever projects they’re doing. If it was 2-3 hrs away we’d still be out there a lot, but it wouldn’t be as easy after work on Friday to spend a weekend. If it’s mostly for deer season then it’d probably be fine, but it’s nice to just have a quick get away on any weekend or head over there for a morning range session to sight in a gun or whatever.

 

[Beagle1]

The older you get the longer that two hour drive will feel especially if it is a one day trip.

I have leased the same property since the late 80s. For about the first 15 years it was only a 25 minute drive and I hunted the land frequently. After that my drive was 75 minutes and as the years wore on I hunted the property less and less especially in the mornings.

Three years ago I bought some land behind my house and there is no down side to walking out your door to hunt.

 

[12wander]

I will say when you find something interesting. Pay attention to the neighbors. They can turn a dream into a nightmare.

 

[DKBronco]

Do you prefer to feel removed and somewhat detached from normal day to day, will those you take with you - wife, kids, other family - enjoy the separation from their normal, etc. In my experience, I love that my place is a bit away, there is little to no cell service so I feel more relaxed while there and my kid is not tempted by his phone and we reconnect. It encourages us to really set aside a decent amount of time to go there and we are never rushed to get there or back. I’m concerned if I had a place nearby, I’d just cram in extra trips that would only add to a overly busy schedule and reduce from the quality of time spent there.

 

[Mosby]

I sold my land last year. 112 acres. When I bought it, I was about 8 hours away but I have lived half way across the country from it for the last 20 and never really used it. My brother and his kids hunted it quite a bit but regardless it was still worth it. I got paid on a gas lease, get a small monthly income from the production and I sold it for more than 3x what I paid for it. Land is always a good long term investment.

 

[Tedhunts]

Experienced the same dilemma about 20 years ago... do I buy larger tract of land 2 hours away from home where land was much cheaper or a smaller tract 45 minutes away.... ( 86 acres vs 335 acres) ? I went big and have never looked back, its well worth the drive. I found that larger tract just gives you broadly more opportunities to do all things outdoors. More food plots, more diversity, more stands to hunt the right wind direction, less pressure on each stand, ability to hunt more family at one time , more hiking trails, longer shooting range etc......I enjoyed the more rural tract so much, that since I started working remotely, I moved there full time. As long as you have vetted the area ( including neighbors) and buy it right, I would always go as big as you can.. you find the tracts seem to shrink in size over time. Also, we ended up leasing an additional 200 acres of adjacent ground just to keep the area under control ( if it comes on market, i will try to but it too). As an investment..land values have doubled in my area too, since I bought it. One of the best things I have ever done. my .02