Owning land

[MN_DeerHunter]

My wife and I were lucky enough to build a house on 10 acres of land. It’s nothing special, basically 2 acres of woods and the remaining is an old overgrown pasture that drops down into a small duck pond.

I’ve had a lot of fun planting trees and even did a small food plot this spring which has been really fun. I could probably shoot a doe if I wanted but I have left the area a safe zone for the most part. Big bucks cruise through at 2 am only lol

[wolverinebuckman]

I had always hunted my buddy's 40 acre farm land, and shot my first deer there early last season. I enjoyed it ok, right up until last season when I stepped foot on public for the first time. I didn't sit his property again the rest of the year. I probably will during rut, maybe an early season sit with the corn in. But most of my time from now on will be on public.
My wife and I want to move out to the country. I want to get at least 10 acres. I am looking for a place that will give me a shot at some meat harvest, some woods or a field edge, just somewhere to relax and maybe see something walk by.
My serious hunting will likely only be on public from now on. Small plots do tend to get pretty boring after a while.

[<DK>]

I'll give a little take on this. I was raised on 200 acres that joined Mark Twain National Forest in SE MO on three sides. I could literally hunt anywhere I wanted and honestly, never hunted "the farm". Just used it as access and always saved it for rifle season when we had a family member down from the city, or a youth. They could hunt there and we wouldn't have to worry of them getting lost. So I have hunted public all my life. in November of 2015 I bought a house and 45 acres that joins no public, but there was a 300 acre clearcut behind it that holds a lot of deer and the landowner said act like it was mine as he just bought it for the timber. I thought I will never have to go anywhere to hunt. WRONG! I mean I actually don't need to move around, if I want to deer hunt. However, I'm after mature bucks, not deer. I did take a 4.5 year old 8 off of it with my rifle but this is just a mere travel route during the rut. Could I make it hold deer, sure. But would I be happy sitting the same one or two stands on the 30 acres that is huntable? Absolutely not. So I save the one or two good spots for a quick hunt during the rut, or opening of rifle season, but my heart is on the public land. I'll never be a big landowner, I have no desire. It seems the more land you have, the more time you spend worrying about someone tresspassing, killing your deer, etc. I would rather just hunt and if I blow it, so be it, onto the next buck or gobbler. My grandpa told me one time, the more you want the more money it takes, and the more money you have, the more time you spend keeping someone from taking it instead of enjoying life. He never had anything, worked all his life and is 81 years old and still works 25 hours a week. I want to be that guy, I'm not out to make a big splash in life. We are only here for a little while so lets enjoy our health and blessings we do have, and of course teach pass the fire we have onto a youngster. Happy Hunting!
Wes

Good post

[Grant]

A lot of folks like owning land to create an easier hunt which makes it less difficult to get their kids into it. Going beast mode isn't practical to create frequent shot opportunities for youngsters sometimes as they don't know if they're into it yet. It's hard to compete with ipads and facebook. After they think they like hunting, then maybe they'd be interested in a 2 mile walk back in the swamp.

Others have the dream of passing the property down to their kids and hoping they love the land as much as they do.

I disagree with most people that claim it's an "investment". A valuable asset that you can build equity in and borrow against? Sure. But land is only an investment if you plan to sell it; even then, are you really making any money from it if you're making payments and therefore paying interest? And then consider the taxes. All situations are different and of course the purchase price matters, but rarely are you going to come out ahead "investing" in land unless you can afford to pay for it all up front. I certainly cannot and did not.

[tim]

Grant it can be done, I did it. Saved cash and payed for it . Bought it in 2002 and trust me when I say I could make a lot of money selling it. The part I do agree with is most people don’t want to sell, me included but a GREAT investment for my son who doesn’t hunt and can sell it someday when I’m gone .

[iowa whitetail]

Owning land for me is priceless. Some think it makes it easier but in reality is alot more time, money involved. I spend hrs upon hrs in the summer plotting, mowing. In return I get to hunt my own way. Fishing the 7 acre pond is a bonus as well. Fixing fence, taxes and payment suck though.

[UntouchableNess]

Buying our farm was one of the best financial moves we have made. We found an estate where the heirs were at odds with one another and the executrix wanted to unload 120+/- acres with house and buildings for a song. The property was in the CRP program and the local farmers weren't interested in it. That was back in 1991. The property was an L shape, and the next year the 80 acres that squared it off came up for sale. We figured we'd better jump on the 80 even at the price they were asking, as it probably wouldn't come up for sale again in our lifetimes. We are bounded by gravel road on the north, east and south sides. Two landowners share the west property line, neither is a problem. It isn't the best hunting (no timber, just some brushy creek lines), but I've killed some nice deer on it. We have put in 2 ponds, one was a flub, the other turned out pretty decent. We get crop revenue off of the tillable ground. It has been a fair amount of work to maintain and will continue to be a drain on time, but I like the work. Property taxes aren't too high on it. Property values have appreciated quite a bit since we bought. Current value is around 5-6X what we paid. We will most likely never sell it, the boys will inherit it and have to figure out what they want to do with it. I still hunt other private properties to keep things "fresh", not much public in my area, mostly smaller tracts.

[Natenlsn2]

Just got 18 acres of land, it has always been a dream of mine to own property because of all the habitat work that can be done! I am really looking forward to seeing it all come together! I have a deep love for public, so most of my hunting will be on public but when everything is right for my property I will hunt it.

[hunter_mike]

I definitely used to have fantasy 700 acre hunting farm dream in my head until i found the beast. So thankful for the enlightenment the beast has given me.

I still have a dream of someday having my own little parcel of land where the wife and kid could enjoy the outdoors and have some of the same private land comforts i enjoyed as a kid. I think it would be awesome to have a small little plot of land with a cabin and deer camp that was surrounded by public land.

If i did ever get some private land it would be just for the extra freedom and enjoyment. But when i dream of big bucks i always think of the big chunks of public land. Cant wait to drag my next buck out.

[Evanszach7]

I used to dream this dream. I’ve changed it into wanting the land to raise livestock and farm, plus have a place for a couple sits a year. I love the challenge of getting it done in a competitive environment.