Owning land

[Haus86]

I've wanted to buy my own land for as long as I can remember. My dream is to be able to share it with friends and family, and be a steward of the land some day. I've always wanted to have my own hunting camp. Some day I'll be able to sit on the sidelines, and let my son and others enjoy.

[Wetfoot]

We live on a 40 in Upper Michigan and have permission to hunt on 3 different private pieces (2 80's and a 60). Baiting is prevalent here, so the mature deer are very nocturnal. Only one of the private spots have secure bedding on them. As a result, I do most of my bow hunting on public ground where I can locate and hunt for mature animals and spend a day or 2 each firearm season on the private. The public seems to have less bow pressure on the whole, especially in areas that are old cuts, are wet or devoid of oak hardwoods. The public gets my nod for the fun of exploring and challenges. We'll continue to hunt the private primarily for does for the freezer ( hard winters and predators have pretty much put an end to public doe permits).

[iowa whitetail]

My wife and i own a 160. Hear in iowa its expensive and hard to come by for sure. We love being land owners. I can set my hunting up just how i like it, it has an eight acre pond that she i and the three rug rats go and enjoy drilling crappie, bass, bluegill.

The bad things are taxes and the huge payment that comes along with it. You are constantly running trespassers off and worried about someone hurting them selves and have a law suet on your hands.

To be honest the thing i love the most is what the future has to bring. My son is 6 and is on his way of becoming a hunter and he will always have this place (fingers crossed) to enjoy and hunt, fish or just walk around. Im thinking my 3 year old girl is going to like the out doors being she asked for a fishing pole and a shotgun for xmas. lol.

Some people like to go on vacations, buy a huge high dollar home, ect. My get away is my farm. except sept threw jan cant scare my deer away lol.

[Zona]

I would rather spend 40k on a parcel of land than buy a brand new F-150.

[Buggsfeld]

I finally bought 20 acres a couple years ago here in central MI, which has been a dream of mine my entire life. Well maintained mobile home trailer with huge addition, pole barn, garage and 1000' of river frontage on the back of the property - all wooded. Had the property dropped on my lap by a relative so to speak. Dream come true - I thought at the time. Gorgeous land, upkeep in good condition, 2 hour drive and fantastic habitat. To make a long story short - worst decision I ever made!!!!!! Every neighbor in the "up north" woods surrounding me are small acreage - devout hunters, and once the fall foliage fell after the first year of owning it, I began discovering the multitude of tree stands, pop up blinds, elevated box blinds, buckets, old lawn chairs, bait bags, earth blinds, trail cams and every other hunting gimmick imaginable - most within easy firearm range (in many cases bow range) bracketing the property boundary, some were actually on my property - and my uncle never hunted. Neighbors on 2 sides are decent folks but nonetheless bracket every square inch of their respective 10 and 40 acres every weekend - without fail, for spring and fall turkey and from Oct 1st thru Jan 1st during every category of deer hunting. No problem there as they have every right to do so. 3rd neighbor is the urban legend a--h--e!!!!! - ie -poacher, trespasser, harasser, meat shack operator, 1/2 ton truck load baiter, garage converted into a meat processing plant complete with meat band saw, slicing saw, smokers, sausage grinder, freezers, meat hooks on every other tree, and the same drunk box blind boundary encroaching P.O.S that lets coworkers hunt, friends, extended relatives, friends of coworkers extended relatives ..etc..you get the point - hunt his property/our shared boundary with wild abandon!!!! 4th neighbor is a farmer who is a decent guy. My point is - after 2 years I realized that I have very little control over what happens on my own little slice of heaven as it pertains to hunting, as a result of having both good neighbors and bad. As beautiful as the land is and how much the family enjoys it in the spring/summer, its turning out to be a huge fall hunting disappointment because I simply did not do my homework prior to buying - I let a "great real estate deal" cloud my judgment - because what I wanted most was good hunting property in which I could control, or at least limit, management practices. I miss the days of hunting the federal land of the Manistee National forest. Be careful what you wish for. When my dad and father in law are too old to make it back to fish the river (both are too old to realistically hunt), I will certainly unload this property and resume hunting the vast tracts of federal and state land, and buy a simple shack or trailer on a 1/4 plot nearby.

[hambone]

Hi my name is Dave and I'm a public land owner.

[tim]

I’m opposite I like the challenge of a small property. As a matter of fact the public I do hunt are very small spots I picked for that exact reason.... they are overlooked.

[Grant]

I love being a small property landowner. Land management is an addiction completely on its own, and it really extends my outdoor season. That being said, it's obvious I overhunt the place, and this site opened my eyes to the opportunities that are out there. It also was a tough wake up call when I came to the realization that I wasn't a very good deer hunter. And I'm not really going to get any better by sitting over standing beans all the time.

My master plan was always to accumulate as much land as possible which is what I thought it took to kill lots of deer. Now that seems unnecessary. I have slowly started building up decent public spots, and have a limited amount of time to hunt anyway.

That being said, I've had the opportunity to hunt a large piece of prime private land, and it was never boring. Killing mature bucks is difficult anywhere. If I was a millionaire, I'd buy a primo farm and cabin, and only hunt public if I needed a reality check about how good a hunter I thought I was.

[Hawthorne]

I really enjoy owning my own land and shot my biggest buck off it last year. A 143” gross 12 point. The tree planting and doing food plots is rewarding and puts me closer to Mother Nature. That said, I like hunting public land equally. It’s two things I enjoy. I probably hunt 80% public. Helps keep the pressure off my little honey hole

[tgreeno]

I have the ability to hunt 5.7 million acres in Wisconsin, and it doesn't cost me anything.

That's good enough for me

[Twenty Up]

I’ve always dreamed of owning 3-4 small parcels for specific things (deer, ducks, quail/pheasant). Over time building them up and making them an awesome place to hunt, then selling them to a like-minded individual and buying another tract to do the same thing.

I couldn’t hunt the same spots and I’m positive others here can relate. Hunting to me is about the adventure and experiencing new things. Not hunting the same box blinds, etc...

I’m also a big conservationist as most hunters are and creating better habitat to give back to the animals is important to me as well.

But I’m still young and dumb, owning land is in my distant future

[bowfreak8]

My Dad bought 36 acres last year and it is a lot of fun setting up food plots and permanent stand but I still hunt a lot of public and other private. It would be really easy to over hunt 36 acres.

[BighousePT]

I am a new land owner; just bought close to 100 fully wooded acres with a 2 acre spring fed lake in the middle. I don't know, there is something cool about owning your own piece of land. Something very American dream-like that I can't quite describe. It's a neat feeling to be able to sit down with aerial maps and develop a land management plan, walking around identifying trees and plants, soil type etc. I agree with others in that I also view it as a long term investment; rather than continuing to buy stocks/mutual funds, I can in vest in the land where as I work on the property putting in a good access trail system, food plots, planting trees, managing the trees that provide valuable lumber, stocking the lake (which I really enjoy doing and doesn't seem like work to me) - that it all adds to the increased value of the land. I just met the neighbor to my south who owns 120 acres and he is also a deer hunter; nice guy. I plan on sitting down with him to develop a co-op since we both have the same deer harvest goals of not taking anything younger than 3 1/2. Maybe I will be bored with the property over the next 5-10 years but hopefully if I can make improvements to the deer, turkey, and dove habitat that I can sell the property for more than what I paid, if it comes to that.

[Dewey]

I have the ability to hunt 5.7 million acres in Wisconsin, and it doesn't cost me anything.

That's good enough for me

I still have probably at least 5 million acres to cover yet in my lifetime. Better get busy.

[Killtree]

I have 25 acres that is bordered by Hoosier National Forest.
I never hunt on it. It just don't hold deer.
I have access to other private land, but I rarely hunt it.
I would much rather hunt public. I like huge tracts of land with the freedom to go wherever I want.
I have always felt that way.
If I one the lottery and could afford to buy a square mile, a whole 640 acres, I would probably do that.
100 acres or less just wouldn't give me the room I would want to roam.