Which property would you buy?

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ObsessedPublicHunter
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Which property would you buy?

Unread postby ObsessedPublicHunter » Sun Jul 18, 2021 8:08 am

Ive been looking around for private land for the first time and currently have two properties in mind and both are drastically different. Both have their pros and cons, which one would you buy and why? (Obviously seeing both properties in person would help in making a decision)

Property 1:
- roughly 70 acres of private land with roughly 400 acres of total public to the left and right combined. Another 200 acres of private borders to the south.
- 10 acres of tillable land with some of the tillable land more secluded.
- most of the land including the private and public is thick and gnarly with some swamp. Looks like great bedding.
- access from all directions
- only cons I can think of is the public still possibly having pressure from public hunters.
- area is known for high deer numbers, not necessarily booner bucks but 130"-150" are present.

Property 2
- in big buck bluff country with proven big bucks kills especially during gun season
- property is 48 acres with 10 acres tillable being on the hill top on the left side. A public road borders the tillable land. The rest to the right is the drop off that is wooded and consists of the hillside/large valley. The entire valley would be private.
- access is hilltop only but may be accessible from the bottom if given permission.
- there are 3 houses within a 1000 yard radius also on hilltop. Closest house is 250ish yards to the south. The other house is 650 yards to the north. Both houses are visible from the property hilltop. Possibly a concern? Lots of farmland on top.
- this county and area is very well known for giant bucks.
- access is limited and would have to be careful on how to access and hunt the property without pushing deer off the property.
- every year the owners and their families would harvest nice bucks and does during gun season, but do not practice qdm. They do not bow hunt their large 300 acres and I may even be given permission to hunt the entire property.

Obviously pictures would help but im currently not comfortable sharing them online. This is alot of info to consider but Im currently undecided.

Which one would you choose or recommend?


Drich
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby Drich » Sun Jul 18, 2021 8:25 am

What are YOU looking to get out of the land?


Myself, All I want is a small base camp to hunt nearby public land. So, low cost and low maintenance is what I am looking for, things not described here at all.
bigredneck61088
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby bigredneck61088 » Sun Jul 18, 2021 9:37 am

Like above, what do you want to do with it?

With public on both sides of your land on the first one, you may have a lot of line sitters so whatever work you do pressure is gonna be high…. Just a thought if you are trying to manage/hold deer

But the possibility of a lot more land to roam out the back door is always good, I also wouldn’t count on getting permission from other land as a factor, owners change, leasing is up, may not be able to get through other pieces and could change by the season

Gonna have to walk both and see what works for you the best and what you are trying to do
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Grizzlyadam
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby Grizzlyadam » Sun Jul 18, 2021 11:14 am

One of the worst things you could end up with is one or more bad neighbors. When your bordered by private you run more risk imo. Also things can and will change often unexpectedly with bordering property ownership and use that can make your experience better or worse, it's a roll of the dice unless you have a good relationship with neighboring landowners which is a low odds bet. At least with the 70 you know what your in for.
In my experience most guys i bump into hunting on public are following the rules even if they are line sitting. In contrast more often than not many that I bump into on private surprise me with how little they care for laws or property lines.
Also it turns your 70 into a bigger place you can move around on, access, etc. More land you can use without having to pay taxes on with your own personal place in the middle that you can do what you want with.

Ultimately it depends totally on what you want.
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purebowhunting
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby purebowhunting » Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:33 pm

In my opinion the only time I'd want my private to boarder public is if the private gives me an advantage with access onto the public over the general public. If the private gives no advantage for access buy elsewhere and still travel and hunt the public if it's worth it.
MAIAFRATE
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby MAIAFRATE » Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:53 pm

I agree with the comments above. I think based on the above points just make a descion on what your gut is telling you. Sounds like they both could be improved with food plots and bedding. You might be able to do what Dan does on Dave's farm. Let the outside pressure of hunting come drive deer onto your land and isn't pressured and improved.

Good luck,

Mike
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ObsessedPublicHunter
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby ObsessedPublicHunter » Sun Jul 18, 2021 1:03 pm

Thanks for the responses so far. Man, theres so much I would want to do with private land but obviously with smaller parcels I am limited. My end goal would probably be a reliable piece of property with qdm goals. Reliable meaning to have chances of opportunities at bigger more mature bucks. Hunting public land is challenging which I like, and I definitely won't stop hunting deep nasty public land. Having private land for rut or especially late season with food plots would be great. Both properties would probably work in that regard.

I definitely like the layout of the 70 acres over the 48. Much more convenient layout. But the owners of the 48 acres own 300 adjacent acres, and seem to be very nice laidback people. They only gun hunt and so bow season I would have very little pressure from what I've been told. Most of the houses up there are their family and relatives. QDM may not work too well as they shoot anything during gun season, all 10-15 of them. That is worriesome. Though I would have all of 1st rut and late season undisturbed?

As of now, I am leaning towards the 48 acres. On monday, I will be seeing the 70 acres. I plan to see the 48 soon as well. I
am in no rush to buy land but it would awesome if I did.

Ive always thought of giving offers to landowners near large secluded sections of public land and may do so in the future if I still haven't bought land yet.

I
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purebowhunting
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby purebowhunting » Sun Jul 18, 2021 1:18 pm

ObsessedPublicHunter wrote:Thanks for the responses so far. Man, theres so much I would want to do with private land but obviously with smaller parcels I am limited. My end goal would probably be a reliable piece of property with qdm goals. Reliable meaning to have chances of opportunities at bigger more mature bucks. Hunting public land is challenging which I like, and I definitely won't stop hunting deep nasty public land. Having private land for rut or especially late season with food plots would be great. Both properties would probably work in that regard.

I definitely like the layout of the 70 acres over the 48. Much more convenient layout. But the owners of the 48 acres own 300 adjacent acres, and seem to be very nice laidback people. They only gun hunt and so bow season I would have very little pressure from what I've been told. Most of the houses up there are their family and relatives. QDM may not work too well as they shoot anything during gun season, all 10-15 of them. That is worriesome. Though I would have all of 1st rut and late season undisturbed?

As of now, I am leaning towards the 48 acres. On monday, I will be seeing the 70 acres. I plan to see the 48 soon as well. I
am in no rush to buy land but it would awesome if I did.

Ive always thought of giving offers to landowners near large secluded sections of public land and may do so in the future if I still haven't bought land yet.

I


I own 80 acres that's been in the family for a long time, years ago most neighboring properties shot the first buck available and there was a large chunk of public across the road. Today all the public is closed and sold and nearly everyone practices some from of qdm or tdm, whatever you'd like to call it. The thing is the area had bigger bucks years ago. We have a lot of good hunters that are good at killing big 2 year olds and the 3 year olds and I assume the older bucks that do grow old get into pockets they live and never get disturbed in. Weird to think but I embrace brown it's down hunters, happy they're killing 1 year olds and getting out of the woods and generally are sloppy hunters who aren't going to kill the caliber deer you're after.
A5BLASTER
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby A5BLASTER » Sun Jul 18, 2021 1:33 pm

As too the 2 plots of land you listed.

Number 1 would be my only choice. As a land owner myself. I can tell you from my own personal experience, dealing with other land owners to access your property never works out and temps will soon fry and relationships will be broken.

I would much rather have better access to my property and have public land bordering it. The reason public land bordering my private doesnt bother me is I know public land hunters will drive the deer into my ground. It just makes accessing your ground clean from the senses of the deer more of a challenge. But with a lil thinking through and some soild intel work and pre/off season work trails can be layed down to help with that.
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby Maverick1 » Sun Jul 18, 2021 2:30 pm

Have you looked at a wind map / wind rose to determine the predominant wind during the hunting season? I would consider that as a factor for access in and out and potential stand location for both parcels. Additionally, I’d compare the predominant wind direction and compare that to the layout of the hills in terms of leeward sides of those hills for the second parcel.
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No sponsors. No camera crew. No team. Just me and my bow. And that’s the way I prefer it.
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wolverinebuckman
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby wolverinebuckman » Mon Jul 19, 2021 1:56 pm

When we were looking at moving from Michigan to Kentucky, we narrowed our choices down to two properties. We walked the first property, which came with the total of near Eighty Acres. It was surrounded on all sides by private. After walking the property, it was nice... But when we looked at the second property, which was bordered by the Daniel Boone National Forest, the choice was quickly, and easily decided.
I love being able to work with my own 25 acres in any manner I feel like, but it's also awesome to be able to walk off of my property onto nearly a quarter of a million acres of public hunting land!
Yeah, I may end up getting the occasional line sitter... But I'm much more interested in the unlimited hunting opportunities I have right outside of my back door!
Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.
tim
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby tim » Mon Jul 19, 2021 6:12 pm

If I have to give an opinion based on this discription I’m not choosing the parcel that connects to public…..ever. When I purchased my land it was a piece that the farmer basically gave anyone that asked permission to hunt so for the first year I was kicking ransoms off my land that thought they could still hunt it. After doing so I completely disrupted the area lol. It went from most likely being over hunted to being selectively hunted and what a difference in trailcam pics and hunting. The neighbors would drive it out during gun season …from multiple neighbors on different sides….that all ended. I kicked people off hunting ginsing etc….. you would probably have a lot of that with people claiming they thought they were on public so be ready for that also.
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Jimmy wallhanger
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby Jimmy wallhanger » Tue Jul 20, 2021 12:00 am

I would talk to the neighbors. Literally nothing worse than a bad neighbour.

All things being equal with the neighbors go Booners all day.
"I don't care if you use it or not, I could care less, There's no money in it for me, Im not making any money from scent-lok... I'm making a little bit of royalties from the saddlehunter suit"
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<DK>
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby <DK> » Tue Jul 20, 2021 4:22 am

The one touching public is very intriguing, you could do some damage on that public by having back door access. 130s and 150s make me very happy!

Id base it on the terrain and stem count. If the stem count is high then they can hide and survive. Also you have to take a walk and scout!!

I just looked at 80acres of all timber, surrounded by AG, in a top county and I walked away from it. I found 2 deer tracks but that is bc it was so pressured. Clearly it had deer camp there yearly w multiple guys. I just looked at another 60 acres of all AG, deer sign visible in the CRP spots, deer tracks everywhere, the most pics iv ever gotten on my cams but no big buck sign.
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Re: Which property would you buy?

Unread postby ObsessedPublicHunter » Tue Jul 20, 2021 7:51 am

Just got back from the 1st parcel. It is thick and nasty with lots of bedding. Definitely holds deer within the property itself. I love the layout. Two secluded foodplots hidden by trees and brush. One bigger plot is more open. Easy to slip in and slip out undetected. Public is also gnarly. 140" buck supposedly lives on the farm atm and has been seen feeding on the adjacent soybean fields. I like it so far. I should also mention this area has more black bears than the other but im not too worried. Possibly get into bear hunting myself.

The predominant winds should work well for both properties. The dominant wind during hunting season is a west wind with the second property. The valley is at a northwest angle. With a west wind, im assuming itll swirl a little bit as the valley isn't completely west?


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