Land Purchase Questions

[notgreg]

I live near Nashville (originally from Clarksville area) and have thought for a while about buying a property for hunting and hanging out with my kids. Obviously it ain't happening anywhere near where I live, which brings up some questions I'd like to hear your opinions on:

1) how long have you found you're actually willing to drive to a hunting property regularly? I have a couple friends with family farms about 2 1/2 hours away, and neither of them get up there as often as they hoped.

2) what's the smallest acreage (let's assume hardwoods) you'd be comfortable buying purely as a hunting property? I know that a lot depends on what's around it, and that this question has been batted around before, but hey.

3) for anyone who has bought recently away from home, are you happy with the choice? Any advice or thoughts?

Unless I get hit by a very rich man's car some time soon, I'd be looking at relatively small acreage at least a couple hours from my house. I waffle between the belief that rural land is at a premium that will make its way down, or that if I don't start planning now it'll only get worse.

Mods feel free to move this to the general forum if that's where it belongs.

 

[rem270]

There's nothing like owning your piece of property. I suggest it to anyone who is a hunter. It's a great feeling knowing someone can't sell it out from under you or someone leases it the next year.

I would look for 25+ acres if it was good hardwoods. But buy as much as you can.

No way I'd want to drive 2.5 hours to my property. I have 27 where I just walk out the back door and another 88 that's 23 miles away. I would try to stay within an hour personally.

 

[thale51]

I don't have land of my own, but am hoping to be able to purchase some within the next 5-10 years, if I'm able. To answer your first two questions:

1. I have two pieces of land that I can hunt by permission. One is about 25-30 minutes away, and the other is more like 50 minutes to a hour away. I tend to find myself going to the closer of the two more often than not. It's also easier to access as well as closer. An hour would probably be about the maximum distance I'd be willing to drive to hunt, unless I was able to stay on or close by the property for several days in a row, or planning an all day sit.

2. I do think it depends on what is surrounding the property, but if it's strictly hardwoods, I'd say 30 acres minimum maybe, but would prefer more if possible.

My dream is to eventually purchase 100-150 acres to use for hunting, but that would be quite a ways down the road and may be more of a pipe dream than anything. But, who knows!

 

[Antler Daddy]

i regularly drive 4 hours + to hunt public land. There is a lot to be said for owning the land.

 

[@fulldraw]

Talk to landowners with big chunks to see if they would consider selling a portion if you pay for the survey. Also, don't overlook auctions.

 

[notgreg]

I do currently hunt a piece of private occasionally about an hour away so that's roughly what I'm familiar with.

 

[philsanchez76]

Intersting thread. we are saving for some land as well, so im curious as to what yall say here. I currently drive 20-30 min depending on which public parcel I choose to hunt. I think it would be tough to make that drive much more than an hour or so even if it was my own land. I wouldn't have to get there quite as early though to beat all the other trucks to the parking lot.

 

[diamond hunter]

My farm is in Westmoreland 435 acres ive bought in several different times to put that together.Paid from 2000 per acre to 7400 per acre.Its 45 minutes from my work and house both.I go there every week at least once. I could kill several deer a year and have no impact on the population.

 

[Bass1090]

I drive 3+ hrs to hunt two of the places I hunt and 65 minutes for another. I have only hunted the 65 minute piece twice….I'm stupid that way lol.

Good luck finding what you're looking for sir.

 

[tickweed]

I have been blessed to have owned numerous tracts, especially duck hunting tracts. I have also had deer, turkey hunting tracts as well. Its one thing to buy a tract for deer hunting. But me, lm not going to sink a ton of money into a piece just to kill a deer, especially with no return. Im always looking at being able to recoop my investment one day. Duck property can be a very good investment, good rental investment. Try and find a tract that the owners live out of state, maybe just inherited, and left it. Ive found some good deals doing it. Good luck. Nothing like having your own land.

 

[wcw280]

Owning land changes the whole game. Good luck.

 

[DayDay]

I hunted public land as far as 2 hours away pretty regularly, going there and back home in the same day. I wouldn't want a place of my own that far away unless I was planning to move to that location or build a 2nd home at that location (or a location nearby) sometime in the future. I would make many more trips to my own place each year for maintenance alone. Hunting public land requires very few trips during the off-season since there is only scouting and no maintenance.

 

[Omega]

The first parcel I got is only 7.2 acres 45 minutes from the house, but its a funnel from larger parcels so it has been productive. I also purchased a couple other places, one almost 30 acres 2.5 hours away in Hardin and another 20 acres about 3 hours away in Hardeman thanks to @tickweed. The Hardin county one is where I will have to spend a few days hunting to make it worth the drive it also has fish in the creek so it can be used in all seasons. The Hardeman one is just an investment, so I leased it out, I don't get to either of them as often as I like, but I set up a range on the smaller one closer to me so I can do more than just hunt on it. If you ask me though, it's better to buy a home with acreage, so you can enjoy the place more often, buy as much as you can afford with a pond or creek if possible.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

I personally don't want to be over 30 minutes away and the closer the better. Sure makes it easier when things go wrong, stuff tears up, etc. Minimum acreage of 15 for property tax reasons, the rest depends on the hunting value.

 

[44 mag]

Buy as mush as you can afford.

But also look at possible future moneys that the property can make for you. When I bought my land the first thing I did after closing was to call the forestry department and had them come out and do a timber conservation plan. This was two fold. It qualified me for the green belt program but it also told me how much timber value I had. I followed the plan for about 5 years then cut the timber as that's what they recommended. I did a much more liberal cut than what they advised but it allowed me to pay the property off free and clear.

About the time I retire I will be able to do an additional select cut if I choose to.

 

[Tn_Va_Hunter]

I bought 6 years ago. 34 acres with a 30x60 pole barn, water on the property and somewhere is an old septic. It has power lines running through it. I plan on getting power and water to my barn soon. My property is 30 min away from home. I love going down and just hanging out mowing and bushhogging. It's rewarding for me to see the change I want. I've planted numerous tree types. My son enjoys helping me also. One day we plan on a little cabin down there but that's a ways down the road.

I've also got family land I hunt. 3 tracks actually. 86 acres, 140, and 56.

So I have plenty of places to go.

 

[Crappieaddict]

Our property is 25 minutes away. We own 36 acres surrounded by literally thousands of acres of woods. Basically the land surrounding us goes to the border of the National Park. We built a cabin on the property and head there most every weekend. I deer hunt it, but also enjoy it the remainder of the year.

 

[Bushape]

How old are your kids? What will the wife be doing while you take the kids hunting? What are the kids activities? My property and lease are both within 5 miles and I don't get to go no where near as much as I'd like but my life with two sports-playing kids is fairly chaotic. You better have a truly amazing/understanding wife if you think you're going to slip off for the weekend 10-15 times a year.

 

[huvrman]

I was in the military for 25 years and dreaded having to find places to hunt at my various duty stations. Early on I started buying land around my old home stomping grounds, adding to it over the 25 years. Now I've got a sizeable chunk in MS that I drive to (6.5 hours one way) for a couple of weeks the winter (deer) 2 weeks in the spring (turkey/fish), and about a week every 3 months just to hang out. So, start early and after a few years your small acreages can add up.
Upon retirement we decided to move to TN, rather than back to MS, and bought land here to hunt and live on.
Here are some things you might consider...
1. Does your property lie next to corps of engineer land, large reservoirs, game preserves, or wma areas?
2. Is your property going to be big enough for you to hunt as frequently as you like without ruining it for future hunts. (Numerous stand locations, distance between stand locations, etc.)
3. Is there an area that you can allow to be a sanctuary that never will be hunted or even entered into by humans?
4. Is your property big enough to accommodate any quests you see hunting with you? (Your kids, future kids, in-laws who come live with you and want to hunt, etc)
5. Does your property have potential income either now or in the future (currently being farmed, future timber to be harvested when you get to old to hunt, etc)
6. Is it large enough to qualify for greenbelt tax exemption (10 acres timber, forest management plan, etc)
these are just a few things to think if. There are lots more. I will say this, decide what size you want then add some. We are hardly ever satisfied with the area we have to hunt and are soon trying to figure out ways to make it bigger and better. Land is a solid investment, so if you can afford the sacrifice, then seriously consider stepping out on a limb if only as an investment for the future. I started buying property in the early 90s. It is now worth 10 times what I paid for it then.

 

[Bone Collector]

I own 32 in Mid TN, but I bought in 2012 so bottom of the market. I would not want to drive more than hour or so regularly.

My only regret is not looking for and buying more when I did. Of course I can't tell the future any better than anyone else, so...

look around. Don't jump at anything you don't know for sure is a great deal. you never know what may pop up.

***edited to add
what @huvrman said is spot on and some really good advice. I hunt public during bow and only start hunting on my land when ML opens. I have multiple stands and try to not overhunt one stand. very few people hunt with me there. We do not slaughter the deer. when I first got it, we popped a few and once we did it shut down quick. I am on greenbelt saves me a bunch on taxes.