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My wife and I are looking at land. Here is an 80 we might walk this weekend. It is the wooded section with roads on 2 sides and ag on the other 2. From just this photo, what are your thoughts?
Awesome! What do you know about the neighbors? Best of luck!
Looks like a lot of good access points if you can park on either of those roads
I've not met the neighbors yet. I believe it is an ATV trail through the woods. To me it looks like it has good bedding and cover. The deer will most likely head to the ag to feed.
As a first time land buyer, this is stressful and fun all at the same time.
What is the habitat of the lower left third? Logged off or rocky weeds? The top of that area looks like flat marsh? Are you worried about road hunters with all the frontage? Taxes? Is it fenced for cattle? Come with a survey? Any oaks for mast? Good bedding areas would help, thicker is better.
You would kill " deer " every year, is that your objective?
You ever approach the old man you are hunting on about purchasing his?
It's hard for anyone to say without understanding things like your goals? gun and bow or just bow? Is the ag field to the east (assuming photo is orientated Norther) part of the parcel? Do you want to plant food plots? Are the roads shared with the other landowners? town roads? etc.
It's exciting to buy land. It's also terrifying. Do you have any info from the previous owners? Trail cam photos? kills?
Just some tips (I've done this before). Try and talk with the neighbors and get a sense what they are about. Eighty acres is not very big - hell, 300 acres isn't very big. But one bad neighbor can dramatically affect the hunting on 80 acres. Making it awesome, or completely screwing it up.
Assume this is Wisconsin? How far from home? etc.
On first glance, looks like a great place to hunt in the AM. The deer will feed on crops and move west into your area. If you don't own the ag fields, it may be tough to hunt the afternoon spots. Again, hard to say without understanding deer movement.
Good luck! It's exciting to buy land and have a place all your own.
Great questions.
It is 25 minutes from the house. I have not personally seen the land. (this weekend I can walk it). The picture is facing south actually. The goal is to have a spot for my wife and I to archery and rifle hunt. The roads on the land are not shared roads/trails. The black top roads are county roads so that makes me nervous. As far as the lower left corner, that is all swamp. The current owner is a lady from the Cities and I have not talked to her. This land does not have the ag fields so you would have to hunt them in the woods before they get to the fields.
Lastly, I would love to someday have a small food plot.
Keep it coming guys!!
looks good,just plant your own food plot along east side somewhere that can't be seen from the roads and plant screen
Nice looking piece of dirt. What’s the asking price?
First off, you’re going about it the right way, by involving your wife. I highly recommend doing that BEFORE you buy! ;-)
Lots of good points shared by others above. Hard to tell from just a pic, but it looks to me, to have some potentially good spots to put a food plot or two in. The SW corner looks like a potentially great pinch point spot for a stand.
Great advice above, Looks beautiful with a lot of potential. I agree buying land is fun and scary at the same time. So is owning it, LOL! Good luck.
Most of the property is 13 year old aspen. There are 6 acres of burr oak.
I talked to my buddy who is a forester and he says to wait 7-12 years and start to cut sections of aspen to create different age groups.
The tan material is that near or part of a sand mine? If we are changing anything on ours it is more foods sources and larger food sources. When the crops come off they go elsewhere for food. 80 acres I believe you are looking more at kill size plots. We used to have logging landings but have expanded to much larger.
Walk it in the snow and see if they are bedding on your land, are their any food trees ie oaks on your land. Is their stands set up on the Ag fields? Make sure you can play the wind when entering your land and is the wind predominantly going to blow to bedding and Ag fields. Are you able to access more spots then one if that is the case? Many variables.
No sand mines in this area.
To me it looks outstanding. Looks like it's got a stream running through it, which is always a plus. Good luck.
The large land mass adjacent to it in the South looks promising to hold deer, and I'd be curious to see what lies to the North, as well as the East and West. You'll need to understand what's going on around you as far as additional bedding/cover, since it appears there's plenty of food in summer/fall; and I presume the fields rotate between beans and corn yearly.
What part of WI- south mid North? What county? I like the fact that it does not appear from pic, that you will have property line sitters/hunters.
We have progressively logged ours the last 17 years. Left select oaks but, wow the change as the growth has progressed in stages. From the ears down matters a lot for cover and browse.
Looks like there's a stand of big oaks along the right side of the pic. That could be good.
Roads on two sides would not be something I would like. Just makes 80 acres seem small to me.
My thoughts are you cannot buy a better investment than land. The fact that you can hunt on it is icing. As far as quality of deer hunting , no way to tell from a picture. You should sey=t some goals before you start walking tracts of land. Good Luck
Makes no difference what we think. We are not the ones considering purchase. What do you think?
Walking distance to the American Legion is a plus
I'm glad to help you with some advice. 1. Get it appraised no matter how good of a deal you think you are getting. If the appraisal comes in lower than what you want to offer you can use it to your advantage. If it comes in higher at least you know the most it is worth. Many appraisals can give a range in value. 2. Get a copy of the deed from the local title company. It is free and they can email it to you. 3. Always get title insurance! Always! You can think me later! I could sell you The Statue of Liberty but you would not have clear title to it. 4. Research your neighbors and spend some time on this part since they can make you miserable. I'm in a lawsuit right not over an easement across me that I never knew about It's not on my deed and not on my neighbors deed either but they insist they have an easement across me and have filed a lawsuit. I called my other neighbor and found out he is also in a lawsuit over the same thing. I also bought a duck camp house once where I was told there was an easement included since the house is built across the boundary. Huge mess! Don't assume anything you are told is correct. Only go by what is on the deed and even then there can be lawsuits if you don't research the property well enough.
good advice so far, especially the appraisal and title insurance. The odds are you can look at the deed on line. The states I work in have them on line by the county. A timber appraisals worth while. Timber will be some cash flow and value. Harvesting will give you your best opportunity to manage the habitat while generating income. I am a bit biased against the designer habitat work promoted by some white tail experts. Any place you can sell timber commercially you can make great habitat at a profit . The other thing I recommend is looking at the soils. The soils will hold the key to being able to easily grow a food plot or not. Good rich dirt will likely also translate to decent size antlers. You can look at the soils by going to the web soil survey which is part of the natural resource conservation service. it will allow you to map your property and print a report off of the soils and all their attributes for any use you can think of.
the road frontage may cause you some problems but it also adds tremendous value. Especially if you ever need to sell the land. While the lot does not look like it is currently in high demand for commercial use. I am amazed at wood lots we manage that were on minimally maintained dirt roads twenty years ago are now on tarred roads with multiple residential neighbors.
Some great advice given already, I’ll throw in my 2 cents. Looking at the deed is a good idea. Title insurance is good to have but IMO it’s nearly worthless, at least it has been for me. If you get a title policy make sure it covers adverse possession, even if you have to pay for it yourself. Usually the seller provides the policy. Title companies search title history and write policies but most specifically exclude adverse claims. I’m having problems with that on the ground I bought. If there are ANY questions about how the ground lays and who owns what, make sure a survey is down first and issues resolved before you purchase.
BTW, the ground looks great to me! Buying your own hunting place is a big step and has numerous rewards, but as others have said it can bring it’s own headaches. Best of luck!
Update on the land. My wife and I walked it yesterday afternoon. It is super thick with very few trees big enough to put a stand in other than the small oak patch. On the logging road, there were rubs and trails crossing. The swamp, has heavy tails as well. My biggest concern is not knowing how to hunt that much thick slash. A guy couldn't shoot more than 10-15 yards in most spots. I know there are deer there and that they use it for bedding and feed but is it worth buying when 50% is like this?
I believe with a good 5-10 year plan, a guy could really improve the land and make it very huntable. It would take a lot of work and time with a chainsaw to make it happen.
We have a lot to think about and figure out soon.
Update on the land. My wife and I walked it yesterday afternoon. It is super thick with very few trees big enough to put a stand in other than the small oak patch. On the logging road, there were rubs and trails crossing. The swamp, has heavy tails as well. My biggest concern is not knowing how to hunt that much thick slash. A guy couldn't shoot more than 10-15 yards in most spots. I know there are deer there and that they use it for bedding and feed but is it worth buying when 50% is like this?
I believe with a good 5-10 year plan, a guy could really improve the land and make it very huntable. It would take a lot of work and time with a chainsaw to make it happen.
We have a lot to think about and figure out soon.
Is road hunting a problem in that area
The edges of the property are very thick. A poacher could not shoot more than 30 yards into the land. The north side is all beaver swamp and most lazy poachers would never consider walking in there.
Are there any potentially good stand spots (tree or ground blind) in the thick slash? Trimming a few shooting lanes opens up a lot of possible shooting scenarios. Also, you don’t need a lot of wide open areas to be successful.
“I believe with a good 5-10 year plan, a guy could really improve the land and make it very huntable. It would take a lot of work and time with a chainsaw to make it happen.” IMO, you will get almost as much enjoyment and satisfaction out of planning out and completing those projects, as you will out of hunting......except the chainsaw work ;-) It’s just like eating an elephant...one bite at a time.
I think that it may have some real potential both now and in the future. There seems to be a fair amount to fringe that will concentrate deer travel. With all of the bedding there should be a lot of deer on the land for daytime rut movement. It may not be great hunting for all times of the season so you just need to learn when and how to hunt it. The way it lays out you should be able to provide sanctuaries and not have them disturbed by pressure on other properties . Pressure else where should help you. Hunting bottlenecks in and out of the bedding areas should be great during the rut. Cutting deer trails just far enough inside of the thick areas will provide travel routes for bucks scent checking the bedding area. You can then access a stand on the down wind side. I would be concerned about the lack of suitable trees for stands. If you can find some trees that will work you can do a few things to encourage deer to come by them but they have to be in the general area the deer want to travel. Foresters in WI have been trained to develop uneven age structure in wood lots. That does not make great sense to me from a timber point of view on some pieces. It makes it hard to get loggers interested if the cutting is minimal. I would cut what I want when I want w/o the added complications of trying to get uneven age structure in your timber. I think that it is easier to hunt deer w/o disturbing them if they are bedding in defined areas. On 80 acres having one or two big bedding areas with a lot of travel routed in and out for the various wind conditions maybe easier to hunt w/o disturbing deer plus you can hunt down wind for bucks scent checking. I would learn how the deer use the cover and the wind before I would cut very much. Then if you can do a pulp wood timber cut as appropriate. If you do not want or need to change anything that may be a decade from now when things need to be thickened up again. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.
There would be plenty of places for ground blinds. It would just take some tuning and work.
I think if a person sat covering the old logging road, you would see deer. They are running it like a highway.
You can always remove trees but you can’t plant mature trees. As an archery hunter I guess ask yourself how you want to hunt the piece. If there’s no trees you’re looking at tripods or box blinds. Not very mobile but there are still options.
That being said I remember walking a piece I passed in because it sounded like this. Super thick, but no trees thicker than my calf
Sounds like a fair amount of wetlands. Does the price reflect the issues associated with wetlands? Like the inability to get a building permit? flooding?
I love wetlands and what you described sounds like great bedding cover. But if you are buying this land for hunting it may do you no good if you are unable to hunt the property. I don't believe Wisconsin allows baiting where hunting an area like this could be very effective by using bait, but if you are relying on hunting feeding/bedding transitions it may be frustrating.
When I look at property I want to see a mix of high ground, low ground, brush/bedding and suitable ways to move around the property.
The best advice anyone gave me was to listen to your gut. When you find the perfect property you'll know it. If there are lagging doubts then continue your search. Don't talk yourself into a property because you wanted it to be perfect when it's not. Even if the price is killer. This is a big decision and I guarantee you will find the right piece of ground eventually. Don't let a realtor or seller pressure you either. They will tell you other guys are interested and ready to make an offer. It's generally bullshit. As soon as I hear that I tell them I'm moving on as I don't want to be pressured into a decision.
You have to go with your gut feeling. Sounds like it would be great bedding ground. It's 80 acres so you could come up with some way to hunt it, even if it's not ideal. I would want the price to reflect that it's wetland. Best of luck to you!
I think you need to talk to the gentleman you are currently hunting on. Let him know you are looking at land to buy. But you really love his 40 acres. Any chance he would consider selling it to you. If he has not set foot on it in years like you said. The perfect answer for him might be to get a fair price for and know some one knows will enjoy it for years to come.
The land itself looks great, nice mix of hardwood, swamp, and ag, BUT having two tar roads bordering my property would drive me nuts...I HATE noise. I guess it depends on just how busy those roads are..
I went out and get the farmer his Christmas gift and he gave us permission to hunt again for the 2021 season, so we have that to fall back on.
I really want to say thanks for all input. I'm walking the land again tomorrow with a forester to get his thoughts on the land. I will keep you posted no matter what. If it doesn't happen, there maybe more land to discuss in the future!!!
I would not buy the first piece you look at unless you absolutely love it. Go look at a number of pieces one day you will find the piece you know is right. Maybe I am reading your update wrong but I get the impression you did not love it.
Read a poem called the Land buyers nightmare
Well at first glance it looks nice. Question, what is the main purpose? What are the neighbors like? Two roads means more access for trespassers. Are you looking to grow trophies or just secure your little piece of heaven. a few nice spots to put stands, like the upper right corner with the fields
The road frontage on two sides would concern me. How close to the road would you want to hunt? How close to the road would deer want to bed? Fifty yards? More? Three quarters of a mile of road frontage on an 80 means a lot of relatively unusable land. I'm speaking from the experience of my current property with 900 yards of frontage on 65 acres. It's not ideal in my mind.
WIteacher people may not realize but if looking in your home county, land can get expensive really fast! Depending on location and type, prices can be crazy compared to areas in some counties next to you.
The edges of the road are very thick. I stopped at the mid point and walked a deer trail into the swamp. I made it in 20 yards and kicked a deer up in the swamp. A road hunter could not shoot 20 yards off the roads into this land.
The goal is to have my own land where my wife and I can hunt and improve it to make it a productive piece of hunting ground. In time, we would try to make some money from logging if it were to work out.
If you buy it, find someone with a skidsteer and "forestry mulcher" attachment . If you arent familiar with this, do a search on youtube. Amazing pieces of equipment. One 8 hour day and you will have multiple lanes cleared all the way to the dirT! They can even mulch up 15" diameter trees! This will cut down your labor working the property and open up clear lanes for plots or shooting.
If it is thick with slashing, and not many trees for treestands, how are you going to make money from logging? Is this a thirty year plan?
Lots of advice, which is what you wanted, now to sift through it for the advice that is relevant to you. I looked at dozens, literally dozens, over a ten year period before I bought another place beside the one I live on. Don’t do what I did ! I started laying out food plots without regard to the way the deer were using the property or what influence the terrain had on the wind. As a result my best food plot was almost unhuntable. Plan, plan, and then plan some more before you start whacking trees. Good luck Teach !
I'll say it again. Get a copy of the deed and review it. Please do this. Please. You can get a copy of it for free at the local title company. Also, spend a little money and get title insurance no matter what.
I always start by identifying the bedding areas, then build a plan, or decision out from there.
Feeding deer is easy, tucking them in at night can be a challenge.
i don't like having that much road frontage on a small piece. It really limits the amount of areas you can hunt since you most likely will not be hunting close to your roads.
A quick update on the land. I walked it with a forester. His thoughts are that it is a nice young stand of aspen that will be ready to cut in 30 years. He suggested that when the time comes to cut 1/3 at a time over 16 years to get different age classes of timber. I also talked to the local biologist and he said that the deer hunting there was decent. It is not Buffalo Co, but you can expect to see 3.5 year olds in the area and that the property was very diverse and sutable for improvements for wildlife.
When we walked it, there was snow on the ground that was 48 hours old. Most runways had tracks and we found a good number of beds in the oak stand. I called the farmer who owns/hunts the ag fields and he is the only one that hunts them all season. He only rifle hunts during the 9 day season and that he shoots his one buck and never shoots a doe. He said that he sees 20-25 deer opening weekend sitting in the corner where he can cover both fields. He does not bow hunt and said that we would be the only bow hunters in the area that he knows of. His cousins hunt across the road but don't take it very serious. He was very nice and said that he wants to work with who ever buys it so that everyone can enjoy the area and grow a good deer herd. We have talked to the bank and relator and are waiting on the sellers representative to reply back to us on some questions we have.
if youre looking for a nice local chunk for you and your wife to hunt deer, and sometimes even have a chance at shooting a nice one, it looks like a dream come true. it would also be a heck of nice place for a future home site for you too if you want to live on the chunk you hunt. if youre looking to grow and protect big bucks be prepared to be disappointed.
Another update on the land. We are still working on a price. Things were clicking along last week and now the seller is now on vacation.
I walked the land again and found beds between the ATV trail and the swamp. The ag field had a lot of sign from feeding deer. Hopefully we hear something this week on the price.
Buying land is a rollercoaster. One minute you are dreaming of food plots and stand locations and the next you are scared about investing the money!! lol
I have certainly been there on the roller coaster. I bought out my partners 50% interest in some land in December. One I would be concerned that I was paying too much for the land or that I could not afford it. The next day I would be concerned that it might fall through. I have purchased hunting land 5 times now and I regret none of them and still own all of it. I think that you will be happy if you do buy some land.
I’m on the other side of the equation. I just signed an agreement to sell my Colorado hunting land. Mixed emotions. I liked the feeling of owning it and just walking it. Awesome views of 14rs, ponderosa pines. All the mountain animals. But I always seem to be hunting somewhere else and don’t seem to get out to it as I did in the past. I am having sellers remorse :^)
When i first looked at the image i was worried it didn't look like enough timber or thick enough. I do like that you have some pretty good timber stands behind your property on both sides. Food plots can be made quickly, large timber stands can take 20-30 plus years to mature. If you have a big timber stand & good access points you can create the food & make it happen
Aspen has very little value but having to wait 30 years for a timber harvest makes this a no brainer unless you are buying for way less than mkt prices keep looking. It can be like tasting wine, they taste good until you simultaneously taste it against others. Make sure you compare numerous properties to find what works for you. They are all online and that is the 1st step.
It certainly is a roller coaster! But read Pats thread “kicking yourself” if you haven’t already. A lot of the regrets there are not buying land when it was available. If the ground suits you and the price is reasonable and your wife is on board then go for it! Best of luck to you.
