If buying the land limited me financially from traveling then I'd choose to travel. I would be bored to tears hunting the same piece all the time.
We would also like to see your analysis of $1,500/acre and also $3000/acre ground. Figure it as all timber (50% hardwoods) and also the 60/40 ratio previously given assuming commodity prices stay the same and that the stock market will average 7.23% over the next 20 years. Also assume that your current income will remain the same and will only be adusted to accomodate the inflation rate at say 3%. Your interest rate is 6%. Also, dont forget to break out different travel options such as; air, truck, boat, kayak, canoe, moped, and unicycle(with and without knobby tires). Or just a good pair of running shoes. I'm sure I left out several very improtant variables, so just punt on those. Really? land or travel...................hmmmmmmm?? seemed so simple.
Travel.... I think It has always been a dream of mine to own some land, but I don't think I would ever own enough land to make hunting it year after year fun.
100 acres? Seriously, not even a contest... Dan and I can go on tour in the Duramax. I'm OUT on 100 acres for the rest of my life.
Let's throw in kids and wife to the mix (not to mention a job). How does that influence you? I only know of a select few here who truly travel to the extent that I'm getting at in my definition of "travel." Going to Illinois once a year isn't what I have in mind when I truly think traveling.
Wife, kids, job make all the difference right now as for travel it's more of a time issue. To me, it's hard to compare Land vs. Travel. It's kind of like asking do you want to own a house or just travel to nice lodges. I want both really...but that wasn't the question I guess...if I had to pick based solely on hunting experience/quality - it absolutely has to be travel. In my area, land means hunting the same dang trees for whitetails for 3.5 months/year...I love it...but there's too much else out there to experience.
This is a grass is greener deal.. I do get tired of seeing the same ground year after year. I will say after i drive 4 hours one way, my ground right outside my door seems nicer then a sore arse in the seat sometimes.
Land. Like Ben.. without question for me. I'd like to add.. land where I could just walk out the back door of my home and hunt. To come home to a warm home straight from the woods surrounded by my family seems like heaven to me. Have friends come over to hunt with me on that land.. even better. Than we can all just enjoy a cold beer.. a few stories.. and maybe a meal in celebration of the hunt from my back door... and my land... in which I could do whatever I want to.
This floating marble we call home is loaded with incredible/endless opportunities. I would hate/regret being stuck in one place hunting the same old same old. Remember how excited you were when you shot your first buck? Apply that same emotion to shooting your first _____________(fill in the blank). Jeff, I have my own land too-just as Mike described. It takes a tremendious amount of ongoing policing/money/effort to manage it. Frankly, the whole process is a pain in the hinny (especially considering the archery season in Colorado is only one month long)! I expend huge amounts of time; it's time I do not have. Yes, I love to wine, dine, and hunt from the back door, but honestly when I'm not there to supervise the land's use, I constantly worry about how it's getting trashed! I don't need that.... When I travel, I leave all the worries behind...I go away expecting nothing other than fun. I meet new wonderful people, many of which become life long friends. My skill set is tested with nearly ever new encounter-I'm not talking exclusively about hunting. The learning experiences are beyond words! I so desire to see and learn so much more... TRAVEL
I would say Land all the way! There is something about managing your own space - you can't beat that. Oh - and the land would be in SE MN,WI,IA... evenly split!
I'll just travel to hunt with all of you guys that chose the land option. I already have all the land I can possibly hunt right out my back door and I didn't have to spend a penny on it, benefit of living in the west where there's huge tracts of public land and hardly a soul on it.
Hands down OWN! You can manage your own land for monsters to come! Over time you will run out of money!
So, most guys choosing land....that surprises me a bit. I understand the managing the land and the satisfaction you would get out of it, but wouldn't you get bored seeing the same 100 acres year after year for the rest of your lives? Don't you long to see more of this amazing world? Don't you long to explore and see new things? With only one go around here, its just surprising to me that so many people would be content with the same thing, year after year.
