Legally, that is:d Scenario: Let's say you knew, down the road, you wanted to purchase your own land for whatever recreational purpose you decide (in our case, most likely a piece of hunting ground). What would you be willing to do to make sure it happened? Could you cut out extra spending (even on hunting items)? Would you take modest vacations (or none at all)? Would you be willing to make the sacrifices necessary (assuming they don't interfere or negatively effect your family), or would it not be worth it to you? I suppose a sub question could be, do you consider yourself a spender or saver? Do you bounce back and forth depending on circumstances? Curious is all.
I've never lived a very extravagant lifestyle, so if given the means to afford land, I could be disciplined enough to do so. Owning my own land has always been a dream of mine. I've probably reached a point in my life where I can afford to do so...but considering all the things I ask my better half to tolerate, the additional sacrifices to own land would be quite a bit too much.
While I would love my own hunk, I am fine with hunting public land and private land via land owner permission.
I'd love to own my own piece of ground one day.. and will make it a priority in the years to come. Not much land left in Illinois for the regular guy.. I want to make sure my future kids (as I don't have any yet.. that's why their future like) have the chance to hunt without all the BS I put up with every year. Access has always held me back.. and I don't want my child(s) to put up with the same.
I own and I had to do some saving to get it. After you get the land then you want to put a place to stay on it,then food plots and firewood. The work is never ending but I enjoy doing it. I'm alway's saving for more land and finding ways to earn extra money to buy more. It's worth it in my opionion but don't over extend yourself. The other downside is hunting elsewhere when the deer aren't at your place. It's hard to leave.
2 years ago my family was fortunate to get land of our own, a small farm in SE Indiana.. Since then, I've spent a lot of time making it as best as possible in terms of whitetail and turkey habitat. Some short term projects, some long term projects..Its my little piece of heaven.
I don't see any land buying in the future, but I do see what you mean about how much you spend based on circumstances. Whenever I have a little money..I spend it. I can't help myself. But when I'm flat broke (much like right now), I always seemt to get by just fine. I can't wait until summer so I can make some money
Owning land is a great responsibility. There's a lot of work to maintain it in a manner that attracts game. My wife and I saved and improved the house we owned to give it a higher market value so when we bought this place, it was financially feasible. In the year and half we have been here, we have averaged 60 hours a week working outside. But the sense of peace it give us knowing we can hunt and fish w/o having to ask permission made it well worth the sacrifices we make.
I'm definitely a saver. My wife and I (our kids are grown) are planning to retire in Canada, her native country. Hopefully an early retirement, but we'll see. This July, while we're visiting her family, we'll go to the Dept. of Land and Deeds and pick out a piece of ground. We're already saving to buy the ground, and saving for when the time comes to move. I plan on selling my home here, and building one there. I always wanted to own a piece of hunting land here in Pa. but never made it happen. There's so much wilderness up there, you don't really need to own your own hunting land.
I currently own a small chuck of hunting land..which has been a lifelong goal of mine. But it's small and I hope to buy some more here in the next 10 years. I know I could go out there right now, borrow whats needed and have it done, but I don't like being in debt. Like what Duke said... I want my kids to have a guarenteed hunting spot to hunt without dealing with public access...and that's my main goal Luckily around here, it doesn't take hundreds of acres to have a prime hunting spot. Having 20-40 acres of land in a nicely situated area can be just as productive year in & year out as a 250 acre wooded area. Even if that 20-40acres spot is just grass... after 10-15 years of managing the land, you could easily have prime deer hunting. With that said, I could see myself looking to buy a 30acre adjacent high-prairie land which borders my property...sometime within the next 5-10 years. Having it would be easily less than a 100K investment, and in 10-15 years be an excellent hunting property. To reach that goal of buying more property, I am cutting back on yearly/monthly expenses and investing in items will will save me money in the long run. I'm getting into being self reliant/sufficient by using wood burners, efficient appliances, wind generators, etc. Besides investing in items that save me money, I don't think I spend all that much money on unnessessary things. I still drive the same truck that I bought 12 years ago. I'm saving up as much as I can & making various investments into stock funds & other business ventures. A little here & there will hopefully add up over time.
The best investments and money I have made have been in land and logging. I have taken a few chances when I was younger and bought and sold a couple homes and properties etc. With those investments, I was able to buy the right little piece of ground (12 acres) where I really wanted to raise my boys. I sold a 50 acre place to get my 12, but the 12 was were I wanted to live and had all the resources that I could ever want around it. Just a mile off of Couer d alene Lake; we have 100 miles of lakeshore and water to fish, swim, water ski etc.... My wife loves the water and I love the mountains and hunting. Our place is nestled in the foothills of the intermountains which offers a very nice mix of both outdoor/hunting and water recreation. I personally am always looking around the immediate country, Northern Idaho, Western Montana and Eastern Washington for the right piece of recreational back woods property. I want REMOTE! LOL Outside of teaching I own and operate a small business that includes logging and road building; so with my dozer avialable, if the right piece comes along I have the equipment to develope and make it work and I would be willing to drop/sacrifice certain toys/or a payment (I dont spend a ton on toys...wiht toys I usually buy good used stuff for cash, I rarely buy new). In 2005 I bought and set up the pickup I plan on keeping for at least 20 years. I will have it paid off in two years. Other than than that my bills are my mortgage and my wives new "used" car. I have worked hard and worked the system to have good solid credit, buying and selling homes, properties, toys, charging everything up on my credit cards then paying them off over and over again, same with cars etc.. so that when I find the right piece someday, if I want to get it, I can get the loan that will work for within my means. I have a great broker that I have been working with for 6 years. Right now property is really cheap, I found 160 acres of timber ground for 1000.00 per acre in eastern Washington just a few weeks ago. Remote and hard to get too of course, no electricity but exactly what I am looking for. I also have one other iron in the fire in the midwest. If the midwest thing works out I may have a great whitetail hunting area for my boys to grow up enjoying. I am a lot like Joey, I live off the land, burn 12 cord of wood a winter, have my house set up for a generator if need be.. garden, kill, process and live off of wild game etc. I am going to take a hard look at solar generators in the future. I also have enough public land here that I could never hunt it all, so I have no complaints there either.
I would love too and maybe someday I will??! As for a dual property, meaning not just for hunting but also a viable investment, this is what I face... To buy 20-30 acres within a 1 hour drive would cost between $150-300k Within 2 hours = $100-250k. Hopefully this recession can drop the foolish prices around here??!! Maybe I could win the lottery??!! Unfortunately, I don't have any rich relatives and I'm a blue collared worker. So thanks for depressing me!!!
If done correctly, even a blue collar worker can make it work. I bought my first house for $29K and kept it two years, sold it for $52.9K. With the proceeds of that bought my 2nd home for 90K and 10 years later sold it for $152K. With the proceeds, bought this place and will die here.
Question...how many of you grew up on land? I'm not sure the affect's ones outlook or not, but I know it does mine. I grew up on 90 acres. I've ALWAYS had land. I know what the maintenance is like (we cut wood, plow the roads, grade, plant plots, mow, etc), and I LOVE it. Heck, we mow 20+ acres of hay fields a summer on a bordering property we don't even own on top of it all! Public land in Northcentral PA isn't all that great, and I would rather have my own piece to manage and hunt as I please.
Im lucky, my dad owns 49 acres and my uncle owns an adjoining 51. It brings exclusive to a new level. Someday i would like to own my own chunk.
Duke, my father had the foresight to obtain 185 acres when I was just a youngin'. I will be forever greatful. I hunt other private land but I have the confort of knowing I can hunt and manage as I want to AND my children will have the same opportunities that I had to make memories at the camp. Well said Duke. I totally can get with your motives.
