Main reason you bought your property?

[muskrat]

I really liked the thread of how you acquired your property alot of good advice. Thanks. There are so many nice places, that you could look at. Ideally, besides I guess price what was the next main factor? (location, what was on the land, what you would like to do with the land etc).
Thanks
Matt

[KalamazooKid]

..... so no one can tell me "you can't hunt here any more". (like many others, I've had a bad experience)

[NorthJeff]

Potential tresspass
Potential or current habitat
Potential trail or road system
Potential property layout
Water
Elevation
Size of surrounding parcels
Tree-stand trees

Many of those aspects you can NEVER change. You can change your soil quality, ph, diversify existing habitat by age, even change your local deer numbers and herd dynamics with the right piece. But, property elevation, tree-stand trees, size of surrounding parcels, and most importantly outside hunter pressure or potential tresspass is often a hard one to correct, especially if surrounded by small parcels and high hunter numbers. I'd rather buy a 100 acre property surrounded by public land in a very remote area with no sign of tresspass or other hunters, than a 100 acre piece surrounded by numerous 10, 20 and 40 acre parcels with lots of potential "fence-sitters".

Lots to think about though. Take for example the U.P....the further north you go, the deer herd can be incredibly small, but the deer are very large bodied and you can find incredible privacy and a decent current age structure with bucks. On the otherhand, traveling south you can get into some great ag land with very high deer numbers, but you may find very high hunter numbers, smaller parcels, more tresspass problems, and a poor buck age structure.

There are many things to consider. With our lease in WI we wanted a large amount of woods, mixed with broken ag land. Also, we wanted a parcel that was very hilly and offered numerous present sanctuary areas and hard to reach core areas that offered privacy to the entire local herd. Also, a central food source was extremely important so the deer kept their focus "inward", instead of "outward". We did not want people to drive by and to be able to see much of the property without considerable effort, and wanted tough access either with a long walk, or steep climb. Also, we wanted some indication with current buck age structure with numerous quality rubs. Multiple access points for hunters were important as well to spread out potential deer/human encounters. Also, broken stands of timber with multiple pinch points or funnels was important as well, and of course, a wide variety of potential treestand sized trees. Of course, since we were leasing(and still do), a great landowner with possible very close ties to local relatives and the area was important as well, to have multiple eyes and ears keeping tabs on tresspasing activity.

[farmlegend]

so I could do things "My Way".:cool:

[Ferg]

was to retire on a paid off parcel and build a small cabin and live happely ever after -

HOWEVER;

After I purchased the first piece *(still have)* I bought more, more as in investment than any 'security' - and I wanted to have something to leave to my children - so I have picked up a couple of other pieces that are for sale now but the orignal parcel will be for keeps - and I'm looking to buy the 20 acres next door - If I can get the present owner to cut 'er loose :)

ferg....

[Munsterlndr]

As others have said, to have total control over the property I hunt on. I had been hunting for years on my Brother-in-laws 60 acre parcel but a development went in nearby and the amount of tresspassing went up substantially. I looked for the right piece of property for over ten years before I found the piece that met all of my criteria.

I also looked at it as a way to diversify my retirement portfolio somewhat. Because of the combination of the number of splits that I can get from my acreage coupled with the fact that I have 1,300 feet of creek frontage, the property is only going to go up in value. So I will have the benefit of hunting and playing on it for 20 or 30 years and then I can reap the benefit of long term appreciation.

[NorthJeff]

Munsterlndr,

Make sure you split those parcels on paper ahead of time. Our township changed the laws last year so intead of only needing a 100'x200' parcel in the area, you now have to have 5 acres. It hurt us by $20,000 with 1 lot. Less than 5% of the township is private, and they just severely limited growth potential for generations to come. The township is starving, 2 acres sells for just about the same as 5 acres..just depends on the quality of the building site, so they just severely limited the amount of people that can ever build around here, in an area already severely limited with the lack of private property.....it can happen, just something to think about.

[marty]

When I was stationed in Okla I always heared the song " bakers street" bY Gery Raferdy. It says going to buy some land give up the booze and the one night stands then I settle down in a quite little town and forget about everything.

So I retired and it work like a charm. What the chance I"d I could buy 4 ten acre parcels and tie them wih the original 10 that came with the house. Have made it into a four star deer haven but the deer must have went to florida for the winter come to think of it all year long:lol:

Do have turkeys up the bazoo :lol: Well good thing been sober for almost 8 years now;) ........m;) Sure don't miss those prayers to the porcelain gods:dizzy:

[riverman]

to make a living and to sit on my backporch in the morning and hear nature wake up, instead of man

[Ferg]

Munsterlndr,

Make sure you split those parcels on paper ahead of time. Our township changed the laws last year so intead of only needing a 100'x200' parcel in the area, you now have to have 5 acres. It hurt us by $20,000 with 1 lot. Less than 5% of the township is private, and they just severely limited growth potential for generations to come. The township is starving, 2 acres sells for just about the same as 5 acres..just depends on the quality of the building site, so they just severely limited the amount of people that can ever build around here, in an area already severely limited with the lack of private property.....it can happen, just something to think about.

Isn't this the point - and maybe should be a new thread - but:

If we don't stop sprawl now - what is going to be left for our children? Munsterlndr has a great 'long term retirement' plan - but how good of a plan is it for the long term of hunting ?

What's around the property? What happens when I split up my 20 and sell it off to a 20 acre subdivision? All the hunting around me stops - even on state land because of the safety zone nightmare I just created :(

I'll never cut mine up and sell it - but if my neighbors do - can I still hunt it? Not if they build on the property lines on all sides :(

5 acres is not a large enough parcel to protect the complete illimination of hunting around you.

ferg....<<<<worried about where is children will hunt or grandchildren....

[Swamper]

Great point Ferg. One of the things that I liked about Europe was how many of the countries really protect their undeveloped land. Goes with their approach to wildlife. If we want a healthier deer herd, then we need to be willing to make some self sacrifices financially, ie turn over land to developers for a quick buck. Most important, its for the future generations benefit.

Ultimately, it goes to the heart of the original question...why did you buy the land?

Me and brother - for deer hunting now and future generations; for wildlife preservation.

Swamper

[NorthJeff]

Ferg, the current parcel division act keeps much of that from happening. We have less than 5% that can ever be developed in the area, so by limiting that 5% that can be developed (which isn't much) we are severely hurting ourselves for schools, roads, public safety, utilities, etc. Our resedential markets have been stagnent, and our area has some of the lowest prices in the entire state, yet sales are fairly slow. There is no sprawl. What it did is take potential buyers away, which in turn hurts overall values. So, not only did we limit potential tax base in a poor area, but at the same time along with those limits comes less buyers, less buyers equals lower property values. Also, at least 1/2 of our waterfront purchases a year are bought by people buying to rent to help with mortgage payments. Basically, a couple from Chicago wants to buy a waterfron cabin for $200,000, but the mortgage payment for their potential 2nd home is tight. So, they decide to call it, "Bills Cabin in the Woods" and rent it to vacationers a couple months a year. Well, the township stopped that too, and to no surprise, last year was the worst in the last 10 years for waterfront purchases. Take 1/2 the buyers away, lower values...that's what the township just did in a number of ways, and they shot themselves in the foot.

Also, take our property for example, we can still have the same number of splits, only now when we sell, the parcels won't be 9, 1/2 acre parcels, they will have to be 9, 5 acre parcels that sell for almost the same as the 1/2 acre parcel. So, same number of potential neigbors...just on larger parcels, so that large parcels become even less common.

It used to be you could buy a 40, and get 4, 1/2 acre splits on the side to help out the savvy but frugile invester. Now, you have to split that 40 in 1/2 to get the same number of parcels and it makes buying that 40 in the first place, a lot less attractive.

[Munsterlndr]

My property is located in Leelanau County and there is already a 5 acre minimum lot size in place. I doubt that is going to increase. My projections are based on that density. If the allowable density increases, fine, it just means more splits. This area is an upscale area and the target market in the future is for estate sized parcels, so the 5 acre density works just fine for me. The majority of the neighboring properties are wetland and don't perc, so I doubt there is going to be any other development around my parcel. This was a criteria I was looking for when purchasing, I did not want a subdivision going in next door to ruin my improvement efforts.

Ferg, I hear ya about preserving hunting land but a very large chunk of Leelanau County is the National Lakeshore property that is all public land open to hunting that won't be developed. Compared to the tens of thousands of acres in the lakeshore, my 40 kind of pales in comparison. We also have 120 acres in Lake Co. that has been put into a family trust and will probably never be developed, so my kids and grandkids are assurred a place to hunt in the future.

My Leelanau property was an investment from the get go and eventually selling it was always part of the picture. Othrwise I could never have justified using some of my retirement funds to purchase it. It was never intended to be a legacy to be passed down the line. Of course when the time comes to sell 20 or 30 years from now, if someone wants to pay me the equivilent split value to sell it in one chunk, I'd be more than happy to.

[riverman]

it will never happen in my lifetime, but when the Ogalla Aquifier runs dry under the plains state and the Colorado River doesn't have enough water to supply California, people will wonder what the hell were we thinking when we developed all the "good" ag land in this country.

[GRUNDY]

Y'all are kinda lax in the "there's plenty of land for people" idea.
I just got back from the FAR outskirts of Chicago. I'm really worried by all the HUGE developments I saw. I'm talking a farmer owns like one square mile, and a developer comes in and buys and developes the ENTIRE square mile in probably less than 2 years. You really have to travel out there to see it. It will make you sick. Us humans are breeding like cockroaches, its just impossible for me to grasp the rate at which rural land is being converted directly into suburban, there is very little of that "transition time" where the land is pieced up for 10-20 years like what is happening in Holland. It literally goes from rural to suburban like right now man.

I feel there has never been a more critical time for the state and private individuals to buy land and keep it "wild". And open to hunting.

Brian

[trailsend]

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/images/icons/icon1.gif Main reason you bought your property?

So i could escape the not knowing where i was going to be come hunting season.

[fairfax1]

I wanted the security of always having a place to hunt.

I had...and continue to have, thankfully...more good places to hunt than I can realistically hunt, but I know full well it won't always be that way. Sons & grandsons grow up, daughters marry, and before you know it you're sort of in the way of that family's time in their woods. It has happened. Never any hard feelings. You move on.

So I looked to avoid being the 'odd-man-out'. Plus, I felt comfortable that it was a good investment. Even if I didn't make money when the time came to sell......I'm reasonably confident I won't lose money.

Lastly, who hasn't dreamt of planting an apple tree for the deer? Of cutting down one tree so a better one can grow? Of gathering walnuts from your own tree to crack with the kids? Making some of those little dreams come to life offers an immense amount of satisfaction.

Satisfaction way out of proportion to the wormy apples and too-small walnuts.