Buying Land???

[wisconsinteacher]

My wife and I are starting the process of buying land. I found an 80 that I got permission to walk this weekend. As a deer hunter, I know to look for sign (trails, rubs, scrapes and tracks). Is there anything else to look for? The goal is to have a decent deer hunting spot for future years without having to ask permission all the time. We are not planning on building or having any structures on the land.

 

[buckbull]

I know you say you won't have any structures but eventually you'll want water and electric and probably a some kind of shed or garage to store deer stands, atv's etc and a nice place to get out of the weather.

 

[pabearhunter]

I would look for a water source as in stream, creek or low area that could be dammed to make a small pond. Any areas you can put in a food plot?

 

[ssmusicman]

I would look for a water source as in stream, creek or low area that could be dammed to make a small pond. Any areas you can put in a food plot?

, Water, water, and lastly water.

Also what buckbull said, you will eventually want some sort of structure for a tractor, mower, side-by-side, storage, etc. Hauling things from home to property gets old, trust me.

 

[buckbull]

The more "nicer" you make the property the more you will use it and the more enjoyment you will get from it. I went from a travel trailer to a 1000sq ft cabin on my piece of heaven and its made an incredible difference not only for hunting season but has turned the property into a year round recreational retreat that even my teenage kids enjoy even without cell or internet service.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

This 80 has a swamp and a creek on the north side.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

This is the land looking towards the south. It is the wooded block with roads on 2 sides.

 

[schmalts]

I would say DO NOT buy 80 acres of land in Wisconsin if the sole reason is to deer hunt. You want something other than that to go with it. Timber value, Tillable acres to lease or farm, Water to fish, building site to build. For hunting only, the taxes you will pay each year alone unless in MFL will cover a nice DIY hunt out west. Leasing deer land is cheaper than owning it too. Investment wise the stock market gains in the past 10 years would crush the gains on vacant hunting land. Another thing to consider is bugs. I have have known more than a few people who bought hunting only land with a good amount of marshy low land and the skeeters and deer flies made the place miserable to be in the summer and they sold it fast. Bottom line, you need to enjoy it more than just sitting in a deer stand for a few weekends to make it worth your $$$

 

[wisconsinteacher]

Great points schmalts. Those points are things my wife and I will talk about. We are open to all thoughts and ideas.

The biggest reason for buying is to make it our own. We want to have food plots, a few nice rilfe stands and land to call our own. Right now we hunt a local farm but there is always concern about loosing permission to the farmers family. I feel our days are numbered where we are now.

 

[schmalts]

Great points schmalts. Those points are things my wife and I will talk about. We are open to all thoughts and ideas.

Another thing, make sure the area around you is somewhat on the same page as what kind of trophy management they do. example, if you are looking to shoot 130 or better score bucks and you are surrounded by smaller parcels (10-20 acres) expect to see far more hunting pressure that you would expect and less of a QDM mindset. take a look of the parcel sizes bordering this land. I will bet my left nut of there is any 10 or 20 acre parcels adjoining it they are camped on your fence line on opening day. In areas with small parcels many times the hunting pressure is far more than public land

 

[schmalts]

One more thing, It has often crossed my mind that since my land is paid off, I cannot help but wonder what hunts I could afford to go on with just the interest I would make on the value if I had put that money in an investment making 5% a year.... My land value is over 300K, that would be a couple pretty kickass hunts. But, I am headed up there in a few hours, the 3 hour drive sucks, but I still like to keep busy in the woods. It is my sanity check.

 

[ssmusicman]

Also, if the ad says " backs up to thousands of acres is state land" RUN, RUN FAST. No worse land in WI than that to own. Public land here gets pounded, then pounded again and again.

Taxes wise go closed MFL if they will enroll it.

A lot of my property is tapped for maple syrup making the taxes reasonable.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

This land is 25 minutes from my house.

I will check out the land around it to make sure we are all on the same page.

As far as out west hunts, I get that 100%. As of now, the hunts out west will continue.

A lot to think about.

 

[sneakypete]

I’ve got land in Montana, others had said you’ll need a shed, power etc. best a safest shed is a shipping container! They are air & Water tight, we bought a onetime used 20’ Long container.

 

[schmalts]

This land is 25 minutes from my house.

I will check out the land around it to make sure we are all on the same page.

As far as out west hunts, I get that 100%. As of now, the hunts out west will continue.

A lot to think about.

what area if you don't mind saying?

 

[wisconsinteacher]

South west corner of Sawer Co.

 

[Addicting]

I would look at that parcel thru the county GIS system so you can see different aerial photos in the different seasons. There is a reason no trees grow in that creek drainage. If it’s swampy it’s not worth the same per acre as timber. The DEQ can stop you from any improvements if it’s classified as wetland. If no deer inhabit it and you can’t change that your really only buying 50 acres at the price of 80.

 

[Clam]

25 min from home is a big plus. Will the potential for other hunters using it without permission be a problem?
If not, and you are buying at a fair price, taxes are reasonable, it looks great.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

Other hunters are a risk all over northern WI. I deal with it yearly on the private land I currently hunt.

 

[npaden]

My only input is that a lot more people regret not buying land or regret selling it than the other way around.

Figuring out the property taxes is pretty important. Depending on how it is classified as agriculture use or not can make a huge difference in the taxes. And being able to keep the exemption is important too. Here we have to reapply every 7 years for it.

I think it looks like a pretty neat piece of property. Right now land prices seem pretty high but generally they don't really drop, they just might stay flat for a few years before moving up.

I bought some recreational property 13 years ago and it makes enough income to more than pay the taxes and goes up in value about 3 or 4 percent a year. There are a lot worse things to spend your money on.