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Anyone ever sell their land, because of the time commitment and costs ?

Bszweda

Bszweda

5 year old buck +
After bush hogging my property a few weeks ago in which my tractor would only run when my key was in the cranking position( yes I held it for hours like that) my PTO shear pin breaking, countless chigger bites,dozen of tiny ticks on me, and food plots that look just weed fields. Im debating if it's time to hang it up and just start fishing more, and maybe go on outfitted hunts once in awhile. Anyone here ever decide to sell their farm due to getting burnt out or realizing owning land is a huge money pit?
 
No, I love my land.

I also love my family, fishing, hard work, success, the thrill of the chase, etc. The trials and tribulations make the thrill of victory that much better and every year the stakes (chess match) get higher. I love it.
 
Oh....I think many a Land Manager/Owner have been pushed to the point of burn out/frustration......but after a good night sleep or a couple of nice trail cam pics or a good hunt with some good stories/memories....and the thought of not having a piece of dirt all but disappear. But if someone is talking about the financial part of it and times are tight, by all means make the decision that is best for them and the family or their best health.
 
All the things you said is why I do it and more.I have also tried to get my daughter involved since they were at least 5 and now they see big oaks and they are like "I remember when we planted those"They already know which parts they each get when I'm gone and they both respect the land. I doubt if they will work as hard as I do but I hope they at least take future generations to hunt or watch the butterflies on the milkweed.
 
You don't have to work that hard,just do what work you have to do to get what you want.If you want to shoot 1 deer off there each year then just do what that takes.I you just want to walk across it then just mow 1 trail.Just be happy and don't sell it unless you need dollars instead of dirt.The lands not in Kansas is it
 
Well about that fishing thing. Sounds fun in a pond. But if you get serious it’s more work. And more $$

My farm looks like crap this year. “Food plots anyway”. Because I didn’t want to miss a fishing window.

Next year I’m going back to the farm and fishing when I can.

I figure I can be old and get into a deer blind/box. But I’m not taking on serious waves in a boat.
 
I think if I only viewed any of our properties as only hunting properties, I would probably burn out a lot easier. I'm willing to risk not seeing or killing the biggest bucks in the area if it means I can enjoy other aspects of the land that aren't directly tied to whitetails.

Looking for arrowheads is the latest thing I've been enjoying. Before that it was managing the ponds or just learning about things like grafting fruit trees.
 
Bszweda said:
After bush hogging my property a few weeks ago in which my tractor would only run when my key was in the cranking position( yes I held it for hours like that) my PTO shear pin breaking, countless chigger bites,dozen of tiny ticks on me, and food plots that look just weed fields. Im debating if it's time to hang it up and just start fishing more, and maybe go on outfitted hunts once in awhile. Anyone here ever decide to sell their farm due to getting burnt out or realizing owning land is a huge money pit?
Click to expand...

Every bad day I have had those thoughts swirl around to some degree. Then I started evaluating everything I did and on which I spent money. Food plots can be an absolute money pit and total failure after a person spends $100,000 on machinery and machinery storage. You can buy every fertilizer, every chemical, every magic blend, and still flop.

Then you can make yourself crazy with mower passes, sprayer passes, tillage passes, failed to germ, failed to compete, failed on moisture, got eaten too soon, didn’t get eaten at all, etc.

This is why I dig as hard as I do to understand why things happen and then seek to eliminate the conditions for the effect, not fight them only for them to return or worsen.

This is rant worthy for me because I see lots of guys banging their head against the wall and not seeing the outside the box solution. If you really wanna troubleshoot this, list out your top 3 problems and let’s talk about them. Don’t sell your land because you’re not gonna get another crack at buying land without paying way more per acre. The whole plane is eating up our land now, and we’re not getting those acres back.


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I’ll tel you this much, I love flail mowers and maybe someday I’ll have an $80,000 skid steer with a flail mower and a heated shop to put it in.

For now, that’s insanity, $85,000 for something my that will see 4 hours per year run time maybe.

I used to rent a Billy goat for $200/day and almost die trying to mow 3 acres in late July on foot.

This year, I hired a guy for $200 more and he was done in 2 hours and left. I ain’t storing it, I’m not replacing rubber track, paying insurance, interest on the machine, changing oil, blending winter fuel, replacing the hydraulic breather, worrying if I hit all 30 grease zirks, hoping mice don’t eat my wiring harness, roast a hydraulic pump drive belt, etc.

Then, I may have even stumbled upon a no mow food plot system that works for me by pure accident.

Don’t give up. Get mad enough to start questioning everything and resilient enough to figure it out. You don’t have to do it alone.


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As the old saying goes, if it was easy, every body would be doing it ....

I once spent over $500 and an entire weekend trying to fix a Craftsman lawn mower I was given for free. The lawn mower ran well, but the mower deck belts broke. Never could find the right belts and ended up putting the mower at the road with a "free" sign. Have another dozen stories like that.

You need to step back some times and re-evaluate why you are trying to do "everything". Places like this site are great to learn; however, you can come away thinking your not doing it right, not doing enough, not achieving perfection. Don't let good enough be the enemy of perfection.

Put a list together of all the things you are doing and probably only 20% of those are important to maintaining the property. Sometimes less is more ... take sometime and enjoy the fall hunt, it will be soup for the soul.
 
I quit mowing most of my place about 5 years ago and have a local guy plant crops. Way easier on me and my equipment. I quit dealing with foodplots too and planted them in fruit, oaks and chestnuts.
 
Foodplots were beating up my bank account, equipment, time, and I wasn't shooting anymore or any bigger deer with all that. Frustration set in as I just didn't have the time or will to do everything and enjoy family time. Now I only spend a few hours each year on plots and that's it. Minimal costs, equipment, time, and good cardio on a hot late August - early September day. Deer still funnel in and I still shoot 1 or 2 a year while most get a pass.

I think longer term when doing stuff now. For example trimming branches on our network of trails sucks. But it sucks even more to be selective on the trimming just to find blocked trails when riding the snowmobile after a heavy snow. Now when I go at it I trim high and wide. Sure it takes longer and I just about have a heart attack doing it with minimal equipment but once complete that job is done for a few years instead of repeating once or twice a year and still hitting shit all the time.

We use our place as family retreat. Only gets "locked down" a bit from Labor Day - Thanksgiving.
 
Land only needs as much management as we choose to give it. It won’t go anywhere if we “neglect” it. I know plenty of people who kill big deer and just show up prior to the season and put in no work (drives me nuts!). So don’t stress about to work. The work is something we decide to do because we want to, not that is required.
 
Howbouthemdawgs is right. Its about having to do the work versus wanting to do the work. I let my plots go this year and my apple trees didn't get sprayed enough and I haven't gotten all the stands in place I want, but I'm not sweating it. There's gonna be deer out there to hunt this fall either way. We spent more time on a garden this summer than anything and it was enjoyable. When my kids are older and they can help more on the plots and other stuff, I will get back into it
 
I tell ya, I'm pretty proud of the things I no longer do. Some of these things require a different lens to appreciate, but it's worked for me. Here's my list of things I no longer do, and there are a few exceptions. I'm not an absolutest anymore. But largely:

Don't buy trees
Don't water trees
Don't mulch trees with a few exceptions to the caged ones below
Don't buy fertilizer
Don't do maintenance lime (I will do corrective lime if I see plants indicating it's needed)
Don't spray (I will zap a plot every 4th or 5th year if I'm losing ground). I've used a pint of gly in 6 years, half pint of grass selective this year.
Don't do many cages, only unique applications like sentinel cedars and dogwoods in open pockets of my woods, and select yard trees for camp beauty purposes
Don't till
Don't soil test
Don't buy any seed blends. I always make my own and with purpose.
Only mow trails 1-2 times per year. Plots get mowed once per year.
Don't do cell cams/subscriptions

What I still do:

Chainsaw subtraction to unlock natural value in existing landscape
Rescue and relocate ditch and powerline trees. Had I purchased what I planted this year alone would have been over $2,000
Improvement focused earth moving: plot expansions, ponds, drainage, trail straightening, widening, and smoothing.
Mineral tweeking to try to shift native plant population
Getting very focused on low-input all natural fish pond management.
More gardening
More testing to keep waging war on the costs and efforts required to improve the land. My focus is simple, "How do I do/spend even less, and achieve more than ever?"
 
Sometimes a guy just needs to take a break. I work on my land and food plots to give myself something to do. All experimental. Some of it works like I planned and some of it doesn't. Wish I had more time to be outdoors to enjoy actually having land. Not all days are good and highly productive for sure. My worst day outdoors is way better than my best day at work.
 
3 years ago I quit hunting. Didn't put out cams, no plots, no habitat work, no scouting, etc... I HATED it! That year off made me hit it so hard lately! Its worth a shot to see which you prefer.
 
I'm basically paying my exwife the same amount I paid 7 years ago to buy her half out just to keep it. I love it so much. It's worth cuts, bruises, bites, all of if to me.
 
I frequently consider selling my WI place because of the 3 hour drive and i have much better deer hunting at home. I've given up on food plots up there because the juice isn't worth the squeeze - too much effort for no meaningful improvement in hunting versus just having a farmer plant and harvest the crops. Now I just lease out my tillable acreage and plant apple trees and hope for the best. Even though the deer hunting isn't as good as I'd like, there is really good grouse, waterfowl and bear hunting on my land along with some great fishing in the neighborhood.
 
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