For those of you who are hundreds of miles from your farm....

[WTNUT]

For those of you who are many hours away from your farms, why do you have a farm so far away? Is it a connection to the area? Perhaps raised there? Family? Is is because there are way better bucks there than close to home? I ask because I have had some chances to buy some exceptional properties in some exceptional deer area and never pulled the plug because I considered it too much of a pain to get the place. What do you think? Would you do it over again? Would you buy a place 400 miles away or more?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[wklman]

Mostly because of family and eventually I'll retire there and use the land to keep me busy in retirement. I'm 1800 miles from my place. I'd definitely do it over again. Best investment I've ever made.

 

[mglenn005]

I'm not quite 100's of miles away but I'll give you my perspective. My farm is 2 hrs from my house, 1:15 from my parents. We got steal of a deal for the land. We had no connection to the area but the value was too good. We searched for 3 years before we bought. We saw great potential as hunting property but also s recreational area.

Now, my opinions. I would not want to drive more than 2 hrs. I cannot quickly check on things and that can be frustration. Everything must be planned (food, tools, etc.) So, I wouldn't buy 400 miles away unless it was a well established deer meca (3 priorities covered-food, cover, water) with rentable crop land as summer food source. I also would want access to a house to stay (power, water, electricity). Yes, that comes with cost, but if you are that far away, you want your time there spent hunting and not fixing DIY projects for camp.

I would also want a great neighbor, preferably the person that rents your crop land to keep an eye on the place. I would give that farmer a discount on rent so that he keeps your hunting in mind.

Too far for me, but if given the right situation, it could be a golden ticket and I might change my mind.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bowhunter2004]

I'm 1000 miles way from my farm, I bought it because I would travel there every year to deer hunt anyway, and fell in love with the area and the big bucks... This is my 5th year owning it, best money I ever spent, zero regrets.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

Lets see, I could stay hunting in MN at 7 DPSM or I could own land 400 miles away at 100 DPSM for the same price, hmmmmmm?

Let see, I could own hunting land with tillable in MN I can rent out for $60/acre, or I could own land 400 miles away that costs the same and I get over $200/acre, hmmmmmm?

Lets see, I could own land in MN with property taxes at almost $30/acre now, or I could own the same land in Missouri and pay only $2/acre for property taxes, yes $2 per acre, hmmmmmmm?


Guy don't have to be a fricken rocket scientist to know what to do!!!

 

[BuckSutherland]

215 miles away. Had to go that far to get away from enough people. And I love northern MN. Too bad the hunting and hunting mentality up there sucks.

 

[buckdeer1]

I'm 5 minutes from mine and really can't imagine having to travel like some of you do

 

[Dennis Duffy]

Nine hours away from my farm. Do i wish the drive was shorter? Yeah but you get used to it. I have no regrets as the Deer Hunting is awesome on the farm. Big bucks and lots of them. My farm is all (Thick) woods with a couple food plots and a stream running through it as well as a pond. It is surrounded by crop land and is the place the deer like to go! I am friends with the neighbor next to my farm and he keeps a close eye on things. I purchased a small house that is just down the road from my property for very cheap. I am so glad I pulled the trigger on this property. I am self employed and can take a long weekend every month to go down and tinker around the place! The property won't be going up for sale in my lifetime LOL!!

 

[momatt]

I'm about 90 miles, most of the way I can drive 75, so it's about 1.5-hours. I bought it where it is because I could afford it there. When I bought it it was for hunting, but since I've had it the food plots, gardening, cutting wood and pumpkin patch have become as important. We have great family time camping and swimming there. It has rock cliffs, a cave, three creeks, 7 acres of good bottom ground with the balance woods. I bought a dozer and next year I will buy a sawmill. I intend to build a timber frame cabin out there so we can stay even in winter. After only 7 years the memories are quite thick.

 

[JFK52]

When I was searching for land to buy, one of the requirements was that it would be no more than a two hour one way trip from where I was living. I had owned a general store just two miles from where I bought my land for four years, so the area was familiar to me and I got to know a lot of the locals who came into the store. The drive is 80 miles one way now, but it takes 1 1/2 hours because I have to go through every small town on State Hwy 22 on the way to my land. I get to my land very often and one reason is that I can drive there and back after doing a day of work on the land. I do have an older 14' x 52' mobile home with electricity and running water on the land, but mostly stay in it while I am hunting.
The further away your land is the less you will make trips to it. That might be fine for some. For me enjoying the land, working it and being able to do that frequently is one reason I wanted to be within a two hour one way drive to it. It might sound funny to some, but mowing on my Kubota provides me with a zen like form of meditation that reduces the stress of everyday life. I might also add that I do not have very good cell phone reception on my land. I have to go to a certain high point to get reception and that is just fine with me.

 

[TMIL]

My property is 6 miles from where I live. I don't go out there very much. I might go years without visiting land that was 50+ miles away. You guys are very dedicated.

 

[Bill]

Posted this back in June http://habitat-talk.com/index.php?posts/106040/

It's about 900 plus miles to my place in MO.
MoBuckchaser pretty much hit all the top points for why I do it.

I own 114 acres in southern NJ. It's all timber, the area lacks food so I cleared about and acre two years ago. Never planted it, that's as far as it got. I just can't get excited about hunting here. There is the occasional toad in the neighborhood but 90% of the bucks killed are 1.5 year olds. I think I hunted alone once last year. The only other times I was there were to let my son take a stand for does or whatever he wanted to shoot.

About 10 years ago I went to Missouri to help a buddy put stands up and do some work at his place. I had personally given up deer hunting for duck hunting years before that. The N. MO countryside screamed deer territory to me. By that fall I owned my farm there and the insanity we call QDM began.

When I can sit on stand for a couple days and see more antlered deer than I would in a season in NJ I know it was the right choice for me.

The only draw back is I no longer have a yellow lab tagging along with me. Don't have the time it takes to train and keep a good retriever and play on the farm. One would suffer so when Otis passed no new dog for me.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

Posted this back in June http://habitat-talk.com/index.php?posts/106040/

It's about 900 plus miles to my place in MO.
MoBuckchaser pretty much hit all the top points for why I do it.

I own 114 acres in southern NJ. It's all timber, the area lacks food so I cleared about and acre two years ago. Never planted it, that's as far as it got. I just can't get excited about hunting here. There is the occasional toad in the neighborhood but 90% of the bucks killed are 1.5 year olds. I think I hunted alone once last year. The only other times I was there were to let my son take a stand for does or whatever he wanted to shoot.

About 10 years ago I went to Missouri to help a buddy put stands up and do some work at his place. I had personally given up deer hunting for duck hunting years before that. The N. MO countryside screamed deer territory to me. By that fall I owned my farm there and the insanity we call QDM began.

When I can sit on stand for a couple days and see more antlered deer than I would in a season in NJ I know it was the right choice for me.

The only draw back is I no longer have a yellow lab tagging along with me. Don't have the time it takes to train and keep a good retriever and play on the farm. One would suffer so when Otis passed no new dog for me.

Bill, if I can ask, what is the hunting land priced at in NJ compared to Putnam Co MO?

 

[chickenlittle]

I hunt and habitat on my parents farm, a 2 hour drive south from my home. I expect to buy the farm and likely retire there although much could happen to change that over the next 20 years. If I change employer, I would relocate to who knows where. I would not claim it to be great hunting and it may never be but it will get better. It is great to have my young children spend time with my parents and see family and friends. With work, family, school etc., we get down every couple of weeks at times and not for a month or 2 other times. As my children get into school and sports, I imagine our visits could become less frequent. The 2 hour drive is fine as long as I am spending the night but lousy for a single day down and back.

I have given some thought to buying something closer to me but I would not have time for it unless it was close enough for us to live there. I cannot imagine buying a property far enough away to get good deer hunting. I have given some thought to trying Midwest public land hunting to see what those areas night be like. Someday.

 

[Bill]

Bill, if I can ask, what is the hunting land priced at in NJ compared to Putnam Co MO?

Everything listed in Putnam is usually around the $2200 tom$2500 per acre range. My assumption is most close around $2000.

NJ instituted what they call a farm land preservation program back in the 80's I believe. The fear was the state would be built out and there would be no open spaces. Basically the state then, and still today, will pay a farmer close to but under market value to preserve the land. The farmer gets the $ and gets to keep his land. The catch is, it can never be developed.
Most farmers sub divide a few lots for kids before entering the program.

There's a reason for me explaining that. Preserved farm land in my county of NJ goes for anywhere from $5000 to $15'000 per acre. Because it can never be developed its not wanted by builders.

I just pulled up a 25 acre piece that is not preserve. Asking price is $40K/acre. Another building lot in the country 1.72 acres is listed at $95K

I paid MO pricing for my land in NJ. It was owned by a trust. only 1 of the 3 beneficiaries had ever seen it. I got wind they might sell, made a cash offer got turned down. Only to be contacted a few months later to see if I was still interested. It never hit the open market.

 

[Bill]

I hunt and habitat on my parents farm, a 2 hour drive south from my home. I expect to buy the farm and likely retire there although much could happen to change that over the next 20 years. If I change employer, I would relocate to who knows where. I would not claim it to be great hunting and it may never be but it will get better. It is great to have my young children spend time with my parents and see family and friends. With work, family, school etc., we get down every couple of weeks at times and not for a month or 2 other times. As my children get into school and sports, I imagine our visits could become less frequent. The 2 hour drive is fine as long as I am spending the night but lousy for a single day down and back.

I have given some thought to buying something closer to me but I would not have time for it unless it was close enough for us to live there. I cannot imagine buying a property far enough away to get good deer hunting. I have given some thought to trying Midwest public land hunting to see what those areas night be like. Someday.

No way I'd be doing what do at your age either. A young family takes precedence over hobbies.
But someday.......you never know.

 

[Eggman]

Both my wife and I are from NC. Her family has a large farm there and makes a living on hay and cattle. I have always wanted my own land and had the opportunity to purchase a 100 acre tract that joined there place in 2008. Since then I have purchased several other pieces that join there farm ranging from 4 to 150 acres. I hope that my kids will enjoy spending time there as much as I do. I plan to move back and retire there when that time comes.

 

[swat1018]

I bought some farm ground right in Indiana before the recent land boom. Actually, I'm 47 and I've been buying and selling farms for probably 15 years, keep trading up, if you will. I had 160 acres of farm ground in Central Indiana, with the farm ground boom of a few years back, I sold out and did a 1031 exchange into my farms in NE MO. I use to go to a buddies farm in Sullivan County, MO and hunt until I bought my places, fell in love with N. Missouri. I decided to buy in NE MO, because it's a couple hours closer to home than Sullivan Co. I'm in Lewis and Knox County. I use to have a farm in Western KY also, I'd take MO all day long. It's 390 miles, but I manage to get there every 4-6 weeks. I got twice the acreage and a huntable population of big bucks. The Indiana deer herd is in steady decline.

Bill, you ever chase ducks in N. MO? I love to duck hunt too, have been thinking of looking around for a spot sometime.

 

[Bill]

Bill, you ever chase ducks in N. MO? I love to duck hunt too, have been thinking of looking around for a spot sometime.

No but I've thought of it. There was a 40 for sale in Schuyler county a few years back. 20 acres of WRP. Basically two ponds. One fed the other with stop gates. Could have drained the lower area planted sorghum to flood in October. It could have been turned into a shooting gallery but I didn't do it.

 

[bwoods11]

I have bought and sold (5) farms in Iowa. It's the best deer hunting that I have personally experienced, and it's a unique market where you can get great buy once in awhile.

It looks like the farm I have now will be--the one I keep.

The goal is for my boys and I to shoot mature bucks, have fun doing it, and also use the tillable ground for retirement income in the future.

Being 6 hours away has drawbacks, but I know some people that keep an eye on it---they have become friends of mine.