So if you could buy anywhere as a non-resident after trophy deer

356 said:
Since you limit this to trophy deer and 100 acres, I like a property with 80 to 140' of elevation change; 50% timber, year round water source; ideally in an area with CRP, neighboring row crops farms, and like-minded neighbors.

I'd say northern Missouri, southern Iowa and southern Ohio would be my target states.
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Based on his “working man budget” thesis, I’d say two of the three you listed are out! 100 acres in southern Iowa would likely be north of $500k without any infrastructure so you are staying in a hotel.

I saw mention of ky’s early season for a velvet buck. I personally couldn’t imagine buying land to kill a buck the first week of the season. Yes they are super easy to kill then, 99% of them just sheepishly walk into a corn pile and get shot, yay. But with that…it’s a one buck state, so you’ve miss the whole season for the novelty of killing one in velvet. To each their own but seems insane to me to buy land for that reason.
 
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I've never considered land in another state. This thread made me question why. Turns out I've never looked at land without weighing it's possible yearly income before weighing it's huntability. If land doesn't make money I rule it out. Now you've given me something to think about.
 
I definitely see the allure of buying out of state to get to the kind of deer you want. I live in south Louisiana. If I had to buy property within 30 minutes of where I live for trophy bucks, I would have to spend millions of dollars for a hundred acres. If I didn't care about trophies, I could buy something a little more reasonable but hunt in an area where you're lucky to get bucks to 2.5yo. When I started looking, I looked for the closest Midwest area I could drive to that had good ag and a history of trophy caliber bucks. That put Missouri and Kentucky on my radar. I new from getting fawns delivered to the university I worked for that fawns coming from the agricultural areas had much larger bodies than those that were from non-ag areas. I wanted to be close to agriculture. I then just looked at properties in those areas that met my budget. I got it down to the county level, but probably should have gotten even more precise. Neighborhoods make a huge difference even in counties that have the type of bucks you're looking for. Check with an official scorer for bucks in the areas you're looking for. I had one that pinpointed neighborhoods in a state I was looking at that had a history of producing top end bucks. The only problem was, nothing was for sale there. Location, Location, Location. Precise location.
 
BenA said:
I definitely see the allure of buying out of state to get to the kind of deer you want. I live in south Louisiana. If I had to buy property within 30 minutes of where I live for trophy bucks, I would have to spend millions of dollars for a hundred acres. If I didn't care about trophies, I could buy something a little more reasonable but hunt in an area where you're lucky to get bucks to 2.5yo. When I started looking, I looked for the closest Midwest area I could drive to that had good ag and a history of trophy caliber bucks. That put Missouri and Kentucky on my radar. I new from getting fawns delivered to the university I worked for that fawns coming from the agricultural areas had much larger bodies than those that were from non-ag areas. I wanted to be close to agriculture. I then just looked at properties in those areas that met my budget. I got it down to the county level, but probably should have gotten even more precise. Neighborhoods make a huge difference even in counties that have the type of bucks you're looking for. Check with an official scorer for bucks in the areas you're looking for. I had one that pinpointed neighborhoods in a state I was looking at that had a history of producing top end bucks. The only problem was, nothing was for sale there. Location, Location, Location. Precise location.
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That’s the truth. It’s like the quality of your deer can be broken down to 2000 acre neighborhoods regardless of state for the most part.
 
Buying property to hunt a deer is a risky proposition at best and a fool’s errand at worst. I bought property - but restricted myself to one hour from home because I knew it would be difficult - with a wife and kids - to get to the property enough to make it worthwhile. I also bought property for ducks, deer, hogs, turkeys, and fishing - besides deer. Year round use. And I also moved down there full time 7 years after purchase.

Now, the ducks dont come here anymore. The turkeys are rare. Hogs are gone. And the fishing now sucks. I also bought an additional 62 acres eight miles away - adjacent to a very restrictive federal area and an 800 acre row crop ground - one of two row crop farms in the county. It also had 15 acres of wetlands for duck hunting. It was a real honey hole. The farmer sold his ground to a carbon credit company and they leased it to a group of hunters and there isnt a three year old buck in the neighborhood.

I have spent the last three days bush hogging and spraying. I have spent $1000 repairing the bush hog. $200 on replacing blades for another bush hog. Feed. I have 70 acres of dying ash. I have countless hours of work and money to spend yet bush hogging, spraying, and planting before hunting season even opens. I am going to rent an excavator for some trail and levee work. It is never ending.

Point being - land attractiveness and next door neighbors can change over night. If I didnt live exactly half way between my two kids, I would sell out and move to the coast. If I was going to spend money for 100 acres just for deer, instead, I would put the money in the bank, draw interest - and hunt where the hunting was good at the time
 
When I think of buying out of state to hunt, I'm not thinking about trophies. I'm thinking of a little cabin somewhere far enough away, that when I get there, all I can do is hunt. I work on my property at home for deer hunting, and when I finally get to my stand, all I can think about is the work at the house that needs to be done. That 10 minute walk to the stand kills most of my hunting, because it's too easy to get back home and get my chores done when I'm "not seeing anything". If I have to drive 3-4 hours to get to camp, when I get there, I'm not leaving. My dream out of state property is 5-20 acres that backs up to a big piece of public. Way less work and way more hunting.
 
Catscratch said:
I've never considered land in another state. This thread made me question why. Turns out I've never looked at land without weighing it's possible yearly income before weighing it's huntability. If land doesn't make money I rule it out. Now you've given me something to think about.
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That’s a criteria of mine . Income producing land. Iowa was a bargain for awhile, Missouri definitely 👍🏻… 50/50 farms (timber & crop or CRP).

Right now the only deals I see are South Dakota, & North Dakota. Kansas has some decent buys? Nothing is jumping out as a steal !
 
bwoods11 said:
That’s a criteria of mine . Income producing land. Iowa was a bargain for awhile, Missouri definitely 👍🏻… 50/50 farms (timber & crop or CRP).

Right now the only deals I see are South Dakota, & North Dakota. Kansas has some decent buys? Nothing is jumping out as a steal !
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What part of South Dakota? I live really close to the SD border and land with timber on that side of the river in my area is outrageous, it makes Iowa rec ground look cheap. 5 digits per acre is common for timber and pasture ground. I have seen 6 digits if they think they can stick a couple houses on it. We're a little too close to Sioux Falls.
 
bwoods11 said:
That’s a criteria of mine . Income producing land. Iowa was a bargain for awhile, Missouri definitely 👍🏻… 50/50 farms (timber & crop or CRP).

Right now the only deals I see are South Dakota, & North Dakota. Kansas has some decent buys? Nothing is jumping out as a steal !
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I wouldn't consider a lot of KS a good buy. I think it's cheaper than a lot of other states but good hunting land has been gobbled up either by a owner or leased by outfitters. What's not spoken for usually isn't that great for hunting. A outfitting neighbor will often bait and over harvest until there are very few deer left in the entire area. Those are not great situations. I've known a few guys from TX that bought in KS for hunting. They all gave up after a few years and sold as it just wasn't as good as they hoped.
 
Oklahoma seems like the best “value”. Now I don’t know crap about the dynamics in that state. No idea where it’s good and bad. I know you can bait which sucks. But they seem to have a lot of land, big tracts, some really good deer and it isn’t crazy expensive…yet.
 
hillrunner said:
What part of South Dakota? I live really close to the SD border and land with timber on that side of the river in my area is outrageous, it makes Iowa rec ground look cheap. 5 digits per acre is common for timber and pasture ground. I have seen 6 digits if they think they can stick a couple houses on it. We're a little too close to Sioux Falls.
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Mostly on the west side of the river … I missed a tillable farm with a few draws/ponds. It was around $1000/acre. Huge upside to add CRP, trees, food plots .

It had trophy Muleys already! Pheasants galore if it had the right habitat . Kick myself for not making an offer !

Long drive though (6 hours) …
 
Catscratch said:
I wouldn't consider a lot of KS a good buy. I think it's cheaper than a lot of other states but good hunting land has been gobbled up either by a owner or leased by outfitters. What's not spoken for usually isn't that great for hunting. A outfitting neighbor will often bait and over harvest until there are very few deer left in the entire area. Those are not great situations. I've known a few guys from TX that bought in KS for hunting. They all gave up after a few years and sold as it just wasn't as good as they hoped.
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Dont you have to draw even to archery hunt now as a NR?
 
bwoods11 said:
Mostly on the west side of the river … I missed a tillable farm with a few draws/ponds. It was around $1000/acre. Huge upside to add CRP, trees, food plots .

It had trophy Muleys already! Pheasants galore if it had the right habitat . Kick myself for not making an offer !

Long drive though (6 hours) …
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There are some good buys out there. You are a long way from anywhere on some of that west river ground. It's pretty dry out there, I think I'd want running water.
 
South Dakota pays for weed mat with all tree plantings in CRP. They like a 4-5 row shelter belt, with cedars, plum, or whatever can grow in dry conditions…

In this case it was 900 acres and I could have had 40-50k income and some darn good hunting. It did have some deep ponds . Taxes were $2000/yr

You can transform a property in 5-6 yrs.. I’m 56 so it would mainly be for my boys. Fun potential project.

That same farm will probably sell for $2000/acre now.
 
If I was going to buy a place I think the Yellowstone River area in eastern Montana.

Glendive would be the cats meow.
 
Personally, I'd have to go with something close enough for a weekend trip but far enough away I'm not getting tugged home to do chores (like Hoosier said). Something 1-2.5 hr away that I could use as an escape and family retreat.

Ironically enough, I have almost this exact situation. 280 acres of pure oak timber and excellent bedding about 1.5hr away surrounded by hundreds of acres of soybeans and corn. It consistently produces really really nice deer. However, the property is in joint custody in the family and use of it varies dramatically. Too many hunters, others 4wheeling, trespassers, etc etc etc. I've hunted there in the past with 150" class deer on the property (giants for my area), but lost interest because I was tired of getting bumped by extended family, neighbors, etc.

I'd love to buy out the other half the family and dedicate it to a family camp & hunting cabin in best case scenario its many many years down the road, worst case a pipe dream.

I have little interest in owning out of state only because I know I'd never get to it. My life is simply too busy right now. I'd be more interested in simplifying my lifestyle and dedicating time and efforts locally (or even on public land) than trying to juggle more land, more chores, more expectations etc. I'm spread too thin already as is.
 
It is a lot easier to work on land projects when the property is less than 30 minutes from home. Driving many hours to get to a property makes it pretty difficult to do too much work, especially if you are married with kids.

I'd cast a wide net within a reasonable driving distance from home and pick the best in that area. One other thing I would consider is what other opportunities are available on that land. The other critters (bears, turkeys, pheasants, ducks, fishing, etc.) can be quite a bonus if the deer hunting declines for one reason or another.
 
Agreed. I have a spot 1 hour from home. I wouldn't want too much more than that, especially after all day sits with plans to hunt in the morning. Unless you have a camp there.
 
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