So You Wanna Buy A Big Buck Property ... How Do You Evaluate?

[Wind Gypsy]

You aren't kidding about that. My latest deal came through from a friend texting me at work, said a co-worker was selling his 40. An hour later with two other bidders, we had an agreement. Since then I've been told by others at work they'd buy it for $1,500 an acre more than I'm paying. Close the deal in three weeks.

It is definitely in a "big buck neighborhood".

Are you telling us you're going to have a 3rd place now in a good neighborhood?

 

[Brian662]

Are you telling us you're going to have a 3rd place now in a good neighborhood?

This one is in WI too. Only about an hour drive from the cities though. 51 minutes for me, door to door.

 

[Bill]

Do you work for one of the antler emblem folks?

No but my farm would actually live up to all the fluffinutter they write about their listings
Even the overused..........."Turn Key"

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Glad you made this thread tree spud.

There are a ton of canned answers, some have more depth than others. While most on here will know i recently bought a place (using lots of experience and due diligence) that appears to be falling real short of expectations/desires. There is the reality fo the experience, meaning good luck. There is also the what it is now versus later factor. (i'd love to hear more on this from those that have found success. Heard a podcasts, think it was Bowmar on Huntr, who said buy garbage in lame neighborhoods as youll become the influencer. Interesting take.)

The bolded idea sounds ridiculous (but it is Bowmar..). You don't just change a small parcel and magically have bucks make it to age when everyone around you is still shooting the piss out of everything.

Personally i would steer clear of any property near public hunting or that has a bunch of residential adjacent (like a subdivision). Call me judgmental but i would avoid any property with neighbors that are slobs/hoarders, trailerparks or have loose dogs. If it has been the town park with atv trails, sneaks for hunters, etc....likely bad.

I'm not disagreeing with the idea in general but it has worked out the exact opposite for me. I have a neighbor on 10 acres directly against the corner where they could have a ton of negative influence on me. The house looks rough and there is old equipment and misc garbage everywhere in their yard. The guy turned out to be freaking awesome. He's the only way i get my tractor to one side of my property and I access through his yard for 80% of my hunts to avoid disturbing my land. His pointer and lab stay in his yard but the other neighbor with the neat yard and million $ custom home (which burned down this spring) has been a thorn when it comes to his pointer running around.

Id suspect the best opps come from those needing the most out of character(deer habitat) work- like cleaning up a hoarders mess, demoing a house and trailer, adding roads, etc.....and if those fail you can at least rest assured your flip investment will be good.

One last one that comes to mind is another personal one and related to contemporary relativity. My family farm has had more than a half dozen 150s in one year in a area where 110s are mounted and bragged about. Have seen a few Booners on it. Could write a listing that would be a horn porn centerfold. It hasnt had a great shooter (140+) in three years. Is it done, was that an anomaly, great ground or bad?

Hard to say on the bolded! In places where there isn't a topography, swamps, or something else to let deer get old, I think the increase in technology and available knowledge makes it hard for deer to survive. Or one group of a couple hunters moving in and shooting the piss out of everything legally or illegally, can move the needle. I think that "mediocre neighborhoods" can have a lot to do with there just not being either habitat (topography, cover) that allows deer to evade hunters or big enough areas where the hunters allow them to age. They can have nutrition and genetics but if they dont get age, it doesn't matter. I could also see how not having this ideal cover could lead to generations of high grading degrading the genetics. If trigger restraint is the only way for most bucks to get older the average hunter who just needs a "nice buck" is going to shoot a decent 8-10 pt 2 YO and feel like they let the young ones go but in reality they just let the genetic losers be the mature bucks on the landscape.

 

[Brian662]

This is what I look for in a property and my goal is to kill 150" or bigger deer. These are not necessarily in any particular order except #1

Access - limited access or from only one direction can be brutal

Neighbors - I look for large parceled neighbors. An outfitter is a no-go even in the neighborhood, for sure not neighbors.

Topo - this is very important to me, not only does a property hunt bigger but allows you to cheat the wind and access in many different ways.

History - obviously important for there to be knowledge of big deer in the area whether that's trail cameras in the listing or firet hand knowledge through friends/family.

Edge/field - I won't look twice at a property that is all timber. Deer need to eat and having quality food requires space. I prefer to have a destination style 3+ acre plot on my places.

Further down the list but I like a property to be dry. Use water as destination for deer and often if there is a pond or stream already there, it isn't in a good huntable location. I prefer to install water holes where I can hunt them.

Invasive species aren't a deal breaker, but they are going to take time and resources to control, which will knock a property down a bit for me.

Diversity is important, but it doesn't rank high for me. Topo can be a substitute for conifers (thermal bedding). The best diversity is edge, whether that's swamp, field, or cover, those are the areas the deer will travel. All can be seen from aerial maps using different sites. One solid block of hardwoods or one giant swamp is tough to hunt.

 

[bwoods11]

I like a combo farm … crop, CRP, creek bottoms, low land, hardwoods, cedars/spruce/pine, overgrown pasture type/habitat.

You can often get a buck to live in a 40-80 acre core area if you have all of that !

***tough to find, sometimes you have to plant it or create the habitat.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

The other factor is scale. Size can cover for a lot of bad neighbors. You will still lose deer to them but you theoretically should be able to keep some too. Now the magic question is what is that minimum acreage.

 

[Brian662]

The other factor is scale. Size can cover for a lot of bad neighbors. You will still lose deer to them but you theoretically should be able to keep some too. Now the magic question is what is that minimum acreage.

Give me 10 different 40's in good neighborhoods over a 400 acre contiguous parcel without a doubt.
Might only be 4 or 5 of them with shooters any given year, some may have multiple shooters, but the odds are greatly increased with having access to different herds, IMO. If one of them turns into a year in and year out ZERO, it's easier to sell and move on to another parcel.

IMO you need 500-800 acres to actually advance deer consistently without your neighbors getting cracks at the young studs. That's an unreasonable amount for 99% to own in one spot, especially with today's prices.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Give me 10 different 40's in good neighborhoods over a 400 acre contiguous parcel without a doubt.
Might only be 4 or 5 of them with shooters any given year, some may have multiple shooters, but the odds are greatly increased with having access to different herds, IMO. If one of them turns into a year in and year out ZERO, it's easier to sell and move on to another parcel.

IMO you need 500-800 acres to actually advance deer consistently without your neighbors getting cracks at the young studs. That's an unreasonable amount for 99% to own in one spot, especially with today's prices.

Yeah that’s what I was thinking. Plus 500. Very difficult but still potentially doable in marginal areas.

From a hunting perspective the multiple tract method probably makes the most sense. But some of your management effects are lessened when you aren’t working on one contiguous scale imo. I have three tracts that are close but should be far enough to not get overlap on deer herd. My hope is at least will have a shooter to hunt at any given time…hopefully

 

[swat1018]

Do you work for one of the antler emblem folks?

People can bash on whitetail properties all they want. People pay what the market will bear, if the price was "too high," it wouldn't sell. I bought one of my places through them and he was a great agent with great perspective. Everything he told me was spot on, and I got a good deal. My second farm was listed with another residential realtor, I found that listing. After reading the listing, I figured it was junk. I called my whitetail properties realtor, Jeff Propst, and he went and looked at it the same day for me. He told me it was a killer farm and that I should move on it. I bought it off his word, and I am so glad I did.

 

[swat1018]

Give me 10 different 40's in good neighborhoods over a 400 acre contiguous parcel without a doubt.
Might only be 4 or 5 of them with shooters any given year, some may have multiple shooters, but the odds are greatly increased with having access to different herds, IMO. If one of them turns into a year in and year out ZERO, it's easier to sell and move on to another parcel.

IMO you need 500-800 acres to actually advance deer consistently without your neighbors getting cracks at the young studs. That's an unreasonable amount for 99% to own in one spot, especially with today's prices.

Not me. 40 acres isn't much room. Neighborhoods with small tracts multiply the number of boots in the woods. Lucky to have one or 2 good stands for any given wind, if that many.

 

[Brian662]

Not me. 40 acres isn't much room. Neighborhoods with small tracts multiply the number of boots in the woods. Lucky to have one or 2 good stands for any given wind, if that many.

Who said anything about neighborhoods with small tracts? Plenty of 40's surrounded by other 200+ acre neighbors.

 

[Tree Spud]

People can bash on whitetail properties all they want. People pay what the market will bear, if the price was "too high," it wouldn't sell. I bought one of my places through them and he was a great agent with great perspective. Everything he told me was spot on, and I got a good deal. My second farm was listed with another residential realtor, I found that listing. After reading the listing, I figured it was junk. I called my whitetail properties realtor, Jeff Propst, and he went and looked at it the same day for me. He told me it was a killer farm and that I should move on it. I bought it off his word, and I am so glad I did.

I'm not bashing them, they are doing something right

 

[Bill]

People can bash on whitetail properties all they want. People pay what the market will bear, if the price was "too high," it wouldn't sell. I bought one of my places through them and he was a great agent with great perspective. Everything he told me was spot on, and I got a good deal. My second farm was listed with another residential realtor, I found that listing. After reading the listing, I figured it was junk. I called my whitetail properties realtor, Jeff Propst, and he went and looked at it the same day for me. He told me it was a killer farm and that I should move on it. I bought it off his word, and I am so glad I did.

He's a good realtor. I've looked at few farms with him over the years. Haven't bought one using him but wouldn't hesitate to.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

People can bash on whitetail properties all they want. People pay what the market will bear, if the price was "too high," it wouldn't sell. I bought one of my places through them and he was a great agent with great perspective. Everything he told me was spot on, and I got a good deal. My second farm was listed with another residential realtor, I found that listing. After reading the listing, I figured it was junk. I called my whitetail properties realtor, Jeff Propst, and he went and looked at it the same day for me. He told me it was a killer farm and that I should move on it. I bought it off his word, and I am so glad I did.

Was that recently? I do wonder if things have changed a bit the last few years. I get the feeling that there has been lower inventory and more buyers lined up looking lately diminish the benefits that the specialized guys like whitetail properties have to offer compared to when the market was different.

I was signed with one and I don't have anything negative to say about the guy other than i got the impression he had a whole lot of potential buyers already with him and there wasn't much time for a small fry like me. Short of telling me he wouldn't take me on as a buyer client because he had enough on his plate, i don't know what else he could have done and dont fault him for anything. He was kind enough to let me use my buddy who is a residential realtor when purchasing my property because he was a bit too tied up to move as fast as I was trying to when there were other interested buyers.

 

[gjs4]

I'm not bashing them, they are doing something right

They're doing good business, ntt sure who else theyre doing good for in some areas. There is a local one here with good rapport, didnt meet one worth a chit in the state that may have the most of them. Id use a buck on the sign company for selling through a realtor though....

 

[gjs4]

He's a good realtor. I've looked at few farms with him over the years. Haven't bought one using him but wouldn't hesitate to.

There are lots of good people in this world...and a bunch that arent worth their excretions. I am sure there are great guys, just selling my experience.

 

[gjs4]

The bolded idea sounds ridiculous (but it is Bowmar..). You don't just change a small parcel and magically have bucks make it to age when everyone around you is still shooting the piss out of everything.

Im with ya....on all aspects of that reply but I wont say he is wrong or right.

I'm not disagreeing with the idea in general but it has worked out the exact opposite for me. I have a neighbor on 10 acres directly against the corner where they could have a ton of negative influence on me. The house looks rough and there is old equipment and misc garbage everywhere in their yard. The guy turned out to be freaking awesome. He's the only way i get my tractor to one side of my property and I access through his yard for 80% of my hunts to avoid disturbing my land. His pointer and lab stay in his yard but the other neighbor with the neat yard and million $ custom home (which burned down this spring) has been a thorn when it comes to his pointer running around.

My overall was (typically) more people and more problems. Loose dogs typically are bad news and Ive yet to be happy about one. There are always contextual exceptions.

Hard to say on the bolded! In places where there isn't a topography, swamps, or something else to let deer get old, I think the increase in technology and available knowledge makes it hard for deer to survive. Or one group of a couple hunters moving in and shooting the piss out of everything legally or illegally, can move the needle. I think that "mediocre neighborhoods" can have a lot to do with there just not being either habitat (topography, cover) that allows deer to evade hunters or big enough areas where the hunters allow them to age. They can have nutrition and genetics but if they dont get age, it doesn't matter. I could also see how not having this ideal cover could lead to generations of high grading degrading the genetics. If trigger restraint is the only way for most bucks to get older the average hunter who just needs a "nice buck" is going to shoot a decent 8-10 pt 2 YO and feel like they let the young ones go but in reality they just let the genetic losers be the mature bucks on the landscape.

My point here was what is amazing today, may not be (or appear to be) tomorrow and vicesa versa.

We agree on all of it....I couldve just spelled my points out more. Sorry about that.

 

[Brian662]

I used United Country Midwest Lifestyle for a purchase, they knew the area well and gave me the inside track on a few listings of theirs before they hit the market. Wound up finding my place on a web search anyways, but was very satisfied with the agents. They are buck on the hat type outfit too.

 

[Bill]

There are lots of good people in this world...and a bunch that arent worth their excretions. I am sure there are great guys, just selling my experience.

That's why I said "He"