The Whitetail Group

[Brian662]

I assumed he knew that well just didn’t get things set up soon enough on the new property and just figured he’d get some dumb young buck for his daughter. He did. But I’d agree, lower quality intel on the new show.

Generally I'd agree except he kept going back to the same well day after day, just him and his camera man, weeks after his daughter was tagged out.

 

[Brian662]

I think Bill Winke sold his Iowa farm too cheap and he missed the run up .. 2 million dollars later ?

The timing was terrible .


That being said, I really enjoyed his show over the years and I have learned from him.

I agree, he must have lost a considerable amount by selling a year too early. Probably wound up buying at a bad time too, depending on what happens over the next six months.

MW was a high quality show. Truly the first in its kind with semi-live hunts, strategy, some habitat stuff. Lots of respect for his vision with the show. It's definitely gone down hill since he left.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

I think Bill Winke sold his Iowa farm too cheap and he missed the run up .. 2 million dollars later ?

The timing was terrible .


That being said, I really enjoyed his show over the years and I have learned from him.

Hindsight is 20/20. Everyone is an oracle looking in the rearview mirror.

I've seen a bunch of interviews with him about selling his farm. He hasn't admitted it yet, but I'm sure parts of him regrets selling it, but not for the money. I don't get the impression he cares much about money. He has been open about wanting to be closer to his parents. I also get the impression he wants to build something again, maybe similar to what Grant Woods has done.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I didn't even realize The Wildlife Group was doing this kind of thing. You can see from my early post, I didn't realize the were doing more than selling wildlife trees.

I think you’re confusing the whitetail group with the wildlife group.

 

[bwoods11]

Hindsight is 20/20. Everyone is an oracle looking in the rearview mirror.

I've seen a bunch of interviews with him about selling his farm. He hasn't admitted it yet, but I'm sure parts of him regrets selling it, but not for the money. I don't get the impression he cares much about money. He has been open about wanting to be closer to his parents. I also get the impression he wants to build something again, maybe similar to what Grant Woods has done.

Agree to Disagree. …No hindsight needed, ask above market for the farm with that history, no farm had more documentation and online views than his .. . It should have commanded a major premium .

It’s for sale again. The new owner is selling it now in two parcels .

 

[Brian662]

It’s for sale again. The new owner is selling it now in two parcels .

That's gotta be a kick in the shorts for Bill, worked hard for all those years to put 1,000 acres together to have it split up two years later for probably (my guess) close to double what he sold it for.

Do you have any links to the listing?

 

[bwoods11]

I don’t have a link . But if you type in the county and land for sale it comes up.

Monroe County Iowa

 

[Mortenson]

Didn't he get around 4k/ac? I see on the smaller piece w/o the home and buildings they're asking 4.8k/ac. I doubt he even cares what happens to it.

 

[neonomad]

Man I've lost some respect for Winke in the past few months with his new show. The way he's been hunting that property defies logic even for someone with minimal bow hunting experience. His strategy was literally drive a 4 wheeler within a few hundred yards of a redneck that is parked in the middle of a food plot and hunt it nearly every afternoon...Funny how it took him all season to come to the realization they over hunted the plots and had zero access in and out.

I have a lot more experience hunting a property where the fields are on the high ground, so what do I know… but when they head up those valleys to hunt I can’t help but wonder how many deer are on the hillsides with decent visibility, watching the whole setup, and adjusting their plans for the evening.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Didn't he get around 4k/ac? I see on the smaller piece w/o the home and buildings they're asking 4.8k/ac. I doubt he even cares what happens to it.

Yep. From listening to his story about how he acquired it all, $4k/acre is probably 3x or more what it costed him to get it.

Timing of sale and then purchase of current property was bad but sure seems the good of what he paid and got out of all the properties leading up to the sale of his home farm was way better in the right direction.

I've got a feeling Winke feels like I do about my crypto investments. If I would have timed sales perfect I would have had around $1 million profit. I didn't and occasionally think about what could have been but I cant complain about the good side that was recognized! Nobody times everything perfect.

 

[yoderjac]

I think you’re confusing the whitetail group with the wildlife group.

You are absolutely right. I confused the title of the thread. I have no experience or opinion on the Whitetail Group as I've never even seen what they do.

 

[Brian662]

I have a lot more experience hunting a property where the fields are on the high ground, so what do I know… but when they head up those valleys to hunt I can’t help but wonder how many deer are on the hillsides with decent visibility, watching the whole setup, and adjusting their plans for the evening.

My place in WI is similar with the bottom access and food on the top. It's a really tough access for afternoon hunting which it seems Winke prefers. I was just surprised it took him so long into the season to figure out his hunting methods were negatively affecting deer movement.

 

[Brian662]

Yep. From listening to his story about how he acquired it all, $4k/acre is probably 3x or more what it costed him to get it.

Timing of sale and then purchase of current property was bad but sure seems the good of what he paid and got out of all the properties leading up to the sale of his home farm was way better in the right direction.

I've got a feeling Winke feels like I do about my crypto investments. If I would have timed sales perfect I would have had around $1 million profit. I didn't and occasionally think about what could have been but I cant complain about the good side that was recognized! Nobody times everything perfect.

The way passionate hunters put time, money, and sweat into their properties...I doubt it's similar to a crypto investment. I could be wrong.
Obviously he sold for a variety of reasons, and the land is no longer in control. I've read his blogs about how he put the property together and how it stretched him out. I'm sure he realized a substantial gain from the sale, but it's gotta beat him up a little knowing it's already been split up.

 

[westonwhitetail]

I like the show in general, but a lot of time I do question things too. I remember one episode where they had a single point of access and constructed an road from it down through a valley and back up to the other side (straight through the middle of the property), so they could create a big food plot there. I just remember thinking, you will blow the whole place out before you get there to hunt it, but OK. They also built a bridge so they could get an UTV's to the food plot. It seems like they are targeting a group of wealthy clients to sell these places for a premium. Lots of their improvements seem to include just trails and food plots, probably so the lazy rich guy can just drive his ATV right to his stand!

 

[westonwhitetail]

Oh and a big one I always am thinking "WTF". They usually always talk about cutting out "all the big white oaks" to increase the browse and thicken the place up. But if they were really doing this to create dream properties for whitetails, they would cut all the junk trees to accomplish this and leave the oaks, but that doesn't make them any money!

 

[bwoods11]

I hate to see them cut those nice mature oaks ! The acorn producers !

 

[PatinPA]

I have a few white oaks on my property. The only bad thing is they typically drop a few weeks before archery season starts and they're cleaned before the opener.

 

[Tree Spud]

I went and watched a few videos. They are not interested in "normal" hunters" just "elite hunters looking for elite bucks". Translation ... we want rich guys who know nothing about hunting but afford a country club environment. I didn't really see any new ideas, but having a Caterpillar dozer and excavator should would make habitat projects easier.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

We do this often for gun season pull the blind out in the open a few weeks before the season knowing we aren’t going to hunt it a ton, in two or 3 days deer are pretty used to it. We can bump deer with a vehicle or laser pointer pretty easy and not blow it up on the way out when it gets good and dark.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you see mature bucks in these setups? Getting in out without deer being in them is one thing, i'd think they'd peg it as "danger" pretty quick just from human scent going to/from and lingering after a sit if it's right in the middle of all the deer traffic.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

The way passionate hunters put time, money, and sweat into their properties...I doubt it's similar to a crypto investment. I could be wrong.
Obviously he sold for a variety of reasons, and the land is no longer in control. I've read his blogs about how he put the property together and how it stretched him out. I'm sure he realized a substantial gain from the sale, but it's gotta beat him up a little knowing it's already been split up.

You may be right. My understanding is it was always 2 separate chunks so selling in 2 parcels seems like the easy choice for getting the most $ out of it.



Edit to add: that house and the land is basically my "If I won the mega millions" setup. Wild to think he did it on a deer writers income (obviously with a lot of land flipping hustle).