Five Reasons to Buy Small Hunting Land Tracts

Listen as Pat Porter, land broker at RecLand Realty, shares why hunters should consider buying a small hunting tract as opposed to leasing. Avid hunters on a budget often believe that leasing hundreds to thousands of acres of hunting land (often with a group) is more economical and advantageous than buying a smaller piece they can manage and call their own. It’s a common misconception that bigger is better for giving up bucks, but nothing could be further from the truth. Those searching for recreational land for sale should not overlook the potential for small hunting properties. With a little effort and good land management, smaller tracts can possess the right ingredients to lure the bucks.

Pat enjoys sharing his land knowledge and experience with buyers, and in this video he shares with our audience five good reasons why a small hunting tract might work for you. It’s Pat’s hope that it will make you look at smaller tracts differently, so you’ll get out there and get one now and begin shaping it to suit your hunting goals.

1. It May Adjoin A Larger Tract
If the smaller tract adjoins a larger parcel, it would provide more backup habitat. Let’s say you’re looking at a 25 acre tract, but if it joins a larger tract, like a several hundred acre timberland tract, or timber company land, you’d be reaping the benefit of all that additional habitat to support your smaller tract.

2. Your Neighbor
Have you thought about the fact that your neighbor on an adjoining small tract might be like-minded? They might want to manage their land for better wildlife habitat just like you would. People are more management conscious today then ever before, and you’re more likely to find a good neighbor. Your small tract plus his small tract, is going to give you a larger footprint to be able to successfully mange. Your neighbor may hunt sparingly or not at all; as a land agent, Pat sees this often. Land is sitting there growing timber and the family doesn’t use it or allow people to hunt on it. This adds to the quality of your small tract.

3. You Might Be Able To Lease Adjoining Land
RecLand Realty has several listings where the owner has land for sale, but has a lease on adjoining acres that can be part of the deal. Choosing this route would further extend the acreage available to hunt.

4. You Might Be Able To Buy Adjoining Acres In The Future
Maybe not right now, but in a year or two things can change. For example, the adjoining land owner might want to sell all or some of his tract. Since purchasing your property, you’ve gotten to know them and you might be able to buy some adjoining acres in small blocks over the years and be able to grow your small hunting tract over time.

5. Learn To Enjoy The Year-Round Process
This is more about attitude and mindset than the first four reasons. Hunters should learn to enjoy the season from February to September. So many people get locked-in on how many people are around them, how many deer can they hold on the place, and can they grow trophy bucks. All of the things about actually killing a deer or killing animals. As a landowner, learn to enjoy the process from February to September when the seasons are closed. Shed hunting, planting warm season and cold season food plots, hinge-cutting trees, trimming limbs, and putting up new deer stands offers great enjoyment.

If you’ve got a small tract, it allows you to work on it all year long and do things that make the hunting more enjoyable: learning about stuff, taking the kids, discing up food plots, experimenting with this clover versus that clover, putting a new bow stand up to take advantage of that West wind. Get into the mindset that it’s not just about having a thousand acres of quality deer management land of which you control the boundaries. The mindset of enjoying hunting all year long and all the things that go with it are just as important, if not more, than all those other things.

If you’re searching for hunting land, look at small tracts a little differently and consider buying one. If you buy a tract and buy it right, even if things change in several years, you’ll be able to sell and get something else. Don’t spend your whole life waiting for the big, perfect tract to come along. Jump out there. Find something that is priced right- enjoy it, use it, grow to love it. If something comes along better in the future, leverage up.