Best Land to Buy

[Bobaru]

My wife and I have finally done it.  We're heading to the NW corner of South Carolina.  West Union, SC to be exact.  That's near the National Forest and mountains and it's near Lake Keowee. 

I'm thinking about buying some land to hunt and was wondering what people thought about different types of land.

I could buy some acreage near Sumpter National Forest.  That land would likely be pretty forested itself.  And adjoining lands would likely be pasture lands if not forest.  In this situation, I could create food plots.

I could buy some acreage more toward the center of the state, in the Piedmont region.  The adjoining land would be crop land.  This is the type area I hunt now and am most familiar with.

Maybe there's something else I should be looking for.

Of course, the land I buy would be important, but the neighborhood is also of value to where I hunt as well.

I sure would appreciate anyone's insight into this issue, and what solution you chose.

Thanks,

Bob

[JohnV]

Have you looked at hunting land prices in upstate SC? Very pricey.  Land in central Georgia is a lot more affordable and you will likely have hogs as well.  My wife and I are planning to retire to that area ourselves and I have been doing a lot of research looking at hunting land prices in Ga and SC.

[Bobaru]

Yes, you're correct about those costs.  I was hoping to get some land within about an hour of West Union.  That wouldn't put me in the center of the state, but I could be below Anderson.  And, the land South East of Anderson is the mixed Ag/Forest that I'm accustomed to - probably holds more deer as well.

[Bobaru]

Ahhh... You said central Georgia, not central SC. 

That would be a little hike for me.

Well, I have some time to sort it all out after March.

[Pat B]

I live in Brevard, NC, just up the mountains from Greenville, SC. The land up here and I would imagine around Greenville are quite pricey. Greenville has boomed in the last 20 to 30 years, since BMW and supporting industries moved in. We bought our 25ac in Transylvania Co. NC in 1988. I couldn't afford it if I were trying to buy it now. Along the Savannah River drainage,Hartwell Lake south to Augusta should be more reasonable. Farther up the Savannah River drainage, Lake Keowee and Lake Jocassee would be more expensive, at least around the lakes but there is lots of gamelands all along the escarpment and up into the mountains.

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Well, I'll give it a shot....

When I first got serious about buying a place 10 years ago the 1st consideration was cost---had to find something I could afford/was willing to spend the money on.  Here in west central Indiana rec ground is low in supply/high in demand.  I didn't want to spend the kind of cash it would cost right here at home.  I started looking around and decided either Missouri or Kentucky.  Both were (kind of) reasonable drives, and ground was affordable to me.  After looking a bit more I ruled out Kentucky.  I didn't want to buy land and become a non-resident landowner in a state where baiting was legal, as the quality of my hunting would then be subject to how big of a corn pile the neighbor was putting out.  It didnt hurt that Missouri was closer to my folks too.  I wanted something in the 80-100 acre minimum size range so as to be big enough to hunt for a week at a time if careful.  I had my price range determined.  I looked at several and ended up with 88 acres in north central MO about a 7 hour drive.

I wanted some open ground as well as woods.  Not only open woods, but a significant portion of cover as well (thick cover).  I wanted a decent neighborhood as far as parcel size goes (not a bunch of 10 acre neighbors).  I narrowed it down to 6 or so properties to look at and when I saw the one I ended up buying it was obvious to me it was the one.

Now the downside - as a non-resident landowner you are a target.  Any low class worthless person living in the area knows you aren't there.  My small cabin was broken into right away.  I never left anything there worth stealing, but meth heads don't think of that.  Everything not chained down near or in a cabin will be stolen (and they will take the chain too). I learned the lesson not to leave anything around the cabin, even hidden or in the woods.  I haven't had much problem in the woods away from the cabin - one camera stolen early on, and no stands or anything taken.  I have set the place up so that you can't see foodplots from the road and can't drive onto the place anymore - fenced - and I've not ever found where anyone dragged a deer out or anything, but it could be trespassed on some and I wouldn't know.  If it was hunted much I would know for sure.

The downside of areas with affordable land is a generally depressed local economy (if most folks in the area had money the land would cost more).  Depressed local economy leads to a higher percentage of crime, drugs and other problems.

Overall I'm happy with the place, as a nonresident landowner I know I don't have full control over what goes on, but it is also a better investment because as it isn't across the street from my house I'd be more apt to sell it someday to realize the increase in value.

Thats the Missouri farm story....

R

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Now my local place...and some thoughts about "types" of land....

Of course I keep my eye on the market here locally and in late 2019 I saw a property show up nearby almost too good to be true.  It is 96 acres, thick cover - probably 80% had been logged over several times, some selective, some more clearcut.  No open ground, but agfields on 3 sides.  In a good deer area, and on the edge of "big woods" type area but still with lots of close by ag ground.  Best part for me, asking price was 50-60% of what rec ground lists for around here.  Turns out it was under contract, the buyer couldn't get financed, so it went back on the market priced to sell.

I walked it out and ended up buying it - its about 30 miles from my house here in Indiana. 

So far its been a boatload of work, cutting access trails, finding and fencing boundaries, cutting in food plots (more later on that), and getting it setup to hunt.

The upside on this place is that it is mostly a whitetail's dream as far as cover goes.  Definition of high stem count, but some selective cut hardwood areas with lots of oaks/mast. Its thick enough that I can do a pretty good job of defining deer movement by cutting open/opening up trails.  I just needed to get some food on the place.

I hired a dozer to cut in foodplots and ended up with 4 totalling about 4 acres.  These were in cut over areas, so the big trees were gone, but the stumps are still there.

That is something you need to think about - if you are interested in food plots, cutting plots out of big timber parcels is a nightmare.  Big stumps are a mess, but if you take them out you have holes you could park your quad in.  Renting a grinder sounds like a good idea till you think about the hundreds of hours it would take you to grind an acre of stumps.  You can get clover and stuff in around them with a quad, but you arent going to "farm" them with a tractor.  Also you will likely be spreading TONS of lime on a foodplot cut out of a woods to get the pH to where you can grow anything.  I put down a ton of pell lime on the plots last fall - all with a quad spreader.  2 came in good, 1 was OK and 1 was a bust.  I just put down a ton of pell lime today...will be putting much more on them.  I knew when I bought this place that foodplots would be tough..but with the ag ground around me that's OK. 

I'm overall tickled with this place.  Last fall, 1st year owning it, I had 2 bucks 4 1/2 yr old age class using it a lot, and a couple more nice bucks hanging around during the rut.  I killed my buck here at home on a permission property early in October, and Indiana is 1 buck state, so I didnt hunt the new farm much last year, but kept an eye on things.

Dec 16 I caught a guy that had shot a deer either on the edge of my place or on the edge of the neighbors place, and came onto me to get it.  He was a friend of a guy that had permission on the neighbor, and the friend gave this guy and his buddy "permission" to hunt there too, the landowner never heard of this guy....he also came right past my posted sign and across my new fence to get his deer.  You cant do that in Indiana without landowner permission.  He was prosecuted.  I have zero tolerance, if he had actually had permission from the landowner directly instead of through a friend he could have gotten my name and called me.  He didnt bother, so it cost him a few hundred dollars extra to shoot that doe.  Also the word will get out.  You are going to have to be used to being the local d*ck if you don't want trespassers on you...I dont mind being that guy 

So some thoughts....(opinions)...   

1.buy a place you can afford - whatever your budget is will drive where/what you are looking at
2. if you want to food plot buy ground that already has open acreage on it - either fields, pasture, CRP or something like that.  I would never depend 100% on food plots cut out of woods.
3. cover is your friend.  open hardwoods are pretty, but deer like briars - think like a rabbit, not a cow.
4. I would drive a bit for more and bigger deer - unless you own a very big parcel - think 300 ac + - you dont want to hunt it everyday anyway or you'll spook the deer away and do more harm than good
5. personally, I'll take a place in mixed ag/woodlots over big woods any day
6. be ready to prosecute anyone you catch...it isnt necessarily fun, but you give an inch and you lose a mile on this one.  I dont give out extra keys to my truck or house so folks can use them when I'm not...they arent going to use my ground either.

just my thoughts/opinions as a dabbler in deer property

R

[Gordon Jabben]

Just a few of my thoughts.  I bought land for deer hunting 25 or 30 years ago and it's a mixed blessing.  My acreage is in two parts.  One is surrounded by farm land and that sounds good but many of the farmers shoot any deer they see eating their crops (depredation tags) so my hunting is fair at best on it.  My other property is wooded and the area around it is also mostly wooded.  Most of the land is leased for deer hunting around it and it's kind of an arms race to see who can put out the most corn to draw in the deer.  I don't like to bait but you just about have to.  With the money I pay for taxes, I could easily lease better and larger hunting properties.  This season I took three deer, all with a bow and all on public hunting.  I like the public because baiting isn't allowed.  For the good, I have my land to myself for the most part. 

[Michael Guran]

Congrats on the move Bobaru!  That’s a beautiful part of the state.  My suggestion would be to  wait until you are settled in and get a lay of the land before getting serious about purchasing land.  I was just down at nearby Jocassee over the weekend, and I lived in Greenville for a couple of years, so I’m somewhat familiar with the areas.   What I’ve found is that scenery near kewowee and Jocassee is incredible, and that draws a lot of hikers and vacationers from  larger cities nearby.  There is a lot of traffic in the woods and on the roads and that can make it difficult to find areas to hunt.  Also, the deer population in the mountains is not nearly what you’ll find in the Piedmont area and down near Augusta/McCormick that someone already mentioned.  My parents retired down that way and there is a ton of public land and a lot fewer hunters from what I’ve seen. 

I’m kind of in the same boat as you are...we moved to E TN last summer with intentions of buying some land that hopefully joined National Forest land, but it’s more difficult than we thought it would be.  Right now I’m just enjoying exploring different areas and you may find that you like living in Union but to spend time hunting other places as well...

[MCNSC]

I’m from the upstate of SC, Southern Greenville county. Here’s my take for what it’s worth. There is lots of public land In that area . The Keowee and Fants Grove areas are Archery only. Get hunted pretty hard but some nice deer are taken there , there are hogs there too. A lot of the WMA land doesn’t get all that much pressure, everyone wants to be in a club but lots of clubs get hunted harder than the public land. I often dream of owning hunting land but like has been mentioned since they legalized baiting deer if you don’t bait your neighbors will be. Another thing to consider is when you get to areas where land is cheaper it’s pretty remote and you’ll have to deal with poachers thieves and trespassers, especially if you aren’t around a lot. I know some folks that spend more time guarding , posting and patrolling their land than they do hunting.

[Bobaru]

I'm grateful so many people spent time to write on this.  Things I never thought about were brought up that lets me know I should take my time and use caution to buy land, if I should even buy at all.

Baiting isn't something I ever considered, and how the neighbors might have a bigger bait pile.  This changes the dynamics.  Where I've hunted my whole life, baiting has never been allowed.

I also never thought about interlopers.  Not sure I would want to spend my time kicking people off my property. 

I think I'll get to know the public lands in the area.  I've already hiked some of them, even during bow season.

Thanks all for your comments.

Bob

[Blackstick]

My advice is somewhere close to your living space. I have a small hobby farm of 25 acres 9 miles away. It has everything I want to hunt and I successfully take deer from it yearly. However, I will spend most of my hunting time on the 8 acres around my house. The hunting is more sparse, but also more convenient.

[JohnV]

Finding property very close to where you live is the ultimate.  However, consider that if you are willing to drive an hour or two it may put you in an area with much better hunting opportunities and land at more affordable prices.  Close to home or best hunting?  Which is most important to you?  Only you can answer.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Congrats bobaru haven't seen you post in a while.  Welcome back

[Bobaru]

Thanks Charlie!!

I'll try to post more often.

New adventures on the way!!!

[forster]

Look for land with merchantable timber.  Hire a consulting forester to appraise the timber and market it.  You can improve and manipulate habitat through forest management and pay down some of your purchase price.  The Association of Consulting Foresters (ACF) has an interactive map on their website that lists foresters in various states.  I have clients that frequently recover a substantial part of their investments through timber sales.  This may or may not be possible in the area you’re interested in but should be part of your investment strategy.

[Bowwild]

I would never be a non-resident landowner. I have access to my uncles 3,000 acres in Laurel County, KY. I have never hunted it because it is crawling with trespassers - he lived (RIP) in Washington state. I remember being at the auction when he bought the first 300 acres. I recall he paid $9,000 total (55 years ago).

I bought land I had been hunting on for 15 years in 2016 on a non interest, 6-year contract. I can see it from the house. My son lives next to it and my daughter is building a house which should be finished in 2 months, next to it as well.  Together we have 160 acres. Mine is only 135 acres but is surrounded by extremely lightly hunted property on two sides and north. I have never had a trespasser in the 21 years I've hunted and owned the property.

I do not bait. I grew up in Indiana where baiting is illegal so that became part of my personal ethic.  When last surveyed, about 30% of KY hunters admitted to baiting (legal here). I imagine it is higher than that. A hunting outfitter leases the farm west of me and the landowner says the fellow has a "feeder" out. It is hunted very lightly. I don't feel like I have to compete with the "largest bait pile".  The primary impetus for me buying the land was because this outfitter was likely going to outbid me for the continued lease.

[Bobaru]

Nice post, Roy. 

Where I hunt now is terrific deer country.  Between my son and I we took 6 deer last year.  But, they had problems until the landowner's son married a real tiger of a lady who loves 4 wheelers.  Only that has kept the trespassers off and increased our deer numbers.  And, she lives on the property. 

The better the deer country, the worse the interlopers, for sure.

Side note, right after I bought my home and 3 acres in SC, a 20 acre parcel went up for sale that almost adjoins my property.  I should have jumped on that, but it's already sold....  Still, all things happen for a reason.  Guess I'm gonna have to dig out what that reason is. 

Have a good day.  Last post from Canandaigua, NY.  Next post will be from West Union, SC.

[JakeD]

Agreed on the points of not buying land very far from where you live. I live an hour and 15 minutes from my farm and that’s plenty far enough. We don’t have a cabin there yet either, so that doesn’t help matters. What does help though was the price point of our ground. Part of it was cut pretty hard on the timber when we got it, but that drove the price down. My brothers and I are all young enough that we got it for the long haul. Within the next year we will have all of it paid for, all before the age of 40. My point here is that if you are young enough and thinking about buying property, go ahead and do it. The price isn’t going down, and you can have several years to turn it into what you want. It didn’t take us long to turn our farm around and we are now taking very nice bucks off of it every year with several others being sighted and showing up on a regular basis.

[howl]

Best to buy is for timber harvest, but locals hunt free on weekdays. You can lease better than you can buy. Call it a club and pay the lease by charging others to hunt with you.