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I live in the Dallas area. When my kids were not yet teens, I realized that if I were to want to take them hunting on private land, it would cost me big bucks for a lease. I did some mental gymnastics and quickly realized that the cost for the 3 of us over 5 to 10 years could easily buy a descent 100 acre hunting property in East Texas, with the bonus value of growing timber for a future windfall cash profit. It has worked for me. Land isn't getting cheaper, so you might as well consider this for you and family. There are a number of states where this can be a viable alternative to paying to hunt someone else's property. Bob Nisbet DRSS & 348 Lever Winchester Lover Temporarily Displaced Texan If there's no food on your plate when dinner is done, you didn't get enough to eat. | ||
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I own 100 acres of timbered land it has had 3 select cuts on in my life. It has paid the taxes and a bit more. One has to decide what a windfall of timber is. Trees in Wis. take a long to to grow Cutting them here it is another 50 years for another cut of the fast growing species and 80 years to 100 plus for the slow growing kind.] I want the grand kids to see a white pine 4 foot on the stump 100 feet tall or 36 inch red oak. To see the red pine that their daddy shot his first buck by. My forester says it is time to clear cut for max profit and regeneration. Not going to happen in another few years I am going to clear cut the aspen about 30 acres. Do 20 or so in oak regeneration. Select cut some of the big pine that look poor and continue to in joy it. Managing for recreation and profit is two different things. Can timber defray some of the cost yes. Windfall of profit all depends. Now give 5000 acres and I can have a industrial forest that would give me a life time of fun and profit. Of course theses thought apply to a northern Wis forest. | |||
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The software company that I founded provides data analytics to the paper industry, which I would guess would be the buyer of your timber. We don't focus on timber, but I can tell you liner production is booming right now. Before I would buy land for timber, I would look to identify the local buyers and what industries they support. PD: Wisconsin has had a number of closures; if you have timber around the Wis Rapids area, good luck - since the Rapids mill closed timber has fallen dramatically. | |||
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The last milled that closed there used 90% of the oak pulp wood for making cardboard. From all over the Midwest not just Wis. rapids. I had cut most of my oak pulp wood the last cutting. 10 plus years ago. I see a lot of it sitting on the landing. I have mostly veneer and saw logs left. I cut what pulp I have left for fire wood. We have a OSB plant 6 miles away they have expanded and so far doing great business. Several saw mills a veneer, and stud mill within 50 mills. The stumpage market goes up and down. Your normal logging contract can be a couple years out from the actual cutting. The logger is making a gamble that the prices hold or go up. The land holder is hoping they do not sky rocket. The money is nice I do not need the income so I tend to cut when it best for me. | |||
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I would think about this long and hard. I sort of had the same idea. I bought 753 acres. Buying the land is one thing. Actively managing it and improving it is another . I put a camp on my place complete with walk in cooler and skinning area. Had to buy equipment such as a tractor and implements. Put in a bunch of stands and shooting houses. Made food plots. Built duck ponds . Feeding the deer is insanely expensive . I fed 85,000 pounds of protein last year at over $20 a bag. I have forgotten the amount of corn. Lime and fertilizer are expensive. We just trucked in and spread 77 tons of cow manure to help improve the soil. Fencing food plots to keep the hogs out was another major cost. Something always goes wrong . Have I saved any money? Not a chance . Is it fun? Hell yes! | |||
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I love the idea of owning land for hunting. I have a cousin that mentioned to me one time that land should turn a profit. In that vein I think some rice farms can be duck clubs, some grazing pasture can be big game, upland bird or waterfowl hunting. A hunting landowner could sell some hunts. Up here in AK, landowners charge big bucks to trespass hunt for bison, bears etc,...... I have family that own good grazing land down south and I think they could make good additional income on their dirt with a mix of saleable hunts for pigs, deer, turkeys, some waterfowl and upland birds as well as seasonal recreational cabin rentals. Certainly additional agriculture. It would be a lot of work I think, but also diversify their income. I'd emphasize all a big neato idea from a guy with nothing to do with it. | |||
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Where I see the most profit from timbering. Is guys buying good timber land raping the timber off of it then selling the land. To city folks who pay the same for it as before the timber was cut. | |||
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PD: The Wis Rapids mill did not make cardboard - they were a customer of mine for many years. Incidentally, the top and bottom of a carboard box is called liner while the middle is called medium. The closure of Rapids has definitely hit local loggers and the price of stumpage: Loggers are leaving | |||
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Well I am no paper making expert. I would guess my definition cardboard is generic for us unknowing. The closure of a mill drove the market for oak pulp wood way down. | |||
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It’s not as easy as it seems. Working ag land is tough. Maintaining a good deer herd is tough and expensive. Getting the right hunters is tough. Hunters may not be willing to burn a expensive tag or hunting trip to pass on deer. The family I hunt with in Kansas has to deal with all these things. In reality it turns into a weekend job after farming all week. After corn and deer supplements - the hunting does not make a lot of money but it does supplement a real nice deer herd. Everything labor wise in US is expensive and only getting more expensive. I think Africa largely works cause labor is cheap and there is minimal supplemental feeding. Mike | |||
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You make money on land when you sell it. Not while working it. It is insanely expensive to attempt to turn a profit. Land was priced based on its ability to make money, until maybe 20 years ago, when it turned to a recreational use pricing, plus production potential. If you make money working it, the seller priced it too low. | |||
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Truer words were never spoken! Land is so high now that yes, your real gain is when you sell it. People ask me all the time about renting out recreational properties to "pay" for their investment. I tell them that while they can turn some profit from their land, as an investment, it is rare for it to return a large enough "income" to justify it. If one want to buy land and get enjoyment out of and supplement say- taxes, some maintenance, etc. It then may be worth looking at. I was selling recreational lots 6-months to a year back between $65,000 and $75,000 (one acre). Now they are over $100,000. I recently sold a 1/3 acre that received full asking price- $115k. It's absolutely crazy right now and I am sure other states may see continual increases. About 15 year ago, me and a friend (who is a rancher), casually joked about going in on a property in Wyoming. It was 2,000 acres if I remember right. We were (are) not rich but could have possibly pulled it off. At the time it just seemed too expensive. I wish we would have! We would be very happy now, I am sure ha ha...... | |||
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It takes a good sized woodlot to make a living on. I have both hardwood and softwood stands, and sugar maples for syrup. A lot of work put in to also make it animal habitat. It sure wont get you rich, feels good to put it in a land trust and know it will not be house lots. Well worth not getting rich to know a lifes work will stay the way you built it up. | |||
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Back in 2001 or so we paid $150,000 for a little over 50 acres in CO. It borders national forest and BLM to the west. Access to BLM and natl forest is landlocked by private land unless you want to cross 10,000 foot or higher mountains and walk many miles. The land to the north is 240 acres placed in a conservation easement. The land to the south is owned by my neighbor who has a house on the other side of a ridge. Long story short, I thought we overpaid for it, and perhaps we did at the time. A few years ago we built a house that sits on a slight ridge. Views are amazing - Sangre De Cristo mountains to the east and no houses to the west. I can shoot as far as I want out the back door. I built a larger reloading room than I did in AZ and have a walk in vault that also serves as a safe room. The house is completely off grid: we have solar, a backup generator, well, etc. My only regret is that we didn't build sooner. | |||
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I don't own a lot of land but what I have is very private. Half of it is hardwood timber and half pasture/hay. It has a large spring fed pond and two smaller gravity tanks. While I am surrounded by private land I can live off of mine if need be. I actually pretty much do already. I burn a lot of wood which I timber myself. Grow and preserve as much as possible here. Love this lifestyle. ~Ann   | |||
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My Father said the same thing when myself and my brothers were young. He purchased 150 acres of nice ground adjacent to a small river and we have had countless fun hunting there over the years. Plus we have had 3 different wood cuttings from which the revenue has paid most of the taxes. And now the land is worth about $200,000 more than he paid for it some 45 years ago! The main quarries are deer, grouse, and ducks on the river! Thank you Dad! KJK | |||
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Excellent and congratulations | |||
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In 1986 I bought 1200 acres of mostly timber lands covered in maple,ash,cherry, hemlock for the price of $360,000 all in. I have taken the mature veneer grade cherry off 2 times now plus some select saw logging and pulp wood.Pays the taxes and puts some money in the bank. My main reason for buying the property is for hunting which at the time my father thought I was crazy for doing,"you can take a hell of a lot of trips for$360,000" he said. But during that time I raised my children there hunting and relaxing for nearly 40 years now that averages out to around $9000/yr (less than an elk hunt today) an I still have the current land value at last appraisal of 1.8 million ...my father would shit at those figures if he were alive today. | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting American Big Game Hunting I Think Buying Timber Land Is An Alternative To High Cost Of Hunting?
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