First of all, I have been too busy my whole life to hunt(except quail). Thanks in part to you all I am now ready to get my priorities straight. Been reading in the posts that New Mexico is one of the best areas to hunt. I was looking up outfitters and hunting clubs and found out how much it costs to hunt! For just a decent hunt your looking at $2,500.?! OK, I admit I am cheap, and yes the season is short so these guys are not getting rich, especially the ones that own the hunting ranches, which brings up my question...

Has anyone bought land to hunt on? My thinking may be strange, but being a real estate Broker (no I am not looking for anymore clients) I tell clients all the time, "Why rent when you can buy?". If I am going to do, say only 4 hunts per year, and I am going to also pay for my son, and soon my daughter, at $2,500. bucks per, thats $20,000. per year? That easily makes payments on a $200,000. piece of land! Please edumacate me on what I am missing. Also, anyone that knows the area can you give me an idea on where to look or who I can talk to. Thanks!

Bruz - What do you want to hunt and what area of New Mexico are you thinking of? Are you looking for land STRICTLY for hunting or what? The problem would be considerably simplified if you don't require a house/cabin etc.

I'm a native but not actually living there at this time. Probably some on here better suited to advise you than me, but perhaps I can get you started in the right direction.

Email me your thoughts if you like. P45

Thanks Pecos45...I thought, from looking on the net, that Northern NM was best for hunting but upon further review I see other areas are good also. Reading as many posts as I could regarding good hunting places that are still reasonable I came up with NM, but I am open to anyplace.

What I am looking for is an inexpensive place to get away and hunt. I would like to have a old cabin or two on the property and it would be great to be on a lake or river. I saw property on the net in Northern NM that is "said" to be in the path of Elk, Deer, Antelope, and Mountain lion for between $1,000. to $2,000. per acre. This property is at 7,000 ft. so the weather should be pretty good year 'round? I live on the coast in California where the weather is excellant...the problem is I live in California...and there is no game (to speak of). Hope that makes it clearer?

Check the area out around Silver City, New Mexico. You would be on the edge of the Gila. They had some good places for sale last year when I took my wife there to look at land.

I'm looking for the same thing you are, my wife wants me to buy a mall instead. That's her idea of roughing it.

Also a NM native but not living there now.
I may be wrong, but I think you will have a VERY HARD time finding a piece of property with all of your requirements that is for sale and if it is for sale, I think it will be PRICEY.
Next best bet is finding something that is A small piece of a private inholding in National Forest land, or something near to NF land.

It seems that . . .

TRUE Love of the outdoors is something one should look for when they are in the dating pool.

LouisB

TCL, too late for the dateing pool, married 22 years, very funny though! Thanks Kensco, I'll check it out...so funny about your wife and the mall, took the words right out of my mouth! Could never get her to move to the country, sad at first, then, being the optimist I am, saw the benefit in it! Maybe we should look at pooling our money, get a place that can be split in the future with a couple cabins. We could rent out the property to hunters on the forum! Had posts in another forum about other States, think I'll start another thread to see if NM is the best place to be looking. Anyone else?

From your location I would second what Kensco said about Silver City NM. Actually though, I think Kensco's wife has a better idea.

From personal experience:

If you buy land you will find that it does not result in cheap hunting for you and your family. You will spend money not only for the land but more to base a vehicle there, probably also a 4 wheeler to get around on the property, a wagon to haul fire wood in, a bunch of tools, build or remodel a cabin, construct a garage for your four wheeler and the local vehicle, construct food plots, build gates and keep out signage, construct a pond, construct stands, buy a chain saw, cut shooting lanes, furnish the cabin, lay in provisions, pay power bills and hook up fees, insurance, property taxes and a jillion repairs to tires, batteries, roof, windows that the vandals break out, attorneys fees to prosecute the vandals etc. etc. Depending on the state chosen you probably will not be considered a resident and will have to pay for a non-resident hunting license.

Once you have the property about set up right and have improved the hunting prospects then the poachers will move in on you and you will spend all your hunting time chasing them off.

When you have them pretty much scared out you will have a few years of good hunting until the next generation of poachers move in about 8 years later. At about that time you will be bored with hunting the same place and the same animals every hunting season. You will want to hunt something and somewhere else too thus you will start to spend the money you thought you saved by buying the property to go to Africa or somewhere exotic.

If you took the money the land would cost and bought a rental house (or whatever) near you and used the rental income not to pay for the rent property but deposit it all strictly in a hunting account I would wager that with that inflow of money you could hunt 10 days a year in Africa, Alaska, China or anywhere you want for the rest of your life. Your hunts would be at your choosing, when you want, where you want and for the animals you want to collect.

Then when you die your wife will get the rental account and whoever she marries next will get to hunt free too!

I think Palmer may have the right idea. Something about owning land just turns me on.

Both my grandparents had 80 acre farms in southern Indiana. My father's father sold out to the coal company years ago.

Indiana ran an interstate highway complete with cloverleaf right smack in the middle of the other farm. We had both farms in the family for 100+ years until then. It's always bugged me that none of the siblings in my father's and mother's generation held onto the land.

My brother owns 45 acres near Giddings, Texas. I've got to own some land before I'm done. I want to be able to look at a tree or a rock and know that I'm responsible for that baby.

When I was in the RSA this year I stayed one night on a place 20 miles outside of Kuruman. To walk around at dawn, watch the sun come up, and jump game animals, was tremendous. I picked up a small red rock and brought it back with me. That's the only "land" I own.

Kensco/Bruz

I think someone hit it when they said buy rental property and let it pay for hunting.

Of course in Branson I'm sure it is a lot more lucrative since they were smart enough to lure ALL of the "country music" tourism business from Nashville.

Owning property does have value. As I came back in to the computer room I noticed one wild turkey eating at our bird feeder and we typically have 10-50 pass through during a typical day.
I was out walking the other day in the rain (rain and snow keeps everyone in their house and makes it worth going out in the woods) and woke up the biggest buck (live, saw one bigger in the back of a local pickem-up truck at a check station) I have ever seen in TN.

All this and I drive 55 miles to hunt.

Just can't walk out the door and hunt, it loses something. May work If we had more land!

I think it is the leaving "home" and "going hunting" that makes it better.

Bet that is why it is better to go half way across the country and hunt out of a tent camp in the middle of NOWHERE.

LouisB

Trust me Bruz, after 23 years I really know what I am talking about. Met a friend of mine and his wife as they returned from a morning of hunting. Made it even so much more apparent to me.

Linda does love living here on a long driveway off of a dead-end country road.

[ 12-28-2002, 22:13: Message edited by: TCLouis ]

If you want hunting land that you can call your own then by all means it makes sense. There is no match for the feeling you get when you sit among your own trees and watch for a squirrel or whitetail.

I also have a benchrest on mine and never have to wait for anybody to get off the range.

But if you buy land that you have to fly to in order to hunt it wont work out like you think it might.

Land needs to be convenient to your home so you can run by there every week if you want. This makes it easy to do the little projects that add up to a great piece of property.

Less land closer to your home is better than more land farther away. My experience is that 80 acres ten minutes from my house is better than 2,000 acres that I had to travel to get to.

You can get the hunting on your local place to be just as good as a far away place by installing food plots and water holes. The animals will also benefit from your more frequent visits because you will keep the trespassers out.

If you are going to fly to hunt and then buy a non-resident license you might as well book a hunt with Ray, Wendell, Ann or any of the other great agents here. It will be cheaper for you and better.

Hmmm, great info...a little different that what I expected, but still very good. It is true looking at pictures of a waterfalling into a river in the background of a lush valley with Elk grazing, you do not see all the problems associated with it. Some of what was mentioned is the reason I sold my 20 acres locally! The main reason though was there was no flat land at all, and the neighbors came over and harassed me every time I would shoot. Oh it was tempting with a gun in my hand! But...there is that great feeling of owning a large hunk of land. To take a piss on a tree with nothing but a bunch of quail looking at ya. To go out at night and not even be able to see your hand in front of your face cause there are no lights anywhere, and to be put to sleep by the sounds of your creek gurgling by. HEY, after me my wife could never look at another man!

Assuming you were shooting legally, the first thing I would do is have them arrested for trespassing. That will quickly slow down the harassment.

Sorry, Bruz, I got the last piece of NM property like you're looking for. <G>

Seriously, if you are looking for a "big chunk" of land in cattle country, you're talking about several sections. All the little 10-80 acre places are part of subdivisions, and therein lies the the problem.

What makes this country so great is the lack of people, and those that ARE here all know one another. Local ranchers are being driven out of business, and as often as not, their only option is to sell their ranches to subdividers. You talk of buying a place to maybe divide at some future time; welcome to the club. All those great wide open spaces are quickly becoming wall-to-wall trailer parks.

I don't mean to discourage you, or to indicate that you won't be a welcome addition to any community you choose. But, (there's ALWAYS a "but," ain't there?<G> you won't be the only one, and unless you buy a really large parcel, you are almost certain to have some very close neighbors.

Something you might consider, that would be cheaper than buying your own place and could have the same bennies, would be to enter into a "recreation lease" with a current rancher, giving you access to his private land for a specific period of time, and possibly even guaranteeing him the purchase of an elk/antelope private land permit every year. (Those permit sales are all that is keeping some ranchers afloat, and making it a sure thing that a certain number of them would be sold would be an attractive incentive.)

I hope this didn't sound negative, I didn't intend it that way.

grumble

Grumble, that was a very nice way to say stay away! Jez kidden...do not blame you at all. I am in a very small, clanish area also...funny in that most of the people here came from L.A. and want to close the door behind them. Amazing how quickly they become a "local". And we too are losing our farms to developers. Sad, the last hog farmer just died. Was very poor, still had dirt floors and just making it. Kids sold property to a developer for $7,000,000.! I did not make myself clear, I am a retiring Broker and never developed any land, nor plan to. The investment aspect would only be to have a couple rentals on the property in order to afford a larger parcel of land. Excellent suggestion about the lease! Helping out a rancher and still accomplishing my plans is an excellent idea. Do ranchers advertise this need, or is there another way to locate them?

Gatogordo, the law was called a couple of times, on me! Yes my shooting was completely legal, the neighbors moved there from L.A. to be out in the quiet country. I bought my property 10 years prior to get away from people from L.A. and to shoot when I felt like it. Never before noon nor after 5:00 PM, and less than an hour 2-3 times per week. The first time the cops said they were there for disturbing the peace. At that time, after being "cleared of all charges" I told the cops I wanted to file a trespassing complaint. The cop said he would have to witness the trespass. The second time the cops questioned me on charges of attempted murder! The neighbors came over with a big friend to take pictures of me cutting oak wood. (Again legal and on my property of literaly thousands of trees). After I told them to leave and they did'nt, I told their rather large friend to leave or I would shove his camera in one of his orfices. Still not leaving I took a few fast steps toward them and they ran back home. 30 minuets later the cops were there. Again cleared. Again would not file trespassing complaint. The city folk won, I sold the property soon after...to the biggest jerk from L.A. I had ever seen! Their feud continues to this day...

Bruz, you read inferences well! <GGG>

For getting lists of ranchers, there are several ways to to do it. You can contact the Game and Fish office and get a list of property owners who get and sell private land permits. You can call the livestock inspector's office, and ask for brand registrations. Or, probably the best way, is to get in your car and visit the locations you're interested in, and then use either method above to send out some letters.

As a real estate guy, you already know that you should walk into any deal knowing what you want to get out of it, and be ready to do some negotiating.

If you get a truly remote place, rentals won't do much for you. Renters are mostly interested in something close to their employment/vocations, and except for seasonal hunters (and an occasional illegal alien/ drugdealer/ fugitive) you won't find many folks wanting to rent a place that takes thirty miles of dirt road to get to the pavement.

But, my main suggestion is that you physically check out the places you might be interested in. If nothing else, you might find the "perfect" place is a hotbed of some rebellious group or another. There are some places that still harbor hard feelings from the Cesar Chavez rebellion, and some that still remember Wounded Knee. You might not like those places. Nothing beats first-hand knowledge.

grumble