Hunting Land Purchase - Minimum Size

[Nomad]

If you want aggravation buy a piece of land bordering public property, unless, there is no access to the public land.   New A-holes all the time and everyone will be right on the edge of your property. 

The best piece will be bordered by non hunting neighbors. 

[tcook8296]

5 hours ago, Nomad said:

If you want aggravation buy a piece of land bordering public property, unless, there is no access to the public land.   New A-holes all the time and everyone will be right on the edge of your property. 

The best piece will be bordered by non hunting neighbors. 

On private land, the neighbors will sit the edge. It seems the deer are always on the other side of the property line

[MRMCR]

I know of 28 acres my relative has for sale in Califon, yet a few years ago they wanted tooo much so who knows now but if real interested let me know.......PM......and yes the neighbors do set up right on the lines.........

[tpr1921]

I'm looking to buy a 12 acre parcel right now solely for the purpose of deer hunting. The price is affordable as it is all wetlands/pinelands. It is located in a heavily hunted area; however, knowing that this purchase would allow me another place to hunt for the rest of my life is too good an opportunity to pass up.

Ten acres in my opinion can be more than enough land in providing a quality hunt. Best of luck if you buy.

[JHbowhunter]

my 8.5 acres have been very good to me.  But I also branched out and procured many other lots in the area as well.

a 10 acre natural "funnel" of deer movement between bedding and food sources can be way more effective than 100 acres of nothingness.  That best describes my woods - which is an oak flat mixed with reds and whites layered between agriculture and thick swampy bedding areas and heavy briars and Autumn olive behind a few houses.  When it comes to deer property - "size" doesn't' matter, but all the other factors do. 

My biggest buck all time was taken off 2.5 acres bordering sanctuary. 

[Nomad]

4 hours ago, tcook8296 said:

On private land, the neighbors will sit the edge. It seems the deer are always on the other side of the property line

I agree,  but it will be the same assholes, not new ones that you have to deal with all the time. 

Hopefully you can build some kind of relationship with the private landowners that surround you.  Will not happen bordering public.

[electric10162]

I started with 56 acres initially, mostly wooded. One pond and two couple acre swamps. It was hard to enter certain areas without pushing them out. I shot two good bucks on that piece by concentrating on all day sits. Now I own the 127 acre farm that adjoins it and have access to another 200 that has very little pressure. More opportunity and better access. This year I had two 140+ bucks that frequented the property, but not sure they actually "lived" here. I have plenty of does, food, cover, and water to attract bucks but no solid evidence they want to stay here. Like others have mentioned, its the lay of the land, pressure, and sanctuary that actually produce. 

[Bucksnbows]

47 minutes ago, electric10162 said:

I started with 56 acres initially, mostly wooded. One pond and two couple acre swamps. It was hard to enter certain areas without pushing them out. I shot two good bucks on that piece by concentrating on all day sits. Now I own the 127 acre farm that adjoins it and have access to another 200 that has very little pressure. More opportunity and better access. This year I had two 140+ bucks that frequented the property, but not sure they actually "lived" here. I have plenty of does, food, cover, and water to attract bucks but no solid evidence they want to stay here. Like others have mentioned, its the lay of the land, pressure, and sanctuary that actually produce. 

Agreed and you know you can make some sanctuary habitat on your 56 acres that will draw in bucks.  A couple well placed clearcuts under a Forestry Plan of one sort or the other will help greatly with that in a few short years.  We turned our once 107 acre mature forest property from more or less doe only to more bucks than does over a 10 year period by doing intense forestry work under a Forestry Stewardship Management Plan.   

[Hawkeye57]

Hey cook-

when you purchased land, was it all buildable or was a certain area zoned? 

 

[tcook8296]

30 minutes ago, Hawkeye57 said:

Hey cook-

when you purchased land, was it all buildable or was a certain area zoned? 

 

I bought a preserved farm with a 1 acre building lot

[archer36]

If you look at it as an investment maybe NJ land purchase is a good idea. For hunting purposes only, not so much. Think about it. If you purchased 100 acres of "prime" land it would cost somewhere between 2.5  to 5 million. You can go on A LOT of great hunts for that kind of money. 

[Livesintrees]

After you decide on location your biggest issue on small property is access. If you blow everything out when you walk in you wasted your time and money. You will have trespassers no matter what. Prosecute until they get the message. With that said there is one advantage to 10 acres vs 50 acres or 100 acres. And that is the ability to make a huge impact on the property in one season. It’s easier to manipulate and manage smaller land but you also have less room for error. 

Edited June 11, 2020 by Livesintrees

[Bill from NJ]

Good for you Dave, looking to purchase your own place.

Down here in South Jersey, I'm relegated to using public area "Tree Stands".

[Bowhunter2004]

If quality is of no concern, a few acres Just about anywhere in Hunterdon county will get you all the deer you want. You can still get lucky with a big one showing up every now and then.... I dick around behind my house which is on 6 acres and have killed a few 140” deer on it. 

[ltnic]

@Gobblengrunt How do you plan your out of state hunts and find new spots to try out? Do you use any websites?