Low Fenced Hunting Ranch - Buying Advice

[Baygall]

Live water!

[Atfulldraw]

It took a lot of looking to find our little piece of Texas, but we did really good checking off things on our list.

Water -- Good wells, tanks, creeks, whatever.

I like that we don't have road frontage - we have an easement that is about a mile long

Cover - And I don't mean a bunch of useless cedar.

Terrain - I like some elevation change.

Fences - we got some of this and then put up the rest. Fences are essential for keeping cows....OUT

Ours has a spot near the front to put the house so you don't have to drive through and disturb the ranch.

I kind of dread the day we have to start the looking process again - good luck with your search!

[aggieman08]

If you were looking to buy a low fenced ranch what would you look for. In other words.......

What features would you want the place to have?

What areas would you be looking at, where the hunting criteria desired is lots of game including exotics?

Segovia has a ton of exotics, maybe a viable area for you.

My father and I ended up buying a place in North Central TX. The selling points for us were:

1. It was affordable - we paid cash, granted it’s only 125 acres.
2. It is covered in brush, mesquite, like oak, and post oak with maybe 5 cedar trees on the whole place.
3. It has a 15 acre lake completely within our fence line (this was the game changer for us).
4. It has good fences
5. It has a great population of deer with an unusual number of 130 - 140 class bucks

[Shinesintx]

I’d look for a place that was pretty far off of a county road. That way, meth heads don’t rob you blind. After that, how much is water and electric gonna cost? How big a tractor you gonna need? Will you have money left over for a cabin? I bought 55 acres 6 years ago...I’ve killed one deer. The property is a distraction, but I love working it.

[brokeno]

Big ranch neighbors with low fences

[zztex]

If you were looking to buy a low fenced ranch what would you look for. In other words.......

What features would you want the place to have?

What areas would you be looking at, where the hunting criteria desired is lots of game including exotics?

High roller!😂. Don’t forget your old friends!😂

[Kdog]

High roller!😂. Don’t forget your old friends!😂

Haha, it costs nothing to look on the internet and ponder.

[crumrw]

good neighbors?

This

[armadillophil]

good neighbors?

This is most important thing especially if we are talking something under 500 acres.

[Tester]

I'm kinda partial to East Texas - like that pine trees have value and you can hunt and enjoy your property while making $. No exotics tho but there are plenty of hogs! Also, with timber harvest and reforestation, your landscape is constantly changing which creates good food sources for the wildlife.

[eastxhunter]

I'm kinda partial to East Texas - like that pine trees have value and you can hunt and enjoy your property while making $. No exotics tho but there are plenty of hogs! Also, with timber harvest and reforestation, your landscape is constantly changing which creates good food sources for the wildlife.

Lol he asked about hill country. What is pine like $40 a ton? Then when you clear you’ve got some ugly stump fest? I wouldn’t be surprised if hill country land appreciates better in a few years than one good load of lumber cut.

[Chance Love]

<<—————First thing I would do is call this guy.

[Dakota7493]

Neighbors! If you have anti-hunting or shoot everything that moves neighbors it will be hard on you. The land around is crucial too. We lease 350 acres that is cut into three parts and they are not next to each other. Our best deer piece is about 100 acres but has big tree acreage on two sides and we get good deer crossing from both sides.

[DeadEyeB]

it's pretty impossible to know what your neighbors would be like when you are looking for a ranch. So probably have to gauge it on the size of your neighbors. You can use the county tax assessor websites to figure out the size of the property around a property you are interested in.

Bottom line bigger the neighbors the better when you are going in blind. Otherwise you have to take the owner's word for it.

Key for that would be if they have plenty of game cam pictures of mature bucks. If they do you can kind of assume some things about the hunters in the area.

[Sika]

Neighbors can make or break a property. And don't always assume having a big ranch as a neighbor is a good thing. Our biggest neighbor is 1200 acres and they have 12 lease hunters working against us. Our 130 and 300 acre neighbors hardly hunt at all.