• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Property ?

Sorry, that stinks.

I was close to closing on a good property too, a few years ago. Spot nearby a spot I had access to but lost due to the property owner passing. Never even took a buck there actually, but had close encounters with a few really good ones. I was especially conservative with my shot selection due to the neighbor being a bit of a mad hatter, and it surely cost me.

Ultimately, sale to me didn't work out, and the guy who got it shot a huge buck right out of the gate. Felt a little like salt in the wound, but hey, good for him. Seems I just can't buy a buck, lol.

I'm fine with hunting public. Actually, I like the freedom of it. But, it's just longer drives for me and something a bit closer would be convenient for more time in the woods. 30 years ago private was pretty accessible to about any hunter in my area...no longer.

I used to think undesirable hunter-hunter scenarios was an isolated public thing, which made me want my own slice. But more and more, it seems the big buck craze has made private land ownership a battleground in desirable deer areas...and public.

More and more, I'd rather just enjoy my hunts than be in on the hotly contested "big buck" spots.
Thank you. Sounds like you had a similar experience. I couldn’t believe how much of an emotional roller coaster it was ….. it was worse than buying a house!!!! You envision all these hopes and dreams and start planning the things you would do with the property and whammo!
 
Roughly 35ac. best guess searching google and real property... I was only asking about the woods and field at the top half of the red outline.

View attachment 85417
So it doesn’t appear to be 35 huntable acres, more like 15ish? Given the forested area. Perhaps the field is huntable but you’ve got what appears to be heavily traveled road east and west with house and house on southern end. So seems like you’ve probably got a travel corridor, maybe a might bedding and feeding area. What kinda crops you got there?
 
Ok, here's an idea. Before you drop a bunch of money on that specific property, why not hit up all the neighboring farms, businesses, etc. and see if you can gain some free permission on those tracts. If it were me, my first stop would be the Berg Greenhouses toward the bottom of the photo you posted. Deer love to eat ornamental shrubs and I bet they have a boat load of them. It might just be a win-win situation. Dress nice, no camo, and go talk to some folks. All they can say is no.
 
So it doesn’t appear to be 35 huntable acres, more like 15ish? Given the forested area. Perhaps the field is huntable but you’ve got what appears to be heavily traveled road east and west with house and house on southern end. So seems like you’ve probably got a travel corridor, maybe a might bedding and feeding area. What kinda crops you got there?
The "small" field on the top of the pic was corn last year and seen a lot of deer in the field almost daily until corn got too high, and once cut, loaded again. BUT I can't say I've seen any "big" Bucks there.

My home property is just a cut through (4ac, with about 2 wooded) and I've had some shooters on camera.

1685358392839.png
 
Ok, here's an idea. Before you drop a bunch of money on that specific property, why not hit up all the neighboring farms, businesses, etc. and see if you can gain some free permission on those tracts. If it were me, my first stop would be the Berg Greenhouses toward the bottom of the photo you posted. Deer love to eat ornamental shrubs and I bet they have a boat load of them. It might just be a win-win situation. Dress nice, no camo, and go talk to some folks. All they can say is no.
I think they all hunt, but you're right.
 
The "small" field on the top of the pic was corn last year and seen a lot of deer in the field almost daily until corn got too high, and once cut, loaded again. BUT I can't say I've seen any "big" Bucks there.

My home property is just a cut through (4ac, with about 2 wooded) and I've had some shooters on camera.

View attachment 85436
Ok, my thoughts then, others can glom on.
Let’s build you a lease option.
I would offer less because you can’t really alter the parcel since it’s a farm and being as how it appears from maps to be more of a travel corridor and feeding area there won’t be much to keep them there; sure they’ll hold while eating but then move on. I typically offer more if I can make amendments to the parcel or if it’s large enough to hold wildlife.
Normally I’d say ask and see if you can hang a cam before you make an offer but since you’ve already seen traffic we can skip that part.
So after that jump in something like hlrbo or hunting lease locator and see what’s comparable and price accordingly. If you really want to lock the parcel down offer a bit more and like others said draw up a contract to give you exclusive rights and option to renew. Maybe throw in some other options like you’ll watch for trespassers, pick up trash, maintain a fence line or gate, hang a cell cam that the farmer has access to as well, something along those lines. I’ve gotten access to parcels before just offering those items alone.
So if good hunting acreage in your area is around $15 an acre but you really wanna lock it down throw out $500 for a year lease which is $25 an acre for 20 huntable acres. Obviously you know the parcel size so you’d have to adjust, it call comes down to how bad do you want it.
Me personally, I’d prolly throw $800 at him if I KNEW it had that kind of traffic and I’m the only person who has access to it. That’s because where I live it’s impossible to get access to land, the nearest public land is a 4 hr drive which is overrun by clowns and the orange army, and I’d know for sure there’s deer there and I will have multiple opportunities to fill my freezer. Time is a precious commodity of which I have extremely little. I pretty much have to make every hunt count.
 
The top rules of economics... 1) What you are willing and able to pay for goods and services? 2) what you are willing to accept for your goods or services? 3) The amount of satiation one receives for this price? Let's not forget the diametric twins of supply and demand.

Bottom line is what everyone has been saying. What's it worth to you? Exhumis makes great points for this area (DMV) especially around the I-95 corridor. Hunting property is hard to come by, public land can present challenges, and then there's the consideration of time spent traveling to hunt. All that being said, I spent alot of time hunting that part of Harford County (1994 -2004) with great success. Have you tried looking to the NW of route 1 or crossing the river for a new property?
 
According to Basemap and Spartan Forge the 35 ac is the lower blue square and the upper blue square is 12 acres owned by someone else, or at least registered with a different name. You can use the free version of Spartan Forge to check land ownership and parcel boundaries too
 

Attachments

  • 1685315215052.png
    1685315215052.png
    352.5 KB · Views: 17
According to Basemap and Spartan Forge the 35 ac is the lower blue square and the upper blue square is 12 acres owned by someone else, or at least registered with a different name. You can use the free version of Spartan Forge to check land ownership and parcel boundaries too
That would be what I'm looking for (top blue)... and there's a tractor sitting in the field right now with tanks and sprayer attachment.....hhhmmmm
 
The top rules of economics... 1) What you are willing and able to pay for goods and services? 2) what you are willing to accept for your goods or services? 3) The amount of satiation one receives for this price? Let's not forget the diametric twins of supply and demand.

Bottom line is what everyone has been saying. What's it worth to you? Exhumis makes great points for this area (DMV) especially around the I-95 corridor. Hunting property is hard to come by, public land can present challenges, and then there's the consideration of time spent traveling to hunt. All that being said, I spent alot of time hunting that part of Harford County (1994 -2004) with great success. Have you tried looking to the NW of route 1 or crossing the river for a new property?
This is maybe 5 minutes from my house and I go by it daily to/from work.

I have 4ac of my own with about 2 of it wooded, had some really nice Bucks come through on camera...but always at night :rolleyes:

 
Last edited:
Back
Top