What Would You Look For In A Hunting Property

[cohunter14]

I know this topic might be a little backwords for all of the DIY hunters on this forum, which I am one as well. However, I am currently in the process of potentially finding some land to build a family cabin on. As I thought about doing this, I figured if I am going to do this, I might as well try to find a spot that I could hunt out of

So with that being said, what would you guys look for if you were in this situation? Keep in mind that this is not some million dollar budget where I can go buy some huge ranch that holds a ton of elk. Probably looking in the 35-70 acre range. Here is what I have got so far:

-Must back to National Forest or BLM Land that is huntable and holds elk (35-70 acres is too small to depend on elk being there)
-Would prefer if the land that it backs to is not easily accessable to the public, i.e. 1 mile+ off a major road
-Must be in an area that I can draw a tag for every year (what is the point of having this place if you can't hunt it every year?)
-Trying to keep it within a 2 hour drive of the Denver area. This is to guarantee that the cabin actually gets used. Will also help in spending more time in the woods scouting. The obvious trade off of this is that the number of elk and hunters in this range is not great.

Any other thoughts/suggestions/ideas? Would love to hear everyone's input!

[cnelk]

Derek
I too have been looking for what you have described. For years and years.
Here is what I have found:

Property like you mentioned sells fast. So fast sometimes its not even on the market.
The mountain community is very tight and if someone is thinking of selling,
it just sells by word of mouth.
Properties that do become public are ridiculous in price, or they are not what you are looking for.

I have come to the conclusion to NOT purchase mountain property.
This way I can take advantage of many different National Forest areas by not limiting myself to just one.

Now with that said, in the same research, I have seen many great deals in neighboring states that offer what could be described as good hunting property. But elk hunting would be a couple hundred of miles away....

Good luck!

[Swede]

A friend and hunting buddy went out with me to scout a place northeast of where we normally hunt. As we were driving past a large ranch, that has many elk on It, he rhetorically asked if it wouldn't be nice to have a place like that. He mused we would have some excellent hunting opportunities. I looked over at him and asked why? If I had the money it takes to purchase, maintain and pay taxes on that kind of land, I could hire Indian Summer every year and not have to put up with maintaining a ranch. I would not even need to feed a horse year around. It is a lot easier to go out with Joe and saddle a horse, than deal with property 365 days a year, for a couple weeks of hunting. Just my thoughts.

[Still Hunter]

If I had property like he wants. I'd being living there full time.

[Swede]

I agree still hunter. All of the people I know with property like that, work a lot on it, and end up with a very expensive hunt or vacation, even if you do not count the labor invested. These places have at least one dog and two horses, that the owners haul feed in for.

[Trophyhill]

1. Elk
2. Habitat
Food, water, cover and space

[Elkduds]

In CO, if you own a cetain # of acres in elk habitat you can get tags every year to hunt your own property. Not sure how many acres, CPW can tell you. Also, w 30+ acres you can sign your own app for private property only tag, often these are leftover in many GMUs. You could not legally hunt the adjacent public land w that tag, though. So you could draw the public land tag every 2nd year, and hunt your private land on off years when you didn't draw, or go hunt someplace different on public land every other year.

Hunting the same 50 acres would get boring shortly, at least to me.

[cohunter14]

Appreciate all of the thoughts so far guys.

Brad, I think you are right for the most part. I have been spending a ton of time on this and the number of truly good hunting areas are slim. Now if you start looking further west, the properties become more and more available.

Swede, I hear what you are saying on that. I am not looking at buying something that big or with hunting being that easy. That would take a lot of the fun out of the hunt for sure. It is also going to be used as a year round getaway for the family, not just for hunting. Otherwise hiring a guide would definitely make sense. And the property itself shouldn't require much maintenance. Again, not looking for a big ranch.

Elkduds, you are correct, you can get 1 tag for 200 acres. Unfortunately, 200 acres can get pricey in most places. Also, only gettin gone tag won't work as this will be, at a minimum, for my father, brother-in-law, and I as well as my three boys when they are old enough to tag along. And hunting your own property on off years would not be very fun. 35 acres sounds big until you are standing on it, lol!

One of the difficult parts about this is trying to find the property in areas where I have never hunted. Most of the areas I have hunted in Colorado are quite a ways west and if I was looking there, I could easily target the right properties to look for. If it was just going to be used for hunting, that could make sense. However, as Swede said, if I just wanted it for hunting, I could hire a guide every year the rest of my life and probably not spend as much money

Keep the thoughts coming guys, any suggestions are appreciated!

[Swede]

Cohunter14: I understand. Sometimes having a place of your own, where you can just get away from your regular routine, and do as you please is worth a lot. Besides I suppose your wife has already told you the things I suggested.

[cohunter14]

Hahaha, yeah something like that! Actually a place to come back to and be able to grab a shower each evening would be kind of nice during hunting season too. It's a little colder during the time of year I hunt, so a nice warm cabin could be nice And being able to have something like that in close proximity to be able to sneak away from the daily grind would be nice as well.

[Indian Summer]

Less than a full section (640 acres) Close to a MAJOR city... and Not accessible to others?

Am I reading that right?

I'd say just look for something where you can have some privacy and be within a short drive to several hunting options. We have a full section that landlocks an entire mountain and we still have to go looking lots of times. Elk have big home ranges. It's just not realistic to expect them to be "out the back door" on a regular basis. Sorry.... I'm just a realist to the bone.

Totally agree with Brad too... don't sacrifice year round access if you want to fully enjoy your investment.

[Lefty]

I would look for property surrounded by a refuge, or a park something with ag land.

I blew a real opportunity years back. The farm land was poor quality sand . A total of 100 acres which at the time wasnt worth much. 60 acres of plow ground, adjoined a small river A mile drive back though other private property Next to a large park
I talked to a couple locals who deer hunted the land they always killed their 12 bucks and pointed to the trees where the stands were; farm lease would have made the payments

[cohunter14]

Less than a full section (640 acres) Close to a MAJOR city... and Not accessible to others?

Am I reading that right?

I'd say just look for something where you can have some privacy and be within a short drive to several hunting options. We have a full section that landlocks an entire mountain and we still have to go looking lots of times. Elk have big home ranges. It's just not realistic to expect them to be "out the back door" on a regular basis. Sorry.... I'm just a realist to the bone.

Totally agree with Brad too... don't sacrifice year round access if you want to fully enjoy your investment.

Yes, IS, you are reading it right. I am not saying no access to anyone, but I want to make it difficult for public access if possible. And yes, it is definitely possible. I have found mulitple locations that access would only be the couple of other land owners for 2+ mile areas. Just gotta look hard enough, but they are out there. And I would never expect them to be right out the back door, I am a realist as well. But why not try to put the odds in my favor, right? If they aren't where I can walk off my property and get to them, there is typically plenty of public land close by that can be hunted as well.

Lefty - I am on the same page as you there and have looked at an area just like that.

[Still Hunter]

Don't make the hunt too easy, or you'll be missing the best part of elk hunting.........................pain and suffering.

[cohunter14]

Exactly, I don't want to drive up to a field, shoot one, and fill my tag. I don't know if something like that even exists, but I definitly want to keep it just like a typical hunt. I just want to come back to a cabin afterwords In the end, we all just want to have your life Pete!

[easeup]

just open the window a little farther since the options you are looking for will not be easy to find for the right $,
maybe consider a piece that backs up to BLM. it seems the western range is growing up more with oakbrush and other woody plants that encourage big game habitat. so what was a total sorry piece of land 30 yrs ago can now be a possibility especially if there is water around.
now granted it is not likely to be full of ponderosa, but.....it might work.