In looking at land to buy, most of the land that is not similar to Hudspeth County or Val Verde, is south of Rocksprings, TX.

How many of you have or do hunt down that way and can you tell me your experience?

I am pretty much turning down the plots that are row after row of 20 acre plots, albeit I could get a couple of them, 'drawing in the deer' would mean that they had to pass by "5" other plots to get to mine...but then again, the same could be said even if the surrounding plots were not 20 acres I guess.

How is the hunting down there? (talking around this area: 29.838619,-100.489426 or maybe around this area north: 30.302116,-100.121384 ?

Most of the land I have been looking at is down in that area, 20 acres to 65 acres.

I also am curious about the "safety" factor, and by this I mean (no disrespect to anyone...I just have 2 kids and a wife I worry about), if I built a small cabin, would I find people sleeping in it or have it torn up when I go down there? Just curious if that is a big issue down that far south.

Thanks, I really appreciate the information.

R

I am interested to see the information you get on this post as I am considering looking at a few places down there as well.

If your talking about illegals, I dont think you have to worry about them in rocksprings. I would suggest staying away from the 20 acre neighborhoods like you mentioned. I personally wouldnt want to sit on my back porch and look over only to see a row of cabins with people doing the same thing.... You might want to find an area that you like and spend sometime in the local courthouse. Find out who owns the land in the areas that you like and try to contact them directly instead of going through a realtor. It will be harder and will of course take alot more time. But you should be able to get more land for your money. And theres a good chance that the neighbors will be bigger in size, compared to places being sold by realtors.

I'd like to have a place up there, but I'd rather get 2-3x the land down here for the same price. I would love to find a lease up there though. My ideal lease would be somewhere that had 100" whitetails but had a ton of exotics

Good luck in your search.....

Well, I am going to use the Texas Vet Land Board loan program, so am capped at 80k (85k if you count the down payment etc).

I have been looking in a LOT of areas, just to make sure to keep my options open. None of the areas I have looked at were closer than an hour-ish away from the border.

First off, I hunted 42 acres in Montague county one year and shot two 10-point bucks in one morning, in fact I shot one of them, spent an hour looking for him (3 of us) and when I found him, the other 10-point was standing over him and I shot him too. So, there is a lot of truth in the "you need more than 50 acres" but it is not fact. Be that as it may, I can wish I had 3000 acres till I am blue in the face, but I gotta buy what I can buy. I have hunted for many years and only three times can I count having hunted on land larger than 50 acres and I always saw deer.

Sorry, just noticed that last bit was a in response to another post about how 50 acres is not enough land...heh

Hit or miss, but it is what it is.. heh

I have spoken with so many good Realtors and am learning a TON. For instance, a really good site is this:

CLICK HERE AND SELECT RURAL LAND PRICES

If you are looking for land, there is an awesome trend data there that can help in negotiating a price.

Next, the sites that allow you to search for MLS listings are great, and a good start, but this one:

TEXAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LISTINGS

That is the most useful. I right-click a link of a city and then go look at their Realtor listings and go directly to each website. Many times the listings are more up to date, have more information, or heck... even have more listings that have not shown up. Looking for a needle in a haystacks is a lot easier in a barn than in a haystack convention, albeit I have to 'physically' look into a lot more barns, but well worth it. Once I located the real players in a region of Texas, and you will find them, the rest of the Realtors were useless and I bookmarked those websites I felt had the real potential to sell me something useful. The others...they'd show up at the conventions.

There are only two things I am waiting on now:

1. Income tax return next month.. heh.. can't move till then anyway and will usually have it by the middle of Feb.

2. Can't "look" at any land till NEXT weekend, I have to go out of town this weekend..grin.

I also am thinking I can find a good 50-70 acres, since the plots I am looking at are about that size, although I have come across some GOOD plots that are 34-40ish with feeders etc.


I'll keep ya'll updated.

R

have you looked at landsoftexas.com ? it is a pretty good web site when looking for larger tracts of land at your price range.

Just put in the Southern coordinates you provided and it looks like your are looking down towards the Carta Valley area. Please inquire about anthrax in that area! If listed with a Realtor be sure to ask for any disclosures but especially about any anthrax outbreaks down there, Carta Valley has been a hot spot over the years..

The northern coordinates you gave should have a lot less of a threat from anthrax in that area. But I would still be diligent.

Heard there was a two headed buck killed near there this past season. He was said to be 5 1/2 yrs. old.

We have land between rocksprings and del rio off of 2523 and we like it alot have'nt seen or had any issue's with illegals, but have heard that other's have

John we bow hunted a place just South of Rock Spring( Carta Vally). The land owner is selling his place for a few resons, one of them the illegals stealing his truck. We hunted a few years back and I saw a group of 7 walking across his place. But the hole area down there is haveig problems with illegals. We hunt south of Ozona, we see boder patrol almost every time we are down. We have to fix the door or window every time we go down.

John,

I sent youa PM. Do your homework and you will find out where the problem areas are in the county. They are not widespread as alot of people will indicate. I have owned land for many years with no issues.

Thanks for the info guys! I will keep looking:)

Russ

I wouldn't say you won't have issues w/ illegals in that area. Had 3 out of 5 arrested in a neighboring highfence ranch before Christmas. They didn't have any issues for the last 3yrs in that area from what I was told. So, you never know.

Until the border is closed there will always be issues w/ illegals, IMO. Doesn't matter where you are. They WILL travel!

I have 11 acres northwest of Leakey in Real county,right next to a 12 thousand acre ranch on the north prong of the Frio river.I cant see any neighbors(to thick with cedar,blueoaks madrone,etc.I can see Axis,aoudad,mucho hogs,lots of hill country size deer,blackbuck etc.I also have a pop-up trailer that has never been vandalized,and the views are nothing less than absolutely fantastic.Great hunting and close to Garner state park and CAMP WOOD on the Nueces.I love this area as does my wife and son,we always can kill something if we want to.Even if sometimes it is only brain-cells,LOL.

I own 11 acres in northwest real county near Leakey that backs up to a twelve thousand acre ranch.I can see no neighbors,solid forest except for what we have cleared,The hunting and views are nothing short of phenomenal(north prong of the Frio river)The deer are not large but numerous as are Axis,Blackbuck,Hogs and the occasional Aoudad,I have a pop-up trailer that has never been vandalized and we can usually kill something out there if we want to(even if sometimes it is only brain cells,LOL)

Sorry,didnt think first post wet through!

I did a bowhunt at Devil's Sinkhole outside of Rocksprings and saw more illegals than deer, literally. I would see 10-15 illegals every single time I hunted. There were markers all over the property (piles of sticks) that I figured out were marking the illegal's travel route. One group of them kinda scared me, they were really bold and got a little too close to me and my truck until they figured out I had more with me than the bow. With that being said, I hunted on some property that borders Devil's Sinkhole for several years and never even saw one illegal. I guess it just depends on if you are in their travel route.

+1 - I think it depends on where you are in that area. I just closed a deal to bring hunters to a 14,000 low-fence place south of Rocksprings. The foreman said he's seen signs of illegals but the evidence is years old. He's never seen anyone crossing the property but hears others struggle with that problem.

Yea, I am getting the feeling it is all hit or miss. I am still looking and trying to find just the right spot. My goal is to get 100+ acres, but it may take buying a smaller parcel and then hoping to trade it or sell it and upgrade or buy some adjoining land as my limit with the Texas VLB land loan program is 80k (84.5k with my down payment).

R

I ran across a "For Sale" sign south of Rocksprings last weekend but it was 1100 acres or so.

Yea, I think we will just take time to drive around the area, maybe this weekend, and look at some properties. Since what we are looking for is pretty small, we are not having a lot of luck getting a Realtor to work very hard to help us get a good deal. Pretty much all the land is brokered through one agent and since he has to represent the seller, he's not going to work too hard to get us the best deal.

R

John,take look at hillcountryrealestate.net(pioneer realty in Leakey)ask for Ron Williams,he has helped us buy three small properties and knows the area well,Real and Edwards counties.

I'll do that, thank you. I actually spoke with Shirley (the broker there) a couple times and she was a super nice person, but I don't get the impression they deal or like to deal with the VLB land loan program.

I'll speak to Ron and see what he has to say though, thanks!

Russ

Had our lease off of 2523 for over 8yrs now and haven't had any trouble with illegals at all. the 1st few yrs we had a few groups come thru from time to time but never any break-ins, they were just looking for water and to make sure that they were still headed North to Junction.
As for anthrax in the are we have never experienced or seen signs of it in going on 9yrs. Not saying we won't get, it's in the ground everywhere, you just have to have thr right conditions to trigger it.

My little .02 from my yrs in the area.

Jason

Yea, I am pretty much past the worry of illegal aliens crossing the land, thanks mostly to all you guys making me feel better about it. I am now in the "wait and see" phase of holding out for something that is not high fenced or in the middle of a subdivision tract, i.e. 60 hunters on 200 acres hunting 3 deer a hog and 2 turkeys...heh

So long as I am not in a hurry, I should be able to find a nice plot of land. So... just waiting and looking every day.

R

The illegals follow the utility easements, gas electric, etc. Work with a very succesful contractor that recently told me how he came up through Rock Springs not that many years ago from Mexico.