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Buying Land. Where? #7882370 06/26/20 10:25 PM
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Hello to all, I am beginning the search to possibly acquire a piece of land primarily for hunting (hopefully not to retreat to if things keep going the way they are). I am in New Braunfels and have pretty deep roots, so I can't imagine straying too far. Being in this area gives me a pretty broad and diverse selection of areas from hill country to south Texas brush and even coastal plains. I don't have millions to spend (probably closer to $350k) and here's what I'm finding so far in my price range...
-Western Hill Country (Rocksprings, Sonora, etc) : Pretty large parcels of land. 100-200 acres. Many have cabins, maybe rain catchment, electric. Rocky as can be and likely not good for much other than hunting.
-Brush Country (Duval Co, Zapata Co) : smaller tracts (50-75 acres). Chance for "muy grande" buck. Easier to work if we ever needed to grow anything. I worry a little at the fact that Freer has been shot out through the years.
-Coastal Plains (Bee County, Live Oak Co., Goliad area) : like brush country, smaller tracs, but fertile land. Fairly diverse and abundant wildlife. Close to coast for fishing.

With these very diverse areas in mind I'd love to hear some opinions on hunting and general enjoyment of these lands. In other words, what would you chose? Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7882383 06/26/20 10:33 PM
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welcome This is a great place to get all kinds of information.

A realtor told me many, many years ago - if you can get more than 2 hours away from San Antonio or Austin, you can get TRIPLE the amount of land for the same amount of money. I would go west, or northwest, if I were you. As far as you can stand the drive. In other words, with the rocks you mentioned, goat country. But the farther northwest you can go, the more it levels out and has fewer rocks.

Good luck on your "hunt". It's a great thing to be able to do. Well done!


...and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen. 1:28
Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7882391 06/26/20 10:38 PM
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welcome

What Creek said up


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Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: Creekrunner] #7882435 06/26/20 11:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Creekrunner
welcome This is a great place to get all kinds of information.

A realtor told me many, many years ago - if you can get more than 2 hours away from San Antonio or Austin, you can get TRIPLE the amount of land for the same amount of money. I would go west, or northwest, if I were you. As far as you can stand the drive. In other words, with the rocks you mentioned, goat country. But the farther northwest you can go, the more it levels out and has fewer rocks.

Good luck on your "hunt". It's a great thing to be able to do. Well done!

Thanks! When you say “northwest” are we talking Junction/Sonora/Ozona or San Angelo/El Dorado? I’m familiar with the former, but haven’t spent much time much north.

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7882438 06/26/20 11:22 PM
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Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7882439 06/26/20 11:23 PM
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I used to hunt Bee, Goliad, Refugio, Aransas, San Patricio, & Victoria Counties and if I could buy a nice piece of ground there I would.
As much as I like those Counties, I’ve always been a brush country boy though. I’ve hunted Duval, Jim Wells, Jim Hogg, Zapata, & Starr Counties all of my life and have been on the same place in Duval for the last 25 yrs or so.

I’d personally head South, but probably wouldn’t pass on a good property in any of the others lol. Tuff choice, there’s good and bad places in all of them. There’s still plenty of good deer near Freer if you’re lucky enough to find a place. Just gotta find what you’re looking for.

I will say this, if you’re planning on building a high fence in the brush country, depending on where you’re at sooner or later you are probably going to get your fence cut by illegals and drug smugglers. Just comes with the territory.

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: ntxtrapper] #7882441 06/26/20 11:25 PM
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Yes sir, that has been one of my go-to sites. I’d like to eventually get a broker/realtor, but trying to narrow down region.

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7882502 06/27/20 12:08 AM
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You gotta spend some windshield time and see what just feels right for you. Life's too short to deal with many illegals or scum of the earth smugglers.


...and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Gen. 1:28
Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7882524 06/27/20 12:23 AM
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I was raised in and still live in Live Oak County. Some of the best dove hunting in Texas. Every day I'll have at least 12-15 deer at my back yard feeder that I watch while sitting and sipping a cold
one under the shade of a Live Oak tree that 3 grown men couldn't reach around. In the last few years my turkey population has gone nuts. I'm a one hour drive to the coast and some of the best
saltwater fishing available and 20 min to Choke Canyon Lake for bass, catfish and awesome duck hunting. I'm also a real estate Broker/wildlife biologist specializing in Buyer representation ( in the
event you need someone to guide you through the pitfalls of land buying.) Good luck on your quest

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: Creekrunner] #7882530 06/27/20 12:27 AM
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Originally Posted by Creekrunner
You gotta spend some windshield time and see what just feels right for you. Life's too short to deal with many illegals or scum of the earth smugglers.


I’ve hunted Frio Co the past 15 years, most illegals just pass through and don’t mess with much. Won’t be big enough to high fence, so no worries about that. Now, I may sing a different tune once my boys are old enough to hunt alone.

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: WRBCGuru] #7882531 06/27/20 12:29 AM
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Originally Posted by WRBCGuru
I was raised in and still live in Live Oak County. Some of the best dove hunting in Texas. Every day I'll have at least 12-15 deer at my back yard feeder that I watch while sitting and sipping a cold
one under the shade of a Live Oak tree that 3 grown men couldn't reach around. In the last few years my turkey population has gone nuts. I'm a one hour drive to the coast and some of the best
saltwater fishing available and 20 min to Choke Canyon Lake for bass, catfish and awesome duck hunting. I'm also a real estate Broker/wildlife biologist specializing in Buyer representation ( in the
event you need someone to guide you through the pitfalls of land buying.) Good luck on your quest

You must be successful in sales because I’m sold lol

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7882553 06/27/20 01:02 AM
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PM Sent

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7882755 06/27/20 04:55 AM
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I’ve brokered ranches In just about every area of the state except for the panhandle.

It’s gonna boil down to 3 things: Budget, Desired game and tolerance for driving distance. First one is gonna determine where the other two fit into place.

Personally, I have fallen in love with the Menard/Kimble/Eastern Sutton county areas the past few years. Good country at good prices with loads of game and still a reasonable distance from SA. Grew up in South Texas but if I was gonna buy tomorrow it would be in one of those 3 counties


For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7882767 06/27/20 05:08 AM
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Wrong direction, but a decent amount of land for the dollar and a good location. https://www.landsoftexas.com/property/171-acres-in-Concho-County-Texas/7680461/

Right in the middle of this. https://www.google.com/maps/dir/New+Braunfels,+TX/31.2301404,-99.6508299/Millersview,+TX/@31.2346892,-99.6551361,2318m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m15!4m14!1m5!1m1!1s0x865c9beee3cc091d:0x59ed9c234a123567!2m2!1d-98.1244531!2d29.7030024!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x86577aec4e160523:0x887c4fc5c920c096!2m2!1d-99.7552824!2d31.411159!3e0?hl=en

the bad, too much cultivation and not enough pasture.


Combat Infantryman, the ultimate hunter where the prey shoots back.
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Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7882784 06/27/20 05:35 AM
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A huge factor wherever you end up is your neighbors. A 50 acre place with big neighbors that don't hunt much or at all would be better than 200 acres where the neighbors shoot anything with 4 legs.


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It's not just about pie in the sky when you die. It's also about steak on your plate while you wait!
Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7882787 06/27/20 05:56 AM
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Are you going to call it a ranch? If so, I ain’t helping.

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7882790 06/27/20 06:10 AM
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JMHO- after I found what I wanted, the first place I'd
stop would be the county tax office to make sure there's
no past due taxes, and to get some idea of what the
annual taxes would be for what it is now and after I
did whatever improvements I wanted to make.
Also get some idea of what any utilities would cost
to bring in or if they're even available.

Good Luck

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7882856 06/27/20 12:30 PM
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Anywhere but Young County. grin


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Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7883328 06/28/20 12:07 AM
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I'm sort of thinking the same thing. If funds are limited(even if a good amount) then off hand I'd think the brush country might work better as far as numbers of deer. In the wide open spaces- like west of Del Rio- unless the land was broeken up real good- I'm not sure on deer densities. The brush country would get more rain if you also wanted to grown things.

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: Dave Scott] #7883792 06/28/20 05:23 PM
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You said this land would be "primarily for hunting." Buying land for investment reasons is usually a good idea and if you want just a place out of the city to get away and do some general outdoor recreation then you are still on course. Some people just like the concept of owning land and they enjoy all the time and effort and hard work that it takes to maintain it. However, if your goal is "primarily for hunting" then my suggestion would be to really make an important decision about what kind of hunting you are looking for. What kind of game and what quality and quantity are you looking for. You kind of half heartedly mentioned a "chance for muy grande" so you need to ask yourself how much of a chance you want at that. Considering a small property you are talking about buying you will be completely at the mercy of your neighbors to have much of a consistent chance at a large buck. Once again, maybe thats not your goal and just basic hunting/outdoor recreation is all you want so you would be fine. TxTrophys 3 things were very good advise for sure. Good luck.


At some point in life its time to quit chasing the pot of gold and just enjoy the rainbow. FR
Keep your gratitude higher than your expectations. RWH
Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: freerange] #7883813 06/28/20 05:42 PM
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Originally Posted by freerange
You said this land would be "primarily for hunting." Buying land for investment reasons is usually a good idea and if you want just a place out of the city to get away and do some general outdoor recreation then you are still on course. Some people just like the concept of owning land and they enjoy all the time and effort and hard work that it takes to maintain it. However, if your goal is "primarily for hunting" then my suggestion would be to really make an important decision about what kind of hunting you are looking for. What kind of game and what quality and quantity are you looking for. You kind of half heartedly mentioned a "chance for muy grande" so you need to ask yourself how much of a chance you want at that. Considering a small property you are talking about buying you will be completely at the mercy of your neighbors to have much of a consistent chance at a large buck. Once again, maybe thats not your goal and just basic hunting/outdoor recreation is all you want so you would be fine. TxTrophys 3 things were very good advise for sure. Good luck.


When I say “primarily for hunting” it’s that with all the turmoil in the world I can’t rule out a place to homestead if sh*t really hit the fan. We recently adopted 3 kids on top of our current 3, so there’s no plans to make the land someplace sustainable, but it sure would be nice to have if it was absolutely necessary (this is why I have some concerns about rocky western hill country). I’ve bought enough houses and boats in my life to know there’s never a perfect place that checks every box. I grew up hunting south Texas, so I love the land, but I also know the challenges smaller tracs can have with all the high fencing.

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7883893 06/28/20 06:50 PM
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Then go where there is opportunity for deer and where pigs are prevalent. Look between NB and the coast.

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7885189 06/29/20 08:41 PM
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Im in north texas and we have land going for under 1000 an acre to around 2000 on the high side. If you are interested let me know!

Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7885269 06/29/20 09:28 PM
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We did a similar search, but starting within 3 hours of Fort Worth, and we plan to eventually live on our place once we retire. Ended up in far south Brown County and found several available properties in the $2500/acre range - some more, some less depending on size and improvements. We could not be happier with our place - lots of animals, good grazing, still some pasture, water, etc.

From NB, maybe go up toward Brady/San Saba area. Mason? Still within a comfortable driving distance, and good deals to be found.


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How about that Brandon!
Re: Buying Land. Where? [Re: MikeD77] #7885276 06/29/20 09:30 PM
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Black Hills of South Dakota up


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