Texas Hunting Forum

Buying land by a highway?

Posted By: spoon33

Buying land by a highway? - 09/30/15 10:37 PM

Bb

Looking at buying 40 acres in a small town, but located right by the highway as pictured above. The land is SW of the pin, consisting of mainly trees and a 40x60 barn with a dirt floor.

I've always thought about buying land in a secluded area, 3-4 miles off a dirt road etc, to deter theft. Would being close to a 2 lane highway be a problem, or would it maybe help eliminate theft with a lot of traffic?
Posted By: Western

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 09/30/15 11:17 PM

Theft will happen anywhere there is an opportunity, thieves come in many styles, some feel safer with less neighbors scrutiny, some don't even think that far ahead. Many folks live in the country on a small road and never get hit, just do things that discourage it .
Posted By: Erathkid

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 09/30/15 11:17 PM


A buddy of mine has a place by a major road. His house is probably 30 yards away. He's had no problems. We kill deer there every year. Go sit out there for a couple of hours, during the evening. See how noisy the traffic is. It will probably annoy you more than the deer.
Posted By: fouzman

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 09/30/15 11:37 PM

Highway frontage or at least, all weather access to the front gate, adds value.

If all your property would be SW of the pin, my concern would be those who have access to the diagonal dirt road that cuts through at least two properties W of the blacktop.

Looks pretty good to me. Many places to create edges. Add food plots and more edge the next several years. Add a few roads. Build a camp/homesite and enjoy. I'm particularly fond of that red dirt!

ps-not to mention you'll be set with a lifetime supply of primo firewood. up
Posted By: Slow Drifter

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 09/30/15 11:48 PM

Thieves are gonna' steal, it's what they do. Location doesn't matter any more in my experience. The best you could do is make that particular spot not as a appealing as another.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 09/30/15 11:51 PM

Dead end roads deter theft better but if a thief is gonna steal, he will figure out a way to get to you sooner or later. Like posted above the road frontage will add value to it if you decide to sell. For me I am the one that wants a deed dead end easement with a locked gate into my place. I do not like any kind of road frontage.
Posted By: rickym

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 10/01/15 12:01 AM

You should be ok. Like said above, stake out the place a few times. Looks like it has fairly heavy wooded areas and fields on the neighboring property. Build a couple small food plots(2 acres) and you should be good. Traffic can depend on whether it's a fairly highly traveled road come by from a metro area or back country highway
Posted By: fouzman

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 10/01/15 12:01 AM

If I were gonna own it for my natural life, couldn't agree more with stx' comments. He's an OLD, wise man. bolt

Posted By: Slow Drifter

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 10/01/15 12:19 AM

Just re-read your post. Are you going to build and live there? That would have a huge bearing on the amount of thievery going on. People coming and going all the time will slow it down, a few things left there alone for a while will likely grow legs. I hate being a pessimist, but that's just the way it is.
Posted By: Bmnloader

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 10/01/15 12:29 AM

I'm on a 2 lane asphalt road but I'm there at least once a week if not more. I haven't a problem yet but I'm sure it'll happen. Noise doesn't bother anything but me. My house is probably 300 yards off the road but it can be seen. I'll retire soon so I'll be there 24/7
Posted By: rickym

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 10/01/15 12:38 AM

Living there is a little different, your a fairly decent distance from the road and if you set up a few hidden cameras and don't spread stuff out to much you should be okay once you live there. Like I said before, food plots, and make a water hole if you can. Turn it into a small deer oasis and be wise about what you harvest .
Posted By: maximum

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 10/01/15 01:06 AM

Originally Posted By: fouzman


If all your property would be SW of the pin, my concern would be those who have access to the diagonal dirt road that cuts through at least two properties W of the blacktop.. . . .



looks more like a pipeline right-of-way. the pipeline folks will always have access, and from
my experience with them, it's not always good
Posted By: spoon33

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 10/01/15 01:18 AM

I would not be living there, just hunting or whatever else. The place is 55 mins away, so I could easily make a day trip, I just won't be there 24/7.

I'll have to ask the realtor about the possible pipeline. Hopefully it's not one, but we will see. Thanks for all the tips so far. Welcome to any more advice y'all can offer.
Posted By: stxranchman

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 10/01/15 01:41 AM

Could also be a powerline easement.
Posted By: Mr. T.

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 10/01/15 01:50 PM

I had 55 acres on the hwy near Whitney Texas and got some great deer off the place. Never had a problem with thieves. First year I hunted close to hwy because that was were the previous owner had a feeder. Saw almost nothing, so I move it as far away from the road as I could and the deer came out of everywhere. You could not see my camp from the road, that might have helped a little. But I would go for it if you like the property and don't loose any sleep over the possibility of theft. Remember, even churches get broken into. I bought my next property also with hwy frontage. Concrete is much easier to drive over to get to your property, than down a muddy road.
Posted By: ckwZ7

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 10/02/15 04:44 AM

I own and hunt a piece of property that has about 1/2 a mile road frontage, never really had problems with theft at this particular ranch. My best hunting spot on the whole place and with the biggest deer on camera is the spot closest to the road.
Posted By: DH3

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 10/02/15 04:58 AM

I once owned a piece of land, 4 miles off the main road. I had to go thru 4 gates and over some very rough road. Killed a few deer , but nothing to get excited about.
My current ranch has 3/4 mile of county road down one side. Absolutely the best hunting and game variety I have ever experienced.
A neighbor who has access thru my ranch, has "the place in the back". Wets have broken into his place 5 or 6 times.

Go figure.
Posted By: EddieWalker

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 10/02/15 01:36 PM

I live on 68 acres on a state highway with a gas pipeline as a property line that my neighbor owns. We don't have a fence between us yet, and never have, but one of these days I'll fence the entire place. I like being on the highway because of how quickly I can get in and where I'm going. I get jobs farther out in the country and going up and down some of those roads gets real tiring in just a week or two of working there. My utilities go down the highway, so it was easy getting power and water to the land. I even have natural gas. I built my house 800 feet back so we don't see the road, and nobody can see the house from the road, but we can still hear some road traffic. If I went farther back, it would be quieter, but the cost would have been a lot more. 800 feet of gravel, water line, power line all adds up!!! The gas line is mowed every couple of years by a different contractor every time. Seems nobody wants to do it twice, or they never hire the same mowing crew twice. My neighbor has taken up mowing it regularly himself recently, so the gas line people don't come around very often anymore. I've never had any problems with anybody coming onto my land from the gas line, they seem more interested in getting it done and moving on. The only real issues I've had is people claiming to be lost or looking for somebody and coming down my driveway. I think most are just locals who are curious about what is down my driveway and then being surprised when the find the house and me coming up to them to see what they want. A few times I'm pretty sure it was somebody looking to see what they could steel. I try to make a big show of looking at their license plate when confronting them. I don't know if it does anything, or it's just me being paranoid. So far I've never had a problem, so maybe its working. Another plan is to put in an automatic gate. It's a pain opening and closing it when we are not around, or when we are busy on a project away from the house. UPS and FedEx come by all the time, so it's nice to leave the gate open for them.

I think the biggest problems come from neighbors with out of control kids, or crack heads living in a trailer. I would look around the area for low lifes and see how close they are to your property. I would also inspect the land for sign of people using it. Either hunting, off roading, getting firewood, or dumping. If they have been using it for awhile, they will regret not being able to once you buy it and might still feel entitled to use your land. Especially if you are not there every day.
Posted By: 8pointdrop

Re: Buying land by a highway? - 10/02/15 02:27 PM

Originally Posted By: Erathkid

A buddy of mine has a place by a major road. His house is probably 30 yards away. He's had no problems. We kill deer there every year. Go sit out there for a couple of hours, during the evening. See how noisy the traffic is. It will probably annoy you more than the deer

That's the part I can't stand all the noise on my last place. On a lease now that is isolated, sure is quite out there. Hear your heartbeat kinda quite.
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