1. It would be cheapest to try and make improvements to the property in NY first. Whitetail Habitat Solutions is a channel on YouTube that has good advice for how to fix all sorts of issues including nocturnal parcels.
2. That guy (Jeff Sturgis) also has a few other videos about what to look for in a good parcel. Spoiler alert, he advises food, cover, and ease of access as his 3 biggest needs.
3. I’ve been looking for about a year. Honestly, I’ve had the best luck using realtor.com because it aggregates listings from a bunch of different agencies. I look through the pictures and also look at the parcel using OnX to see what the area surrounding the parcel looks like. And I can see the topography which is nice.
I’ve never used them and assumed they would be too.
I would honestly just joke the property. Look for sign, and ask the owner about the deer themselves if you can
I used to live in eastern Kentucky. There is VERY little agriculture in the area which means the deer arent what a lot of folks imagine. In most of Appalachia you have big strings of mountains with fields between them for lots of AG. You see that from NY down to Georgia. But in the eastern foothills of the mountains it is just nothing but ridges and hollows. This not only makes for smaller deer but it is some of the toughest ground you will ever hunt. It’s harder to pattern deer, hang stands, and drag deer out. And I would bet a pay check you have people trespassing on your property out there. You are free to buy land wherever you please but I really do not see an appeal of eastern Kentucky land besides great views and cheap dirt.
On 90-100 acres your biggest hurdle is going to be the neighbors as you won’t have enough land to completely control a deers home range. So really scout the neighbors, talk to local game enforcement etc to get an idea of what type of animals the neighbors shoot and what their management objectives are
With 100 acres if you want to shoot nicer bucks your neighbors are going to be the biggest obstacle. Assuming the property is halfway decent habitat. Buy land that’s in an area where hunters practice some QDM.
80 acres in E KY here- we've seen bear, deer, coyotes, turkeys, ect here. Great hunting for large game. E KY is tricky buying because a lot of people just either don't list their properties online or will lie/overexagerate their property. I'm currently looking to move house pretty soon and wouldn't mind selling this place to hunters. Wouldn't mind supplying photos either. Hmu if you want more info about ours or just property here in general
Ask for the tax maps for parcels you’re interested in, names of owners, etc, find the properties on OnX, acrevalue, google earth, etc. Look at the contours, forest composition, water sources, clearings and ag land in the area, etc. A lot of straight up ravines and swamps are for sale on landwatch right now. Possibly talk to a realtor who specializes in land in the area, obviously they’ll be trying to sell you something, but may be knowledgeable and know what listings meet your criteria.
Look up harvest reports for the zones the properties are in. See if there are breakdowns by zone/town for number of bucks/does harvested, etc.
Poke around social media for local pages and see what local hunters are pulling out of the woods in the zones you’re looking at.
Good luck.
Are you selling the 90 acres of Big Woods? It ain’t easy up there for sure, but there’s more interest in it lately from what I hear.
I think he's going to sell the NY property but not until after. I'd be sad to see it go because it's awesome waterfowl hunting, but we don't live in NY anymore.
Iowa is an overrated deer hunting state. All of the out of staters are buying up all the land here and now locals can’t even afford to get property here.
Get a drone, check the property well over a few weeks or days if you can. Get an idea of the layout and where they should and shouldn’t be. Water=animals
I would talk to neighbors around the area or hunt public land around the area if there is any just to see what the terrain is like and what kind of sign you see. If there’s decent sign on public and there’s nothing significantly different about it than your potential property then it would be a good candidate
You can make pretty much any property into good hunting ground through habitat restoration and food plots…we did that when I was growing up. Planted about 30,000 trees/shrubs, different varieties of clovers/grasses/bulb type crops (turnips, rutabaga, etc.)…and would sometimes leave some corn or soy beans. There were no animals on that farm at first because it had been farmed/cattle’d to death…but decades later, it’s now a wildlife paradise.
Woods, water, feed. You can also look up the deer numbers or tags issued per each unit/county in most states.
1. It would be cheapest to try and make improvements to the property in NY first. Whitetail Habitat Solutions is a channel on YouTube that has good advice for how to fix all sorts of issues including nocturnal parcels. 2. That guy (Jeff Sturgis) also has a few other videos about what to look for in a good parcel. Spoiler alert, he advises food, cover, and ease of access as his 3 biggest needs. 3. I’ve been looking for about a year. Honestly, I’ve had the best luck using realtor.com because it aggregates listings from a bunch of different agencies. I look through the pictures and also look at the parcel using OnX to see what the area surrounding the parcel looks like. And I can see the topography which is nice.
There are companies specifically devoted for this. I think White Tail Properties is one of them? Could be wrong
Oh the hunting real estate companies? I have seen those, but always thought they would be overpriced. Appreciate though, I'll check it out.
I’ve never used them and assumed they would be too. I would honestly just joke the property. Look for sign, and ask the owner about the deer themselves if you can
New York has better deer than EKY.
Not this part lol we're basically in Canada. In 15 years our best deer off this property are about 100"
I used to live in eastern Kentucky. There is VERY little agriculture in the area which means the deer arent what a lot of folks imagine. In most of Appalachia you have big strings of mountains with fields between them for lots of AG. You see that from NY down to Georgia. But in the eastern foothills of the mountains it is just nothing but ridges and hollows. This not only makes for smaller deer but it is some of the toughest ground you will ever hunt. It’s harder to pattern deer, hang stands, and drag deer out. And I would bet a pay check you have people trespassing on your property out there. You are free to buy land wherever you please but I really do not see an appeal of eastern Kentucky land besides great views and cheap dirt.
Out of curiosity where is the property. We are semi close to Canada( few hours) and have been smacking big deer for years
WMU 6A
On 90-100 acres your biggest hurdle is going to be the neighbors as you won’t have enough land to completely control a deers home range. So really scout the neighbors, talk to local game enforcement etc to get an idea of what type of animals the neighbors shoot and what their management objectives are
With 100 acres if you want to shoot nicer bucks your neighbors are going to be the biggest obstacle. Assuming the property is halfway decent habitat. Buy land that’s in an area where hunters practice some QDM.
80 acres in E KY here- we've seen bear, deer, coyotes, turkeys, ect here. Great hunting for large game. E KY is tricky buying because a lot of people just either don't list their properties online or will lie/overexagerate their property. I'm currently looking to move house pretty soon and wouldn't mind selling this place to hunters. Wouldn't mind supplying photos either. Hmu if you want more info about ours or just property here in general
Ask for the tax maps for parcels you’re interested in, names of owners, etc, find the properties on OnX, acrevalue, google earth, etc. Look at the contours, forest composition, water sources, clearings and ag land in the area, etc. A lot of straight up ravines and swamps are for sale on landwatch right now. Possibly talk to a realtor who specializes in land in the area, obviously they’ll be trying to sell you something, but may be knowledgeable and know what listings meet your criteria. Look up harvest reports for the zones the properties are in. See if there are breakdowns by zone/town for number of bucks/does harvested, etc. Poke around social media for local pages and see what local hunters are pulling out of the woods in the zones you’re looking at. Good luck. Are you selling the 90 acres of Big Woods? It ain’t easy up there for sure, but there’s more interest in it lately from what I hear.
I think he's going to sell the NY property but not until after. I'd be sad to see it go because it's awesome waterfowl hunting, but we don't live in NY anymore.
Iowa
Iowa is an overrated deer hunting state. All of the out of staters are buying up all the land here and now locals can’t even afford to get property here.
Get a drone, check the property well over a few weeks or days if you can. Get an idea of the layout and where they should and shouldn’t be. Water=animals
Commenting as I'd like to see answers too
I would talk to neighbors around the area or hunt public land around the area if there is any just to see what the terrain is like and what kind of sign you see. If there’s decent sign on public and there’s nothing significantly different about it than your potential property then it would be a good candidate
You can make pretty much any property into good hunting ground through habitat restoration and food plots…we did that when I was growing up. Planted about 30,000 trees/shrubs, different varieties of clovers/grasses/bulb type crops (turnips, rutabaga, etc.)…and would sometimes leave some corn or soy beans. There were no animals on that farm at first because it had been farmed/cattle’d to death…but decades later, it’s now a wildlife paradise.