Let the Hunt Begin! How Owning Your Own Land Can Improve Opening Day

You have counted the days. Dogs are conditioned, guns are polished and loaded, tree stands erected, and your traditional breakfast has been planned. To the hunter, Opening Day is like Christmas to a child. There is no greater excitement than anticipating the first kill of the season. It?s a tradition upheld by many, especially here in Southeast Georgia.

I am one of the non-hunters. So I got to reading up on the tradition and the planning it takes to have a successful hunting season. While I shouldn?t be shocked, I am a little at the thought process some folks put into their hunting strategies. It begins long before shouldering a gun and heading out with the deer dogs. With careful planning a landowner can cultivate a rather large herd of deer. By providing the right environment, the right vegetation, and patiently waiting for the right deer, one can grow not just many deer, but prize bucks.

Field and Stream has an article in their archives that lays out just what a landowner can do to increase deer population called Ten Ways To Improve Your Land for Deer. Part of their recommendation wouldn?t appeal much to too eager youth who only want to get a kill. But to the more experienced hunter their recommendations are practical and worth applying to your own land and habits in order to see a greater harvest. But herein lies a problem for some hunters eager to try these tactics. These hunters do not own the land they hunt. Maybe it?s leased land or they hunt with someone else on their land or they are in a hunting club where many of the members aren?t on the same path for creating that prize buck. These unfortunate souls do all the prep for Opening Day only to be greeted by a sea of orange when they reach their stand. 

There is a solution. It may be time to consider purchasing your own recreational tract of land that will produce the trophies you desire. In so doing you can create an environment for the deer with a watering hole, food plots, and sanctuaries that will keep them coming back year after year. You can then choose what you harvest and leave the bucks to grow into that trophy you want to hang in your man cave or she shed. 

Beyond having your own property to grow and cultivate a nice herd of deer, there is just something about the investment that gives you a sense of pride and security. This is your property, your place, your food source should you need to rely on it, and your sanctuary for those moments you just need to get away. It meets one of man's basic needs. But you can?t really just go out and buy any tract of dirt. There are things to consider. 

LandThink gives a good start in the right direction in their article A Beginner?s Guide to Buying Hunting Land. They cover factors ranging from the location and layout all the way to neighboring property. I think it?s a good idea to know who your neighboring landowners are simply because if your goal is to develop a good herd and your neighbor just wants to get rid of them all because they are eating his garden then your goals will cause you to work against each other.  There will be no good will in that relationship. So do some homework and know that you are buying the right piece of land for your needs. 

We at Carter Group are invested in helping you find that special piece of property that will be your pride and security. We have many acres listed that could fit the bill. I?ve listed a few below for you to start perusing, but definitely go to our PROPERTIES link and look at all of our hunting tracts. And then call us with your questions. We are ready to help you invest in your own recreational property so that you can create traditions and memories with your loved ones for years to come.