Need thoughts from land owners in or bording state land....

[seekingwalleye]

I am looking at a 40 acre parcel to buy for hunting and noticed some properties that either border or are actually with in the state forest or county land. If anyone has any opinions based on their experience hunting on land like this, I am interested to hear. Just not sure what route I want to go whether to bud up against state property or not.. thanks for any help

[LakeoftheWoods]

around here, the land bordering the north end of the state forest is mostly agriculture. and most of the farmers in this area are the guys that always win the local big buck contests. the get the deer that come out to their fields to eat ( and eat healthy all year long btw) and go back into the forest to hide.

[gurkster]

I had a cabin on 20 acres that bordered 200 acres of tax forfeit land. It was awesome. It was like I had 220 acres to hunt. I think if you find something that borders smaller tracts of tax forfeit land that is good, but not so much if you border highly used state forests, WMA's, etc.

[highlife4me]

I used to hunt a 160 acre parcel in the middle of a highly used state forest. There was a real small parking lot on the south side of our property that had a trail going into the woods. That parking area was a 1/4 mile away but hunters still seamed to walk into our very well posted land. Very upsetting when you find tresspassers on your property with a sack full of songbirds and chipmunks and don't speak a word of english. That happened more times than I care to count. Most hunters only had to be told once where the line was but a few would wander back in a short time later. My advice would be to avoid highly used public land. If the area is a little off the beaten path I would go for it. More hunting land and you don't have to pay taxes on it.

[nofishfisherman]

It really depends on the property and what type of public land it borders. There are a lot of private properties that border state land and the state land is only accessible from these private parcels. In that case it makes your 40 acre parcel seem even bigger for hunting purposes since you'd have almost exclusive access to the state land with the exception of any neighbors that may also have access.

Other times your private parcel can border heavily used public land, in that case you'll be crowded into just your property and you'd constantly be needing to watch out for tresspassers.

If you do find land that allows you and neighbors access to otherwise inaccessbile public land make sure to talk with the neighbors to see if they use that public land. I ran into an issue last year where I hunted my aunts 60 acres that borders 500 acres of public land. My aunt and the neighbors on either side all had exclusive access to the public land and the other 2 neighbors had already set up an agreement on how they'd divide the public land and both laid claims to it. One was cool with us being there and worked with us, the other guy did everything but put a warning shot over our heads in order to keep us off "his" public land.

I'd just be looking for the right situation if I were you. it would be nice to have public land bordering the property to expand your hunting possibilities. Just make sure to scout the land you are buying and all adjacent public parcels to see what you have access to and to see who else may be using the land.

[tritonman]

We own land that butts up against Itasca State Park. They are now managing the Park for trees and trying to kill every deer in the Park. Well that obviously takes a toll on the deer in the entire area. I saw 2 deer all of last year up there. I would say buy land surrounded by private land and talk to the neighbors first. Make sure your hunting values are compatable.

[TRZ II]

I would not buy land that didn't adjoin public land. I own 80 acres and have public land on 3 sides and kitty corner. It gives me way more land to hunt and I can hunt a different spot every time out, which I like to do. The only hesitation would be if it was a highly hunted state forest, then I would say no. I know of one area in CC Andrews state forest where the guy is surrounded by hunters every year on his 40.

[mnorth]

I would also like to purchase a parcel of land that is attached to State land.

My question is..can Tax forfeited land or County owned land be purchased by a private party at any time?

[iland99]

We own land that butts up against Itasca State Park. They are now managing the Park for trees and trying to kill every deer in the Park. Well that obviously takes a toll on the deer in the entire area. I saw 2 deer all of last year up there. I would say buy land surrounded by private land and talk to the neighbors first. Make sure your hunting values are compatable.

Tritonman, I'm in the same boat as you. The southern edge of my property borders Itasca State Park. This will be the first deer season that we've owned the property, so I'm curious to see how much foot traffic we end up with. Probably helps me that the chunk of park that we share a border with isn't marked at all. We'll see I guess.

[laker1]

mnorth the answer is no. Most counties only sell odd pieces of county land they may not utilize.

[Tom7227]

I think there's a push on by the legislature called something like zero net gain on public land. The DNR actually auctioned some off within the past year or so. I think the land their selling either is too close to populated areas or has no public access. The counties may be doing the same thing - in fact I think I read that 12 counties in the western part of the state have adopted no net gain ordinances or policies.

It would seem logical that local governments that are strapped for cash would be more amenable to selling some parcels. But there may be a bias towards selling to locals rather than 612ers. Guess all you can do is ask.