Hunting Ranch - Investment Experience?

Question

Has anyone successfully invested in raw land and rented it out as hunting grounds, or invested in a functioning hunting ranch?

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

Cant say i have done it as a business model.. As just a pure hunting venue I am sure some can make it work especially bird hunting like pheasants grouse and quail.
Big game you need state tags.. At least out here in the West.. and its not uncommon for a Ranch owner to sell a owner pref tag for 10 to 15k.. but they only get a small number of them.. And you really need out west 5k to 50k acres to really have a decent size parcel to hunt big game on.

I see it as the province of the very wealthy and who will also usually have stocked ponds be it Trout in the north or Bass in warmer areas..

And i know farmers in the Mississippi valley will sell hunting rights for white tails but gain i think just to have added income.
Lastly the very popular fly ways for Ducks and Geese now some of those can do really well Google the Butte sink. some of those duck clubs charge 50 to 100k to belong.. so not sure who owns them.. but you can get hunting rights from the rice farmers for 1k or so per can per season.. again just added revenue the real money is in the farming of the crops

Thats the little i know about it all..

My partner in the timber business they have a stretch of the Trask River in oregon that has world class Steelhead fishing and i know he could get 10k a rod per season but its only half a mile and you could only offer it to so many.. they dont sell anything its our private fishing river.. its freaking awesome though.. If you have ever Steelhead fished.. what Makes it so good is its only 4 miles up from Tidewater and NO boats can get through it they have to take out before they get to his place.. and there is one Hell of a Salmon run in the fall.. you get your two fish in about 30 minutes 15 to 30 lbs each. Plus its a native run so its all catch and release and the locals generally are all meat fishermen and wont fish this river.. Salmon you can keep Steelhead no.. so on the drainage to the north is the Wilson river and it gets plugged with drift boats and fishers since its got hatchery fish and you can catch and kill.

Steve McCrann · Answer

@Benjamin A Ersing my pleasure sir.

There are a few tiny home rentals that seem to be catching on for "tune out" weekend getaways east of Dallas and elsewhere around the country. Multiple tiny homes spread out on big land, or maybe not so big land but big neighbors. That might hold some lower cost opportunity.

John Teachout · Answer

Here in the SE it's common for people to lease large tracts of land from the timber/paper companies such as Mead, Weyerhouser, Georgia Pacific, etc. They'll generally lease from a couple hundred to thousands of acres and then form a club for everyone to share the costs. This is all well and good for a number of years and then the tree harvest takes place and you're left with bare ground and a bunch of seedlings.

Most successful hunting ranches require a fair amount of management. And typically it's in conjunction with other activity such as grazing cattle, growing crops, timber, etc.

I can't see it being a good way to make money, just a supplement to farm/ranch income.

Zeke Liston · Answer

I grew up in a city where this was pretty common, I have personally never done it but I have seen people have a lot of success @Benjamin A Ersing.

John Hardy · Answer

@Steve McCrann did you get any more good models or suggestions?  I think I'm fleshing out same idea as you.  I've got a pulse on several properties in Central Ohio and fleshing out what the opportunities are on them.  I'm thinking that it may be best as my own family retreat offset with the occasional VRBO and/or hunting lease on the property.

Steve McCrann · Answer

@Benjamin A Ersing

We invest in raw land and I have run numbers on hunting leases as buy and hold income and they never have worked. TX is one market we are in and VERY avid and active hunting community as most know. The deer season is pretty long and hogs are another year round potential but still the number didn't come close to working for what we have looked at.  Even based on zero improvements. Liability another issue but you can force them to purchase insurance for that.

Needing to have a turn-key cabins or other dwellings that would sleep x number of hunters turn it into a STR situation and was still thin. Access to utilities are sometimes issues as well for a "lodge" type situation.

In MO the deer season is super short and it's not a cash rich state for getting good money on leases. We have 80+ acres in the Lake of the Ozarks area that was managed for trophy deer for years that we tried to get an $1,800 lease out of it last season, that is kind of the going rate and a sad ROI.  After jacking around with 8-10 inquiries and two leases sent but not signed we abandoned it. We are dividing the property to sell smaller parcels and the lease was an afterthought. We did a selective harvest of timber (very little clear cutting that I am aware of in MO, clear cutting happens in TX) and managed a decent return on that. Timber is once every 12 years or so selective and every 20-30 clear cut roughly.

There are many sites to review available hunting leases (Google it) and you can see the going rate for most areas by looking at a few in a target area.

The land would need to be unique and really offer more than just hunting lease revenue.  Turn key accommodation really more like a country STR available to Hunter and non hunters alike. Fishing ponds, lakes, rivers are huge draws as well but that land will cost more to be sure.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

North west timber concerns used to let deer and elk hunters on to their lands but no more.. and for sure no one is leasing it and letting others hunt.  Most of the hunters on they let on their lands were their employees who worked in the mills.

I still remember the first year of Elk Season when I was logging in Oregon.. we were trying to finish the year up had 3 sides going 20 to 30 truck loads a day.. and then I get a fax..  Mill closed during hunting seasons good luck hunters I was floored how can they just close the mill for hunting season.  Even though Elk is only a 4 day Hunt but still that cost us almost a 100 loads.. and at 5k plus a load its big money ..

Hunting Ranch - Investment Experience?

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