What to do when you lose your land?

I have been hunting on private land in Dodge county for quite some time.  The second day of archery season, I was told that the family would be hunting it from now on and that I was immediately done.  I knew it wasn't going to last forever, but I wish I would have known about it a little earlier.  So, over the course of two weekends, I packed up all my treestands and tripods, and left the property.

I am probably going to take a year off to regroup.  However, I am a little lost as to what to do now.  The property I was on was about 350 acres and I did everything there...archery, gun, turkey, waterfowl, small game, etc.

I started looking into possibly buying property but I don't know if the price of land justifies how little time I will have to spend on it.  

My second thought was leasing so I looked into the site basecamp leasing .com and found out that their top of the line membership was 250 bucks which gets you a 10 day advance notice on leases.  I called one of the reps who was very nice, but explained to me that a large majority of their leasers have this top of the line membership so I would be competing with a large number of hunters also looking for a lease and that the majority of the leases get renewed year after year.  I started looking into how many leases different counties had to offer through this company and the average was about 6 per county.  Some had only 3, some 7, and some counties had zero.  With that few number of total leases available, that doesn't seem like the odds would be in my favor.

My third option would be to hunt public and although I am not against it, I've also never done it before and I have no idea what type of competition I would be up against.  

My final thought is to give up deer hunting altogether, sell all my stands, guns, etc. and get a bird dog and a boat and start upland hunting for pheasants, grouse, and woodcock and fish in the offseason.  I love bird hunting, I love dogs, and I feel like my wife and I could enjoy this together.  She doesn't hunt, but she loves hiking.  

Right now I am living in Janesville, but we are planning on moving north this summer.  I am not sure where yet (fox valley, oshkosh, waupaca area possibly.  We want to get closer to our families and this area would be ideal.

What have some of you guys done when private land was no longer available.  Where did you have the best luck securing leases (craigslist, facebook, hearsay, door to door, private companies)?  Any of you just decide to transition to public land and if so, how did that go?  Anyone here just give up deer hunting altogether?  

This land was my absolute little piece of heaven and I didn't think it would affect me this much but it's all I think about lately, especially as we head into the rut.  Thanks for reading, thanks for any comments, and thanks for any suggestions.

Hunting land is only a financial “investment” if you plan to sell it someday.  If the buyer is later in life at purchase, a large return is unlikely considering other costs along the way.  Ideally, if the next generation is involved the land gets enjoyed for years and generations and the monetary form of the investment never comes back to the original investor.  I am eternally grateful for my parents foresight in that and plan to make sure our land makes it to the next generation as well.  

I like the plan to get a bird dog and a boat.  The fact that your considering giving up deer hunting kind of makes me think you have become bored with it.  Public land is an option though, I turkey hunt public I just avoid the opening weekend and its fine.   I knew deer hunting wasn't for me after a few hunts.   I find bird hunting much more enjoyable, its the dogs, and the freedom that bird hunting allows.   You get a late start who cares, your not confined for hours in a stand, if your hunting with family or friends you can actually have a conversation with them during the hunt.  If you lone wolfing it you always have your dog as a hunting buddy.   Its great exercise, how many fat bird hunters do you see.  Since Oct 9th I'm averaging over 8 miles a day chasing grouse.  Like I like to say if your not hunting with a dog, your probably just sitting.

Land as an investment you can hunt is justified.  Buying land just to hunt doesn't pay in my book unless you're rich. If I didn't have my own property or lost it, I'd hunt a western state in October,  then probably go outfitter during rut in Buffalo County.  I never bow hunt until mid October anyway. The money I spend in gas, treestands, taxes and many other things I could easily spend that $3000 dollars in Buffalo,  have to do none of the work, show up to hunt and almost certainly have a chance at much nicer deer. And if I didn't gun hunt Wisconsin,  wouldn't really care. Just do it now for socialization.

Good points Ihook. However , when you buy land you are really doing the same as putting your money in the bank. You usually can write off the interest on your taxes. And remember, money in the bank account slowly loses value because of inflation. Land usually doesn't. Our world is becoming more and more populated and owning or buying land is a excellent investment in my opinion. If you talk to your parents and grandparents I'm going to guess that throughout their lives they always thought land was too expensive. No different than today. If you can afford it buy it. The biggest problem in Wisconsin is property taxes are way to high

I wouldn't buy hunting land for the price it's going for . No way. I can afford it but a few deer a year is not worth it to me , and likely not to you neither.  Put it this way. Add up all the costs.    The original poster was getting a $1,000,000 piece of property an likely for free.  Now, take a "40" , in central Wis. It will set you back $125,000 in Langlade , Oconto, area.  Put up a cabin and you have $no less than $150K. Add taxes, insurance, and work that needs to be done. It will cost at least $5,000 a yr. in interest , ins.  ETC. Then you have to pay back the $125,000.  A " good buck" will set you back $5K a year. If it is worth it to you, go for it. If you are middle class, you will work an extra 10yrs. at your job before you ever retire unless you have a very good pension from the government.  If you are married, it will cause stress , mostly from being gone and finances. If you have small kids, it will likely get worse if your wife is not into this as much as you are.  As you get older, you WILL get more tired and the place up north will likely get used less unless it is close.   You will find "friends " that want to hunt there. They likely will be missing on work weekends. On work weekends,  I can hear it now "OH crap, work weekend is this weekend? Oh man, I'm sorry I made other plans by mistake""".   Many, Many people sell out after about 15 yrs . for good reason.  I had mine way up north for 32 yrs. I am about done with it but mostly cause west side of Price co. got so bad for deer that I only hunt it a few days in gun season and hardly see anything for deer.   You can go this way  and likely have better hunting  , and sometimes deal with tresspassers. .   This is your choice.  Choice number 2 .  Instead of hunting 40 acres, for $5k per year, you can hunt public land for all but nothing.  (1)  The hunting is much much harder. (2), you will have people near your stand here and there and you will have to go somewhere else. ( 3)  You just might have problems ( I never did) on public. (4) there are days you just should not go . (5) This is a big one and the best part of public land.  Instead of having a "40" to hunt , you will have literally thousands of acres of land out there. It is truly astounding the amount of public land Wisconsin has.  I hunt 5 miles away from home. I have 7,000 ac. inside of 10 mi. of my house.  I dont see much however. I am lucky to get a doe every other year. Many do better than me however. I started hunting southern Wis. public one day when I didnt have the energy on Friday night to go to the cabin . On Sat. morning I was too  beat from work go the 486 mi. round trip to my cabin to see one deer on avr. This was 2011 when the wolves were coming in full force. I decided to hunt the northern Kettle Moraine. I climbed a tree and I saw 2 deer. This was the 1st time I ever saw a deer while hunting in southern WIs. I was elated. The next day I saw a dandy buck. As I sat there it dawned on me that I saw 3 deer in 2 hunts. Much better average than Price co. and it was only 40 miles for 2 round trios to the land. I didnt get a deer till 2014, a small buck. Since I have gotten 3 does, and my 1st gun kill last year (doe). It is tough hunting and I have gone 13 sits without seeing a deer.  My avr, is a deer sighting in 3 sits. Terrible right?? Yes, but I have 7,000 ac. to hunt for free and 30,000 ac. of Kettle Moraine northern unit. It cost me nothing. As for the OP, he is going to the Fox Valley. It is better hunting on public there by a long shot. I would stick with public and get used to it. You will likely be dismayed by the change though. Hope this helps.

 Just one more thing though, I know this is long but also needs to be said. I have had many , many priceless times up at my cabin . We went there with the kids , when we were young and it was fun . When my life comes to an end, the times I reflect , many will be at our cabin up north. You dont get that same thing hunting public. Public hunting is good times, but not the same as having a place of your own.   It was worth it in 1989. It was only 3,000 for 7 ac. on the S. Fork Flambeau River and another $3,000 for the cabin, and $250 for taxes, so it was very cheap. I was offered $100K for it by the neighbor that is good for their word. Now days, for $100,000 , I would not think if buying it.   

I can buy hunting ground whenever I want to brave the ire and the fire of Smaugette. She hates to spend money and really hates to spend it on something as dumb as hunting so I don't bring it up. She didn't get named Smaugette for nothing. I don't feel the connection to a hunting place that others do. Public is fine, one time invitation is great. Imposing friend of a friend is ok with me, I can be that guy. I just love to go. I've killed a lot of stuff. It's all fun. Only things left on my bucket list are a snowshoe hare and a bear. Maybe a prairie chicken.

I agree with the dude.  Investment that your family and yourself will hopefully reap the dividends of (both in outdoors use and monetarily) in the future.  Also because its easier for me to suggest someone else buy land instead of thinking about myself doing it.  

As an exclusively public land hunter, I also wouldn't write that off.  It depends what you are looking for, but in my opinion public land offers much more than private.  You will be able to decide what type of hunt/ challenge you want.  If you want a mature buck and a read to put in the work, there are plenty of opportunities for that.  If you just want a place to kill some time and try to put some venison in the freezer, join the rest of the guys and gals out there looking for the same.  Its not nearly as bad as many make it out to be.

Best of luck

I've been blessed my whole life with access to nearly 800 acres of family owned private land to hunt. Many memories have been made and many deer have been harvested. It's where I learned to hunt and taught my son to hunt. I expect about 200 acres of it may potentially be sold off when an elderly family member passes away but that's still a lot of land for 8-10 guys to hunt. I hope we never lose it. But if we did, I'd sell my hunting gear and buy a nicer boat. The lease thing sounds expensive and a hassle and each year I get less and less willing/able to drag a deer a mile or two through a public parcel. But that's me. Good luck to you on your future decisions. 

You need to judge yourself on how important it is to you.  Owning is obviously the way to go, but it's also obviously expensive.  Leases are very hard to come by unless you know someone, get extremely lucky, or just have endless stacks of cash.  

Public can be really good if you're willing to put the boots on the ground and venture farther than most people.  Dan Infalt and The hunting public guys have great success every year, but they scout constantly and are willing to walk much deeper into the public land than the average person.  

When I first started hunting in 1996 my dad, uncle and a group of their friends had been leasing for years a very large piece of property in Adams county.  Almost a full square mile I believe.  I had two years of hunting it with them and the owner died and sold off the land.  The following year my uncle was able to secure a small section of the land we'd leased from the new owner, but it was made apparent he was doing my uncle a favor and it would not be available the following year.  My dad and uncle are strictly middle class and knew it wouldn't be easy financially, but hunting is a huge part of our lives so they decided to try and buy some property.  They ended up buying 50 acres the following summer and it's the main land we still hunt now 25 years later.  Very good property that was clear cut when they bought it.  Now after the trees have grown back, the 10 acres field is farmed every year, we have permanent blinds, roads throughout the land, the property is worth far more than what they paid for it and we kill a lot of deer every year.  We also had leased an additional 67 acres for two years, but same scenario happened, owner died and kids sold the land. 

Haven't been able to find a decent lease since.  Writing this made me realize that we've spent a lot of money on hunting over the years.

How do you feel about rubbing up on 85 year old women?

Either you want to hunt, or you don't. Get to it.

I live in an area where my home is surrounded by almost 36 square miles of county forest land open to hunting . Sure it's open to the public but, we use a 700 yard rule , anywhere beyond that , you won't find another hunter . Check out county forest land , look at satellite imagery , find those areas and get on the boots ! Spring is the best time for checking these out .

Most guys I know who lost their land either quit that year or tried public for a few years then quit.

Once you get used to private land it is hard to switch to public, especially for gun season. 

Decent hunting land in SW wisconsin is going for $4-6k per acre. 

I've hunted the same land in Waupaca Co. since I was 15, now I am just short of 70. Way back when we leased it and there was 20 of us. Every year we told the farmer if he ever wanted to sell to let us know.He finally decided to sell half,80 acs. of it and 5 years later sold us the other 80.  A lot of the guys didnt want to pay so dropped out. That was long enough ago that you could still find land to hunt. 6 of us now own the 160 and I'm sure some of the other guys wish they had stayed in.I ,and others just looked at it as hunting was a big part of our lives and by buying it we would have a place to hunt the rest of our lives. For me I can't put a price on what thats worth. We spend a lot of time there all year round and its just a great place to go and hunt, work on projects , or just chill.

Access to land, and features on land I own change.  Our quiet place in the country has now become somewhat of a subdivision with neighbors with dogs.   So, ducks do not come to the blind overlooking the trout stream at our house.

The family farm was where I shot many deer, but access there is a thing of the past.

I am middle class, but purchasing a 40 where we live is prohibitively expensive.

So I hunt land owned by the Wisconsin River Power Company.  It is 15 minutes from the house and I hunt it for ducks and for deer.  But hunting there on weekends is a bit too crowded.    And I cannot leave stands on that land.  But it is close and if I hunt during the week, I generally have the place to myself.

Finding a quiet patch of DNR land is not as easy as one would think.  

If you can afford it, buy.  Although it’ll be expensive where you are headed.  I wouldn’t look at trying to justify a land purchase by how much you use it.  Rather, it is an investment you also get to enjoy.