There are a lot of things that you need to sort out IMO. I know you live a couple hundred miles from where you will be using the tractor. Are you going to haul it back and forth or leave it on the property? Do you have a place to leave it? Up to a 40 - 50 hp tractor can be pulled by a 1/2 ton pickup but over that and you are going to have to have a bigger truck and trailer.

For 2 acres of food plots you could do fine with a 30hp tractor, but you may be suprised when you go to pick up a large rock and find out that it won't lift it. My 45hp tractor will lift about 1,700lbs with the Front end loader and I still find myself wishing it would pick up more.

You would be suprised at how much dirt you can move with a tractor with a front loader and a box blade. It might take a while but I think you could dig down a 1/2 acre pond several feet with a 40 - 50 hp tractor in a few days. I'm sure a bull dozer would be faster, but I have no idea how much it would cost.

Another consideration is how manuverable the tractor is if you are getting it in and out of a bunch of trees. At 50 hp you are at the largest "compact" tractors and at the smallest "utility" tractors. The compact tractors will manuver a little easier and are lighter than the utility tractors.

Just a few ideas to get you started.