Fellas,
I'm not saying that there are vast tracts of land for 1000 an acre in my part of the country. I said you could find it if you looked really good. One of my neighbors in Wayne County just sold off some of his wooded land next to mine for 1000 an acre, and I have heard of other pieces selling for about that. When I bought my first piece of land in 2003, I paid 1300 an acre for nice wooded ground with lower quality logged off ground going for 1100. The price went up very high over the next several years to the point that last year I paid 1650 an acre for not-so-good river bottom ground, and very good wooded land was up around 2000. Most of that ground was only available thru a realtor. But the price of land has now dropped back down to the point that you can find land that is selling for closer to 1000 an acre than 2000 and there are more and more listings in local papes or by word of mouth.
I will be in southeastern Illinois for 10 days over Christmas and generally keep an eye on land sales when I am there. Will try to let the folks that asked me about land know if i come across some good deals.