Hello buck85,
I have 320 acres and it can get expensive. It's better to lease the land from a landowner and then it's much cheaper than buying. Sometimes you might have hunting friends who all can divide the costs of the improvements. All animals including game birds live best when there's lots of cover with plenty of open "edges" so they can move from one point to another point of cover and feel protected from predators. It's all about choosing the level of quality of your hunting experience. Sometimes don't overlook the public lottery drawings for state land hunts. Some of those lands are highly favored for quality animals and are already protected year around except for a limited drawing for permits. These are hard to get but every few years you should get lucky. That would be the cheapest way to go.

Also you could make a career of this and become a public land employee either state of federal. This way you could manage land that belongs to everyone and get paid for it too! It could lead to better paying private ranch stewardship and animal biology.