I'd put the most of it toward the land. I don't need a castle to live in, as long as I can sleep comfortably and stay warm I'm good.

For me? I'm at an age where the "investment" factor wouldn't come into play. I bought the house I'll die in when I bought this one. If the market goes up or down in the realestate market, here.....it won't affect me one bit. I really don't care.

If you think you may move again....you must think about the "investment" side of things. Which is the best investment in your area? Real property or real dwelling? It's not always cut and dried.....but I've seen house prices plummet a lot more than I've seen land prices do the same.

If you're in a similar situation.....and you're looking for the last place you'll live.....then buy something that you can insulate yourself with........LAND.

It's an enviable position. Good luck with your decision.

300K on a nice piece of land and the other 200K would buy up some of this expensive Atlanta property and in a few years I would hopefully double or triple up with the way land is around here. That would then buy a small house and as much land as I could get from selling the local land and the land I originally bought. That may be the last time anyone hears from me unless you hang around the taxidermist or the butcher.

LAND!

Assuming I had an empty nest, and didn't have to work anymore, and this was the house I was going to be at for the rest of my life and didn't have to consider cashing out in the future, I'd build a 3 bedrrom 1500-1800sq/ft cabin similar to Rob's place, and then buy at least 200 acres surrounding it, and then spend the rest of the $$$ on the equipment and a good wildlife biologist to start a solid QDMA program. The key here would be living on the land though.......I wouldn't do this in the northeast unless I could live right there. I'm fortunate to have the property I do in PA, but being 4 hours from it kills me, and limits my ability to patrol and manage it the way I really want to. 'm simply not there enough to do more than I do today, and even what I do now really is a large time and $$$ burden because of the travel.

If I couldn't live on the land, I'd buy a small modest patch (50ish acres) with a similar cabin, and then save the $$$ for leasing of land in the midwest, and travel to better places for most of my hunting with the small patch at home to keep me busy between trips.

ditto

Land, land and more land. However realistically I need a modest house as if the wife and family are happy and comfortable my life would be easier. I want my kids to have land though. I think they will benifit more from time outdoors building tree forts and getting into good old fashion trouble rather than sitting in a fancy great room with a playstation or x box.

I would say get the most land you can, and a modest house. I agree, you can fix up, or add on to your home later.

In fact, that is what I did a few years ago. I bought 41 acres, and built a nice one level home that I could afford. They aren't making any more land, and it ain't getting any cheaper. I wish I would have bought more....but hindsight is 20/20.

Invest it and use the money earned off of it to hunt all over the world.

Tony,

Sometimes I wish I was more selfish............I did hunt Steuben a couple times a few years ago and it was nice. I just couldn't go that far from our families.......may as well just move out of state.

I am thinking you are correct though...........what would be ideal is to find about 100 acres that is landlocked by some friendly farmers who don't mind letting the neighbor wander around.

It'sa tough decision.........I really don't know what to do. Sometimes I think that I shouldn't worry about land because traveling a little bit to hunt is ok with me and if I work hard enough I can have access to lots of land for free.......bad part is that could always change and in a flash you could have no where to hunt. Other times I feel like a huge house is stupid and I would much rather just step out the door with bow in hand then wander around a big empty house. Still other times I feel like just getting a nice house and buying land and a cabin as a seperate getaway. Thankfully my wife wants the same thing (she doesn't hunt but loves the woods, privacy and land for our lab to run.

Still other days I feel like instead of spending $100,000-$150,000 on land I could just as easily lease some land in the corn belt.........hunt that every year and go on trips to other places for the next 30 years.


Maybe a bunch of us WNY's should all just get together and lease some land in SteubenCo andbe done with it