Owning Land: A Dream Come True

For years I've dreamed of owning a piece of land in the country to have as a family getaway and a hunt camp. I tried to buy 8 acres in Georgia a couple years ago, but after making an offer the owner decided that they didn't want to sell it after all; the Realtor was ticked and I wasn't very thrilled either. I drove my family 6 hours and stayed at a hotel overnight to see a property that wasn't really for sale. After that door was slammed shut I sort of gave up on the dream.

A few months ago I started thinking about getting some land near Brooksville, close to the public lands I hunt and also nearer to home. I had been keeping an eye on the listings and noticed a 2.5 acre property that had been foreclosed on near Dade city, they were asking $4,000. I called the Realtor and he told me that the property was "very undesirable." I thought to myself, "What kind of Realtor is this?" Anyways I went and gave it a look and it lived up to its reputation. It had been used by the locals as a dump site and the deeded easement ran through a couple hundred yards of wetlands. Definitively undesirable.

The Realtor told me about another property that was bank owned and located at the end of the Veteran's Expressway on Ponce De Leon Blvd, within five minutes of my favorite hunting spot at Citrus and also close to Chassahowitzka and Richloam. The property is 6.3 acres and because there is a sinkhole in the back, they were asking $28,000. Being that my budget was $10,000 max, I thought it was out of my league. The Realtor encouraged me to at least make an offer if I liked it and see how motivated they were to sell. 

I met him at the property and was greeted by deer tracks all over the sandy rodes that wind through the property. It is surrounded by over 3,000 acres owned by World Woods golf course. Beyond that is Citrus WMA. I loved the property and made an offer. To my delight they accepted it! My older brother, Jacob, wanted in on the deal so we split it $5,000 each. As soon as we had a contract on it I brought up a trail camera and a bucket of corn. After 5 days I checked the camera to find over 400 pictures of deer! I was jumping up and down pumping my fist in the air. Not only did we score a killer hunt camp but also a honey hole loaded with deer, not to mention the turkey, bobcat, quail and other wildlife we've seen on the property. 

As soon as we closed on the property we brought up two corn feeders and I set up a lock-on stand. I also started building a bunk house. The plan is to run the feeders all summer and slip in with our bows come September. If some hogs show up we might be able to slip in sooner. So far I have three doe coming in daily as well as a wide 5 point, a spike that has dropped one side and another decent sized buck that has already dropped both of his antlers. It will be fun to keep track of these guys over the summer as their antlers grow and also see what else may start using the feeders. Here are some pictures.