While you can’t walk into a bank and get a farm loan by showing trail cam pictures, hunting land is a commodity and a hot one at that. Hunters have proven they want to put more money into land.

This “land grab” for recreational property is driven by many factors. The first is an uptick in hunting’s popularity after two decades of decline. Second, interest rates are still low. Third, Baby Boomers are retiring. Perhaps the biggest reason of all is a desire to own property in a time where public lands are becoming more and more crowded and leases are getting more expensive.

Those tracts of land that are untillable have great value, even though there is no crops or livestock on them.

Consider hunting land for sale in Wisconsin. Or Pike County, Illinois. Or countless other big buck regions. There’s no question what buyers are paying for. It’s the pursuit of trophy deer in a county that is known for producing record book whitetails.  

When we are in the midst of falling crop price, the market may adjust farmland values. They may decrease due to less profits, or they might not. Only time will tell. You don’t see much fluctuation with recreational and hunting land prices. We see the market remaining strong.

Hunting and recreational land is a safe investment. But it’s also a long-term investment, which is typically attractive to the buyer. Unlike a stock certificate that sits in a safe for 30 years where its value is completely out of your control, land appreciates in price. Plus, you can use it as it does.

Hunting land value is not dependent on profit and loss sheets, rather it comes from owning something that will never go away, something that you can walk on and use while it appreciates in worth. The value comes from instances of gathering with loved ones around a passion, like showing off those trail camera pictures as you wait for opening day.