Pheasant Club

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IdahoCountryBoy

Active member
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and with the price of land in South Dakota these days it’s getting harder and harder to find anything affordable. However every now and then you come across a nice large tract of land that has an easement in it for a reasonable price but I can’t afford it on my own. Is there anybody in this forum that might have an interest in purchasing property with a handful of people and starting a club.

Some of you may roll your eyes but here is a starting point. Let’s say you find a nice section with an easement on it that’s a million dollars. We decide how many members are allowed but let’s say not too many and not too few. Let’s start with 4. Everybody buys in for $250,000 that gives you access to property. There would have to be some rules like only members can hunt month of October for pheasants. November can have one guest. December and January can have up to 2 guest. I wouldn’t care about waterfowl and each member is only allowed to harvest one deer a year.

There would have to be a yearly due to pay for taxes and habitat improvements but that can be determined amongst members. If a member wants to sell, current members get first right of refusal and current members have to approve the new member. Life’s too short so don’t need a$$holes in the club.

So I guess the question is is this a stupid idea or is there interest out there? Sad to think I’m even thinking of this but it seems to be the trend these days if you want to have a place to hunt. Some of you may have an idea I work in education so I’ll never be rich but I work hard and I’m smart with my money. I also choose to spend my money on what I’m passionate about and I’m addicted to pheasant hunting but more importantly would like a place to take my boys as they get older.

Curious to see how everybody reacts to this thread.
 
I have no interest in this, but curious...an "easement" for what purpose are you looking for? Utilities, someone else to access their land, a pipeline, wind turbine??? You mention it twice, so it must be important. Guessing SD land isn't so different from Iowa land. I would rather not have any easements on ground I own, but there are usually easements in-place for public utilities to across over or under your ground.
 
When I say easement I mean like a grassland easement or wetland easement. Once an easement is in place most of the time you can’t farm it. It sucks for revenue purposes because you can’t farm it but it also significantly reduces the value of the property. For example you can find property with an easement on it for $1,000-2,000 an acre vs the $4,000-$10,000 an acre if you can farm it. In my opinion once an easement is in place it’s for wildlife only. Sometimes you can hay or graze but you limit the habitat you have to hunt in the fall.
 
OK, got it, I guess I have heard of that and it make a lot of sense, really the only way to buy land that you don't want to farm. Might try to find ground with the absolute most opportunities (I guess most everyone would) pheasants, deer, prairie dogs, and water for fishing and duck hunting. We just had a 55 acre parcel near here, sell for $26,250 an acre a couple weeks ago. No commercial opportunities, no turbines, just land for row crop tillage. These crazy prices are not good for wildlife. Hard to justify the payment return from CRP contracts on land with that value. CRP prices have to be increasing, I have been out of touch on those for a while now. Get in with a few attorneys, they should have money and often are guys that have some interest in hunting, to make this happen. Good luck on this, it could happen....if that easement ground really only commands the prices you are thinking. It is all about supply and demand.
 
Interesting concept. I like to look at ROI (return on investment) I could probably spend that 250K on a lot of hunts for the rest of my life and not spend it all. Partnerships can be tricky unless you know the others very well. I am interested in what others think of the concept.
 
Depends on the easement. I would look for property without easements but would qualify for a grassland and or wetland easement with the FWS. NRCS easements are very restrictive but yes they do depreciate the property a lot most of the time. In my experience fws easements don't have the same effect especially if its already in grass. But the trick is it needs to qualify for the easement before you purchase it.
 
Having been a part owner of 40 acres of land in northern MN with 5 other family members (uncles and cousins) I can't imagine how much of a pain in the ass it would be to do with complete strangers. It's hard enough to get everyone on board with some mundane tasks (cabin updates, should we log a section of the property,, etc). Now imagine that with complete strangers from the internet? I'm sure it's been done but I'd want no part in that madness.
 
Years ago I was involved in a small duck property. It will work if everyone is willing to chip in with the sweat, time, integrity and cash it might work. Unfortunately to find a handful of people to do that may be unrealistic. In my case it was. When it came time to spend a weekend working, nobody wanted to do it. When it came time to get the pumping done nobody wanted to do the maintenance and pay the fuel bill. But come hunting time everyone wanted to bring their friends and family.
 
Here is the other thing....that worthless land with easements still brings 3500+ a acre in this area. Of course in this area it is also hard to buy a section of land.

3500.00 x 640acres is over 2.2 million
 
my 3 brothers and i bought a wetland bank property 5 years ago in southern mn. at $900 an acre and 10 minutes from our homes it was a no brainer. we raise and release 900+ pheasants each summer and fall. we do it cheap and we do most of it free. gathering missed corn in farmers fields going to a junk yard for miac things for flight pen etc.

we supplement the cost of the taxes , chicks feed et by doing maple syrup each spring. 500 taps last spring. even pay for our trips to north dakota for ducks. we
love the outdoors and family time together. each of us 4 have our own special talents that we bring to each operation. thats the beauty of our situation.

it can be done successfully.
 
IdahoCountryBoy said:
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and with the price of land in South Dakota these days it’s getting harder and harder to find anything affordable. However every now and then you come across a nice large tract of land that has an easement in it for a reasonable price but I can’t afford it on my own. Is there anybody in this forum that might have an interest in purchasing property with a handful of people and starting a club.

Some of you may roll your eyes but here is a starting point. Let’s say you find a nice section with an easement on it that’s a million dollars. We decide how many members are allowed but let’s say not too many and not too few. Let’s start with 4. Everybody buys in for $250,000 that gives you access to property. There would have to be some rules like only members can hunt month of October for pheasants. November can have one guest. December and January can have up to 2 guest. I wouldn’t care about waterfowl and each member is only allowed to harvest one deer a year.

There would have to be a yearly due to pay for taxes and habitat improvements but that can be determined amongst members. If a member wants to sell, current members get first right of refusal and current members have to approve the new member. Life’s too short so don’t need a$$holes in the club.

So I guess the question is is this a stupid idea or is there interest out there? Sad to think I’m even thinking of this but it seems to be the trend these days if you want to have a place to hunt. Some of you may have an idea I work in education so I’ll never be rich but I work hard and I’m smart with my money. I also choose to spend my money on what I’m passionate about and I’m addicted to pheasant hunting but more importantly would like a place to take my boys as they get older.

Curious to see how everybody reacts to this thread.
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I own pheasant/deer acreage in western Minnesota with two other friends. You form an LLC that the bylaws are written by an attorney who has experience in such matters. 95% of your efforts should go towards a good set of rules. Then when an issue comes up and they will, it doesn’t matter what anyone says, only thing that matters is what does LLC say.
 
BKelly said:
Have you ever seen a ship with 4 captains?
Click to expand...
What’s the point? Allow me to share a lesson my father taught me. My dad was a pilot with far more flight hours than some could dream. I asked him if it bothered him that there were captains that were younger or less experienced then him and he told me never let your ego get in the way. So no I’ve never seen a ship with 4 captains but I’ve seen ships, planes etc with everybody working together to achieve a common goal. In my case, I’d love to be a part of a pheasant club where I can go stand on it and say I own a little piece of paradise but unfortunately I can’t afford to do it on my own. So in the meantime I keep researching, studying, brainstorming ways to make it happen.
 
IdahoCountryBoy said:
What’s the point? Allow me to share a lesson my father taught me. My dad was a pilot with far more flight hours than some could dream. I asked him if it bothered him that there were captains that were younger or less experienced then him and he told me never let your ego get in the way. So no I’ve never seen a ship with 4 captains but I’ve seen ships, planes etc with everybody working together to achieve a common goal. In my case, I’d love to be a part of a pheasant club where I can go stand on it and say I own a little piece of paradise but unfortunately I can’t afford to do it on my own. So in the meantime I keep researching, studying, brainstorming ways to make it happen.
Click to expand...
For a couple of bucks and lots of luck you could make your dreams come true. Power all is huge
 
IdahoCountryBoy said:
What’s the point? Allow me to share a lesson my father taught me. My dad was a pilot with far more flight hours than some could dream. I asked him if it bothered him that there were captains that were younger or less experienced then him and he told me never let your ego get in the way. So no I’ve never seen a ship with 4 captains but I’ve seen ships, planes etc with everybody working together to achieve a common goal. In my case, I’d love to be a part of a pheasant club where I can go stand on it and say I own a little piece of paradise but unfortunately I can’t afford to do it on my own. So in the meantime I keep researching, studying, brainstorming ways to make it happen.
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My point is that it is unlikely that you are going to be able to find 3 other partners that have a common goal and then are going to work equally towards that common goal. Kinda like CarTom described.. that’s exactly my point.

I didn’t really follow your younger less experienced pilot story. My point is that 4 equal partners almost never works out. What happened if the 4 partners are making a decision and the vote is 2-2?
 
IdahoCountryBoy said:
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and with the price of land in South Dakota these days it’s getting harder and harder to find anything affordable. However every now and then you come across a nice large tract of land that has an easement in it for a reasonable price but I can’t afford it on my own. Is there anybody in this forum that might have an interest in purchasing property with a handful of people and starting a club.

Some of you may roll your eyes but here is a starting point. Let’s say you find a nice section with an easement on it that’s a million dollars. We decide how many members are allowed but let’s say not too many and not too few. Let’s start with 4. Everybody buys in for $250,000 that gives you access to property. There would have to be some rules like only members can hunt month of October for pheasants. November can have one guest. December and January can have up to 2 guest. I wouldn’t care about waterfowl and each member is only allowed to harvest one deer a year.

There would have to be a yearly due to pay for taxes and habitat improvements but that can be determined amongst members. If a member wants to sell, current members get first right of refusal and current members have to approve the new member. Life’s too short so don’t need a$$holes in the club.

So I guess the question is is this a stupid idea or is there interest out there? Sad to think I’m even thinking of this but it seems to be the trend these days if you want to have a place to hunt. Some of you may have an idea I work in education so I’ll never be rich but I work hard and I’m smart with my money. I also choose to spend my money on what I’m passionate about and I’m addicted to pheasant hunting but more importantly would like a place to take my boys as they get older.

Curious to see how everybody reacts to this thread
Click to expand...

If you had 250 grand to spend, maybe you should focus on just a quarter of land for now. Build you own land castle. McPherson county SD you might have a chance at getting that. Ive seen pasture ground go for 300-500 an acre. Then sell the grass easement to the USFWS and regain some of your money. Remember grassland easements restrict food plots and trees but u can always carve out small areas for tree rows on the outside of the property.
 
I bot a 1/4 in 2000 and enrolled it in WRP, a perpetual easement. I have 1 partner. Pretty smooth, I arrange the food plots every year, as well as any other work. 1 partner is enough, more than that would suck. My dad and 10 guys bot a fantastic duck camp in ‘76 on a primo lake in SW MN…lodge slept 24, we had a brick farmhouse as well where the caretaker lived (young family). That was fairly crazy…convinced me not to ever do that, but I did it anyway on the Delta Marsh in ‘99 with 4 others…small amount of $ so risk was small. Had good times, but that imploded due to our local “sweat equity” partner not holding up his deal. But I drifted away from waterfowling and focused on upland birds. Had fun for a few years on the ND/SD border doing multi-species hunting…sharpies, pheasants, waterfowl. I have hunted 21 days this fall, mostly in public land, mostly for sharpies and huns, but 6 days for phez. I’d focus on midweek hunting and learn all about public land. 3 a day isn’t hard if you’ll walk 7-10 miles and scout before 10 am. We had good hunting 2 days last week in a “poor” area (per DNR roadside count) in MN last midweek…wasn’t hard to get our 2 bird limit each day on WPA’s. People are a PITA…stay free and flexible and hunt midweek…and knock on doors and get on private land when you can, and treat those landowners like royalty. That’s the real fun anyway!
 
There’s a WPA a mile from my land that has produced prodigiously thus far this season…gets some pressure the first week, not much after that. I hunt it a fair amount all season…just one public spot of 10-15 nearby…getting tied down to one area can be good and bad…I enjoy my prairie hunting in ND/MT, I’m anonymous and it’s fun being free and flexible….pursue your dream, but be careful who you partner with if it comes to that point! I’d stay small…1 partner at most…you can add on if you wish down the road.
 
Someday you will forget all the birds you collected, but will remember the dogs and people that you have encountered. We all could write a book that reflects our outdoor experiences. It would be a good read, just like this website.
 
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