your best bet if you only have a 50k budget is to lease...even at 1000 per gun, go hill country, open from sept to may or dove to end of turkey, do the math, it'll take 25 years to eat 50k and thats at 1000 and you get have access to a lot more land...if the purpose is to introduce to the outdoors, thats the best bet...imo....you'd need at least 50 ac for 2 stands and 2 feeders....maybe check some tax sales, look for some heirship tracts, and peice together heirship...and force partition....lot of work...thats the only way i know to get cheap land...and then its very rare

I had a real good article on hunting deer on small tracts of land. In the article, the area the aurthor felt was a good size, was 100 acres.

With that size, he was able to place two stands on the opposite ends of the property. He would let the conditions, weather, time of day, etc, determine which stand he would go to.

Good point about the land owner around you. You certainly don't want to get fenced in.

I think you've determined from the post that for 50K you're going to have a hard time in finding a large track of land in this area.

While you are opposed to it, your best bet may be to get on a decsent lease.

Goodluck

you may find some cut over timber at around 1000 per acre, but it would be tough to hunt for 15 years

I bought one of those parcels outside of Rocksprings that is a broken up large ranch and so far so good. I knew it would be a crap shoot but just to have a piece of property to escape to was worth it for me. I looked all over and would not touch anything not backed up to a low fenced large ranch. Several places advertised as backed up to a low fence ranch but they lied. Once I looked at my place I knew I had found it. 3 draws coming together in the middle with an oak covered bottom, a vacant land owner for 10 years, one draw damned up and will hold water for half the summer, backed up to 3500 acres At firs I was worried because hogs were the only thing I ever saw. Once I built a feed pen I see deer every time I am out there and have 2 bucks coming regularly and at least 5 more bucks more dropping in from time to time. The place was cut up a long time ago and the land owners understand that if they shoot everything that walks they will have nothing left to shoot so it seems everyone is pretty selective. It helps that hogs can be taken at will filling up the freezers. If you do end up in a place that is cut up, take your time and select carefully, feed year round, plant what you can, provide water if you can, and again, select carefully. You can not force your neighbors to do the same but those that shoot everything that they see are normally the ones that show up a week before season starts, puts of a feeder and thinks it should be automatic. I am going into my 3rd season and there has been one deer taken off of my place. I love my place and would love to buy my neighbors out and expand. They are not selling and I can not blame them. Only 1 of the 2 regular bucks is over 4 years old (best guess) so my brother in-law may take him this year. I have my eye on a wonderer that will wonder no more if he shows up but that will be it for this year. Now if that damn monster aoudad shows up - dirt nap. Bastard tore the hell out of my varmint cage. Anyway, it all depends on what your looking for. If you want to kill whitetail every time out then lease. If you want to spend time on a place, hunt whitetail with a camera or a mental snap shot, kill the hogs, call it your own year round without restrictions, pay all the bills and buy some land. Only time will tell on my place but so far so good.

Sounds like what my wife and I are planning some day. We want to buy as much land as we can afford will most likely be at most 100 ac, we plan to build a small cabin on it and live there. That is how we will retire. Live there , hunt, hogs, deer what ever and just take it easy. Man I hope it works out. Sounds like you are well on your way.