Buying Hunting Land for Sale in Texas: A Guide to Passive Income
Specializes in providing actionable insights into the commercial real estate space for investors, brokers, lessors, and lessees. He covers quarterly market data reports, investment strategies, how-to guides, and top-down perspectives on market movements.
About a million Texans hold hunting licenses, and about 600,000 regularly go hunting each year. But where, exactly, do all these hunters go? Are they simply setting up shop in their own backyards and waiting for the right beast to wander by?
Well, no. In fact, a majority of hunters (64%) hunt on privately owned land. Private landowners can lease their land's hunting rights to hunters and generate passive income in return.
Landowners especially love their passive income, and it's this hands-off approach to making money that tends to drive many commercial real estate investors to get in on the action. Buying hunting land for sale in Texas is a great way to generate more monthly revenue and balance and diversify your holdings.
Here, we'll cover what investors should know before buying hunting land for sale in Texas. We'll clarify how hunting leases work and what you can expect leasing your land to cost. We'll also discuss some of the best spots for buying hunting land for sale in Texas.
Let's get started.
How Does Leasing Hunting Land in Texas Work?
Leasing hunting land is the same as leasing land in Texas for other purposes—the landowner signs an agreement with an individual hunter or group of hunters and gives them the right to hunt game on their land.
Generally, there are three main types of hunting leases:
- No-Fee Access leases allow the hunter(s) to access the property freely to hunt for no fee.
- Exchange of Services leases allow the hunter to hunt in exchange for them providing some kind of service to the landlord, whether it's land improvement, security, or tending to vegetation/trees.
- Fee Hunting leases are the simplest and charge the hunter a set fee to hunt. Fees might be per use, day, season, or year.
For any type of lease, the landowner can establish or limit land rights for hunters and restrict certain activities or the hunting of specific game. Hunters can sign hunting leases with individual landowners or entities that own commercial land. The typical hunting lease lasts between one and three years.
How Much Is a Hunting Lease in Texas?
Exact lease rates for hunting land in Texas vary depending on the location, but general leasing rates hover between $10 and $40 per acre. The amount you can charge to lease hunting land depends on the quality of the land and the game it provides.
For example, a landowner might charge $5 per acre for low-quality land and up to $300 per acre for high-quality land. Assuming a 200-acre plot and a rate of $20 per acre, you could generate a potential $4,000 in gross passive income from a single lease, and that doesn't account for leasing land to multiple hunters simultaneously.
How Much Is It to Lease Land for Hunting in Texas?
Leasing land for hunting in Texas can generate significant income, but it is not without expenses. First are land management and upkeep costs: Hunting land management ensures a suitable habitat for game and includes tasks such as tree trimming, vegetation removal, and food source stimulation.
Also, you'll need a hunting land liability insurance policy that protects you from litigation if a hunter sustains an injury on your land. Liability insurance premiums for hunting landowners start at about $200 a year.
Just like with any commercial property purchase, you'll have to deal with taxes. Texas has one of the highest property tax rates in the country at an effective rate of 1.8%, so make sure you have an accountant on your real estate investment team who can handle Texas's complicated property tax assessments and calculations.
What's the Best Acreage for Hunting?
It depends on what kind of game you expect hunters to hunt on your land. Generally speaking, the larger the intended game, the larger the ideal hunting acreage is. For example, if you want to buy hunting land for sale in Texas and lease it for deer hunting, you'll want to buy at least 50 acres. Slower and smaller animals like turkeys or rabbits might only require five to ten acres.
We recommend working with a land broker if you're buying land in Texas for hunting. Land brokers are commercial real estate brokers specializing in land purchases for recreation, farming, and other activities. A land broker will help you find land with good financials and help negotiate land sales.
Where in Texas Is Best for Hunting?
It depends on what kind of game you're looking for, but some of the most popular regions for hunting in Texas include:
- Austin: Deer, Turkey, Hogs;
- Brady: Deer, Antelope, Oryx;
- Ingram: Deer, Sheep, Antelope;
- Pineywoods: Deer, Turkey, Hogs, Quail, Squirrels; and
- Gulf Coast Prairies: Duck, Quail, Geese.
Out of all game in Texas, whitetail deer is probably hunted the most. Buying hunting land in Texas with high whitetail deer populations makes the most sense for first-time ventures. However, you can buy property in Texas with any type of game and lease it for a premium.
Should I Buy Hunting Land in Texas?
Buying hunting land in Texas can be a good idea if you're looking for a low-maintenance investment to generate passive income. While Texas doesn't necessarily boast the most affordable commercial real estate prices, its land prices are still relatively moderate compared to many other states: Land prices in Texas sit at about $4,000 per acre.
Overall, land is generally a good investment, even if you don't decide to lease your plots to hunters: It's versatile, scarce, and holds its value well. You can also lease your land in Texas out for several other purposes, such as farming, recreation, and mineral extraction. Yet, land can be difficult to finance: Land loans are usually riskier for banks and lenders.
Get Vetted, Interested, & Local-Market Commercial Real Estate Clients Sent Straight to Your Inbox
Get notified when someone in your local market is looking to buy, sell, or lease commercial real estate with MyEListing.com's Client Connection Program: Agents using our Client Connection Program tend to close 4x more deals than those without.
Find & Connect With Commercial Agents & Brokers Near You for Free on MyEListing.com
MyEListing.com maintains one of the largest databases of commercial agents & brokers in the country. Use it for free to find an agent or broker near you!
Other recent articles
Article Search
Share
All Article Categories
