314.5 Acres m/l & Cabin, Van Buren County, Iowa- “The BEST OF THE BEST”PRICE AT BOTTOM
QUALITY OF HUNTING:
I promise with every bit of honesty and integrity- I absolutely believe this is the best 314.5 acres I think anyone could find, hunt and own. This is VERY DETAILED, few minute read because of all the work done on this place & important because of how exceptional it really is. Here are many reasons why….
Best deer hunting I’ve experienced in my life (reasons below)! You’ll quickly see why, especially when you walk the land (I’ve hunted dozens of Iowa farms- they don’t even compare to this place- it’s not even close).
Roughly 195-200 acres of timber. (Also- 35-38 acres Switchgrass, more details below). Total cover of around 235 acres PLUS I always left standing corn for more food/cover.
Excellent income/return and the deer hunting is second to none- late muzzleloader season (after shotgun) has fields of 20-30 bucks commonly (have video) and most of them are good sized bucks- I have NEVER seen this on another farm- the hunting cannot be matched and the amount of big bucks this land holds.
You would generally have to buy 1,000 acres to come close to what this land offers.
In famous Van Buren County, SE Iowa (5 miles from Birmingham, IA & 10 miles from Fairfield, IA). Deer numbers are very high BUT doe/buck ratios are very well balanced here. Very common to see 1 to 1 ratio during late muzzleloader season while sitting on food plot- 50 deer total per night is not uncommon.
Photos of deer and sheds are small sample of what we have photos of. Will verify trail cams, locations, etc. (ONE of deer was shot directly across road- cruised both farms).
Compare the Genetics of the deer here & the super fertile farm fields to ANY farm in Iowa! They will not compare. These fertile soils also grow bigger deer! Couple that with unusually amazing genetics = top quality and top end monster bucks.
PERFECT break-up of field and timber! Roughly 35-38 acres of THICK switchgrass (more than CRP area) and other Native Grasses. Cave-in-Rock Switchgrass was seeded at 10 lbs to the acre and properly maintained- THICK/TALL!!
Perfect funnels, perfect entrances and ability to own from road to road (1 mile from road to road).
Almost all properties have several downsides (access, not enough or too much timber, can’t hunt all winds, not enough room, not good genetics, poor hunting area, low income, poor soils, years on waiting on projects to pay off, etc, etc). I honestly believe this is one of the very rare pieces out there that doesn’t have downsides, unless you’re dropping 3 to 10 million $ in land!
Room for 30-40 treestands. There are 32 stand locations on there now for every wind direction and every scenario. They are comfortably spaced. Very few farms I’ve ever seen have room for this many hunters and stands- most aren’t even close! Entrances to most of these stands are EXCELLENT!
For the most part- you control the block. One guy does own a 20-30 acre piece of woods toward south BUT only has gone out opening day of gun season to shoot a doe and I’ve never seen other hunters past that. Huge tract to south that is amazingly managed for huge/mature deer. Land to north and east is all crop land that does not get hunted.
FOOD PLOTS, APPLES, TREES:
8-12 acres of standing beans/corn left every year as well as several other food plots (clover, alfalfa, turnips, etc.). Right now, 6 acres alfalfa food plots, 3 acres of clover food plots, 2 acres annual rye, 10 acres standing beans, 3 acres standing corn, oats, winter peas, etc.
2 apple & pear orchards. PREMIUM production grade apple orchards with at least 40-50 trees in each orchard. 15 different varieties of apples (most LATE ripening) and 4 different varieties of pears (all late ripening). There’s also hundreds of other fruit trees planted all over farm. Best diversity of trees, highest quality trees (getting old/tall!!) and I am happy to explain how I picked out this amazing selection of apple and pear trees. *APPLE TREE PICS ARE OLD! Trees are older/larger.
6,000 trees planted on land. Every fruit producing tree/shrub you could imagine. Hybrid oaks, PERSIMMONS, cedars, road screens, etc, etc.
4 Mineral lick locations- put at least 200 lbs premium mineral at each one for 5 years now. Absolutely notice better growth, more stickers, extra points and more mass on deer.
Premium trees. It’s loaded with White Oak, Walnut, Red Oak, etc, etc. It has amazing tree diversity and is loaded with veneer quality trees.
All the “junk” trees were removed from 80 acres of timber (the rest is untouched) (locust, poor quality hickory and some poor quality oaks that were stunted and growing poorly - about 125 total). I got $7,400 for the “junk” trees and put it right back into the land- did not touch premium quality trees except for some that were close to becoming hollow. I just wanted to get rid of the garbage trees AND making hunting better/land thicker. Premium trees remain and someone could log down the road if they chose to. Future will be very lucrative if you’re patient and let the big veneer premium trees get a bit older.
Over $21,000 was spent on Timber Stand Improvement job that was completed (in last 2-5 years) with quality (& attention to detail) over the whole farm- this also greatly enhanced hunting and acorn production (along with future timber value!). Most of the farm is done (finishing a 35 acre area currently).
INCOME, SOIL & FARM GROUND:
Current income (read next paragraph below as income is going up) INCOME: CRP (about 28.3 acres x $144/per acre income): @ $4,000-ish + Tillable: $12,000 to $18,400 (ROUGHLY 92 acres x $130 to 200/acre). Just from CRP & Tillable: $16,000 to $22,400. Timber Sale: $???? Government projects: $???? Tax Advantages: $???? *Could be SUBSTANTIALLY MORE INCOME like I’ve got every year in past. TOTAL TILLABLE around 120 acres BUT you could increase that easily if you wanted to.
TOTAL INCOME IN NEAR FUTURE: You can renegotiate farm rent- will likely average around $180/acre x 92= $16,560. CRP should be around $200/acre when resigned (or farm that part for around $200/acre), 28.3 x $200= $5,660. Income from tillable+crp= $22,220. Past that, government projects, forestry stuff, tax advantages, etc- will be even better. These are estimates but to best of my knowledge - very realistic and very common.
You can re-negotiate the farm rent. There’s ROUGHLY 120 acres of tillable- ROUGHLY 92 are being farmed, 28,3-ish acres in CRP. I have a strong suggestion for a farmer BUT that’s up to you. You could likely get anywhere from $140-200 per acre for farm land. CRP (Cave In Rock Switchgrass) @ $144/acre until 2012 and then will likely go to over $200 or you could farm for high rate. CRP pays (28.3 acres) at $144 per acre BUT going up substantially (NRCS office said with these CSR's it should be over $200/acre)
EXAMPLE: If say 5 guys split it and let’s say there was an income of $25,000. Let’s say after down payments, each guy borrowed $150,000 @ 6%, over 25 years with annual payment of: $11,597. $11,597- $5,000 (income each) = $6,597. Then, you got tax return BECAUSE you deducted INTEREST expense of loan, MILEAGE driving to land (improving/working) and other expenses - $3,000 = $3,597/Yearly Payment – per person. If you did any government work or sold timber, your payment would be even lower!
There’s several crop fields on here that have CSR’s (Corn Suitability Rating) well into the 80’s, some as high as 87!!!! You’ll find many pieces of land with CSR’s in the 80’s priced at well over $5,000 per acre! (Had an offer for a couple fields only, higher, last year) (all these fields are between 50 to 87 csr) It also means you have super high fertility for deer & great income. Lastly, most other “hunting pieces” are poor soil, pastured, very erodable and very little income from poor farmland. Obviously you could find land with much poorer tillable and far less income for a few hundred dollars less an acre- then you’ll kick yourself down the road. This piece has it all! Income will be far higher with this tillable as well.
You may find a piece for a bit less $ per acre BUT the soil quality and farm ground will be far less quality & THIS land will be far superior for hunting for countless reasons.
DEER OFF FARM:
Found 56 sheds off 314 acres alone in 2008. Found 49 in 2009 and of that- 38 were different bucks. Have the trail cams of most the bucks to prove it (happy to show you location of trail cam as well) AND can show you the sheds. Had 36 different bucks in a standing bean field at ONE TIME while I was late season muzzleloader hunting. Will verify all this is true and happy to show you pictures, locations, video, etc. I’ve never seen a piece of land with this many bucks/sheds and such a good buck/doe ratio.
No deer under 5&1/2 years old have been shot for years- the farm is at its PEAK and you don’t have to wait for giant/old deer!
Have COUNTLESS pictures of big bucks from land & countless additional photos.
Best genetics I have ever seen. We’ve killed, seen or found sheds from dozens of bucks over the years from 165” to 220”. You can also see the sheds we’ve found. 200” typical 11 point in trail cam pic was taken across road BUT was seen several times on this farm & his shed was found on this farm. 213” shot across road to southwest. 190” 4&1/2 killed in youth season, 182” 15 point with 24” spread, etc, etc. 190” across road in 2009. Sheds from several other 200”+ bucks. I could go on and on. I can verify all deer shot, sheds, trail cams or pictures are from this land or immediate neighbor. 232” (net score - NT) Jefferson county monster was killed 3-4 miles from here in 2008 (In North American Whitetail Magazine).
2010 after, after gun season finished, I have 40+ different bucks on trail camera.
FARM DETAILS:
Most entrances gated and all areas with road frontage have a couple rows of trees planted. Until they grow taller I have planted corn or Egyptian Wheat to screen so no one can see in.
4 ponds (2 are small), river and creeks on land. Year round water at several locations. Biggest pond (about 1 to 1&1/2 acres - 20’ deep) was built and stocked with Bass, Blue Gill, Sun Fish and Catfish.
Money put into land: pond $12,000, TSI- $21,000, tree plantings $4,100, apple/pear orchards $2,500, Native grass seed and maintenance $5,000, perennial food plots still there $2,000, cabin, etc, etc. Literally, thousands of hours of work done. You could choose to do more projects according to your goals and desires for additional income.
Taxes are MINIMAL, all timber in tax-free forest reserve (forest reserve has very little restrictions- no cows or clear cutting pretty much. You can get out at any time though). Total taxes per year are around $2,400.
Folks across road to west are quality deer managers and do a great job at watching the area and helping the bucks to get mature. Guys to the South have thousands of acres tied up and are amazing mature deer managers.
I am fairly certain that you will be able to lease roughly 60 acres bordering it on NE corner for $700/year. I have it leased for 8 years and I “THINK” the leasing rights transfer. Checking with my attorney who obtained contract.
Very small rustic cabin and outhouse that was built 3 years ago. You could run electric to it easily if you’d like.
There is a nearby house (40 yards from South East border) that could be purchased for a very low price and is in great shape for a farm house. I don’t own it (brothers do) BUT I know it could be purchased and is in great shape (3 garages/small pole barns). (roughly $49k for house with 2 smaller buildings and garage). You will like this house and it’s perfect!
New $12,000 pond.
*You are actually buying 4 farms put into one. I started with 128 acres, now 315.
Only selling because owner will be getting married in future and living in Des Moines, need to purchase something close to Des Moines (and by work) to build house- doing 1031 transfer AND may want to delay closing several months so I have enough time to find something close to Des Moines (you have immediate access after down payment to escrow account, I will carry balance for you interest-free). Will sign purchase agreement immediately. *I will be down-grading my hunting substantially BUT that’s life.
This property is absolutely the best combination and quality of any farm you can find. Nothing has been left out to make this top-notch. It offers great crop land (crop land that often sells for $5,000/acre), great income, top hunting, premium timber, the amazing projects are complete and it’s been managed for years.
PRICED AT $3,395 per acre. $1,067,727 With House: +$45,000 if you bring septic system up to code OR $51,500 if we pay to bring it to code (septic in excellent shape BUT county is requiring everyone to upgrade)= $1,112,727 to $1,119,227 depending on septic decision.
*References from non-biased folks who have filmed hunts, been on farm, etc, available.
