How to Buy a Texas Hunting Ranch

Regional Spotlight: Texas Hunting Ranch

General Info: As temperatures across the country skyrocket this month, it’s almost inconceivable for hunting to cross anyone’s mind. Dove season is just a few weeks away, followed closely by quail, and then deer season in the winter. It may not be possible to find, buy, and use your own hunting ranch this year, but the arrival of the season could definitely whet your appetite for a personal game retreat.

Texas offers some of the nation’s best hunting for birds and deer, so it’s no wonder that the state’s hunting properties are in high demand.

Ken O’Meara of Ranch Investments & Associates of Austin, Texas, says hunters usually fall into one of two groups when it comes to searching for land.

“They’re generally going to be looking for one thing or another. Quail hunters are a different breed of cat. Then there are, of course, the deer hunters. Everything else is a bonus like dove or wild hog,” O’Meara says. “It revolves around the deer hunters and the quail hunters. Some would like to have both and then some quail hunters don’t care a flip about deer and vice versa. You do have a separation there; then there are some that would like to have both.”

While amenities and location are both important aspects of a hunting property, O’Meara says the one thing he asks potential buyers is their overall plan for the property. If a hunter wants the land for his own personal hunting, then a few hundred acres will likely suffice. If the property will be used as a commercial hunting ranch or to host guests, then buyers may need to invest in a thousand acres or more.

Fencing also plays into the equation. Will you erect high fences to keep game in, or will you let deer roam from one property to the next? If high fencing is your priority, you’ll probably need a larger spread of land, according to O’Meara.

“You can high fence it if it is 500 acres or 300 acres,” O’Meara says. “I’ve seen some as low as 200 [acres], … but that’s like shooting deer in a zoo.”

Availability: Scarce. When asked if he had a prime property for sale right now, O’Meara said that he did not. While his company’s portfolio is extensive, there are only a few hunting ranches in south Texas on the market right now.

The Market: According to O’Meara, land prices have doubled in the last two years and tripled over the last half decade. Hunters are gobbling up former cattle ranches and turning them into hunting-exclusive properties.

“There has been less land coming on the market, and the demand has probably increased. Like anything, it’s supply and demand. We were selling south Texas for $600 an acre five years ago, and now it’s going for $1,500 or $1,800 … and it’s purely for hunting,” O’Meara says. “[It’s] kind of hard for an old-timer to get used to that idea. Cattle are disappearing on the south Texas ranches, and people are turning them into hunting ranches.”

FYI: To find information on hunting regulations in Texas, see the Texas Parks & Wildlife hunting and wildlife info page. As O’Meara says, “We have a different atmosphere here for hunting and different laws, and you have more latitude here in a lot of different ways.”

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