I am living option 2 -- sort of, we only have 230 acres, and yes, you can very safely hunt it. And, no, you would not be able to buy that much acreage, except far west Texas...heck, the cheapest land in Concho County is over $1000 (and usually closer to $1200)an acre - that's with one well and no improvements.

I am 30 minutes from Ivie and Brady Creek...and 45 minutes from the San Angelo lakes and Hordes Creek...best of both worlds.

But, maybe the best thing -- my closest neighbor is a mile away....

I do have to drive 40 minutes one way to work, but most of you city folks spend that much time on your commutes....

A family friend recently passed away down in Hillsboro. Has 100 acres. His wife is going to sell it and move to Tenn. Wish I had the cash up front for it, I'd move there in a heartbeat!

I was in this position 20 years ago. My two choices were smaller acreage with big pond or private lake , or build on Lake Palestine,

I could never find an acreage that I like and could afford, So I bought a lake front on Palestine. It has turned out great for me,

Mo

I have both a lake place and 320 acres and enjoy the lake the most.
Having a ranch is a lot more work than fun if you take care of it.
Having a lake house is a little work and a lot of fishing time.
No broke fences to fix, no cows to work or fields to plant.

I can also tell that most on here have no idea what land costs now and especially what even a small pond cost to build much less a private lake.
320 acres is going to run at least 500k and more likely 800k and a 5 acre pond is going to cost around 75 k to build correctly.

Can you get a loan on it?