Woodland

[blankfirer]

Just looking at woodland for sale seen some bargains for buying several acres my questions are has any body or clubs bought this and has it been a good investment regarding shooting 

[Centrepin]

From what I understand from reading about these types of purchases, you may own the land but not always the shooting rights. Methinks a land type solicitor would be the guy to ask.

[Ultrastu]

Yep I've looked in the past at parcels of woods and land ,  and shooting rights are often not yours .there can be many covenants on them  best to check .

[mossy835]

conenants like no quad bikes or motor bikes and other things.

[mel b3]

19 hours ago, blankfirer said:

Just looking at woodland for sale seen some bargains for buying several acres my questions are has any body or clubs bought this and has it been a good investment regarding shooting 

I bought 8.5 acres about five years ago. I bought a stand alone woodland , so that I didn't have the (possible)issues with covenants , that (may ) arise from buying a part of a woodland that had been sold in chunks.  I made sure that it came with , the sporting rights , and , mineral rights ( you'll need to read the smallprint very carefully,  and make sure that your solicitor does the same). Just Being told " yes you can shoot on your own land " , doesn't cut the mustard .

Most covenants are common sense.  You're free to use your guns , but don't have a clay shoot every Sunday morning , and ,  You're free to use your quad,  but don't have organised quad / dirtbike races.

I use , airguns , shotgun , rimfire , in mine . For shooting clays I use a moderated .410 . The nearest neighbours are half a mile away , but it's just , common sense , and ,  good manners , to keep disturbance to a minimum.

If you're thinking of setting up to shoot pheasants, then you'll need a pretty big chunk of land , that's much bigger than my tiny woodland. 

[enfieldspares]

Oh no. You can get a small and decent shoot on two or three hectares depending on the shape of the thing. Maybe a pen, twenty birds, a dozen feeders. Have a bag limit of maybe two birds and shhot it every fortnight. Especially if you can cut a "hole" in the wood and dig a self filling with water scrape. Or create your own warren. My own pond was but a quarter acre with a twelve foot by twelve foot island in its middle and got duck every night.

Edited April 13, 2022 by enfieldspares

[Walker570]

I planted my own wood just over 25 years ago. The initial poplars are now over 80ft high and I am seeing munties coming inon a regular basis.  10 acres and I shoot in it , even very occasionally when necessary zero a larger centrefire but normally only use the quiet stuff because I have a village on one side, brood mares on the other and a house on the southern side. All common sense.  As Mel will tell you owning your own wood even if it is like mine just a few acres can be great fun to own, just get good legal advise and have a very close look at it first.

[mel b3]

43 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

I planted my own wood just over 25 years ago. The initial poplars are now over 80ft high and I am seeing munties coming inon a regular basis.  10 acres and I shoot in it , even very occasionally when necessary zero a larger centrefire but normally only use the quiet stuff because I have a village on one side, brood mares on the other and a house on the southern side. All common sense.  As Mel will tell you owning your own wood even if it is like mine just a few acres can be great fun to own, just get good legal advise and have a very close look at it first.

Have to agree nev . Owning a bit of woodland is great , it can be pretty hard work at times , but still enjoyable. 

Quite a few pw members own bits of woodland. I'm sure a few more will pitch in with their experiences. 

[Windswept]

On 12/04/2022 at 09:29, blankfirer said:

Just looking at woodland for sale seen some bargains for buying several acres my questions are has any body or clubs bought this and has it been a good investment regarding shooting 

I've bought a few acres of woodland and looked at a few others for sale. If you are referring to the wood lotting companies their covenants can be found online e.g.:  https://www.woodlands.co.uk/buying-a-wood/covenant-england-wales/

I would say buying privately yourself is cheaper, don't just look at what woodlands are for sale but also look at land with woodland attached - sometimes the vendor will split the fields from the woodland.

As has been said, do your homework and I would suggest visiting any woodland a number of times to get a feel or what any neighbours are like. Some will not be keen on shooting and may cause issues, others will be fine.

[mel b3]

52 minutes ago, Windswept said:

I've bought a few acres of woodland and looked at a few others for sale. If you are referring to the wood lotting companies their covenants can be found online e.g.:  https://www.woodlands.co.uk/buying-a-wood/covenant-england-wales/

I would say buying privately yourself is cheaper, don't just look at what woodlands are for sale but also look at land with woodland attached - sometimes the vendor will split the fields from the woodland.

As has been said, do your homework and I would suggest visiting any woodland a number of times to get a feel or what any neighbours are like. Some will not be keen on shooting and may cause issues, others will be fine.

I've just had a quick look at the updated covenants.  They're definitely getting stricter . 

I had an issue with a small piece of woodland that I wanted to buy . When we went to view it , I met the keeper from the adjoining woodland ( he lived next to it , and had a large release pen there). He told me that no shooting was allowed , in , or around,  the woodland that I was looking to buy . The sellers called me when I got home , and I explained that I was no longer interested,  as shooting wasn't allowed . The seller explained that the keeper was completely wrong,  and that it came with full sporting rights , and that I was free to shoot . I revisited the woodland ( I really wanted it , as it held plenty of muntie and roe , and had a fishing pool) , and I also looked at another adjoining woodland and paddock , with the idea of buying both woodlands . I bumped into the keeper again , and he  behaved like a complete and utter xxxx . He must have thought that he could physically intimidate me , but by the time we parted company,  he'd learned differently , and was grovellingly apologetic. My parting words were that I would be buying both woodlands , and I would shoot every one of his birds that wondered in to my feeders.  When I got home , the seller called me to see how I got on . I explained the row with the keeper,  and that I wouldn't be buying either of the woodlands.  The seller said that he only allowed the shoot to carry on as his gift , and that he'll stop the shoot immediately if I was still interested in the woodland .  By then I'd already decided to walk away from that woodland,  as it would be more trouble than it was worth . That was the reason that I bought a stand alone woodland .

The stupid thing is , that the keeper would have been welcome to use my land as part of his shoot , if only he'd  behaved like a half decent human being , and not some kind of bullying thug . I'm guessing by now that the woodland is  surrounded by deer fencing , as several of the other woodlands already were . The fences had been erected by other owners to keep the obnoxious keeper out.

The woodland that I did eventually buy is great . We get on great with the neighbours in the valley , and when we first met and I offered them the use of my woodland,  they also offered me free access to their land .

[Lloyd90]

17 hours ago, mel b3 said:

I bought 8.5 acres about five years ago. I bought a stand alone woodland , so that I didn't have the (possible)issues with covenants , that (may ) arise from buying a part of a woodland that had been sold in chunks.  I made sure that it came with , the sporting rights , and , mineral rights ( you'll need to read the smallprint very carefully,  and make sure that your solicitor does the same). Just Being told " yes you can shoot on your own land " , doesn't cut the mustard .

Most covenants are common sense.  You're free to use your guns , but don't have a clay shoot every Sunday morning , and ,  You're free to use your quad,  but don't have organised quad / dirtbike races.

I use , airguns , shotgun , rimfire , in mine . For shooting clays I use a moderated .410 . The nearest neighbours are half a mile away , but it's just , common sense , and ,  good manners , to keep disturbance to a minimum.

If you're thinking of setting up to shoot pheasants, then you'll need a pretty big chunk of land , that's much bigger than my tiny woodland. 

If you don’t mind me asking, how much did that set you back? 
 

 

[mel b3]

The land that I eventually bought was 40k.

[Windswept]

23 hours ago, mel b3 said:

I had an issue with a small piece of woodland that I wanted to buy.

Doesn't sound too dissimilar to one I almost bought. This was over 50 acres and also had a large pond. A good mix of trees and habitats. However, it had two neighbours that although we got on with it became clear they could be trouble. One wandering through the wood with his shotgun and the other hacking away at one of the boundaries. It would have been a once in a lifetime investment so couldn't risk it in the end.

I've now got a 10 acre woodland and a house with a few more acres of woodland attached. Although within a few miles of each other it's surprising how different they are. One's full of pheasants, pigeons etc and whereas the other has hardly any (it does have red deer though).

Anyway, interesting to hear what @blankfirer is looking at.

[oowee]

I would not entertain the idea of buying woodland for shooting unless it was for a substantial area. Buy some for amenity use that may include some shooting by all means, but for shooting alone there are better ways to spend your money. The shooting club I am in includes a number of woodland parcels, most of which are barely accessed by members. Sure if it's you own land you can make more of it but buying principally for shooting then it's likely to be a poor investment. 

[Mice!]

16 hours ago, mel b3 said:

The land that I eventually bought was 40k.

I'll bet its double that now, I looked at one a little while back, I'm not sure how big it was , easily accessible,  probably to easily but it was 90k plus, I was gobsmacked. 

[mel b3]

11 minutes ago, Mice! said:

I'll bet its double that now, I looked at one a little while back, I'm not sure how big it was , easily accessible,  probably to easily but it was 90k plus, I was gobsmacked. 

And then some . It's probably worth more than my house now😄.

I really wanted three chunks of woodland,  so that the kids had a few acres each . That's pretty much out of the window now , unless prices suddenly plummet , and I can't really see that happening any time soon .

I never intended buying woodland,  I originally wanted to buy a small patch of grass , just big enough for a caravan 😄. You know when you walk into the gun shop for a tin of pellets , then walk out with a new shotgun ,and a thermal spotter , well it sort of went like that 😄.

[Walker570]

There is much more to be had from owning a bit of woodland than just shooting. I have comfortable purpose built cabins overlooking feed tables for the songbirds which also have live catch cages for the very occasional tree rat.  Just to sit and watch nature for an hour or two is glorious.  I had a nuthatch land on the moderator of my air rifle a couple of days ago and stay long enough to thoroughly check me out.   A wren will often come inside  and check for insects in all the nooks and crannies. I think they have got used to me sitting there stock still.  Just controlling the predators has multiplied the song birds in our wood BUT it costs me about £45 a month to feed the tables ...cheap entertainment in my view.

[oowee]

9 minutes ago, Walker570 said:

There is much more to be had from owning a bit of woodland than just shooting. I have comfortable purpose built cabins overlooking feed tables for the songbirds which also have live catch cages for the very occasional tree rat.  Just to sit and watch nature for an hour or two is glorious.  I had a nuthatch land on the moderator of my air rifle a couple of days ago and stay long enough to thoroughly check me out.   A wren will often come inside  and check for insects in all the nooks and crannies. I think they have got used to me sitting there stock still.  Just controlling the predators has multiplied the song birds in our wood BUT it costs me about £45 a month to feed the tables ...cheap entertainment in my view.

^^^^^ This. I am forever planting trees and it's great to see how they grow. I have a few hornbeam and each one seems to have it's own character. Even the land that is left between the trees takes on interest as the snakes come in, the voles start to burrow and the barn owls hunt the spaces between. 

[jall25]

2 hours ago, Walker570 said:

There is much more to be had from owning a bit of woodland than just shooting. I have comfortable purpose built cabins overlooking feed tables for the songbirds which also have live catch cages for the very occasional tree rat.  Just to sit and watch nature for an hour or two is glorious.  I had a nuthatch land on the moderator of my air rifle a couple of days ago and stay long enough to thoroughly check me out.   A wren will often come inside  and check for insects in all the nooks and crannies. I think they have got used to me sitting there stock still.  Just controlling the predators has multiplied the song birds in our wood BUT it costs me about £45 a month to feed the tables ...cheap entertainment in my view.

This is what it is all about

Top man

2 hours ago, oowee said:

^^^^^ This. I am forever planting trees and it's great to see how they grow. I have a few hornbeam and each one seems to have it's own character. Even the land that is left between the trees takes on interest as the snakes come in, the voles start to burrow and the barn owls hunt the spaces between. 

And this