Scott Gatewood
Ask Scott Gatewood
What an incredible opportunity to own one of the best levee protected farms along the Mississippi River in famous Calhoun County, Illinois! You hear people refer to farms as unique all the time, but this farm truly delivers! What makes this property unique is the fact that it is one of the largest blocks of levee protected timber along the Mississippi River in the entire State of Illinois. There is a massive difference between a farm along the river that is NOT levee protected and a farm along the river that IS levee protected. Farms that are not levee protected are completely unprotected from river flooding. This property lays on the outside of the levee offering protection from fluctuating river levels. The farm is also protected on the East side where the Sny makes up the entire Eastern boundary of the property.
This property is absolutely a hardcore deer managers dream farm! Because of the unique location of the property, most of the deer that live on this property call it home their entire lives. That can not be said for many farms in this area no matter how big they are.
This farm is the perfect size for a family, group of friends, or investors. The property consists of 280 acres of hardwood timber and 270 acres of intensely managed WRP land. One downside to flat river bottom land is typically there is not much cover on the forest floor. In 2012, the current landowners harvested timber 22 inches or larger. This timber harvest is going to pay off big time in thickening up the timber to create better wildlife habitat. The increased sunlight to the timber floor will regenerate browsing and the fallen tree tops will provide better cover and bedding opportunities for the deer. The other added benefit of the current landowners harvesting the timber was the price of the farm. This has allowed the landowners to price the farm extremely competitively in todays market! There is also 270 acres enrolled in the WRP program. This property is absolutely perfect for the WRP program. There are thousands of acres of cropland around this property & very little cover for the wildlife. Through the WRP program, there will be over 70,000 trees planted on the property, warm season grasses planted on the property, two duck hunting lakes have been built on the property, and clover strips planted throughout the property. In my opinion, when these management practices create this type of habitat, this property is going to be the absolute best Whitetail habitat in this entire stretch of the Mississippi River Bottoms. Located only 4 miles from the Pike County line, the whitetail hunter can rest assured the world class whitetails this area is known for call this farm home! For the avid duck hunter, it does not get much better than this property! There are 2 top notch pit blinds in place on the property and 2 duck hunting lakes that are water controlled offering the landowner the opportunity to drain the fields in the Summer and plant millet or other crops and flood them in the Fall. With an approved special use permit the WRP program allows 5% of the total acreage to be planted in row crop and left for the wildlife. This would amount to approximately 13.5 acres of row crop left for the wildlife! With the affordable price per acre of this property and historic low interest rates, this farm represents a great opportunity for a group of friends or investors to your own recreational paradise along the Mississippi River!
