Think you can hunt a small plot of land consistently?

I’d be nervous about something that size because the neighbors could completely wreck things for you. Is that a concern?

My brother-in-law has basically the same set up you describe.

Does the land have a food plot or a place to plant one?

Are there thick areas near food that bucks and does will use for bedding?

Can you access the land and hunt it with different wind directions?

How many people will hunt it and how often? Pressure on deer will kill the hunting.

My BIL setup has about 2 acres of food plots and he can access from 2 directions to hunt different winds.

He is the only hunter and is VERY selective on days he hunts. He looks for almost perfect conditions so that he has the best chance to go undetected, both for that hunt, and to keep the pressure off the deer. Bow hunts only.

He has had really good success with some very nice deer harvested over the past 5 years.

All that said, a small parcel can be good but you really got to think it through.

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How many people will hunt it and how often? Pressure on deer will kill the hunting.

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This is also true.

My Dad has 50 acres and will hunt it occasionally. Once he shoots 1 or 2 deer that year, its basically over. The deer don't come back.

My old house was on 24 acres, half of which was woods and slough. My kids would kill 2-3 deer a year off of it. Most just shot does but we killed a few bucks, one of which being a 150" 10pt. So yea, depending on the layout it can be done

Depends on your entrance and exit strategy…..amongst other variables.

Cover/bedding
Potential for a food plot
Bow or gun

Have 20 acres in south Mississippi for 10 years now. 2 feeder, 2 stands, shoot my 1 or 2 deer each year, could shoot more but that's all I need. Property backs up to a creek with public road entrance. First couple years, deer were scarce, but solid since then

Like Salmon said, your first concern is to get to know the neighbors. You WILL need to track a deer onto their property at some point.

18 acres owned is better than none, as long as it's not priced so high to the point where you couldn't recover what you paid for it within 5 or so years without a risk of losing money. Other than your purpose for buying it, the bare minimum goal with rural recreational real estate is to never buy land that is priced so high that, in doing so, would run a very real risk of losing money if you had to sell it 5-10 years down the road.

If the numbers work, I'd absolutely buy it, because you can absolutely hunt 18 acres and enjoy it if you have realistic expectations. One thing I can tell you from hunting multiple 10-30 acre tracts that I've owned: if you and your family sit over a plot and go by the, "if it's brown it's down" mantra, eventually it will effect daytime movement on said tracts. They'll travel to your plot eventually, but they pattern you and elect to come out at night.

Planting good high quality nutritional plots and managing them year round and being selective (i.e., not shooting every time at every single animal) will go much further on 18 acres than worrying about leaving bedding areas undisturbed, topography, funnels, etc.

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I can only access it from one direction unfortunately. Myself and my son would likely be only ones hunting it.

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what direction is that? You're just limited on wind direction. You could always talk to the adjacent land owners about coming in from their side. One direction isn't bad.

Honestly it could be a hidden paradise or it could be an absolute nightmare due to access and neighbors

There is a reason it is for sale. If you can find the true reason and it doesn’t involve headaches with the neighbors or yearly flooding it may be alright

1/2 an acre is nothing for a good corn pile!