Underneath all is the land—this historic phrase recognizes land as the bedrock from which everything occurs. Without it, life and society cannot exist. This powerful statement is a fundamental reason why I believe land ownership is the original dream. Representing southeast Iowa as an agent for Whitetail Properties Real Estate, I witness this sentiment every day.

Many times I’ve helped people achieve their pursuit of a stronger connection to land, but it wasn’t until recently from the other side of the closing table, I became a new landowner myself. Signing on the dotted line, I understood that owning a deed doesn’t mean that it’s mine forever, but rather a badge of responsibility during the time I call it mine. These 40 acres seemingly in the middle of nowhere will hopefully resonate with those of you who share a common affinity for rural land.

Mother Nature showcases her four distinct seasons across America’s heartland; cycling through vibrant times of preparation, sowing, growing, and reaping. Diversity of habitat across relatively large tracts of real estate allow one to strategically have top-shelf deer hunting experiences here in the Midwest. The 40 acres that I purchased—named after the few gnarly blackjack oaks on the property—lies in a golden landscape of rolling pastures, mighty woodlands and vast corn country where many of North America’s greatest whitetails roam, deep in southern Iowa.

I’ll never forget the feeling of showing Blackjack to my Dad for the first time on a snowy afternoon last year. Dad and I spent the day just walking around, checking out all the neat terrain that it had to offer. He knew that I’d been determined to one day own land, and having him there to share the experience will always be my first memory there. With chainsaws in hand in March, we accomplished forest stand improvement work, diversifying the woodland structure by allowing more sunlight through the canopy. The ridges smelled like two stroke gas and fresh sawdust, metaphorically reeking of sweat equity that will transform Blackjack into a premier bedding area of the neighborhood.

In the spring, the relentless beep of the bulldozer backing up echoed through the trees, as we designed a food plot around a huge cedar tree that we strategically chose to hunt on a northerly wind. The dozer excavated a brushy knob at the top of the ridge, with each annoying beep reminding me of the progress we were making to enhance the bow hunting experience. Each habitat improvement took me one step closer to wrapping a landowner archery tag around a buck’s heavy beam.

That summer I sprayed, limed, fertilized, disked, seeded, and packed it. Then prayed for rain. Hunting over it in October made all of the work come full circle, knowing the effort I had put into creating that view over a green carpet of winter rye. One November afternoon, my friend Micah Reinke and I had a close encounter with a dominant buck posturing and snort wheezing, defending his doe from another buck in the plot. Experiencing a hunt like that on my own modest piece of land brought a potent sense of appreciation.

Land ownership is having the legal right to exclusive control over a piece of land. Land stewardship is managing a property’s productivity by conserving its natural resources, regardless of ownership. The beauty about land ownership is that nobody else can tell you what to do–it's yours to make what you want of it. Regardless of whether you own some acres, or simply enjoy someone else’s, caring for land can broaden our perspective of the true purpose of our journey on Earth.

Both of these concepts are vital to our heritage and foster a stronger connection to the wild by recognizing value that goes far beyond financial gain. Land yields resources like crops, lumber, food and wildlife; but it's also the canvas that grows legacies. Access to land can help you cultivate wholesome outcomes from anticipation, challenge, failure, and achievement. We have a duty to nurture it, ensuring a healthy ecosystem not only for the plants and animals that call it home—and for the people that will care for it in the future. Land stewardship is a transformative journey that can turn dreamers into conservationists, fueled by a deep sense of purpose to enhance wildlife habitat while creating cherished memories along the way.

Although my efforts will enhance the future hunting, its already instilled in me a capability of transforming neglected land into the best it can be. The deer may not care about me, but they will undoubtedly appreciate the improvements I’ve begun to make to their home. I also know that no matter how much I plan to achieve, Mother Nature will always deal unfavorable hands that derail a day of progress. Adapting land is hard work, and things don't always go as planned. This struggle parallels the pursuit of goals in life because when they are actually achieved, the satisfaction is even sweeter. Out here, is where you can achieve ultimate satisfaction.

The purchase of Blackjack was driven by a goal greater than mere recreation or investment. It’s a result of the profound impact that nature has on me. Blackjack has become my sanctuary—a place where I can take a moment and escape from the demands of daily life, where my spirit finds fresh air. It's been rewarding knowing that I’m not only living a dream, but also shaping a legacy that I can pass on. I won’t change the world with this 40 acres, but it's certainly changing mine.