Stagecoach

Stagecoach is 210± acres of classic Red Hills upland pine in Thomas County, Georgia, on the historic Stage Road in the heart of the Red Hills Plantation Belt. It has produced wall-hanging bucks for 25 years straight. It has strong wild turkey numbers, a wood duck hole, and 195+ acres of huntable uplands ready for quail. And it sits just 14 minutes from the shopping and restaurants of downtown Thomasville.

“Most people assume you need thousands of acres and eight figures to own a piece of the Red Hills. You don't. Stagecoach is the Red Hills: the soils, the wiregrass, the fire, the wildlife, the town. It's just sized so a family can actually use it" — Jon Kohler

"So what's so fascinating to me about this property is the consistency of which it produces large deer.” — Jon Kohler

210+/- Total Acres | ~195+ acres Huntable Uplands | 25 Yrs of Trophy Bucks | 14 Min to Downtown | $2.1M Offered as a Whole

Every Buck Goes on the Wall

Most tracts this size get hunted hard, or the big buck consistency just isn't there. This one checks every box. For a quarter century, the same group of hunters has held the lease and followed a single standard. They manage the does, pass on young bucks, and take only what's worthy of a wall. It's what most hunters wish they had.

““The people that have been hunting it have killed big deer every year. They manage the does and try to cull about 10 to 15 does per season. And then the bucks, their rule is if you're going to take a buck, it needs to go on a wall.” — Max Beverly, Owner

“There's some pretty deer that have come off of here. I mean, nice big 12, 14 pointers.” — Max Beverly, Owner

Why the Deer Come Here

Trophy bucks don't happen by accident. They need age, and age requires low pressure. Stagecoach is surrounded by row crop ground on one side and a large, lightly hunted tract across US 19 on the other. There is ample feed. The Ochlocknee River bottom and its game-rich corridor are just beyond. Deer are drawn in from thousands of acres of farmland by the habitat and cover here.

“You end up pulling in deer from a large number, a large volume of acreage that's really not being hunted that well. It's not like every neighbor is hunting deer, so you get to pull in large big bucks.” — Max Beverly, Owner

This Is Why You Come to the Red Hills

The land is upland longleaf and pine, with both native wiregrass and old field ground on Tifton soils. It has been consistently burned for decades. The timber was never planted in rows and grown for pulpwood. It is a living forest floor.

“It is natural South Georgia wiregrass ground cover. This property is burned almost every year. It's not like it's just strictly been planted pines to be grown as thick as you can get them. There's an ecosystem on the forest floor.” — Max Beverly, Owner

“It's stereotypical Red Hills. This is why you come to the Red Hills.” — Jon Kohler

The Beverly family planted longleaf here about 30 years ago, knowing they would not see all of it mature. That is how this family has always approached land.

“I remember planting a field in 1989, knowing that I wasn't going to be alive when those trees were mature. So anyway, you kind of play the long game.” — Max Beverly, Owner

A Great Turkey Neighborhood

The Ochlocknee riparian corridor holds turkeys, and they spill onto Stagecoach. The property has strong wild turkey numbers.

“During the 2010 Georgia-Florida Turkey Invitational, I killed a 27-pound gobbler about a mile from here. It won the Calcutta. My partner missed one just as big. This has always been a great turkey area” — Jon Kohler

“It looked like the ground was moving, and it was probably 75 turkeys moving together.” — Max Beverly, Owner

One Heck of a Bird Place, With Very Little Effort

Max Beverly is part of some of the finest wild quail ground in the country, so when he evaluates a tract for birds, his opinion carries weight. Stagecoach is high and dry, with almost nowhere that floods. Thin the timber, block the tract, open a few brood fields, and this becomes an incredible quail place.

There is also a natural wood duck hole that was close to becoming a plant-and-flood pond.

Protected Forever, But Not Handcuffed

Max has placed many conservation easements on his family's land and knows them well. For good reason, the share of Red Hills plantations already protected by a conservation easement is pushing 50%. He calls this one the least restrictive his family holds.

“You can do anything you want to within a five-acre area, and that can be moved anywhere. It's not going to interfere with any timber harvesting. This is the most unrestrictive conservation easement we have.” — Max Beverly, Owner

“My father and his brother wanted to make sure that these properties remained woods for eternity, and that's why they put the easements on them.” — Max Beverly, Owner

The Old Stage Road

Before the railroad reached Thomasville in 1861, stagecoaches traveled this road along what was then the edge of Creek Indian territory. Goff Station, a stagecoach stop, stood just down the way. The Beverly family's connection to this land goes back to the 1820s.

“It literally was a stagecoach road back in the 1800s. There was a stagecoach station called Goff Station. We've hit that with metal detectors and found some pretty fabulous things.” — Max Beverly, Owner

After the war, wealthy Northerners rode the rails south to escape the winters. They hunted with local farmers, bought their land, and built the quail plantations that still shape this region.

“I cover all the major quail hunting belts. This one, because of the investment of the Northerners post-Civil War, financially was stronger. It had that lifeblood, and it really resonates today.” — Jon Kohler

“I've got photographs of Chester Nimitz and Bull Halsey, the two World War II admirals in the Pacific, hunting on a quail wagon.” — Max Beverly, Owner

“To me, the most interesting thing that happened here happened in the 1960s with the translocation of whitetail deer from high genetic areas. That was a game changer.” — Jon Kohler

Those genetics are why Stagecoach keeps producing.

If you want to learn more about why and how Southwest Georgia became the South's #1 place to harvest Boone & Crockett whitetails, our Woods N Water article on it is our #1 requested back issue.

14 Minutes to the “Aspen of the South”

Most sporting properties require you to stay on the land until you leave for home. This one is 14 minutes from one of the healthiest downtowns in the South, with local restaurants ranging from white tablecloth dining to pool halls. This is a place your family will want to visit and enjoy. This isn't your typical deer camp.

“I call it the 'Aspen of the South.' There is nothing else like it. Bar none.” — Jon Kohler

“This is probably closer to town than 60 to 70% of the properties in the Red Hills plantation belt.” — Max Beverly, Owner

“I've run into a billionaire at the pool hall. You got a day that's totally rained out and you got a frog strangler going, everybody goes in town and people love it.” — Max Beverly, Owner, former Mayor of Thomasville

“The location is great and the wife appeal on this property is off the charts compared to the average hunting property somebody could buy.” — Jon Kohler

Why This Price Works

Trophy deer have changed the math on recreational land. In The Land Report's Summer 2026 issue, Jon noted that Southwest Georgia properties with proven trophy whitetails have been valued at more than $8,000-$10,000 per acre, a price point once reserved for top quail plantations.

“If there's a property where it's been proven that you can raise trophy deer, it's going to sell for more than basic recreational land, irrigated farmland, and even a lot of quail plantations.” — Jon Kohler, as quoted in The Land Report

Proven is the key word. Stagecoach has 25 years of wall-hangers from the same hunting group. That track record is the hardest thing to buy and the slowest thing to build. Pair it with Red Hills soils and fire-maintained wiregrass, then put it 14 minutes from downtown Thomasville, and the value is in what this property has already shown it can do.

Stagecoach also gives you a choice most Red Hills buyers don't have at this price. The deer hunting is turnkey, and the quail ground is ready whenever you want it.

We don't price land by simply averaging comps. Behind every position we take is the JKA Land Registry, our proprietary record of private, non-MLS recreational land transactions and the deal-maker commentary behind them.

“At Stagecoach, you aren't paying for a lodge or a promise. You're paying for 25 years of proof, in the Red Hills, 14 minutes from town.” — Jon Kohler

To learn why trophy whitetails are now outpacing quail as the top driver of recreational land values, read The Land Report's Summer 2026 feature, “A Whole Different Animal,” featuring Jon Kohler.

Recommendations

A buyer's biggest fear about a trophy deer property is the weak link: the thing nobody mentioned that keeps it from producing. Here is what Jon would do with Stagecoach.

“Stagecoach doesn't need much. I'd thin the timber to let sunlight hit the ground. That thickens the cover for deer and starts it toward quail. I'd open a few small brood fields and plant chufa for the turkeys. I'd finish what the family considered on the wood duck hole and make it a plant-and-flood. And for the deer, I'd add high-protein forage. I've grown perennial peanut on Lick Skillet for 35 years. It's essentially the alfalfa of the South. Nutrition is what turns a good deer place into a great one.” — Jon Kohler

Handed Down to the Right Hunter

Max Beverly hunts birds behind dogs. He doesn't hunt deer. After 35 years of his family's stewardship, he wants this land to go to someone who will get as much from it as his deer-hunting friends have.

“I'll miss getting the pictures one morning in November and opening up my phone and having a picture of their son or daughter with a big buck. This place needs to find an owner who is more passionate about deer hunting.” — Max Beverly, Owner