Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

My Little Slice of Texas

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    My Little Slice of Texas

    Some of my favorite threads are about people working their land and improving it for hunting and game management. The thread UncleFish started for example. This year I will be hunting 120 acres of family land and thought I'd start a thread detailing what I've done and update it as I go.

    A little history:

    Growing up I always remember my grandfather talking about his Christmas tree farms. He was a very private man that never really spoke about himself and when he did you didn't know if you were getting the truth or a fanciful story. I knew he owned some land and supposedly grew christmas trees, but until he died that's all I really knew.

    When he passed away about 4 years ago my mom inherited the land and I was finally able to go there for the first time. The real story is he sold the timber off the property and had a timber exemption. As a result there aren't a lot of mature trees and the property is very thick with a lot of underbrush growing out of control.

    At that time I was on a really good lease close to home, so we leased out the property to a couple of hunters. However, the taxes were more than what we were charging for the lease and my mom decided to sell the property. We listed it for sale for almost a year with little interest. One day I asked my mom if I could get her taxes down if she would keep it and let me use the property. So that's what we did. I was able to get her taxes down to about $85 a year and now I have 120 acres to use at my discretion for as long as I like.

    Over the past few months I have been trying to get things ready for the upcoming season. I put out a couple of feeders/cameras, attempted a throw n grow food plot with no success due to rain, and put a cabin out there.

    This is all new to me, I am a total newb when it comes to most of the things I have done and will be doing. I will document my journey on this thread as I go. I hope you enjoy.

    Pictures to follow in the next post....

    #2
    Suscribed and can't wait to see your progress. It is a great feeling, working your own grounds.

    Rwc

    Comment


      #3
      Subscribed! Living the dream man! Congrats

      Comment


        #4
        Old pics from the 80's of my grandpa and a buddy on the property.







        I'm uploading more pics to Photobucket, standby...

        Comment


          #5
          Best of luck with your project. Looking forward to seeing the details to come.

          Comment


            #6
            Heres an arial of the property. It is surrounded on 3 sides by houses. We have 4 little ponds on the property and most of it is so thick you can't walk it without a machete.



            First big purchase was a cabin. Found a guy selling this 12'x20' lofted barn for $2,500 and I made it mine. I plan to insulate, drywall, add flooring, but its just bare for now.









            Comment


              #7
              Next order of business was electricity!!

              I got a used meter pole from a builder friend. I had to buy some extra parts and then a buddy and I went to work digging a hole. Never used a post hole digger before. I thought it would go pretty quick, but it took about 3 hours to dig a 4 ft hole.




              This was before I realized what a pain in the butt it was going to be and I was still smiling.



              Almost there.



              Done.



              This is as far as we got and then a tbher referred me to a local electrician to help install the rest. I traded him a doe hunt for his wife so it worked out well.



              Ben's handy work.



              Much more to come, but I have to take my daughter to the dentist. Yipee!!

              Comment


                #8
                Good stuff!

                Comment


                  #9
                  Very cool! Subscribed!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    This awesome.... One day I will have this opportunity!!

                    Comment


                      #11
                      nice set up get r dun

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Get with me! I have a wood burning heater sitting in my shop you can have to keep it warm. Between my hunts this season if you need a hand, you know how to get a hold of me.

                        Congrats!!!

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Very cool! Looks like it's really coming along

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Looks great. Pay the taxes for you mom, and tell her you want the place if she ever decides to sell, or has a weak moment.

                            Originally posted by down2hunt View Post
                            Never used a post hole digger before. I thought it would go pretty quick, but it took about 3 hours to dig a 4 ft hole.
                            Dang it.....Did the auger bit have any teeth on it? 3 hours is crazy talk! Probably could have dug it with hand diggers in less than an hour.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              congrats very nice place!

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X