Fence Post Removal & Shed Clean Up

Today was a nice fall day at the land with the temperature barely in the 60s and a light rain most of the day.  Despite the rain, I made the trip to take advantage of some time to do a bit more clean-up work.  This time, I focused on collecting the old garden fence posts that I removed several years back and stacked by the old shed.  The plan to is to just take the to the dump ground rather than have them continue to clutter up the place.

Since I was by the old shed, I looked inside to see what was still stored in there.  

I ended up collecting a few things from the old shed to take to the dump ground.  I'm not using any of the items and they are just taking up space.  I collected the old water hose, saw horse, two tires, and spare pieces of wood.

I planned to sell an old cattle trough for a few dollars in a local auction but I found one leg was rotten and the plastic inside was broken.  Once I noticed that, I just cut it up and put it in the back of the truck too.  

I don't have much free time lately but am trying to use what I have to do a little maintenance work.  With that in mind, I figured I'd also take a picture of what is in the cabin as I'll need to go through some of it too.

With work done, I drove around on the ATV some.  I found the neighbors large game fence now has the gate on my side closed.  I can only other see one other side of the fence (south side) and that gate remains open.  His posts that support the gate were not installed very straight so the gate does not close properly and you can tell at least hogs and perhaps some deer are getting in and out under the gate.

Picnic Table Removal & Large Game Fence

I spent some time at the land today and did a few small maintenance items.  

The wooden picnic table was given to me around 10 years ago by my parents.  It was a little old at the time and has become more deteriorated as the years have passed.  I cut it apart today using a Sawzall and loaded it into the truck for a trip to the dump ground.  While I was at it, I loaded up an old galvanized trash can we used as a compost bin years ago which then became an outdoor trash can at the land.

I put a 2027 registration sticker on the trailer while I was out there.  It hasn't been on the road in a while but I register it anyway.  It is presently covered in limbs that we need to burn at some point.  I've found it so much easier to burn when you have something like a mini excavator to control the fire and continue to feed it various items you need to burn.  It keeps the fire smaller and contained versus piling it all up and starting a huge fire.  

I unfortunately found that the ATV would not start as the battery is dead.  I keep it on a Battery Tender so I suspect there is something wrong with the battery.  I was able to pull start the ATV to use it a little.  Before leaving, I pulled the battery and found it is almost six years old (11/2020 purchase date) so it is about the time that it would just stop working in general.  I brought it home and plan to get a new one.

There is a cluster of red oak trees between the cabin and shed which were getting really overgrown.  I cut them back last time but left all the limbs on the ground.  I took the time today to cut those limbs up and put them either on the trailer or on the burn pile.  It looks much better now that it is all trimmed up.

I collected some old cut up pieces of cedar that I thought I'd burn but never did.  Since I was going to the dump and it is so deteriorated, I just decided to throw them in the dump.  It is small but helps to clean up the place a little.

I didn't relax too much today but did enjoy being outside with the sky overcast and the temperature at 72 degrees.  It is nice that it is starting to cool down again.

When I drove the property line, I did find one big surprise.  The neighbor to the east of me installed a huge game fence blocking all animals from entering my property from that direction.  It is really unfortunate and likely why I'm not seeing much on my feeder.  Between that and the other neighbor that has everyone in his family hunt the five stands they have it isn't going to be a productive hunting season.  

Oak Tree Maintenance & Removing Cabin Fencing

Many years ago, I made a fence out of T-posts and cattle panels.  At the time, we had cattle on the property and needed a way to preserve a space for our use which wouldn't have everything pushed over or trampled.  The cattle have been off for years and it is time for the fence to be removed.  I'm going to use the cattle panels for another purpose and the fence is starting to make it easier for the area to get overgrown.

It didn't take a significant amount of time to pull the fence down but it was another 100+ degree day.  The hardest part was pulling the t-posts as we have not had much rain but I managed to pull them all.  With the recent loss of the deer lease I've been on for years, I have quite a collection of unused t-posts.

I brought my Milwaukee pole mounted chain saw and was able to use it to trim up this cluster of oak trees.  The tree was getting out of hand and it was hard to drive around it in the truck.  This triming will help but created a large pile of limbs I'll need to deal with at some point.  I would have done something with them today but I've an abundance of down trees to deal with.  I also watered a few of the smaller oaks that I planted near the cabin in the last several years in hopes of keeping them alive.   

    

The large pine tree in front of the cabin fell in February of 2025 and I still have not fully removed it.  I've been busy with work and haven't been spending as much time keeping things maintained.  While I'll struggle for time as much now, I really want to find time to work through these things over the next several months and through the winter.  

The last things I did were just some small clean-up inside the storage building and cabin.  I've accumulated things in them that we simply don't need or will never use out there.  Since we don't have much need for them, I'm either going to trash them, clean them up to donate, or try to put them in a local auction.  

Land Clean Up - Shredding Around Cabin and East Fenceline

I've decided to invest some time cleaning up the property as it has gone neglected for a while.  I'm not sure how quickly I can work through this project but I'm sure I will get it done over time.  Today, I decided to spend some time driving around and taking an inventory of the items that really need work.  I then used the DR shredder around the cabin and all down the east side of the property.  The east side was such a mess, I was exhausted and have no pictures of it to share.

I keep shredding around this down pine so it is accessible.  I've covered the trailer in limbs that I've cut from it.  At this point, I really just need to find some time to setup a burn pile and be prepared to burn it when weather conditions allow.  

New Protein Feeder Setup

The deer lease I've been a part of for years in Star, Texas is no longer available.  A few weeks ago, I removed all my feeders from that deer lease.  I've added the protein feeder to this property as it holds an incredible amount of protein (9 or so 50 lb. bags).  

The area is so overgrown, it caused the game camera to go off constantly.  I returned two weekends later and trimmed it all back with a weedeater.  It now looks considerably better.

I'm hoping to invest heavily in this season at the land in hopes of shooting a deer out there.  Strangely, I've always had the deer lease so I've never shot a deer out at the land.

Hunting at the Land - Nov 2025

For the first time in many years, I hunted at the land this evening and again the following  morning.  It was a quick trip as I wanted to hunt out there and didn't want to bother with the long drive out to the deer lease.

I only saw one doe at a distance walking through some thicker shrubs but I really enjoyed the time.  It is a unique experience to look across land you own, have worked on, and am only now taking the time to enjoy.  I snapped a few pictures of the view out the right towards the feeder and out towards the left toward the tank.

I built this stand during the Covid summer months and added it to the property that fall.  I know I'll be losing the deer lease next year so I couldn't help but think of what I might do next year to make this property a little better for hunting as my options will become far more limited.  While I don't expect to shoot near the same caliber deer, the concept of investing some more time out here making it better is exciting.

Shredding and a Broken Shredder

 We have not spent much time out at the land lately and it was very overgrown.  I decided to spend a bit of the day shredding and then enjoying a nice steak cooked over a fire.  

I focused mostly on shredding around the cabin and inside the fence near the entry road.  As I was finishing up a strip by the down pine tree, the entire wheel broke off the shredder.  The pin sheared completely off.  I could tell it was leaning a little and the tire was dragging on the support brace and thought it might hold but it did not.  

I put it up on some blocks and took it apart.  I'll need to find the time to weld it up.  I had really hoped I'd make a few trips out to shred everything this fall.  This will set that plan back just a little.  At least what I got done looks nice.