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.  

Refinishing Mom's Old Bench

I've searched but can't find a before picture of my mom's bench.  She gave it to me in 2016 after we purchased our land.  We sat it out in the elements alongside a picnic table and it held up reasonably well until around 2022.  At that point, the wood was rather rotten and it would likely collapse if you sat on it.

There are actually two of this exact bench and growing up they were on either side of our front door on the porch.  Once that house sold, they went to some property that my parents owned and one remains there today.  I believe these were purchased in either 1986 or 1987.

My mom passed away a few months after giving me the bench in November 2016.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the bench after restoring it but feel that it should be restored and used.  With that in mind, I brought it home from the land in 2022 and slowly, very slowly, worked to restore it.
 
The first and easiest step was to remove all the rotten boards and striped down the cast iron side pieces.  I used a wire wheel to clean the side pieces, cleaned then with mineral spirits, used some Rustoleum primer, and lastly some Rustoleum satin black paint.  They don't have any damage to them that I can tell and look almost new when painted.

After painting these in October 2022, I measured the boards and then the project froze as I debated what wood would look the nicest, last the longest, and not be overly expensive.  With too many options, I didn't do anything else with it until November of this year (2023).

While on vacation for Thanksgiving, I decided to just use really nice red oak boards from Lowes.  They are not pressure treated and are the most expensive of the options.  However, they with out a doubt will look the best when stained.  Additionally, I now plan to place it on a porch rather than out in the elements.

I purchased the red oak boards and cut them to match the original side boards.  The originals were all 4' long and there were 12 in total (9 x 2.5" wide, 2 x 1.5" wide, and 1 x 1" wide).  After cutting them all, I used a router to round over the edge of each which is how the original boards were cut.  Strangely, when looking at the original boards, some appear to have tonge and groove edges which is unique.

With the wood cut, I tested out stain that I have along with some that my father-in-law donated to the cause.  In the end, I purchased some Cabot Cordovan Leather Semi Transparent stain and sealer.  I stained all the boards one side at a time with two coats which took about a week.  After putting on two coats, I realized the can states to not use more than one but so far everything seems fine and dried fully.

I used a 1/4" brad point drill bit with a template a I made from a piece of 1.5" x 1.5" angle iron to drill perfect holes in each end of the boards so they could be bolted to the end pieces.  Everything is bolted together using a mix of 1.5" and 1.75" long 1/4"-20 stainless steel bolts with a large Truss head and Nylon insert nuts so they will not come loose.

I had an extra 1.5" wide board that I finished along with the rest of them in case something didn't work out (2.5" board ripped to 1.5" and 1").  In the end. I chose to use it as the top board along the back rather than the 1" board.  It looks a little better and will no doubt be more sturdy over the years.  I'll just set the 1" board to the size and use it to remember the color of the stain or on another project.    

While I don't have a picture of the bench before starting work, the following is a picture of a few of the boards I saved set beside the finished boards for comparison purposes.

There was a metal strap which ran up behind all the slates and screwed into them.  It was rather thin, had some rust damage, and the screw holes were not aligned well with the wood so I made a new piece from 3/4" wide 1/8" metal.  It took some time to bend it to match the contour of the wood.  I then painted it with the Rustoleum satin black and fastened it to the planks.  I finished the bench on Christmas Eve about a month after I started working on the wood.