Garden Fence Clearing - Part 1

One of my plans for the coming year is to remove the garden area created by the former owner.  The longer term goal is to create a large flat grassy area.  This area will then be fenced in long term as part of the home site.

To make this happen, I need to remove all the fencing and posts, burn the wood piles in the garden, and remove the rocks and dirt piled along the fence line.  Longer term, I will add the fence which will delineate the home site from the rest of the property.

I started the process a few weeks back by removing near thirty 8' tall t-posts placed around the perimeter.  These t-posts were not connected to the existing fence.  The previous owner added these t-posts so he could install taller fencing to keep deer out but I suppose that never occurred or it was removed as the top run of fencing was not in place when we purchased the property.

The picture above shows the t-posts before removal and below is as of the start of the day today.

I used an old water tough as a burn pit and was able to burn the two small burn piles leaving only the pile of very large stumps left to burn.  I also remove a bit of the fencing but that was more to use the t-posts for a different project.  

While not entirely related, I did take some time today to remove some barb wire that was run by the previous owner to separate the two tracts of land.  It was run many years ago and was not too hard to remove as it was rather rusty and there were only two strands running about 100'.

Excellent Quotes on Goals and Direction in Life

Be motivated to determine for you what is important and what is not.  Be motivated to do the important things with excellence.  Be motivated to stop doing the unimportant things.
- Ernie Zelinski

Perhaps happiness is always found in the journey uphill and not in the fleeting sense of satisfaction waiting at the peak.  Much of happiness is hope regardless of the depths of your starting point.
- Jordan Peterson

Dreams without goals turn into disappointments.
- Unknown

Too many people are working harder than they want, at things they don't like to do... why?  So they can afford the existance they don't care to live. 
- Bradford Angier

Our brains become magnetized with our most dominant thoughts.  This 'magnetic' force attracts the people and circumstances with our dominate thoughts. 
- Unknown

Being too far ahead of your time is indistinguishable from being wrong.
- Howard Marks

If you think you can or thing you cannot, you are right.
- Steve Davis

Choosing yourself right now in how you treat yourself, how you treat those around you, how you treat your efforts and your loves.  Nothing is more important than these.  Because when you rush to get to the mythical 'there' one day you will arrive and realize you missed all the pleasures and mysteries along the way.
- James Altucher

All men dream, but not equally.  Those who dream in the dark recesses of the night awake in the day to find it was all vanity.  But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes and make it possible.
- T..E. Lawrence

I always sought to win whatever the game was and only now do I realize how much I have been played by the game.  I played the game hard and willingly, always thinking I was winning something.  In the end, there was really nothing to win, or what I did win didn't really matter in the end.
- Unknown

A fool never understands what a wise man is doing.  If he did, he would be doing it himself.
- Unknown

Land Development Planning

After some consideration, I created the attached plan for developing our land over the course of the next four years.  I hope to complete the projects in order but may change things up some as opportunity presents itself.  

1) Garden Fence: The garden fencing and fence posts all need to be removed from the property.  The garden fence is quite old and is an eyesore, which blocks the view of the valley area just below the cabin.  This project includes handling the remains of the fence by recycling the fence wire and burning the fence posts.  This is best done first as the garden soil will need to be leveled when the skid steer is available.

2) Front Gate: We need to finish the new front gate area by adding field fencing which matches the rest of the fencing.  This needs to be in place by November 2019 to reduce the likelihood of trespassing hunters.  This will require a generator and my welder to fasten a mounting rod for the field wire which matches those on the rest of the fencing. 

3) Identify Home Site Area: We then need to determine what exactly is the perimeter of the home site area.  This will require that I clear a narrow lane over to the north property line.  The purpose of the cleared lane is not to be wide enough for the addition of a fence but to locate a straight line for a future fence and to delineate the area we will focus on improving.

4) Removal of Wood Pile: A small pile of wood is valuable for when I plan to cook my meals or for when we are staying out at the property.  We have accumulated much more wood than we need and it will ultimately be in the way.  We need to move what we plan to use and give the rest away so that it is no longer taking up space.  I plan to give a fair amount to our former Boy Scout Troop as they use wood quite regularly on campouts.

5) Brush Burning: We will need to spend time burning the brush which has accumulated from previous projects.  This is needed as our next phase will add a considerable amount to the burn piles.  We need what currently exists burned so the entire area is not essentially a large burn pile.  As a part of this process, we need to determine the best location for future burn piles and that should not be in the home site area or visible from the home site area.

6) Yaupon Clearing: The big project would then be clearing all the yaupon and brush from the home site area.  This project will begin with manual work to clear paths of entry for the skid steer.  Once the area is accessible by skid steer, the skid steer would be used to finish the project.  The earlier this is done the better as the land will look like a war zone for some time afterwards.

7) Fence Clearing: While the skid steer is available, the garden area should be leveled and the fence lane should be cleared to a reasonable width.  If time allows, the skid steer can be used to make holes for the metal fence posts.

8) Grass: The spring following the removal of the yaupon would be the best time to work the land and add grass under the trees.  This would obviously need to be a shade tolerant form of grass.

9) Home Site Fencing:  The home site area should be fenced with the remainder of the field fencing.   As part of this process, I will need to align the existing fence with the property line as it currently runs over on to my property.  This will take some work and discussion with the neighbor as the fence is now grown over and into a tree so it would have to be cut in order to be moved. 

10) Shed Removal: The shed is an eye sore and does not add value to the property.  The shed and the yaupon which blocks the view of it should be removed.  This will likely require the skid steer in order to remove the telephone corner posts.  As part of this process, we would need to decide if we would want to buy a pre-made shed or if we want to use my dad’s trusses to build a larger barn.

11) Water Line: I’d save this until the end as it will be the most expensive.  I’m not sure if we will recoup our money during the sale of the property.  It is hard to arrange due to the price.  While we have a water meter, we need to run a line 2000 feet up a easement road.

Cattle Lessons Learned

On December 1st, we moved three pregnant cows to our property for our agriculture tax exemption.  We have never had cattle before and there will be plenty of lessons learned through the process.  Some will be relatively small while others will be quite major.  

Lesson 1: Quality Fencing
It is easy to think that your existing fencing will work but when new cattle are added they test the fencing.... especially in the corners.  You really need all sections of fence exposed and confirmed solid.  We had our cattle on our land less than 24 hours before one of the three managed to jump a low section of fence.  We still have some work to make the fencing ideal but there was some stressful working days trying to make sure the fence was right as you don't want to lose an expensive cow being cheap on your fence.

Lesson 2: Hay Rings 
We have an old hay ring which we used for the first bale of hay.  The cows rattled loose or bent several of the six bolts which held it together causing it to lose its shape.  When we set out the second bale, we did not use the ring expecting to fix it and then lay it over the top later

In the week it took me to make it back out to fix the hay ring, the cows had spread the hay bale almost completely out in a 20+' radius.  They stomped the hay into the ground and used the restroom on it such that they would not eat it.  From this point forward, we are always going to have a hay ring in place as it saves money from wasting hay.  

Lesson 3: Use of Feed Trough
This has proved to be important as a place the cattle know we will meet them to feed the cubes.  Sounds strange but until they knew us, we would just drive to find them.  Once they started hearing us and we regularly fed them at the trough it became a place we met up with them to check on them.  

Lesson 4: Cut Bulls Quickly
If you intend to cut young bulls the earlier you take care of it the better.  We waited a few weeks (3.5) and the bull was starting to get larger.  We still managed but it would have been much easier to do when he was younger and put up less of a fight.  

Lesson 5: Record Keeping
I've found it helpful to keep records of when we put out new hay, times we check on them, and the birth records in a single calendar with my ag exemption card.  The information is all then kept together for future reference.  It is also good to keep some business cards in there in case you lose a cow and need to hand out something so neighbors you don't know yet can easily call you.

Lesson 6: Removing Livestock
Adding livestock to your property is considerably easier than removing it from your property.  We did not have a proper fenced in area to move them into to load them onto a trailer.  You really need to have such an area available to treat your livestock, feed at points, and load from. 

On October 5th, we removed our cattle from the land.  We had them on there for the last 10 months.  It was an incredible process to remove them due to a young calf which would run off rather than cooperate.  I'd like to have cattle again as they help maintain the land but there are many things we would need to do first:

Cattle Feed Trough - Made from Extra Wood & a Plastic Barrel

We added cattle to our land three weeks ago.  Each weekend since, we have visited to check on the cattle and fencing.  Each time we visit, we ride the perimeter of the property on a four wheeler to find the cattle.  We then feed them some cattle cubes and try to get them a bit more comfortable being around us.

I'd like to be able to call the cattle up as needed rather than drive around to find them.  This is certainly going to be a bit of a process.  We have tried calling them and shaking a feed bag with cattle cubes in it but it does little good.  If we can call them up to a pin area and feed them there, we will be in a better position later to care for them by being able to easily call them up to the pin as we have done it so many times to feed them.

I decided to use a spare plastic 55 gallon barrel and some extra 2" x 8" wood to make a feed trough.  This will beat pouring the cattle cubes out on the ground and will work well as a regular place to feed so they know exactly where to go time after time.  

To build the trough, I used a reciprocating saw to cut the plastic 55 gallon barrel.  I was initially concerned I would not cut it straight enough but found a seam line on the barrel which marked exactly the center of the barrel which greatly simplified the process.   

I made the frame surrounding the top of the barrel pieces first (59" x 28").  Once it was built, I cut legs for each of the four corners.  Due to the piece of wood I had available, I cut the legs to 23" to make the best use of the wood.  I then mounted the barrel halves to the wooden surround with some screws from Lowe's. 

I imagine it would be sturdy enough with just the legs at the corners but I wanted some supports under the barrels to reduce my reliance on just the screws to hold the barrel halves in place.  This required some additional wood from Lowe's to add the center set of legs so I could put 2" x 6" supports underneath each end of the barrels.  This made the trough quite heavy and really strong.  If nothing else, this will keep the cattle from turning it over.

I finished the project up by drilling four 1/4" holes in the bottom of the barrel.  These should allow any water which gets into the trough to drain out.  

I didn't have any screws to build the trough so I had to buy those plus two 2" x 6" x 8' boards.  Considering most of the supplies I used were scrap, I have about $20 in the trough.

Hunting Review - 2018

This year I was rather excited about hunting as I finished my larger work projects early and there was not much to stop me from hunting quite often.  I setup my game camera and feeder on Labor Day (September 1st).  I then returned to check it on October 13th and found pictures of two very nice bucks.

The first of the two is a 16 point buck that I first saw last year.  Last year, he was a 12 point which looked strangely like a mule deer with the way his antlers forked.  However, in the last year, he grew numerous little points which took him from 12 to 16 points.  I saw him on my game camera at the following times:

09/02 07:14 AM – Remained at the feeder well into daylight.  Left at 07:28

09/08 06:48 AM – Remained with cattle and other bucks present until daylight.  Left at 07:04

09/13 18:21 PM – Arrived during daylight hours with other bucks but only in a few pictures.

My camera is horrible with battery use so the camera only took pictures from September 1st until the 16th.  

The next was a 10 point which I saw in only one picture standing away from the feeder.  This year, he came up to the feeder on several occasions including:

09/02 20:24 PM - Arrived after dark but remained until 21:00

09/02 22:32 PM - Only seen in one frame.  Arrived after dark.  

09/06 19:01 PM - There until 19:05 during daylight hours all alone. 

09/08 06:40 AM - Cattle present but no other bucks.  Remained until 07:08.

09/09 06:35 AM - Remained until 06:49 during daylight hours with other deer.  

09/10 18:05 PM - Remained in daylight hours until 18:14 

09/10 18:36 PM - Arrived during daylight and remained until 19:17

I replaced the batteries on October 13th which is when I found these pictures.  I was very excited at the opportunity to shoot these two large bucks.  I arrived at the beginning of hunting season and checked the camera immediately hoping for more pictures.  I was disappointed to fin there were no pictures of either buck.

I hunted November 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th without any sight of these two bucks.  There was no moon at the time and a cold front had just arrived.  However, it was quite windy one day and another day rained most of the day.  I was rather spent after hunting for 28 hours over this period of time.  I replaced the camera card and batteries and went home.

I returned on November 23rd to hunt and found no images of either buck on the camera.  I did not really have any bucks on the camera at all.  I was rather surprised they disappeared but had the same thing happen the year prior with an 8 point buck I was watching.

I ultimately shot an eight point buck on November 25th. At that point, I had hunted for a total of 44 hours and was beginning to lose hope.  While he is not very large, he is actually the largest of what I have seen on my camera once the 10 and 16 points disappeared.  In hindsight I would have been better off shooting a doe and retaining the chance to hunt the big ones again but I was getting discouraged and decided to take the shot.  

I'll be going out again before long to check the game camera.  We did not have nearly any rain for months until late September and then it seemed to rain non-stop.  I'm wondering if the lack of rain limited food options causing the bucks to come to the feeder.  Once it started raining, it seems they disappeared.  I don't know that anyone shot them as they disappeared before the season started but who knows.

Hunting Luck Under Difficult Conditions

In anticipation of the 2015 hunting season, my son and I began packing for opening weekend at least a week early.  The truck was loaded Friday morning so we could quickly leave that day after work and start our 2 1/2 hour drive to the deer lease.  

Our plan was to stop briefly at McAlister’s in Temple for a couple of sandwiches before finishing the 2.5-hour drive.  We talked about the expectation of cooler weather for the weekend as we ate.  My son, who was only 13 at the time, realized he did not bring near enough cold weather gear.  Despite packing his own gear for countless cold weather BSA camp outs, he was not as prepared.

As we left McAlister’s, we noticed a Ross Dress for Less store in the same shopping center as the McAlister’s.  We searched the store but found no jackets which fit.  We settled on a second hoodie which was somewhat thicker and could be used as a second layer while hunting.  While not the best option, we decided it was adequate and continued the trip.

The night before opening morning, everyone on the lease can be found checking and comparing game camera photos.  I joined in as my camera card was pulled earlier in the evening by a fellow hunter.  Hope was low for an impressive buck as game camera photos from my hunting area contained at best a small eight point.  Regardless, we were optimistic and my son and I looked forward to hunting from the stand I built the season prior.

My uncle Ralph suggested I hunt an extra deer stand he added a few months prior.  The stand was setup with a corn feeder but no game camera.  As a result, we did not know if deer frequented the area but not have much to lose.  His only words of caution were to bring a can of wasp spray as he had not checked the stand in a few months. 

After some deliberation, I decided to hunt my uncle’s extra stand.  We discussed the location of the stand on the 1,000-acre lease.  The directions to locate the stand seemed simple enough but being new to the lease I was a little uneasy about finding it in the dark the following morning. 

We woke early the next morning and drove to an old barn which was the starting point of the directions the night before.  As my son and I started the expected 300 yard walk to the stand, it began to rain quite heavily.  Within minutes, I began to question the decision as we were both quite wet with no deer stand in sight.  We eventually located the stand after walking near 10 minutes in the rain. 

My son waited with our gear under a nearby tree as I checked out the stand.  Frustration increased further as I checked the inside of the stand with my flashlight and found it filled with yellow jackets.  The cold kept them huddled in the nooks and crannies along the ceiling.  I debated heading back to my stand to try to salvage the morning hunt but decided with the rain it would not be worth it. 

As the rain continued, our best option was to kill the yellow jackets.  We could then potentially still hunt and get out of the rain.  After using almost a full can of wasp spray, the floor of the stand was covered with dead yellow jackets.  I brushed them from the stand floor to the ground outside and very hesitantly crawled into the deer stand with my old son. 

The stand began to warm up as the sun rose.  The warmth brought the remaining yellow jackets to life and they could be heard buzzing along the ceiling and corners of the stand.  My son and I were at full alert alternating between watching for deer and yellow jackets.  There were many more yellow jackets than deer but thankfully it was still cool enough that they crawled the walls where they could be easily killed rather than flying around.

Between bouts with yellow jackets, a large buck chased a doe across the top of a nearby ridge.  I reached for the binoculars to get a better look just as my son called out beside me holding his ear.  The buck distracted us long enough for a yellow jacket managed to sting him on the ear.  We handled the yellow jacket and after a quick check of his ear found the buck and doe he was chasing were long gone.

We watched carefully for the buck to return for the next hour.  There were other bucks which arrived with a few does but they were not as impressive as the buck from earlier in the morning.  My son was eager to get a buck and we discussed the option of taking another deer visible instead of waiting for a chance at the one we saw earlier in the morning.  Since it was the first hunt of the year, I was not ready to compromise and it was still early in the morning so we waited.

We watched as the deer in the field begin to lay down as it continued to rain lightly.  The rain paired with a headwind were working in our favor to keep the strong smell of wasp spray from impacting the hunt.  My doubt of seeing the early buck began to grow when he suddenly appeared at the top of the ridge again.  He appeared in a small gap between two shrubs looking in the direction of the stand.

He quickly vanished earlier in the morning and I expected the same this time.  I skipped reaching for the binoculars and went to directly to the rifle.  He stood proudly between two shrubs with his head held high.  Even without the rifle scope, his antlers looked like a crown on his head and was larger than any other buck I’d seen in my short time hunting.  The situation was almost unbelievable at the moment. 

I collected myself and prepared to shoot the buck.  He was quartered towards me at almost 200 yards.  I considered waiting for a better shot but did not want to miss my opportunity.  I aimed carefully but when I pulled the trigger only heard a slight click. I removed the round and found the rifle had misfired. 

My mind returned to when I was hunting years before at the same age as my son.  My rifle misfired then when attempting a shot with one of my father's rifles.  I assumed then it was a problem with the round and attempted another only to have it happen two additional times.  The last attempt resulted in a slightly delayed fire causing a bad shot on the buck.  Young and inexperienced, I went after the buck to put him out of his misery only to continue to experience misfire problems.  Following that hunting trip, I decided against hunting for the next twenty years. 

I loaded another round and refused to be distracted by the oddity of the situation.  I regained focus, pulled the trigger, and a loud bang filled the deer stand.  The buck spun around quickly and sprinted off out of sight into the shrubs.  We watched carefully but did not see him emerge from the shrubs.  We waited a long 30 minutes questioning if I had by chance missed the buck before leaving to check.

We went straight to the stop he stood when I took the shot.  We found blood there and more in the middle of the shrubs which were immediately behind him.  We walked the ridgeline looking closely for more blood but found none.  We walked all along the top of the ridgeline as I refused to accept that I missed. 

In the end, we returned to where he stood when I took the shot.  As I looked back toward the stand attempting to determine were I went wrong, I saw the white belly of the buck.  He entered the shrubs and then headed down the hill towards the stand.  He fell only 40 yards away in a place blocked from view by a large tree.

My dad was finishing with his morning hunt when I texted him about the buck.  He quickly came over to assist in loading up the buck.  The rain made the field quite difficult to cross in the truck so we drug the buck almost 125 yards to an area where he could be loaded into the truck.  We then quickly returned to the house to discuss the morning hunt with others. 

While sharing the story with everyone, a family friend who hunts with us suggested I take him to the Cabela’s in Waco.  Cabela’s was offering a free shoulder mount to the best buck taken opening weekend.  I doubted the buck would be the best in the area despite being my best buck.  In the end, I decided it was worth the drive.

I placed the buck in the freezer for the remainder of the day and that evening.  The next morning, I loaded him into the back of the truck and headed to Cabela’s.  They measured the buck in the parking lot of the store and told me at that point I had the largest buck entered at that point.

The next several days I waited rather impatiently for the outcome of the contest.  On Monday evening, I was called and told I won the contest and would receive a free shoulder mount from Fortson’s Taxidermy. 

Fortson did an excellent job on the shoulder mount and the buck now decorates the wall in my living room.  He is positioned in the same way he was that morning at the top of the ridge.  My son an I relive the hunt each time we look up at him and it will be a great hunting memory we keep forever.