Bob2010
Senior Member
I have been busy. I love hunting, fishing, etc. My entire life, this is what I did. After many unfortunate turns of events, poor decisions, rebellious reactions, and crazy stories as a club member or president. I could of written a book about my hunting club years. Some things are best not written on paper.
I decided that it was time to buy my own piece of dirt. I knew what I was looking for in a piece of land. My first priority was less than a 1 hour drive to get there. I never wanted to drive through Atlanta again to go hunting. Never! Ever! Ever! I would prefer shooting minature key deer with jacked up antlers over spending one more minute in Atlanta traffic. Too many years I sat in that mess with no hope of making an afternoon hunt.
I had always dreamed of owning several hundred acres. This dream and my finances did not align. Especially after my new rule of not driving through Atlanta was in effect. I found a 70 acre gem that fit my needs. A bit of litigation is still unfinished. But my lifelong dream had become a reality.
After purchasing the land, I knew that timber needed to be harvested. We needed roads, culverts, food plots, firebreaks, cover, and money. My quest for financial assistance, foresters, and wildlife and timber planning had begun. The NRCS, Georgia Forestery Commission, a timber/ contract attorney, and Quail Forever were the perfect match for me. I did not have the resources of larger land owners to work with. The EQIP grant has been vital for our success.
The education that I have received through this process is unreal. My passion to obtain a piece of hunting property has turned into much more. I am thankful that I was not able to purchase more than 70 acres. I can be hands on with every practice or restoration project that we take on. Creating habitat, diversity, cover, etc for wildlife is a ton of work. I couldn't do it without multiple crews if the acreage was larger. I am enjoying creating extremely diverse habitats for game and non game species on a relatively small footprint.
So far, we have completed the following.
- Harvested 32 acres of mature Loblolly.
- Created firebreaks, roads, and culverts.
- Restored a small wetlands area with natives.
- Chemical site prep of the 32 acres.
- Planted 17 acres Longleaf Pines.
- Planted 7 acres of Loblolly
- Conducted control burns on 34 acres.
- Planted 200 native fruit and nut trees.
- Thinned 27 acres of closed canopy Hardwoods.
- Planted 2, 000 culms of native Rivercane.
- Developed 3 acres of food plots.
Still to do
- We are starting to thin 4 acres of Mature Loblolly, burn them, and underplant Chickasaw Plums throughout.
- We are ready to winter sow 5 acres of pollinators and native grasses with QF this winter.
-We are starting to heavily thin and introduce fire to 8 acres of upland Hardwoods. This will support native grasses and future native shrub plantings.
Most importantly. My wife told me to build a home instead of a cabin. She has agreed to retire to the farm with me. That was unexpected and so very exciting. Our passion for hunting can become something that is so much bigger than antlers, feeders, and food plots. My personal belief is that none of this grace is possible without Christ Jesus. None of us deserve blessings. Yet we recieve them. My children and grandchildren will reap the rewards.
Thanks for reading!
I decided that it was time to buy my own piece of dirt. I knew what I was looking for in a piece of land. My first priority was less than a 1 hour drive to get there. I never wanted to drive through Atlanta again to go hunting. Never! Ever! Ever! I would prefer shooting minature key deer with jacked up antlers over spending one more minute in Atlanta traffic. Too many years I sat in that mess with no hope of making an afternoon hunt.
I had always dreamed of owning several hundred acres. This dream and my finances did not align. Especially after my new rule of not driving through Atlanta was in effect. I found a 70 acre gem that fit my needs. A bit of litigation is still unfinished. But my lifelong dream had become a reality.
After purchasing the land, I knew that timber needed to be harvested. We needed roads, culverts, food plots, firebreaks, cover, and money. My quest for financial assistance, foresters, and wildlife and timber planning had begun. The NRCS, Georgia Forestery Commission, a timber/ contract attorney, and Quail Forever were the perfect match for me. I did not have the resources of larger land owners to work with. The EQIP grant has been vital for our success.
The education that I have received through this process is unreal. My passion to obtain a piece of hunting property has turned into much more. I am thankful that I was not able to purchase more than 70 acres. I can be hands on with every practice or restoration project that we take on. Creating habitat, diversity, cover, etc for wildlife is a ton of work. I couldn't do it without multiple crews if the acreage was larger. I am enjoying creating extremely diverse habitats for game and non game species on a relatively small footprint.
So far, we have completed the following.
- Harvested 32 acres of mature Loblolly.
- Created firebreaks, roads, and culverts.
- Restored a small wetlands area with natives.
- Chemical site prep of the 32 acres.
- Planted 17 acres Longleaf Pines.
- Planted 7 acres of Loblolly
- Conducted control burns on 34 acres.
- Planted 200 native fruit and nut trees.
- Thinned 27 acres of closed canopy Hardwoods.
- Planted 2, 000 culms of native Rivercane.
- Developed 3 acres of food plots.
Still to do
- We are starting to thin 4 acres of Mature Loblolly, burn them, and underplant Chickasaw Plums throughout.
- We are ready to winter sow 5 acres of pollinators and native grasses with QF this winter.
-We are starting to heavily thin and introduce fire to 8 acres of upland Hardwoods. This will support native grasses and future native shrub plantings.
Most importantly. My wife told me to build a home instead of a cabin. She has agreed to retire to the farm with me. That was unexpected and so very exciting. Our passion for hunting can become something that is so much bigger than antlers, feeders, and food plots. My personal belief is that none of this grace is possible without Christ Jesus. None of us deserve blessings. Yet we recieve them. My children and grandchildren will reap the rewards.
Thanks for reading!