"No relevance or meaning." Thats the page for me!

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!
 

Nicodemus

Old and Ornery
Staff member
I`m proud for you. I also commend you highly on going with native plants and trees.
 

earlthegoat2

Senior Member
NW Georgia. Not many trophy class deer. Good numbers and great turkey hunting. It was still somewhat affordable in comparison to NE. Jump on it! Land prices are going up up up! Thanks

I wish I could have afforded more than 30 but I got what I got and I am glad I did.

Looks like you are putting in some serious work. I need to get on that myself.
 

Bob2010

Senior Member
Congratulations and remember we love pictures!

I wish I could have afforded more than 30 but I got what I got and I am glad I did.

Looks like you are putting in some serious work. I need to get on that myself.
30 acres can be amazing if you put the work in. I believe the work and diversity of habitat can make 30 acres produce the equivalent of 100 acres without improvements. The national forest after the acorns are done turns into a ghost town for big game.
 

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Bob2010

Senior Member
I wish I could have afforded more than 30 but I got what I got and I am glad I did.

Looks like you are putting in some serious work. I need to get on that myself.
Where is your 30 acre located? I'll come look at it with you. I love looking at land and getting ideas about how to improve it.
 

fireman32

"Useless Billy" Fire Chief.
Sounds like you got it going on! I’ve been working this 40 acres of family land for 20 years and there is always to improve on. Got the forestry guy coming out in 2 weeks to help me with the timber management. My main goal is and has always been whatever is best for the wildlife.
Look forward to seeing your progress.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Sounds like you're living the dream now. And, kudos for going with the natives and providing habitat for stuff besides just deer. Leopold would be proud.
 
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