Management thread for sub 500ac land

[DuramaxDude]

Did some IPT on prickly pear last weekend. Sprayed pear with Surmount on about 65ac that I had grubbed in Aug of 2021 then raked up in March of 2022. Then we got a little over .6" of rain on it within a week. Come on wet spring and summer we need ya man!! haha

[KactusKiller]

Thanks for bringing this thread back up. I am about to start a new journey. My 108 ac place is on the market and we just closed on 207 not far away. Bigger land, bigger neighbors and should be a great place. It’s rough, overgrown and needs some TLC. Ready to get started.

[JeffJ]

On our family 479 year to date we have:

filled and kept filled our five free choice protein feeders with DD.

complete revamp of all pasture water troughs

working on clearing all fence lines of brush, cedar and whatever else has taken up residence.

almost done patching all holes in perimeter high fence.

clearing as much as possible within 30-50 feet of all roads

drained lined and made bigger our large pond.

reduced cattle numbers by 1/2.

had Mulcher out for a week cleaning up a few aesthetic areas from the entrance to the house

To Do List

continue to strategically shears cedar in flatter areas and around oak trees.

get all spring plots planted by end of first weekend of april.

reduce cattle that are left by 1/3.

spray all fence lines with Grazon

need to get welder out to fix some spots in cattle pens.

revamp water troughs in cattle pens.

[KactusKiller]

On our family 479 year to date we have:

filled and kept filled our five free choice protein feeders with DD.

complete revamp of all pasture water troughs

working on clearing all fence lines of brush, cedar and whatever else has taken up residence.

almost done patching all holes in perimeter high fence.

clearing as much as possible within 30-50 feet of all roads

drained lined and made bigger our large pond.

reduced cattle numbers by 1/2.

had Mulcher out for a week cleaning up a few aesthetic areas from the entrance to the house

To Do List

continue to strategically shears cedar in flatter areas and around oak trees.

get all spring plots planted by end of first weekend of april.

reduce cattle that are left by 1/3.

spray all fence lines with Grazon

need to get welder out to fix some spots in cattle pens.

revamp water troughs in cattle pens.

What county are you in?

[KactusKiller]

Our new property is a blank run down and overgrown slate!

207 acres of mixed timber, consisting of cedar, mesquite, cottonwood, elm few big pecans and few water oak/post oak. Slight rolling terrain with a max of 40’ drop and bordered by a major creek with another major creek nearby. Good bit of flood plain as well. We have about 40acre across the county road that has two coastal/blue stem grass totaling about 26 acres and the remainder in heavy large oak and pecan.
we have way too much honey locust and other trash trees that we will thin and try to eliminate a high percentage asap.
i have already started getting prices on fencing, brush clearing about 12 ac of junk brush for a new foodplot, digging 3 new small water holes and redoing and expanding the main pond to about 1.5-2acres.
Also will be putting in new main gate and road base road for new barn/house location. Not wildlife management related but will also have to bring utilities across road to new house location. Like I said this place is a complete blank slate.
I have placed a couple cameras with some hand corn but the hogs are thick and the property was heavily over grazed the last several yrs. I have caught a couple deer on camera so they are there but no big bucks yet. I’m going to get some feeders and feed pens up asap to start taking inventory hopefully before they all drop antlers.

We need to really hammer the pigs and already caught several yotes on camera so prob need to do some calling/trapping.

i have ALOT to do and I don’t like to wait, so gonna be a busy spring/summer.

[JeffJ]

What county are you in?

Western edge of Hays county in Henly.

[MAP]

I started a thread awile back about my project place, but havnt posted on it in awile because of how hard it is to post pictures now.

But ive learned im turning into a duck guy now. After taking our old pond full of brush and only used by pigs, and making it a beautiful pond. Last year in late december i walked up to it, with out a gun, and drifting from the back corner was a mallard drake. This season i hunted that pond alot, looking for another mallard and after season, i finally saw 2 mallard drakes.

Just something exciting about taking a worthless pond and turning it into something that ducks use regular now. One of my new goals is to kill each type of duck from that pond and get the drakes mounted. Its just very cool to me, to think about how far those ducks travel, they can land anywhere, yet they choose my little 2 acre pool of water to land it. Things like that just make things seem right.

[jason86]

We took over our small (320 acres) family place in yancey tx. After years of drama a bad apple has been removed and dad and I started to manage it for family and friends. The bad apple was tasked to “take care” of the place in exchange for some acreage. Well he took his acres, sold and left the place in horrible condition. Over grazed, overgrown, junk everywhere, the place was in desperate need of some help.

We started in August with the goal of creating a place where family and friends could enjoy the outdoors in multiple ways. We purchased 2 atascosa rifle blinds, 5x7 on 8ft towers, at the TTHA show at a discounted rate. Problem was the place was hardly drive able much less huntable. So I hired a kid locally to shred/mulch all roads and new lanes for hunting areas, also cleared around the stock tank so we could fish it. He spent three days doing it and helped us erect our newly purchased blinds.

[jason86]

Forgive me for double posting pics

now that we had the tank cleared up we could not only fish it but dove hunt it, a buddy and I took our girls out for the fun. We caught a few fish and shot some birds. The catfish were super skinny, so we decided it needed a bunch of forage fish. So we stocked it with shiners and perch and lots of them.

[jason86]

I wasn’t sure about deer numbers but hogs were plenty, we penned of feeders and managed to kill a few of the hogs. Trough out the season we saw that there was plenty of deer so we started to shoot some does. Another buddies daughter killed her first deer and my brother killed his first in years.

[jason86]

After season we got the family together for a work weekend, we ended up taking 5 tons of scrap metal off the place and filling a 40 yard dumpster full of crap. We also decided to lease the cattle rights and they are taking on the task of clearing and fixing fences, some brush management, and planting native grasses. I have set up a couple protein feeders but due to a recent green up they aren’t hitting them yet. Also was able to get the old ranch 1972 4020 John Deere running this weekend, and was also able to bag a nice tom.

goals and tasks for this year

-continuing to hammer coons (killed 21 so far this year)
- more clearing to open up food plots
-tractor maintenance get it dependable
-more forage fish for stock tank
-water source for tank (old well nearby)

long term goal
-possible high fence as there are 12 neighbors adjacent to the property

It’s been a lot of work but it’s been fun, a lot of laughs and has really helped that side of the family come back together again.

[KactusKiller]

After season we got the family together for a work weekend, we ended up taking 5 tons of scrap metal off the place and filling a 40 yard dumpster full of crap. We also decided to lease the cattle rights and they are taking on the task of clearing and fixing fences, some brush management, and planting native grasses. I have set up a couple protein feeders but due to a recent green up they aren’t hitting them yet. Also was able to get the old ranch 1972 4020 John Deere running this weekend, and was also able to bag a nice tom.

goals and tasks for this year

-continuing to hammer coons (killed 21 so far this year)
- more clearing to open up food plots
-tractor maintenance get it dependable
-more forage fish for stock tank
-water source for tank (old well nearby)

long term goal
-possible high fence as there are 12 neighbors adjacent to the property

It’s been a lot of work but it’s been fun, a lot of laughs and has really helped that side of the family come back together again.

That last sentence is what its all about. Leases are fun but its a different level of fun when its your dirt. The family memories are what make it great.

[KactusKiller]

I have spend a little time at the new 206 acre Navarro co place last two weeks. We have had a lot of rain so haven’t done a lot. Did get a hanging feeder for pigs set up and got the first feeder/pen set up done. I am about to finalize a deal on rebuilding perimeter fence and hopefully get a barn build lined up soon.
we need to cut the perimeter and a couple new roads as there is only 1 road straight thru the middle now.

[KactusKiller]

I’ll try to get more pictures soon. My list is long and the more I look at it the more $$ I see going out the door.
finish spraying mesquite and plum thickets in hay fiekds
Rebuild fencing and add a cross fence
Re dig pond to make bigger 1.5-2ac
Clear approx 12ac of brush and fence for a winter wheat/food plot in middle of proeprty
Clear new entry road and gate
Get electric and water ran
Build new barn approx 45x50
Spray/push as much of the trash trees as possible cedar, honey locust, cottonwood etc
Build 3 small 1/8ac water holes for cattle/wildlife
Kill some coyotes and ALOT of pigs

That should keep me busy the first yr.

[jason86]

That last sentence is what it’s all about. Leases are fun but it’s a different level of fun when it’s your dirt. The family memories are what make it great.

Yep it’s been awesome, still got the lease tho lol