Wow! I can't believe it's been almost a month

Man time flies when you are working hard. We have made significant progress since my last post. The bulldozer arrived the weekend we anticipated. It took him about two hours to clear the stumps that would have taken me weeks to remove the old fashioned way (see pictures). When we were done, we realized we needed to do some filling before we could bring in the gravel. Our operator brought in and leveled 192 cubic yards of fill in only a few days. By Wednesday of the week of labor day, we had the place ready for the gravel.

Delivery was scheduled for the Friday after we had it leveled. On Tursday we postponed the delivery because another property we are working on wasn't ready. We rescheduled for two weeks from that day. Between about 4 properties we had about 3000 cubic yards of gravel ordered. The scheduled delivery day arrived and we were ready. At exactly 8:00 am last Friday it arrived. We spread and dumped 60 truckloads on Friday and another 34 on Saturday for our two properties and about 50 truckloads for the third property. 96 cubic yards arrived on my property on Saturday morning (6 large dump trucks). The drivers did a great job of spreading the gravel across the drive and pad.

Now I need to get it leveled...I'm out of town this week and I believe it should be done when I return on Thursday. I can't wait to see what it looks like and to drive on it for the first time.

I had the county forester out on Friday who walked the land and will be providing me with his recommendations for how to thin the land. It desperately needs to be logged to open it up and bring the hardwoods back. I believe that we will recover what we spent this summer when the logs are sold.

We are still looking for a trailer for the property. We have seen some that we like, but are out of our price range. We are in no rush, so we will continue to look until we find what we like in our price range.

I'll keep you posted.

It's Been a While

Two weekends have gone by and I have made significant progress. Al and I dropped about 6 or 7 cords of wood two weekends ago. We dropped, slashed and sectioned each tree. Two guys, two chainsaws and nearly 2 gallons of gas, that's a whole lotta wood. By the time we left, we had finished clearing the driveway and the pad.

Renee (my wife) and I spent Sunday this last weekend hauling and stacking all that wood. We have a number of good sized piles of wood. Mostly beautiful birch and poplar, but a cord or so of oak. The pad and driveway are marked and ready for bulldozing next week.

Also during the last week the town put in the entrance for our driveway, it's a beautiful thing!!! I can now actually park off the road, almost on my property.

Plans for this weekend are to put in some mineral licks, scout locations for stands, and scout locations for cameras and ground blinds.

It looks like the bulldozer will be there next week, then the gravel. Once that is done, I am done for this year.

I do still need to contract a logger to come in and thin the woods just a bit. I am hoping to open the canopy up and encourage the young hardwoods that are sprouting just under the surface and need some sunlight to really grow. I am also going to be putting some acorns in the ground this fall to start some more hardwoods on the land.

Now if I only hear back from the county with an address I will have accomplished everything I had set for me to do this year.

3 weeks to hunting season!!!!

Scott

New Chainsaw and Progress!!!

I ended last post deciding between a Husqvarna and a Stihl...well I went a direction I really didn't expect, I bought a Jonsered. I found a 5 year old Model 2050 Turbo that is in really good shape. It was well maintained and cuts wood like a beaver on steroids. I spent last week Wednesday night and Thursday morning out cutting in the driveway. It's 212 feet long and dog-legs to the right as you face the property. Now mind you there weren't many big trees in the drive, but I cleared out a whole bunch of smaller trees and finished the morning only 25 feet short of completely clearing the driveway. So this weekend I am going to spend the whole weekend out on the land and hopefully will get the driveway completed and the 50X80 pad cleared.

Gravel is ordered (about 100 cubic yards), the driveway entrance should be done by this weekend, and we are working on getting the bulldozer scheduled to cut the driveway through and remove the stumps from the cleared area. I am getting so excited! Hunting season is less then 6 weeks away, my first year of hunting on my own land! I can't wait.

Now starts the fun of getting my forest management plan done! I will post pictures of the progress after this weekend. BTW, I also ordered the address. So now I am waiting to get an address from the county. So much has changed since I last posted.

Stay with me...the fun has just started

A New Driveway

Was out to the land on Saturday and marked the location for our driveway. My "posted" signs are still intact and it seems as if all is going well. While we have been somewhat dry here, my property is low enough that it was green, thick and lush.

I marked the driveway on the northwest corner of the property and while there I marked the drive and the pad that we are building to put our living arrangements (read "camping trailer"). Measured them all as I need to order the gravel for the driveway. The driveway is 212 feet long ending in a pad that is 50 X 80 to start with. Using those measurements I have calculated that I need at the least 85 cubic yards of gravel (covers the area 4" thick) or 123 cubic yards (covers the area 6" thick) delivered to create the driveway. I will be contacting the town's "driveway czar" on Monday asking to have the driveway entrance installed. I am also going to download the request for address from the county website and get that completed today. That will give me an actual address for the property.

I also need to buy a chainsaw (another reason to purchase a new tool) as I have some trees to clear before I bring the bulldozer through. I am looking at a Stihl or a Husqvarna. Not sure which one but the Stihl (028 Wood Boss) seems to have much better reviews from users than the Husq (Model 55 Farm and Ranch). Both are available used for $150 (US) with an extra chain. I'll let you know which one I go for, I'm hoping to see them today and make my decision on which. I can get a smaller saw new, but if these are in good condition, used does not bother me at all. I have bought most of what I own used as I HATE to pay depreciation just for the "honor" of owning something new.

Well it's off to church and I believe breakfast with my wife. I'll catch you all later.

First Post

Hi,

My name is Scott and I am a new land owner (Hello, Scott!! Sounds like a Landowners Anonymous meeting). I joined the ranks of landowners on June 20th of this year when my wife and I closed on 26 acres in central WI. I have been thinking about purchasing some land for a number of years and when this opportunity came up we moved on it. The land is fully wooded and I am planning on managing the land primarily for hunting and secondarily for timber production (to help pay for the land). We were truly blessed because the land is located in an area where much of the land is owned by hunters or farmers and as a result we have a high population of wildlife in the area. After two weeks of ownership, my mind is reeling as I think about all the things I want to do to make the land mine as well as improve it to reach my goal of producing some incredible whitetail deer hunting. So far the only thing I have done is to post the land and meet 2 of my 4 neighboring land owners (a doctor from the nearest town and a couple who live there year round). I have yet to meet my neighbors to the north (who the previous owner tells me has a habit of treating my land like it's his), and the neighbor to the east is a good friend of mine (no need to meet him). The signs are up and I have left no doubt in the minds of the neighbors I have met that I am serious about not allowing others to trespass without permission.

So, what do I need to do?? I need to finish posting the land, apply for an address, get a driveway marked and have the town put in a culvert and fill, put a driveway into the land, have the county forester make visit, determine what trees need to be thined this winter (the land has not been managed too well up to this point and the woods is thick, thick, thick!!). And you are going to be along for the ride. Well, sit down, fasten your seatbelt, we're in for a long, fun ride!