BP - Property Tour

[cutman]

Well, I guess it's time for me to put my money where my mouth is. This is my first property tour thread, so please bear with me.

Though I don't own this land, my family did own it for about 40 years. We sold it 2.5 years ago and I stayed on as the property manager. I take care of the land for the absentee landowner and in return get exclusive hunting rights.

It's roughly 300 acres of high land with another 200 acres of marsh located in the South Carolina lowcountry. I've been practicing QDM on it for 15+ years.

When you drive in, there are roughy 5 acres of fields on both sides of the driveway. On the left (North side), I have a deer stand in a palmetto tree.



The stand faces north, and I primarily sit in it late season when the prevailing wind is from the north. I've got corn planted this summer, and I planted a pear/chestnut orchard over the last few years.

Facing NE:



Facing N:



Facing NW:



One of the Dunstans is producing a good amount of nuts this year. I planted it 5 years ago.



On the south side of the driveway, I've got 4 acres of Wannamaker Magic Carpet planted. It's primarily forage beans and clay peas with a smidge of buck wheat and sunflowers. I also added 6 lb of sunn hemp per acre. There is a wooden lean up stand overlooking these fields, and I sit it when the prevailing wind is from the south.





I've spread 250 lbs of milorganite per acre on these 4 acres twice (two weeks ago and today)...that's the ONLY reason they look good. The deer will hammer them shortly.

 

[cutman]

As you move east through the property, you pass the storage sheds and farm equipment. If you head north from the sheds through the woods, you will reach one of my favorite spots. It's a 0.5 acre clearing - .4 is food plot, the rest is s mixture of trees I've planted.



This is the west side looking east. There is a line of sawtooths on the south side of the plot and a mix of hybrid white oaks and dunstan chestnuts at the west end. The plot is planted in Wannamaker ultimate : forage beans, peas, sunn hemp, buckwheat, sunflowers. I've used milorganite and plot saver fencing around the perimeter to keep the deer out.



View from the stand looking across the trees and plot.



My faithful companion waiting for me to climb down.

 

[cutman]

Keep moving north and you will hit the marsh. I call this area the "far salt flat." I sit in it when wind is from the east.

 

[cutman]

Go back to the shed and then continue east. The property is divided in half my a huge salt flat. My favorite stand sits on a dike that crosses the salt flat in a east/west direction.



Looking N/NE:



Looking N:



Looking W:



I sit in this stand with any sort of N wind. If it's a SW wind I sit in a climber stand about 250 yards away from the permanent stand. I have seen many sunrises and sunsets from this beautiful spot.

 

[wbpdeer]

Cutman,

Your photos are telling the story very nicely. Look forward to riding along on this journey.

 

[cutman]

Follow the dike (or the main driveway) east and you will come to the area I call "across from the boat landing." It's where I've been running my trail camera surveys for the last 5+ years. 90% of the trail cam photos I posted on QDMA were taken here:



That's about it for today. I'm going to bed. Like Todd (dogdoc), I'm a vet and I get Wednesdays off. Today I spread 1000 lb milorganite, weed wacked around the plot saver, freshened up the plot saver with rotten egg spray, bush hogged 3 acres, sprayed RoundUp around the pear orchard, and walked around in the 95 degree heat so I could get pictures for my internet friends. I also check trail cams and moved one so that hopefully I can get Caribou buck back on camera. I'm pooped.

 

[Fish]

Stand in a palmetto? Gotta say thats a first for me.
Thanks for the land tour. I sprayed liquid fence (rotten egg) on some trellised apple trees tonight because deer were starting to take notice. Then it rained an inch one hour later..

 

[Warrington]

Awesome pics, love seeing other SC places

When will you start putting fall plots in the ground? We are in the zone that was changed over to an Aug 15 start date last year and I'm thinking about moving my schedule up, at least on some of the property.

 

[Tenured Student]

Coastal property is something you don't see much on here. I am looking to forward to your posts.

 

[dogdoc]

That's a beautiful piece of property. Glad you still get to manage the place. Sounds like a great deal.

Todd

 

[cutman]

Awesome pics, love seeing other SC places

When will you start putting fall plots in the ground? We are in the zone that was changed over to an Aug 15 start date last year and I'm thinking about moving my schedule up, at least on some of the property.

I typically plant fall plots in October. My dad used to plant wheat in November.

The one year I planted brassicas, I planted them Labor Day and they turned out awesome.

Edit: I should add that one benefit to planting in Octover is you can get "candy" like winter peas to grow. The deer are usually so hung up on eating acorns that they leave the food plots alone.

 

[Brushpile]

I'm familiar with coastal property in NC, which is similar except for the Palmetto, so I have a good appreciation for the work you put into your property.

 

[W33kender]

Awesome pics. as fish said, your palmetto stand is very unique. Look forward to following this thread.

 

[Flyfixer]

Great pics! I grew up hunting coastal areas in North Florida and South Georgia. Your pics bring back some good memories. The only thing I don't miss is the sand gnats/no see ums! Not sure if y'all have those, they are a pair of fangs with wings

 

[dogghr]

What a unique ride. Do the salt flats flood daily or is that just seasonal?

 

[cutman]

Worked on 5 stands today to ready for Opening Day, which is now only 12 days away.

The hardest stand to set up was the first one (of course). It turned out pretty good.



Looking from the stand towards the fields in front:



Looking over my right shoulder:



Next stand overlooks a 2.7 acre field that is currently fallow.



The field is lined by live oaks to the north, sawtooths to the east, and pines to the south and west.



One final picture: this is me looking down from "The Big Stand." It's the food plot I posted the video of. I'm going to take the PlotSaver fence down in a week.



Didn't get to work on the Bush Hog today. A project for next week.

 

[Native Hunter]

Cutman, your hard work is very evident in those pics. I do some traveling in SC but never hunted there. I look forward to your updates.

 

[cutman]

What a unique ride. Do the salt flats flood daily or is that just seasonal?

The far salt flat rarely floods. In fact, I'm not positive if I've ever seen it flood. I THINK I can remember it flooding once.

The big salt flat floods to some degree with every high tide, but the depth of the water varies greatly. Sometimes the water is only high enough to give the ground a glossy sheen, and other times the deer walk through 2 feet of water. The highest the water ever gets is when there is a full moon, northeast wind, and/or King Tide.

 

[cutman]

Cutman, your hard work is very evident in those pics. I do some traveling in SC but never hunted there. I look forward to your updates.

Thank you. I do work hard, but no harder than anyone else here. My dad deserves most of the credit...I'm just continuing what he started.

I feel the same way about your updates. I sure do love seeing pics of Abby Normal.

 

[zuke]

Always like looking at photos of other states. Good looking property.