Pinetag's Plot - 43 acres in Virginia

[Cedar Ridge]

Congrats on the land purchase!

 

[David]

Yes! congratulations.



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[pinetag]

I'm getting in contact this week with a project manager from the Army Corps of Engineers to have them come out and do a delineation survey. This will help me determine exactly what part of the property is wetland and what is not as well as what habitat changes i can make with/without a permit. Based on all of my discussions with the VA Dept of Enviro Quality, the local NRCS rep, and an Army Corp rep i don't think anything that I'm planning will require a permit but I want to make sure i have it in writing from them. Don't want to get fined by the EPA for a ridiculous amount of money in 5 years for disturbing a wetland. The way I understand it is as long as I'm not removing stumps or bringing in "fill" to build a house, road, foundation, etc then I should be able to go in and hinge cut, plant food plots, even get the timber harvested if I want to (no stump removal).


There is a giant swamp about 1 mile east that I would expect to hold a fair amount of deer and bear. I have a feeling they travel back and forth along the river as a lot of the surrounding land is cattle pasture. It kind of makes a huge natural funnel and based on some of the river crossings I've seen, they are traveling the river bottom regularly. I will see what the camera surveys show me.

Hopefully I can get back out there and do some more work on Saturday!

 

[pinetag]

Check out this giant oak!


I believe it is either a chestnut oak or a swamp white oak but I got my son to stand in front of it for scale. The acorn caps on this thing are some of the biggest I've ever seen. I'll try to get pictures the next time I'm out.

 

[pinetag]

Was able to get out for a little while today to plant my first two fruit trees (pears) and put some wire fencing around them. Had some assistance from my dad.

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[pinetag]

Also, checked a couple cams and got a few visitors. A few does here and there, 1 big old pregnant doe, and a 4 legged neighbor.

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[pinetag]

Oh, as promised....here is a pic of one of the acorn caps. I wish I could have seen what the actual acorns looked like.

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[pinetag]

So I've devised a tentative plan for the year based on the observations I've seen so far. The lack of bedding, minimal buck sign, trails, river crossings, and pictures lead me to believe it's more of a pass through property than somewhere deer call home on a regular basis. Also, there is not a lot in the way of winter cover or food (once the hard mast is gone in early fall) so not much to keep them around right now. Being such a small parcel I will need to hunt it smart so access to stands and wind direction is a key priority. I know it's hard to tell from just a photo but let me know what y'all think and if you have any suggestions.

Red line - property boundary
Light grey - existing atv trail
Purple - planned atv trail extension
Blue - creek and river
Green circles - micro food plots
Orange circles - hinge cuts
Yellow pins - stands (i tried to situate these to give me the most options for various wind directions. winds out of the N, NE are going to be the most challenging as I don't have good access from the south...unless i decide to get a canoe and paddle upstream in the river)

 

[pinetag]

I posted this pic in the Plant ID section before I knew what it was. An American Hazelnut. I thought it was a pretty cool find and there are actually a few of them all clumped together.

 

[Fish]

Cool. Ive seen a few of them growing wild, but thats rare.

 

[pinetag]

Delineation survey scheduled for April 5th so I'll be curious to see what they have to say. Once I know where the wetland borders are I think I'm going to get some soil testing done from various points where I would like to locate food plots. I was going to use Southern States for the sample testing. Anyone have any experience with them or are there any other recommendations for soil testing?

 

[lakngolf]

I know you are enjoying the process of learning your land (and wetlands) and gearing up for habitat management. Enjoyed the updates.

 

[buckhunter10]

nice property, excited to follow along!

 

[pinetag]

So no habitat work today but got a little bit done by the "cottage." We want to be able to bring the dogs with us for weekend getaways so I worked on a small dog pen this afternoon. I also had a little helper!

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[pinetag]

I should be able to finish up the dog pen next weekend and hopefully build some gates for the driveway as well as the old road bed that goes down to the river.

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[pinetag]

Forgot to post this yesterday but here is my first tool casualty from working out on the new place. Got to get me a new set since I still have a few more posts to put in the ground.

 

[lakngolf]

Forgot to post this yesterday but here is my first tool casualty from working out on the new place. Got to get me a new set since I still have a few more posts to put in the ground.
View attachment 11477

Most places, Home Depot, Tractor supply, etc have replacement posts.

 

[pinetag]

Almost finished the dog pen but ran out of boards so should be a quick finish sometime this week.

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[pinetag]

Also got started on a gate at the end of the driveway. For now I'm going the cheap route with a 4 x 4 mounted to the support posts across the drive. I might end up getting a real gate in the future but got too many other expenses out there right now.

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[pinetag]

Took a short walk down along the property line beside my neighbor's pasture and found some possible locations to open up a food plot clearing.

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