This past fall I acquired a deer camp. It was the camp for the club I had been in for 14 years. The camp owner/club President owned land adjacent by to our lease 26.5 and 6.6 acres in two parcels. He passed away two years ago and his son, who inherited the camp decided to sell out of the area and find something closer to home.
The lease was not put up for renewal this last season and I suspect, but have not confirmed, may have been bought by Forever Wild. This isn’t a problem as we like the land, location and will use this area as a personal recreation property.
The 6.6 acre parcel was clearcut about 6 years ago and was not replanted. It’s a natural regeneration heavy in sweet gum. It is bounded on two sides by a public dirt road and a drive into a large gated property. There exists a 1/4acre(at most) “plot” with a feeder which I planted this fall. It is entirely incapable of supporting the pressure it gets and is also not easy to see from the cabin. I intend to expand this plot to at least an acre or maybe a tad more. The soil there is good, overall, and I’m hesitant to hire a dozier to come in and just push everything off. My first inclination is to break out the chainsaw and cut an area out, haul the trash to the middle and burn it but there’s property that isn’t mine nearby, I don’t want to risk a fire getting away.
Would it be well worth my money to have an area this size forestry mulched and then spraying the stumps after? Hire a dozier or someone with a root rake, etc.?
I do not, and will not anytime soon, own a tractor. I did my little plots with my UTV and a groundhog Max it it worked well enough so I think I can manage the extra area just as well. I have the time after the season to do this by hand but I’m wondering if the overall result will be worth hiring equipment out vs. saving my dollars but spending much more time on it.