How far would you go?

[dstubb]

The last two summers i have obtained two really nice private farms to hunt. One is only 50 acres with a ton of white oaks and the other is 160 acres with soybeans and corn. The smaller farm is owned by an old man who will be turning 95 yrs old this month and the other farm is owned by another old man that is 85 yrs old. They both push me so hard to do work on there property in order to have hunting rights. The oldest guy wants me to clear out all of the honey suckle on his entire property by hand and the other guy wants me to build a stone fire pit with benches made of logs from the property. This is only a small part of the things they want me to do this summer. My question is, how far would you guy's go before it's just not worth it anymore?

[AF Hunter]

How bad do you want to hunt those properties? Both are elderly men who have probably been working on the farm since they could walk. Small price to pay for permission to hunt someone elses property. It sure beats having to lease hunting land with $$$$. With the honey suckle you will need a herbicide like tordon (sp?) to keep the stumps from growing more limbs.

However, I would also explain that you also have other responsibilities and you'll do what you can but cannot ignore your duties.

[dstubb]

I really do want to hunt the property's and i intend on doing the work for the most part. The idea of clearing 50 acres of Honey Suckle by myself is kind of crazy. I cleared about an acre of it last summer and it is back breaking work and i did use a chemical on the stumps. I was just curious if any of you would go that far to hunt new property. The fact that these guy's are so old kind of scares me because they can't have much time left and once the are gone i will probably lose my hunting spots. It would be a lot better if i knew that i was investing on a piece of property that i could hunt for many years and possibly take my son to when he's old enough to hunt.

[AF Hunter]

Have you considered working out a purchase when they decide to hang it up (feasibly on the small property). It sucks doing a lot of hard work for nothing. If the honeysuckle is small enough use a brush hog.

[joshw020]

The fire pit/bench work, no prob . . .the 50 acrehoneysuckle clearing?? . . better be some massive bucks in the area

[JimPic]

That honeysuckle is a deer magnet.Clear that out and you might as well write that labor off because those deer will be gone.The oaks will hold some deer there but I'd build the pit and hunt the big farm