MikeA57
Silver Member
I've mentioned before that we were given permission to hunt approx. 100 acres inside the levee right on the MS river. We went there early on in the summer and bushhogged a road up about 1/3 mile into the property. (The property extends about 1 mile in length and averages about 800-1000' in depth right up to the bluff that borders the river.) The place hadn't been properly cared for, for many years so it was completely overgrown and impassable in some areas. But a day on a tractor with a BH and a skid steer with a grapple made quick work of a lot of overgrowth. We didn't make it to the big area though that we wanted to clear for a large food plot.
We planned on continuing the work in a couple of weeks but then it got really hot and we didn't even venture down there all summer. We finally got back over to the place last weekend after our dove shoot and I couldn't believe it. The weeds had grown up completely all over again and were over 6' high and thicker than before I think. I drove my truck through there are far as I dared but turned around after going in about 500'. After we passed over the weeds they sprang back up and completely concealed my truck. We decided to come back this past weekend and cut again and try to disc some too. I had my tractor ready with the 6' BH and a friend has a new Kubota 4WD with a 5' disc that he was going to bring also.
When we drove onto the property I could immediately tell that somebody had been there since last weekend. The firebreak between two sections of the place was overgrown last week but still had a path to drive through to the edge of the bluff. Now though it looked like a parade had passed through! Weeds and growth were beat down and twisted all over the place and when we came to the edge of the river the access that we had down to it last week was now cleared and had dirt and sand pushed over the edge so we couldn't even attempt to get down there. When I looked north though I was shocked to see a 16' wide road cut all the way up right at the edge of the bluff that leads down to the river. We quickly unloaded the 4 wheeler and my son and his friend rode up the road to see how far it went. Come to find out it went WAY beyond our northern border. The bulldozer was still there so they apparently aren't finished yet.
So the COE came in and did what for us what we had planned on doing ourselves which is great. The only problem is I don't know if they are just putting the road in or if they will be back to do more work along the river. We figure they may be getting ready to dredge some sand out from between the jetties that extend out into the river right there or they may be planning on putting more rip rap on the bluff leading down to the river. This area took a direct hit from all the flooding last year so who knows what they may be doing. I contacted the land owner this morning and he said they hadn't told him they were doing anything but then again, they never do he said. I would just like to know how long they will be in and out of there. If it's going to be months, then hunting there this year may be wrecked...
The other thing I'm worried about is keeping people off our land once it gets out that there's a nice road cut through there. I've already heard reports that others right in that area have lost lots of trail cams and deer stands to thieves before this road went in. And we've seen evidence of people having been there when we aren't.
A couple of pictures are included. One is the road that was cleared. If you look at the growth in the foreground, you'll see what the whole area looked like before they cleared it. The other is the sandy beach that I knew was there but I just couldn't access it until they cleared along the bluff edge.
We planned on continuing the work in a couple of weeks but then it got really hot and we didn't even venture down there all summer. We finally got back over to the place last weekend after our dove shoot and I couldn't believe it. The weeds had grown up completely all over again and were over 6' high and thicker than before I think. I drove my truck through there are far as I dared but turned around after going in about 500'. After we passed over the weeds they sprang back up and completely concealed my truck. We decided to come back this past weekend and cut again and try to disc some too. I had my tractor ready with the 6' BH and a friend has a new Kubota 4WD with a 5' disc that he was going to bring also.
When we drove onto the property I could immediately tell that somebody had been there since last weekend. The firebreak between two sections of the place was overgrown last week but still had a path to drive through to the edge of the bluff. Now though it looked like a parade had passed through! Weeds and growth were beat down and twisted all over the place and when we came to the edge of the river the access that we had down to it last week was now cleared and had dirt and sand pushed over the edge so we couldn't even attempt to get down there. When I looked north though I was shocked to see a 16' wide road cut all the way up right at the edge of the bluff that leads down to the river. We quickly unloaded the 4 wheeler and my son and his friend rode up the road to see how far it went. Come to find out it went WAY beyond our northern border. The bulldozer was still there so they apparently aren't finished yet.
So the COE came in and did what for us what we had planned on doing ourselves which is great. The only problem is I don't know if they are just putting the road in or if they will be back to do more work along the river. We figure they may be getting ready to dredge some sand out from between the jetties that extend out into the river right there or they may be planning on putting more rip rap on the bluff leading down to the river. This area took a direct hit from all the flooding last year so who knows what they may be doing. I contacted the land owner this morning and he said they hadn't told him they were doing anything but then again, they never do he said. I would just like to know how long they will be in and out of there. If it's going to be months, then hunting there this year may be wrecked...
The other thing I'm worried about is keeping people off our land once it gets out that there's a nice road cut through there. I've already heard reports that others right in that area have lost lots of trail cams and deer stands to thieves before this road went in. And we've seen evidence of people having been there when we aren't.
A couple of pictures are included. One is the road that was cleared. If you look at the growth in the foreground, you'll see what the whole area looked like before they cleared it. The other is the sandy beach that I knew was there but I just couldn't access it until they cleared along the bluff edge.
