Closed on 220 acres in Haskell county Texas end of March. Always hunted friends, family or leased land, so figuring out this calling all the shots, ownership thing. Purchased travel trailer, utv, 40' shipping container and a couple of cell game cams. Sellers left two 1,000 pound ASF feeders and one fiberglass tower blind. County water meter and electric connections ordered. Looking for a tractor and base material for roads and RV pad. Place is mostly treed, with old 70 acre wheat field in back and live water creek through middle. Surrounded by cultivated field, mostly wheat and cotton, with no neighbors. Far as f€£k, but land prices went nuts and was last driving to Leakey and D'Hanis leases and I'm not getting any younger.

Going to be asking a ton of questions and sharing the journey. Already have feeders throwing corn, with protein and alfalfa out too, within 40' round goat panel feed pens. Have seen a few deer, lots of pigs, lots of mallards, dove and quail. Have not hunted this area since I was a kid growing up in Abilene, but remember it being really good.

Start slow. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your ranch. Make a list of order of importance and slowly knock them out.

You will find that the hunting aspect, although important, isn’t gonna be the sole focus of property ownership.

Understood. Excited, so hard not to go at it full bore. But, have a plan to get camp set up and startcutting senderos, grubbing and shredding. Going to see how we like it for a few years and consider doing a barndo and retiring out there. So, not just hunting. Cattle, horses and such may be in the future. Already got with county ag fellow to look at our options, ag exemptions and government programs.

Stoked watching the deer n other critters on cams now.

Enjoy, and good luck!

Man, Houston to Haskell is a looooong drive. Almost 7 hours one way to hunt/check animals. If you're going for the weekend you will literally spend more time in the car driving there than actual hunting. I would be retiring real soon if I were you lol.

Congrats, enjoy the journey and take a lot of pics of the transformation,, in time you will understand it will be the hardest yet most rewarding job you’ve ever had in your entire life but worth every second you spent doing it.

Loving the dream! I’m only 31 and it’s a dream of mine to do this but with current prices and salary’s here I think it will be a next life time adventure look forward to more posts

CONGRATS on your place! Beautiful country out there & Nothing like pulling up to your own gate! Good Luck & Enjoy!!

Congrats! Bucks are more weary in this country so make sure you set up any blind that is not concealed 200 yards from your feeder pens…..

Just one piece of advice.

Get a big, stout track skid steer. As well as as much tractor as you can afford, with no loader.

My place is not as big as yours, but those are the pieces of equipment I have. The skid steer gets used 52 weeks a year. Often, the tractor sits in the shed all winter. I have a 2018 Kubota SVL-95 skid steer with dirt bucket, grapple bucket, pallet forks and have borrowed or rented several other implements. My tractor is a 1977 John Deere 4430. It's old and leaks hydraulic fluid, but it does lots of work when needed. 15 foot batwing mower, 20 foot disc plow, 3 point road grader, 45 foot trailer type spray rig.

At least build an equipment shed with the opening facing north. East, west, and south walls. That will keep equipment in the shade, all day, all year long. Stop the south wall a foot or two from the roof. That lets the strong north winds flow through and not rip apart the building.

And as Ol Thumper said, "it will be the hardest and most rewarding job you've ever had in your entire life."

Congrats!

Congratulations on buying your own piece of heaven! I bought my place 5 years ago and love every minute I’m there.
I looked at some nice land in Haskell County but they lacked easy access to electricity. Having easy access to water and electric is a great start. Good luck!

Just plant about 15 acres of the old field and hunt. Talk to feedstore and they will get someone local to do it if you not ready to do it yourself.

First, congrats, your own place is very satisfying.


trophy85, I get the feeling he won't do it all real quick.

OP, you'll be hot and heavy at first, it's uncontrollable. Then, as it takes its toll on you physically and mentally, you'll sit and have that beer a little earlier in the evenings. Eventually, you'll even sit to eat your lunch. I used to go full throttle from sun up to sun down, now I enjoy what I've created, until after dinner and a few drinks then I'm out like an old man. I hope everything goes good getting water connected. It's not an option for me and my well is no longer pumping potable water. I have to bring my drinking/cooking water with me. Is the trailer temporary? I ask because if not, a septic system would be high on the list for me.

Dang right Gary!

It is a marathon, not a sprint.

Make a list, then prioritize it. Have things that can be done if it's muddy. When the ground is dry, work on the things that require dry ground. My first task was widening the culvert (which the county did) adding gravel, then building the entryway and hanging gates so I could lock it up. Open driveway encourages trespassing, closed gates do work.

Congrats on getting your new place!

Congratulations on the land!!!

Congratulations. I miss my old place.

Nice

Make sure you have a exemption in place or that tax bill will slap ya.. Wildlife are easy to obtain... Secondly find a local hay guy that wants to plant that field fo you.....Several ways to work the deal where you are not out of pocket but reap the rewards of having a green field in Nov and Dec

You are going to have all kinds of new "friends" now. Make sure to have a solid plan as who gets to come and visit and who doesn't. You let someone on the first time and it is hard to say no the second time for whatever reason.

Congratulations. I hope that you have many great years on it.

This - for sure!

Personally, I let my generosity get way ahead of my management ideas the first year. Not that I am unwilling to share my good fortune, in any way . . . but you can only "share" so much before you quickly run into danger of shooting more than the land can possibly support.

I am still as generous with invitations. My friends now enjoy coming out for comradery and campfires and they seem to enjoy the secluded weekends just as much.

Good luck. You will have a lot of fun.