Bush-hogging the Hunting Preserve

Our farm is surrounded on two sides by an almost-400-acre hunting preserve that is owned by a bank which also harvests lumber from time to time.  There are about a dozen people on the hunting lease, including Herb and me.  It helps the hunters to have an active member living in our house since the only entrance to the hunting preserve branches off our driveway.

So far, we've only used the hunting preserve as a place for Herb to jog and a place for us to ride when it isn't hunting season.  Perhaps this year Herb will get his hunting license and take advantage of his privilege of hunting since he's agreed to my plea that we not hunt on our own land.  The animals we enjoy watching are safe here!

Recently Jeff, the man in charge of the lease, asked Herb if he would be willing to bush-hog the roads so the hunters' vehicles aren't damaged by the brambles.  The first morning I rode along with Herb.

 Here's Herb on our Kubota, ready to go.  I rode along perched on the left fender (which is a big cramped on this small tractor).  DO NOT try this at home!  It is definitely not safe to ride "piggyback" on a tractor, so--just like mom always said--"Do as I say, not as I do!"

Right next to our driveway where the hunting road branches off, we found a peach tree growing at the edge of the woods.  Who knows how many years it has been there, but it actually has peaches (there's one in the center of the photo) and looks much better than the one we planted in our orchard two years ago!

It took three passes with the 5-foot bush-hog in mos to get the 15-foot clearance Jeff wanted, although in some places the road remained pretty bare.

In other places the road was badly washed with steep banks that were difficult to mow, and in those places I got down rather than risk falling off if I couldn't hang on.

It was really hot, and we appreciated whenever a shady spot beckoned ahead of us.  It was palpably cooler in the shade.

After several hours, we came to an open area where wild blackberry bushes were growing laden with ripe, juicy fruit.  I suggested a break and a snack . . .

. . . and here I am with my spoils.  Wild berries are always wonderful, but I've never had any that tasted that good after a hot morning's work.

While Herb bush-hogged around a fallen hunters' blind, I stood in the shade to finish my berries--and found wild muscadines growing!  We will definitely have to come back here later.

This place may not look like much apart from the view of Lookout Mountain, but I christened it Orchard Knob because of the grapes and berries.  Now this is the kind of hunting ground I like!