More Images

Years prior to our occupation, the land was used by another hunting club. They took good care of the property, for the most part, even erecting signs to designate internal trails. I can't figure out why the prior lessees never ran electricity of water to the place. The odd name for this trail is explained in the photograph below.

This bus is in the middle of the property. It's not like it's close to the road, or that it still has the engine in it, or even wheels. It's an empty, hulking hull in the middle of the woods. How does this get here?

Here is a singular aspect of the property. Right off a nice food plot is this ridiculous red-neck penthouse. Seriously, a wooden box over a shallow hole with a toilet seat on top. Did people actually take care of business on this thing? I can picture some half asleep redneck sitting on this thing, gun in hand. The problem is, it's close, but not all that close to the camp. A person would have to walk a good 150 yards through the woods to get here. It ruins the whole food plot. I'm sure we will take this thing out in the summer when we fix up the plot. At least I hope we do.

Deeper and deeper into the woods is this old cattle pond. It's actually a cool little place. Very peaceful, with a thick, sturdy levee. Someone thought there was fish in here because I found some fishing implements along the levee. Three well worn paths converge at the pond. There is also a nice food plot here with plenty of deer sign. I set up one of my cameras here.

As you can see, the food plots are in bad shape. We can really make large improvements to this property by reworking the food plots. This tripod overlooks the plot. To this point, it's actually, the only place on the property that someone has seen a deer. Jay saw what he called a large bodied buck rubbing his antlers in a cedar tree earlier in the season. Today, I saw large tracks in the mud.

Every time I go to the property, it's another wonderful experience. Today, I started taking some of these ribbon trails that lead off into the woods. I've found these ribbon trails lead to the best parts of the property. This one in particular lead from the Main Camp Road towards the Creek. It crossed the creek and stopped in a hardwood bottom that calls my name. This picture is taken on the West side of the creek, looking into the bottom. A wall of young pine trees climbs up the hill in the background. I'm hoping there enough acorns left to draw in some deer hoping to get fat before the winter's over.

The past owners made this lane into a food plot. Clover, partially submerged. The woods are so thick over here, unless the deer walked into the food plot, you'd never see them.

The far South part of the property. This trail dead ends into the Creek. A ribbon trail leads off to the East, over the Creek and eventually into young pines. Lots of hardwoods around here along with some tall pines perfect for climbers.

Here is the creek. It runs from North to South the entire height of the property (1 mile). Plenty of signs of beaver. I've heard them out there.

A picture of the old home place at the camp site. It is falling down badly. I don't think it could ever be salvaged. You can see the water well off the porch. Hopefully, it has good water and all we'll need is a pump.

First Images of the Property

Here is a photograph of the campsite. There are numerous buildings here, remnants from the prior owners, including a decaying house, outhouse, and collapsed barn, and this barn. It has been reinforced recently to prevent it, too, from falling down. The roof is adequate to keep out the rain. Presently, we store equipment here. The picture is taken with my back to the skinning area. The skinning area is nothing more than a 2 x 8 nailed between two trees. We found a good gut bucket in the woods, left by prior lessees. Eventually, we will improve the site by spreading gravel and connecting electricity. There is also an old well off the house's porch. We may want to add a pump at a later date.

Numerous trails dissect the property. This one leads directly from the campsite and dead ends on a ridge approximately 150 to 200 yards away. All the trails are in good condition, with very few exceptions. The woods on this portion of the property are old and thick. The Forestry Management Report indicates they should be cut this year; however, the County Forester was not willing to confirm that.

The above-described trail dead ends at this small clover plot. It sits on a natural ridge overlooking old woods and valleys. Plenty of hardwoods mixed in with pines at this location. This plot will probably be popular with late arriving hunters. It is unlikely many deer will be sighted here due to its close proximity to the camp.



This shooting house adequately overlooks the food plot pictured below. Looking to the left from the house, you can see down a shooting lane, visibility good for approximately 100 yards. Another, less visible lane extends to the right. Cars passing on Scarborough Road can be seen in the Winter.

Rather than traveling to this house, you can continue on a trail known as Gully Road. This road parallels the Northern border before cutting south and leading toward Little Limestone Creek. The trail eventually fades away, giving way to a ribbon trail that leads to a hardwood bottom. There presently is no permanent stand located here; however, it appears to be a good location for hunting and perfect for a climbing stand.

Small field of clover in the middle of thirteen year old plantation pines on the North part of the property. Access to this plot is obtained by taking the Northern most access trail from Scarborough Road. The small shooting house in the photograph above overlooks this plot. Again, this plot is not far from Scarborough Road. In fact, cars passing on the road are visible from the shooting house through a lane.

Food plot on the South side of the property, approximately fifty yards from Scarborough Road, looking from West to East. A trail runs along the length of the food plot on the South side of the tree line on the right. This allows you to move across to the other side of the plot without passing through the actual plot. At present, we have a ladder stand attached to the pine tree at the left of this photograph. This will probably be moved to the other side of the food plot to provide better cover. Indications show that the deer enter the plot from the East, and from the South. To the South lies private property owned by Spot Scarborough, including a small lake. Tell-tale signs further indicate the deer move along the levee of this lake and up to the food plot.