Hey guys just wanted to share with you guys my bad luck that turned into quite a blessing. This spring my brother-in-law and I lost our hunting lease. Well, basically the owner of the land decieded to raise the lease price to double what the land was worth and we deciede to let it go. It was 140 acres that was pretty good deer hunting, not great, but ok. It held a lot of memories as my B.I.L had been hunting that same land for about 15 years, killed a lot of deer and put a lot of hard work into it. I had only been hunting it with him for 2 years, but had grown somewhat attached for some odd reason. It was just enough land for the two of us to hunt. Well after letting it go B.I.L got a promotion at work and it looks like he will have very little if any time to hunt this comming season so he was probably just going to hunt national forrest land when he could get away. I was having a hard time finding land to lease and it was begining to look like a public land year for me also.

Well the wife and I just got back from a beach trip where we took another couple that we are very close to, had a ball. Over the trip somehow hunting came up and my friend expressed an interest in learning how. He is somewhat familar with guns and shooting just never hunted growing up. We have shoot skeet together and I believe that really turned him on to the idea of shooting other things. He lives out in the country on 10 acres with a pond that is covered up with deer, they have seen a nice buck, and a good number of does frequently. Here is where it gets good. Him, his father, and brother are in the procces of buying 350 acres that border his land. On the other side of the 350 acres is a state park that is loaded with dumb what I call "park deer" that surely roam in and out of those 350 acres. He has hiked over much of the 350 and told me he found plenty of tree stands and green fields where the past owner much have hunted it quite a bit. (the past owner lost the land in bankrupcey) Well my good budy gave me full permission to hunt the land and fish the pond as much as I want, as long as I teach him how to hunt. Not only have I gained a wonderfull place to hunt, but also a great hunting buddy. I start scouting the land this week. I already have good arial maps of it. I couldn't be happier, what a gift my friend has given me. I went from no place to hunt to 350 acres that from what little scouting I have done seem to be loaded with deer. The Lord really blessed me this time.

Now a few questions. Its been a while since I did any real green field hunting. I remember reading somewhere that before you plant a field you should do a PH test of the soil as you probably will need to put lyme down before you plant. Anyone heard of that, if so could you point me in the right direction for finding a PH tester kit. Also what would you reccomend planting in central alabama. I'll try to remember to take my camera with me this week when I scout it and take a few pics to post here for you guys.

Get in touch with your local farm co-op or if you can't find them, try a local college agriculture deptartment. In either case you'll find all the help you need for planting. Most co-op's will do the testing for free or for a minimal fee. Most colleges will do everything for free and supply free labor as well using it as "field experience" for thier students. in the process of getting the help you need, you'll be learning a lot too. If you leave out the "hunting" and just say you're wanting to plant feed for wildlife, most times you can get all the seed and whatever for free as well. In some cases, colleges will provide equipment too.

Another avenue to explore is the state wildlife/game&fish department. They can sometimes be a lot of help considering the land borders state land, may provide services and supplies as well.

In any case, you'll not only get the help you need but also get some community PR exposure too.

Like my wife always tells me, "don't dwell on the negatives or you'll never see the good things and they will just pass you by and leave you with only discontent."

Corn and clover.

Mark, That's a good woman you've got there.
Dan