Driving to your Property?

[3RRL]

It's really interesting how so many of us have that urge to travel hundreds of miles to get to our private rural place. Some posters don't have to go quite as far and I envy them for that. In my case, that's not possible so I had to find a place where it seemed I was out in the wilderness.

My hunting budy and I drew an elk tag for New Mexico in 2000. Been sending in for the draw for at least 10 years and finally got picked that year. I was really excited because we had paid for our guide (New Mexico Big Game Hunting) as well. Well, our hunt was last week in September, I believe. That coming July 21st (my birthday) I was driving my Harley home from work and had just moved into the mutual center lane to turn to my street. At that moment, some guy in a pick up truck also swung into that lane from the opposite direction and ran over me. Totaled the Harley and almost killed me. I ended up with a broken leg and shoulder...my shooting shoulder at that. Needless to say, I missed that hunt and have regretted it ever since. My buddy went and killed a huge 6 by.

Never been to New Mexico either except driving around the outskirts of El Paso when we crossed the border for a few miles. I'd sure like to get picked again, but I doubt that will happen.

 

[scott_vt]

R Walter,
Beautiful property for sure! I think I could get lost on that much land /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Enjoy your new place!

scotty

 

[EddieWalker]

I've hunted New Mexico twice. Once for elk along the Arizona border with a muzzle loader. I didn't see allot of animals. Usually just a few a day, some days none. I did get up on one huge bull, but couldn't get a shot on him. If I had an antelope tag, I had several chances at some really nice bucks. Never saw a decent mule deer either.

The other time was also with a muzzle loader for Ibex in the Florida Mtns. Two weeks hiking around that mountain destroyed my boots and the wind tore apart my tent. I saw animals everyday, but never got within range of a shot. They are the most alert, spookiest animals I've ever seen. I could watch them at several hundred yards, but the slightest movement and they were gone.

Two trips, and two empty tags.

Eddie

 

[3RRL]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Two trips, and two empty tags)</font>

Been there...done that.

My hunting buddy lives in Montana and I get drawn for Elk up there like every-other year or so. We'd hunt the wilderness area in the Absoroka Bear Tooth Mountains so you never know what you're gonna get. Spent several hunting trips where I never touched off a round! One thing you can count on though is the "dinner bell" bear. An old 800 lb Grizzley that got used to hearing a gunshot and finding a gut pile. So he'd come out after a hearing a rifle report. We always had to quarter and load our meat asap to get the heck out of there before he showed up.

If you want good mule deer, The best and most I've ever come across was in Utah. I hunted with Rulan Jones who used to play tight end for the Broncos. He was all-pro about 6 times and man, that guy can walk you under the table at those altitudes! Anyway, he leases 20,000 acres of BLM to hunt on. Mule deer all over the place. You could really watch for days until you found your "trophy" and take him on the last day. I shot this one while still in velvet. It was late September.

 

[stumpfield]

3RRL: We do almost the samething like you. Live in Southern Cal (san gabriel valley) and drive 320 miles to our rural property in Mariposa. So far, we cut 1/2 mile of driveway and graded the building pad. Septic is done. Probably going to drill the well in the next few weeks when the rain stops. All the permits have been approved. Will starting building in the spring. Still undecided on where the well should be located. I had a hard time getting good opinion from the well drillers.

 

[3RRL]

stumpfield,
You're not too far from me then. Your drive is a little longer than mine but we both have that L.A. traffic to contend with getting out of town. If it wasn't for that, I bet I could cut about ½ hour out of the drive. It's always fater leaving Saturday morning than Friday night.

Too bad you couldn't use the guys who drilled my well. They were excellent. As a matter of fact, there's a thread about well drilling/ pounding going concurrently in the same forum. There has been some interesting discussion and you may want to check it out. Mariposa has some nice country. Elegantly beautiful up there. How much property do you have? How long do you stay? Camp?

 

[stumpfield]

We have 120 acres. Our property is one of the smallest parcel in the area and is in a land conservation area. Our nearest neighbor is about 1 mile away. All the properties around us are much larger. It's like another world. I'm counting the days to when we will be moving there full-time.
We spoke to 3 well drillers in the area. All seem to want to drill where it's convienient for their drilling rig. None of them seem very enthusiastic about finding water or sugguest a location for our situtation. I had a hard time getting them to return phone calls or willing to give me a written estimate. One guy in Oakhurst I spoke with over the phone seen very helpful. We'll meet him the next time we're over there. May be I should start a thread here so I can learn from your experience. 3RRL: I check out your web site. The pictures look great. Looks like we are neighbors in So Cal. I live in northeast claremont near the border of upland.

 

[3RRL]

stumpfiel,
Yup, we're very close....only a few miles away. I live right on Red Hll CC.

You're right about those guys wanting a level area to drill. I had to hire my road guy to come and level the area where we wanted the well. That was before I got my tractor. But it was worth it because I got the well where I wanted it and on the right location. Since then, I've graded more and more in that area to make room for the water tank, propane tank, solar battery house and also an area for my future barn/shop. As it turned out, it was a good thing HE did the first grading becuse of all the granite he hit cutting down one area to level it.

The problem with all of us who drive to their rural property is we can only be there for short periods. It's hard to schedule enough time off to be there to watch improvements made. So far we've managed to take our vacation time to be there such as the well drilling. Not quite sure how it's going to play out when we start construction of the house and solar system. I might have to camp out for several days during the week to keep an eye on the progress? It's OK for me, but my wife still works full time so she'll just have to come up on weekends. Anyway, there is a 9 hole golf course there so I can sharpen up my game? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[stumpfield]

3RRL: I want to ask a real dumb question. How do you determine what's consider a favorable location for your well? If you don't mind sharing your knowledge on how to make that conclusion on "This is the perfect location for me!" The problem I have is that I don't even know what's good for me.... I don't mind grading a road/area specifically for the well/tank if I know it's the best location comparing to else where on the property. Just like choosing a building site. Given our priority was privacy and a great view, we don't mind cutting 1/2 mile driveway just to get there. For the well, our priority is lots of "usable water".

 

[3RRL]

I'll answer in your well thread.