Safety First

We first tried to get a handle on just what we have.  We have walked as much of the property as we can and driven some too.  I think it is invaluable to know what we own.  Like any other purchase we make, we want to know every detail.  This was really hard to do with this much land.  We could walk nonstop for a week and not see everything.  Also, a farm is everchanging.  The wildlife, flowers, shrubs, trees, etc all change daily. 

Ok first we checked for safety issues. There was an old homestead house and several outbuildings that were falling down.  For the safety of our family and pets, as well as anyone visiting--they needed to go.  A visitor came by one day and proceeding to walk in the old house and fell through the floor.  This is a liability waiting to happen.  So cleaning up was the first order of business. 

Next, we needed to get rid of some barbed wire problems.    We have dogs that we field trial.  Dogs can run 20-30 miles per hour.  Barbed wire can kill them, along with standing implements in the field etc.  We cut out some barbed wire fencing that wasn't bordering property and had no use whatsoever but to trip us. 

We also are at the end of a road but the road is not marked as a dead end.  Vehicles drive back here as well as interested neighbors.  When they see a huge excavator--neighbors are sure to show up to see what's going on.  We need to get fencing fixed and gates up to keep intruders out.  Hunters have used this land for years without permission and for safety sake we need to get this marked and protected.  
I found some great information about marking trees for no hunting:

http://www.mdc.mo.gov/documents/conmag/2009/20090901.pdf