This week we dive into the latest project on Todd’s bowhunting property. Join us as he makes improvements to the creek bed in hopes of preventing erosion, and access issues in the future, and also improving the overall habitat along the way!
Todd’s Dream Hunting Property | Part 2 – The Clear Cut!
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Todd’s Dream Hunting Property | Part 1-
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This week on bow hunter die I work on One of the largest projects that I ever Have done on a piece of property before But before I spoil those details let's First talk about part one and part two If you've been following along I've been Sharing with you things that I've been Doing on my dream farm to make it the Best that I can part one I showed you Water holes and some other little tweaks You can do to your property make sure You get back and watch that video If you Haven't seen it in part two I share with You some logging projects that I'm Working on to be able to create younger Forests but for now we're going to talk About the stream Bank enhancement Project I worked on with nrcs this one Was a big one when I purchased the Property I knew that there were problems With the stream with how much erosion I Was having and there was one critical Piece where I figured after a few more Storms it was very possible it might Even be difficult for me to be able to Get to different parts of my property Luckily for me I was able to meet with Nrcs to come up with some solutions to Be able to really address the erosion And to be able to protect the stream for Many years to come this is a perfect Example I think when we met here a while Ago you pointed this one out to me but This is what pretty much the entire
Stream looks like come here and take a Look at this this is exactly the reason Why this program Is so important and needed and people Need to get involved and need to do Whatever they can do to help protect Our resources take a look at this here I Mean this is just the best example Shay I mean I don't know if it's the best Example but it's a good example it's a Dang good example of I mean if you walk Right there you're gonna fall right off That edge I mean literally During a flood stage this water comes Around and is just eroding all this Dirt Away I mean just taking acres and Acres Of property away I'm going to jump down Here just to show you How much we're talking about you know You've lost six feet Or you have a six foot raw bank right Here that's straight down Look at that and it's just all dirt I Mean there's nothing in here I mean you could just see the dirt just Giving away I mean the next time We get a heavy rain and that water comes In here it just keeps undermining Where the root system is and then Eventually this all just keeps caving in And it just ends up taking your property Okay I'm losing it here they keep taking Your property away just like it's taking Me
Um but yeah this is exactly the reason Why when I learned about this program I Was like we need to do this because I Was going to just keep losing acre an Acre in acres you can see a chunk of Grass just above you there that still Has grass on it that fell in recently Right here yeah yeah that's that's just From small storms wouldn't get a big Storm you're losing foot two foot of Soil hitting right here the water's Coming down straight down through here And hitting real hard you know and I Think this is a good example shape when We're standing here together you know Talking about root systems right I mean So when we're done with this project the Next thing we're going to be doing is Planting a nice border of switch grass And the cool thing about switchgrass Which a lot of people don't realize is Let's say your switchgrass stem is I Don't know four or five foot tall they Say that the root system is almost two To three times greater than what you see Above you know above the ground so what That root system can go way down in here And help stabilize the bank for years And with what we've done with all that Rock and the keys that they put in and How they have structurally engineered it That's going to keep that all together And when those roots start to grow from That switch grass it just locks it all
Together preventing this from happening In the future yeah a lot of people don't Realize that grass is a much better Stabilizer than trees a lot of people Want to keep the trees along the stream And Jay's talking about me right now yes We don't want those boxellar trees on The creek we'd rather have grass it Holds the soil much better than those Trees do the water hits those trees and Hits those roots and washes around them And cuts around those trees everyone's Seen trees falling into the creek Because of that process all right I'm Gonna let Jay win it's gonna I'm gonna Reduce the amount of trees on the edges Because Shea is a hundred percent Correct I mean Obviously I want to be able to see oak Trees and different types of trees to be Able to hunt from down the road in the Future but he is 100 correct and I mean It's my personal selflessness that wants To see those trees along you know these Streams but truthfully the grass is What's going to stabilize it the best For sure so absolutely I'm gonna let you Win Shay thanks Todd we're moving along Here and this is a spot that you know Shea kind of stopped us at this is one Of the first Um what they call reaches that we did With setting the rock but I think the Important thing is you know a lot of
Times you just see this rock you know For me who you know is brand new to this I just saw the rock along the bank and Your brain's just thinking oh okay let's Just rock along the bank but there's Really specific engineering plans that They kind of put together here and Honestly say you you know a lot more About this than I do and you're kind of Standing like right on it can you Explain to people what a key is and why It's important with the way the river is Going to run through here during a flood Stage of what will happen kind of in This critical spot right here yeah so That there's Rock back into the bank Here 18 feet back here and at least four Feet wide full of rotten the same rock You see right here and that prevents the Water from getting behind the stone toe Is what we call this rocking a bank so If the water Gets behind the stone tow It's more liable to wash it away from The bank with the keys it prevents the Water the main flow of the water anyway From getting behind the stone toe and it Holds it in place huh yeah well and of Course then with the way that goes way Back there once we get that planting Going That those roots will grow in lock those Rocks in there and just preserve it even Better you know obviously you're looking At this you're going like Todd how in
The heck are your deer going to cross This thing Um actually I'm hoping it slows them Down no I'm kidding Um both sides of the bank are not okay I'm gonna get the some sturdier ground Your brand all Brandon wants me to do is Fall in this this this Creek is what he Wants me to do Um We both sides of the bank are not being Done what they're really focusing on is When the water is hitting the most Heaviest erosion areas because not both Sides are being eroded at the same level So a lot of this rock will end up Getting to a reach we'll get to a point Where it will stop and then another will Pick up a little bit later so ultimate What happened is you know the deer will Learn where they can cross and where They can't cross so this is one of their Main Crossing areas we've got the stream Bank project right back here but this is Where they really like to cross so Want to make sure that we've got a nice Little crossing here Make another cool little spot to hunt Well I'm really feeling good about today Ben and his guys Have been working their tails off Getting this stream Bank project done Hopefully with a little bit of luck and No broken equipment everything will go
Smooth today and we will be putting the Final touches on The stream Bank Project we've got the last I don't know Maybe Maybe 100 feet to go so Gonna try to get this knocked out today Get her all done start working on the Planting and the habitat and start Getting this place settled down because There's been a lot of activity here the Last And like a year and a half to be honest With you so this is looking pretty good Unfortunately the drought has definitely Prevented some of the switch grass from Getting as good of a start as I was Hoping but the oats that we planted are Definitely preserving the bank and it's Just gonna be a matter of time until Those switch grass plantings start to Take off it's been about two months now And I finally was able to get Beth from The Office back out to the property to Be able to see all the enhancements now That they've been finished and she Shares with us a little more information About nrcs and equip programs well Beth Thanks so much for coming out here today I mean I can't believe we're standing Here now in July and the project is Completely finished but this was a big One for me guys I know you've been Watching the show you've been hearing
About some of the different projects I've been working on my property here Beth is with the nrcs office and Ultimately it was Beth who kind of saw What I was doing down here and it was Her kind of paying attention to my Property when we were here kind of Touring the property and looking at some Different things for some completely Different projects and they were of much Smaller scale you know we were looking At doing a little bit of tree work over Here off my right shoulder we were Actually up on that Hillside we were Looking at a nice little uh hazelnut Grove that we had over there we were Going to do some hinge cutting in there To try to drop those trees to kind of Really get that to grow but we were up On that Hillside and Beth's like gosh That stream of yours really is super Beautiful but man the erosion on that is Terrible and I was like I mean I kind of knew when I bought the Property of like you know uh yeah I mean I knew it was bad and I knew it wasn't The greatest and kind of driving around The county I mean you do driving through This whole kind of dripless area as they Call it you know going into the town Over here I mean there's a lot of areas Where it's super bad so I just kind of Fear like ah you know I guess that's Just the way it is and you know I just
Kind of figured it was way out of my Reach to ever you know with my equipment And my expertise to really go in and be Able to fix anything like that but you Know you were standing back on the Hillside right over there and you're Like you know we should take a look at That because it's not going to be long And there's on this piece of property There's this this way the creek flows There's this kind of like pinch point And I I mean a few events of flooding And eventually that was going to just Kind of erode away and then literally it Would make it very difficult for me to Access a big portion of my property and It's just getting worse and I'm losing Some really good you know ground down Here and it's just kind of a shame so Beth you were like gosh we should take a Look at that because there are programs Through nrcs and equip or a program Specifically called equip I guess it's Called yeah that could help assist in a A situation like that so Bethany and I'm Going to stop doing all the talking here If you can kind of share with us you Know who the nrcs is what you guys do Yeah and then maybe even talk a little Bit about the programs that'd be great Sure yeah the nrcs is a agency within The Department of Agriculture and we are Located we have field offices in just About every County in the whole U.S and
Even beyond that as well so if you're Looking for a neighborhood nrcs office You could type that into Google and Probably be able to find one in your Local area or within your within a Couple of counties around you the thing That people don't realize is it's really Just a phone call away I mean at the end Of the day you know they're not Here to necessarily police us or say hey You know what are you doing over there I Mean at the end of the day it's really About helping protect resources I mean You know what we all live on the same Planet here we're all trying to do the Best that we can do with the resources That we have and you know what we do up Here does affect people Downstream so This was just a great program for me Specifically when Beth picked it out Because it was something that you know It was a number one really needed needs To be done it needs to be done quite Frankly in a lot more areas and I think Beyond doing programs as large as this There are smaller things that can be Done too I mean it doesn't always Necessarily have to be this large of a Scale of a project I mean I know just Working with you Beth and beginning to Learn more about this stuff I mean it Could be as simple as you know a Waterway that gets eroded all the time It could be as simple as you know you've
Got a forest that really just needs some Help and needs some new tree growth and You're just not sure what there's a lot Of different things to help you with Yeah um yeah Now I want to talk a little bit more About this particular project because There was a I mean I'm not going to lie Like when Beth brought it up to me and Then I started meeting Shea too and both You guys were working together and kind Of telling me about you know how many Loads of rock was gonna have to be Brought down here and how much work was Going to have to be done you know I Gotta admit I was like oh man I don't Know if I want to you know screw up my Deer hunting season I don't know if I Want to you know scare all the deer away I'm ridiculous you know the deer as soon As as soon as the contractors will leave The deer are right back in here Wondering what's going on you know this It's silly we even think that way but Um you know as I began got a little bit More familiar with the project and as You begin to kind of show me you know The benefits that I was going to Ultimately do in the long run and how Much you know ground and dirt and Topsoil I was losing It made a lot of sense you know so and In time you know of course right now you Know we're going to show some you know
Videos and stuff like that but I mean You're still looking at it in its very Early stages like I mean the rock is Still kind of getting settled in the Switch grass unfortunately because we've Been in a terrible drought this year Just really hasn't you know poked its Head out yet I I know that we've got a Lot more hot weather coming down the Road here so I'm hoping that's going to Kind of get up and get going here soon Because once that root structure really Starts to lock in those rocks and really Gets along this entire Creek line here I'm really done a good thing not just For my property but even Downstream for The next bigger event that we have yeah Now when it comes to the cost here I Know that's a big thing that people ask About is like oh boy you know Ty did you Have to pay for that you know is there Assistance and of course you know yes I Did have to use my own Financial Resources for sure yes I was you know Lucky enough to be able to be a part of This equip program and and have a cost Year and I think that's good because at The end of the day you know you know When you're using your own money you Know you're also you know paying a lot More attention to because you know it's Not just oh I got these trees for free I Don't I don't necessarily care what Happens to them you know and and that's
Sometimes how people think right and That's not the case with this particular Project you know there was a cost here And of course you know what I want to Make sure That this is going to be as successful As possible because you know I want it To last and I want it to be really good For the future so in 100 million years Honestly I never would have thought that We would have been able to accomplish This amazing thing that we accomplished Down here I mean seriously like I I just did you know and truly Beth if It wasn't for you up there with Ellen And we were I mean literally I mean if You would not have opened your mouth and Said boy wow that's a project that needs To be addressed and we have some Resources to be able to help with that Like seriously I would not have been Able to get that absolutely accomplished And the reality is so some people be Like oh so what Todd it's just a creek Or stream well the reality is you know Five years 10 years 15 years from now That would have cut off and it would Have been a problem and then I would Have been trying to figure out how I'm Going to cross the creek and quite Frankly it probably would have devalued The property over time and and what I Really have done now is really just made The property that much better so yeah
Again Beth I appreciate your office and All the help that I've received from you Guys over there Um and uh hopefully there'll be a few More projects down the road that we can Keep on enhancing the property yeah yeah Speaking of more projects the next time You see me will be part 4 of our video Series we're going to share with you all The different tree plantings and shrub Plantings that I've been planting on the Property to increase my overall habitat Base