Doing the work

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It was just good daylight, cloudy and cool. Clayton and I met at our Clarendon County property early last Saturday morning. We needed to trim the shooting lanes on one of our stands and put out some corn.

There is a new deer path that leads from a nearby bean field, crosses in front of the stand and leads to a small pond on our property. The pond is the only standing water in the vicinity, and the deer are using it heavily.

We had just arrived and were getting our tools together when I was surprised to get a text from my nephew Davy.

"I put out 2 bags of corn last week when I put this stand up, and the corn is half way gone."

He had installed a ladder stand in the edge of a small cut-over the week before. Evidently, it was in a good place.

I answered his text, "we're out here now, putting out corn."

He answered "really, where?"

My answer, "Clayton's stand."

In a few minutes, Clayton said, "I see headlights." It was Davy's truck, coming out of an old road that leads to the cut-over.

I was delighted to see him. Davy works construction and has been out of town for a while. We leaned against the truck and talked about deer, hunting and just life in general for a long time. By now, the sun was out and it was getting warm, but I didn't care.

When Davy left, Clayton and I took the limb saw, lopping shears and a machete into the stand. I went back to the truck and got a bag of shelled corn. I spread the corn up and down the shooting lane while Clayton chopped some of the switch cane back at the end of the lane to improve visibility. I cut some of the small encroaching brush with the lopping shears.

Clayton climbed into the stand and directed me to cut some of the higher limbs that were partially blocking the view of the shooting lane from the stand. I also trimmed some of the limbs to improve the visibility of the deer path where it crosses a nearby ditch. The limb saw will extend to 16 feet and is indispensable for this kind of work.

Our work was finished here, and we were both soaked in sweat. It was time to take a break. I had packed some drinks in a small cooler but left it sitting on the counter at home. Luckily, Clayton had brought a cooler with drinks and snacks.

After a short break, we got in the truck and headed to the high country in northern Sumter County. I needed to do pretty much the same thing to a new stand I had recently installed there. On the way, I stopped by the house to get my cooler and a trail camera.

At the property, we stopped to look at the chufa patch Ed and I had planted. Clayton was amazed. I think it is the best plot that I have ever grown. It's thick, dark green and lush. I hope the turkeys like it.

We moved on to the new stand. It is on a mound near The Boat, deep in the piney woods. I needed to add a ratchet strap to the stand and trim a couple of short shooting lanes that look down on a trail that passes in front of the stand. This time I sat in the stand and directed Clayton to cut. I got down and trimmed a little of the brush along the trail. I tried to keep the disturbance to a minimum, and I will not likely put out corn here. Probably just a mineral rock. I was too tired to mess with the camera and will come back one day soon and put it on a tree pointed toward the trail.

When we were leaving, I got a text from the Fort Mill guys. They were headed to the property. Scott and John are good people and good hunters. And, just like me, they don't mind doing the work. They were coming to work on some stands. I needed to head home to get ready for my niece's birthday party and had to leave. I'll see them next time; there will be more work to do.

Reach Dan Geddings at cdgeddings@gmail.com.