Buffalo Dan's Bison

Finding most of the boundaries took less time than I had anticipated.  All of the work I had done studying the plat, digitizing it, and entering the coordinates into my GPS were well worth the effort.  I also found the metal detector to be useful for finding more than just survey markers.  It can also detect the remnants of old barbed-wire that has long since rusted away and fallen to the ground.  This is a good indicator of an old property boundary.  Only a few segments of the boundary gave me any trouble, but I plan on finding them this weekend with the assistance of a transit level I ordered from Amazon.  Yes, that's right, I ordered a transit level.  It should also be useful for marking out neurotically straight fencing, which is our next big step.  In addition to marking the boundaries, my wife and I also plan to add a layer of gravel to the field entrance.  Right now it is way too muddy for the trucks that will be hauling some of the large items we are ordering.  I'm de

Well, yesterday my wife and I finally took the plunge and signed the deed for a hundred acres of farmland in rural Virginia.  I haven't told her yet, but I signed her over as collateral (kidding).  Seriously, though, this has been a very big decision and when I allow myself to think about it it is quite exciting.  However, coming from a rural Midwestern background, where the legacy of Calvinism is alive and well, it is a rare moment that I allow myself the luxury of enjoying it.  I'm mainly focusing on what we need to do to get the bison fencing installed. First, among those things I need to do is identify the property boundaries.  Where I grew up, in Wisconsin, finding property boundaries is fairly easy because most property boundaries follow a square grid pattern.  In the eastern US, though, it a very different story.  Many property boundaries are fractured and jagged.  Sometimes this is because the boundaries follow a meandering stream, but often there appears to be no log