A little bit of fence fixing

Off I go with tangled and salvaged hotwire and some nicely coiled wire to redo the fence down near the creek.

The backpack has gear in it, along with some tools and of course lots of water. I'd had this job in mind since last fall.

Over the winter I keep this section closed off as the deer run through the fence during rut and generally take down the fence.

Last winter, some animal chewed through both the lines and the insulators in some spots. I know that raccoon chew on plastic, but I never figured out who the culprits were.

I thought I'd turn on MapMyHike to see what my walking while doing the job would look like. I did get in a little over 2 miles of walking while restringing the fence.

At one time we had a 'ridge-road' or trail that was made by a bulldozer  all the way to the end of our land. Since I don't drive the 4 wheeler back there anymore... [very steep], I haven't had the trail redone. 

I just walk it and go around the obstacles. I am the only person anymore that moves through the land so no need to clear a new path.

Here is someone else who likes to use the 'critter' trail. It is used by the mules, deer, bobcat, raccoon, and coyotes. When I pull the trail camera about every two weeks we have nearly 700 or 800 photos of wildlife moving past the camera on this trail.

I pulled the old hotwire and began to get ready to string up new wire.

Just to the left of this photo is a steep bank that drops about 20 feet down into our creek bottom. With the past drought, the creek is mostly dry, but in good years it flows nicely.

At my feet is a pile of chewed electric wire. And no, the wire was not 'on' over the winter. I don't keep it hot unless the mules have access. 

The wire needed to be replaced this year anyway. It has lasted 5 years and had been patched quite a few times.

I finished everything up including detangling a big mess of wire that I'd brought with me. It took roughly two hours and a lot of walking back and forth.  

Below is the tangled up wire that had been in another pasture at one time. I had 3 lines with one low to the ground when we had Dexter Cattle in the woods and pulled it after we sold the cattle.

A good chunk of the time was devoted to de-tangling. But the wire was in perfect shape and there was no reason to toss it.

It was a big job I had been putting off for quite a while. All the summer lines have been checked and fixed. Next up? I'll go through and clear off anything that is under the wires.

Forest Fencing can be a never ending job.