A Little More
About Me.

In spite of living my entire childhood inside a small town, I always had an available escape to the woods. Behind my home was a vacant 2 or 3 acre wooded lot with a small crick running through it. There I would roam the existing trails and even make a few of my own. It’s interesting how those early activities sometimes translate into adulthood. That is still one of my favorite things to do. I enjoy wandering my property these days making trails connecting any points of interest.

As a young child, living in town, I loved catching crawfish in the little mosquito infested water hole at the back of our 3/4 acre lot and “hunting” squirrels and birds amongst the pecan trees with my bb gun.

Besides hanging out in my yard and the adjacent woodlot, I’d also spend a lot of time visiting close friends and relatives that lived out in the country. Any time I could fit in a little atv riding, fishing or recreational shooting on my visits I would.

One of my most visited relatives growing up was an older uncle who did not hunt or fish anymore, but he was subscribed to all of the best outdoor magazines. He also had satellite television which was somewhat unusual at the time. The constant exposure to Field and Stream, American Hunter, Bassmaster, and many other outdoor magazines, along with all the outdoor tv shows, continued to fuel my desire for the outdoors.

My uncle’s 5 acre woodlot and small pond allowed me to regularly put into practice the things I read about in his magazines. I became obsessed. Certainly I must have caught every bass in his pond 50 times each. I should have named them.

Around age 13 a cousin of mine took me on a real squirrel hunt and that’s when I realized that my extended family OWNED LAND! That’s when it really clicked for me. I wanted land, and I wanted some bad. In the following years I started hanging out with more cousins (I have a huge family on both sides) that were in hunting camps or had land. That’s when I was exposed to the deer hunting culture of the south.

After that initial exposure to squirrel and deer hunting, I hunted and fished anywhere I could find access. I hunted with friends, I hunted on distant family land, I hunted national forest land. When it wasn’t hunting season, I fished. I fished public lakes, reservoirs, creeks, cattle ponds. I joined a private fishing lake. You name it, I fished it.

As I got a littler older my interests branched into sports and girls, but the outdoors never left me. I clearly remember in high school dreaming of the day I’d own land. Dare I say I was a tad jealous of some of my classmates who already owned large blocks of land. It was always going to happen for me, I just didn’t know when.

Buying a house, having kids, and generally life slowed me down a bit. It took me a little longer than I anticipated, but in my 30’s, with the support of my lovely wife, I was finally able to purchase some land. We purchased over 75 acres about an hour from our home. The dream came true!

When the weather isn’t too hot, I spend entire days out on my property chainsawing, burning debris piles, planting food plots, hunting, exploring, and just generally hanging out. One day I’ll put in a large pond for the kids and hopefully grandkids to fish from.

Even when life gets busy, and I can’t get out to my land, just knowing it’s there for me provides a peace of mind that I can’t truly explain.

Augustus Clay