An update on my duck lease situation.
On the 12th of last month I was told that the purchase fell through and we had the place for the season, which was a great relief, at least for this year. A week or so later I received another call saying that the original buyer had made a last minute deal under pressure from another offer, and the sale was final. (Emotional roller-coaster ride)
We can keep our blind if I agree to just over double the price I was paying, with the possible loss of the crabbing on this place. I've been looking hard and have found through friends other properties nearby, but the cost of those are more than what I'd pay with the increase on where we are now. On one such place I'd be a partner on 900+ acres with 7 blinds, with more work and expense involved for upkeep, (Salvinia, water hyacinth, etc.) and no change in bird numbers taken from what we have now. The other prospects haven't fully developed yet and are ongoing.
So I've decided, with the blessing of my wife (she doesn't want to deal with me not duck hunting this year, and said so
) and the advice given by friends who are turning up these new places, that I will pay the increased price and keep this place for this season.
The property that meets our current lease property to the south is in the very, very final stages of completion, which is a 400 acre restoration which involved pumping dredged sediment from offshore. The levees were rebuilt and planted, and the control structures were rebuilt and are operational. We will no longer be affected by tidal flow on our lease, which means the salinity level will drop. From a good (THE) source, this same restoration plan was submitted and has been approved for our place within the next 5 years but with a more detailed duck hunting friendly plan. The crabber next door is worried and isn't happy, and I do feel for him. It will effect his lively hood.
I'll have a better handle on things once the guy I used to lease from and the buyer, who know each other well and have hunted together out there for 40 years, meet and ride the property in the next week or so. The new owners first expenditure will be to dig out the trenasse so we can get out of the boat slip. Something we had to do with the mud motors, as I face planted into the trolling motor bracket last year during that effort.
Stay tuned for more of as MY world turns.