PaulR,
We took 4 years of searching to find our project. It included uncountable road trips and walking hundreds of acres, 20 - 50 at a time. We are in the midwest so it wasn't unusual to be trudging thru a foot or two of snow in the woods of Michigan in January. Sounds daunting? I loved it! Yeah, it can start to grind after a while, but the roadtrips are only after determining if the property really has the potential desired. Knowing this is the spark of motivation that fires up the adventurer to explore. Each one is different...and each one is guaranteed to teach you many new things about God's green earth if you let it.
The following From the beginning thread was started by one of your Texas comrades. Within, I posted my basic method of research to determine if a road-trip was warranted. It served me well.
Best of luck to you...and remember...always have bullets in your gun and your finger on the trigger; there's another guy right behind you with the same plan.