Backyard Life Ambassador and expert hunter, Daniel Arms shares what life is like on the Arms family homestead. The family documents life on their 110-acre farm in rural Oklahoma on their YouTube channel Arms Family Homestead.
Daniel Arms: My wife, three children, and I live on a 110-acre farm in the southern Oklahoma town of Sulphur. Although I’ve been “beating the pavement” as an Oklahoma State Trooper since 2006, I grew up hunting, fishing and farming on the same plot of land we live on today.
DA: Our property has an amazing spring-fed creek that flows, year-round. Also, the majority of the property is wooded, which provides great whitetail deer and turkey hunting habitat.
DA: We love growing as much of our own food as possible. Growing vegetables and raising animals allows my family and me to know where our food comes from. That gives us a great sense of pride.
DA: Chores don’t stop just because you have other things to do. In particular, gardens and animals require attention whether you have the “time” or not.
DA: It’s just an evolving process. As we grow on the farm, we open up new areas for animals or gardens. What remains is where we recreate.
DA: The area in Oklahoma that we live in is very rural, so most people view our lifestyle as normal living.
DA: Finding the time to stay ahead of so many chores. It’s a never-ending process to keep everything maintained.
DA: We saved up for almost three years to build a nice big barn. I purchased all of the materials and built it over several months. It was the first big building project that I had completed on my own, which was very gratifying.
DA: Yes, we hunt and fish on it all year long. It’s one of the main reasons we choose to live the way we do.
DA: We have a large greenhouse and garden, both of which are surrounded by electric fencing to keep deer from eating the variety of vegetables we grow. We also raise Kiko meat goats and a few head of cattle.
DA: We’ve always had a hard time growing fruit trees because of the constant challenges we face in keeping deer and goats from eating the harvests.
DA: I love spending time fishing in the creek or pond with my kids. During the summer, we spend a lot of time exploring up and down the creek, watching crawdads, minnows and whatever else we can find.
DA: Without question, our favorite meals always include fish that we catch here on the homestead. We prepare them in a variety of ways—any of which I’m happy to share!
