Does that piece hold deer in winter or do they yard up in areas with thermal cover? I didn't see much for tracks/droppings. A bunch of spruce plugs would be a nice addition amongst that bedding.
Yes spruce are definitely a needed addition for thermal cover. This ends up being more of a browse area in the winter. Some beds but it's not loaded. There are some great thermal bedding areas on other parts of the farm they spend their winter time. This does make for some great bedding in the fall
I enjoy your channel. I do what you showed here for years. You can enhance certain beds big time by bringing in small straw bales and spreading 1/4 of a bale. Can be a pain in the arse but it really works.
What is the long term plan for a cut like this? At what point does it need to be recut or is the plan to let it grow? I have a similar aspen cut that is 3 or 4 years old and I'm wondering at what point do I recut it if I want it to remain early successional?
A cut like this stays attractive to deer for up to 10 years with aspen, even longer with hardwoods. After that I'll bust out the saw and recut it myself. If you have access to a forestry mulcher you'd want to get at it a little sooner for an aspen stand, around the 7 year mark most likely, and reset it that way.
Geek question, if you wanted to add pockets of spruce in that area, when would you do that? Yr. 1 after cut or hammer out the pockets with the timber saw yr. 2-3 and plant in those pockets??
Ideally year one. Life gets busy so I didn't get them done in this one yet. But I'd like them to get that first year of good sunlight to help root before the aspen regen starts casting shade.
What's the plan for all the Ironwood?
Awesome video
Thanks Terry!
Does that piece hold deer in winter or do they yard up in areas with thermal cover? I didn't see much for tracks/droppings. A bunch of spruce plugs would be a nice addition amongst that bedding.
Yes spruce are definitely a needed addition for thermal cover. This ends up being more of a browse area in the winter. Some beds but it's not loaded. There are some great thermal bedding areas on other parts of the farm they spend their winter time. This does make for some great bedding in the fall
I enjoy your channel.
I do what you showed here for years. You can enhance certain beds big time by bringing in small straw bales and spreading 1/4 of a bale.
Can be a pain in the arse but it really works.
Thanks and that sounds like a fun idea! Thinking outside the box and I bet the deer love it
What is the long term plan for a cut like this? At what point does it need to be recut or is the plan to let it grow? I have a similar aspen cut that is 3 or 4 years old and I'm wondering at what point do I recut it if I want it to remain early successional?
A cut like this stays attractive to deer for up to 10 years with aspen, even longer with hardwoods. After that I'll bust out the saw and recut it myself. If you have access to a forestry mulcher you'd want to get at it a little sooner for an aspen stand, around the 7 year mark most likely, and reset it that way.
Geek question, if you wanted to add pockets of spruce in that area, when would you do that? Yr. 1 after cut or hammer out the pockets with the timber saw yr. 2-3 and plant in those pockets??
Ideally year one. Life gets busy so I didn't get them done in this one yet. But I'd like them to get that first year of good sunlight to help root before the aspen regen starts casting shade.
Sam! Thanks for the response! Life does get busy. Keep the content coming, you’ve taught me a lot. Thanks
I appreciate that! It's fun to share. I still have a ton to learn myself
How many acres is this area?
The woods itself is 10ish. We cut half of it very hard