I've been watching your videos for a while. I really like your advice here for public land. I hunt Northern NH and Western Maine and had the best year I have ever had this season. The only year I have ever filled all my tags. All the spots I took deer this year had the "uneven canopy" you mentioned. Edged of 7-10 year old clear cuts leading into conifer and alder swamps. Much hardwood regeneration, mixed with skidder trails that are loaded with high grasses and briars and other such vegetation... and water.... really good stuff. Thank you for sharing.
Another great video, thank you. When we moved to our Southern Illinois farm, 150 acres, it was nearly void of any wildlife and there were actually poached deer laying in the field after season was closed. But after six years of changing the habitat we are overwhelmed with the success not just of deer but as you say, loads and loads of other wildlife. Thanks
Our boss jsut bought some hunting land for us employees in midstate PA. It was logged pretty heavily, so it is a serious mix of briars, saplings, hemlock and scattered decidous trees. Super excited to hunt it!
My boss usually sends me nasty emails. Your boss buys you hunting land. 🤦♂️ Some of my best hunting was a few seasons after my neighbors selectivity logged a hundred acres. They took the old oak and maple left the tops and brush. The deer and turkeys had a field day.
Rabitat -love it as brings back good memories from my early snowshoe rabbit hunting days in northern WI. I watch all your videos but rarely comment…I a have had a 80 acre property for the last 6 years and using your suggestions have 100 percent success and with each year harvest older deer. Merry Christmas
Hunting pressure seems to be the biggest factor, on top of all this. High value days in areas with less pressure, I suppose that's common sense. Sorry, I'm off topic, great video Jeff!
Fixing to buy some land..figuring on creating some great cedar thickets and cave switchgrass fields.. Some of my biggest bucks have been killed in/around cedar thickets..cant be beat for windbreaks and bedding.. Does and bucks both Love them...
I was an idiot 10 years ago and cleared 2 acres of cedar by hand to make a food plot larger. Tons of briars came up and I sprayed them to put in beans. Already had 2 acres. Looking back I should’ve let it grow up. I did a couple of years later and it held wildlife like crazy. My biggest problem was I had to doe sink.
Great videos and knowledge of helping your land out Jeff. Amazing how you describe and detail how you accomplish your area's. I'm currently looking for land in Iowa. And was wondering how much and how too get ahold of you guys. To look at the land and help me or give me advice on how to manage it for trophy deer. When i decide on which property i plan on purchasing. Thanks Jerry.
heading out this morning cutting maples an sweet gum for bedding areas then this week in planting red cedars in those areas where there is nothing but maples are growing there is no hard woods there just junk trees .so thick deer dont go there anymore..great video Jeff thank you for all your help MERRY CHRISTMAS to you an crew an family .BObby from the missouri se ozarks
Very interesting Jeff how you all wild life ,deer rabbits,pheasant, bees, and others in management solutions . We can tell it's a pation in you that and that's why it's so easy to understand and it just makes a lot of sense. Thanks WHS for what you do Have a wonderful Christmas
Another great video Jeff. I harvested my first buck in 2014 which went 132” and then my second buck a 15 point 190” in 2017 but after having some rough seasons (2018-2020) I slowly started losing my passion for whitetails. You helped light the fire for killing mature deer in me again last winter and with a lot of work this spring/summer I once again harvested my #1 hit lister a 6.5 year old 142 1/2” 8 point on November 7th! I’m making it a goal this year to put all of my efforts this off-season into making 2022 one of my best seasons yet. Thanks again for all that you do and for being an all around down to earth dude!
Dude you are in some excellent ground for big bucks! I've gone 7 years without killing a buck on the UP of Michigan because of never seeing a 2 plus year old buck but I still have good year's like this one I tagged out. Never lose that fire bro it's a long journey filled with ups n downs
@Fisher OfMan if you’re talking to me I hunt in a very low deer population area, not much woods at all, and almost all Ag ground. I also use a bow only. I never said I was complaining about where I hunt I just said that Jeff helped spark my fire after I started losing some of my interest in whitetails for a few years after doing everything I could and still not filling my tag. I love the challenge and if it were easy to kill a mature buck every year I would’ve gave it up after my first one.
Thanks Jeff for another great video and how about those Lions! Main project this year is creating pockets of red osier pockets in my grass area to give more diversity. Thinking of making a grid of old wood pallets and propagating the osier between the slats of the pallets to hopefully do a couple things. One is to knock down the grasses so the osier doesn’t have to compete with the growing grass and two hopefully keep the deer from eating the shouts in the middle of the grid until the roots are established. Has this been tried before or any other suggestions? I have noticed more rabbits and grouse now also.
Jeff, I hope this gives you an opening for another topic: I noticed both on camera and in person young individual and groups of does/fawns galloping in wooded areas between bedding to food in field. Are they excited to eat? Feel exposed/scared and just want to get through quickly? Woods is not overly mature. I Can maybe see 50-70yards on the ground. Their are quite a few Popple windfalls however.
I just picked up 150 acres in Arkansas (Life Dream of mine) most of it has been logged. It is starting to grow back and it is real thick in areas. At this point should I worry about travel corridors more than bedding. I am seeing some great bucks crossing through the thick stuff to my food plot. They come down the hill and I believe they are bedded in on the back side of the hill that is so thick I havent even went down there.
Easy to get white going by stabbing back in tops of dead trees. Norways get eaten at a higher rate than Hemlock...not much behind white pine. Red cedar gets rubbed hard...but also starts well on weeds and grasses. White pine does very well in shade...white spruce too...meaning weeds, briars, etc which can help cage them a bit.
Another nice video Jeff. When you talk about creating deer bedding, what would be the smallest range needed for attracting deer into a bedding area? Hope you have a great new year.
Hey Jeff can you do a video for guys who hunt on small parcels that are surrounded by private land , like in Westchester NY . I know you put a lot of weight on getting to and from your stand. But in Westchester Ny you may not have a choice on how you get to your spot. It could be a parking area between someone residential houses . Big Bucks in these areas have to tolerate human more because they don't have a lot of choices for bedding areas
Jeff what is your take on invasive species? I'm starting to get overrun with Honeysuckle bush and Autumn Olive. So much so that the invasives are choking out the good stuff and we are unable to see deer. Keeping this stuff under control is a full time job.
Here in Oregon alit of the wilderness is closed off and hunters running into each other all day in good spots hiking out here I may trespass the forestry dept sold off alot of our public lands where should I go
What conifer plantings grow best in sandy soil? Clay soil? I have a mixture of both on my land and will begin planting to accomplish what you have been teaching and want to get the right results.
Hey Dillan, next time you are doing a video and see a black squirrel, give him some air time, I haven't seen one in a long time, we don't have many in PA. Thanks 👍
@Number 1 Fan My uncle hunted forest county his entire life and never shot a black, big squirrel hunter, but he and my dad took me for my first squirrel hunt and I got one as my first! Hahaha! He was jacked! If I realized how rare they were here back then (ironically 1984) I would have gotten it mounted! Lmao
Do you have a video pertaining to finding deer In areas like the piney woods in Texas where there is a lot of hard woods but very little open ground or diversity change?
Hey Jeff I just tried to buy one of your books on Amazon. The information you provide is valuable but I think paying over 7,000.00 for one of your books is a bit too much. LOL also all of your books are not available are you planning on have another printing soon? I prefer books as apposed to e books. Thanks
Another great video to complement your book Whitetail Success By Design. Question: on 120 acres of almost pure old hardwoods (no harvesting in last 50 years) with several swamps and beaver ponds, would a clear cut be appropriate after opening the canopy to 30%?
I'm layout next years plan and right now we have a unmowed field that I plan on putting some switch grass stripsn to allow access to a stand. What should be done to the high grasses in that strip before frost seeding early this year ? Mow it ? cultivate it? or other solutions?
Good luck Jacob! Way to much to fit in a comment...always try the search function in TH-cam and my vids will come up at the top. Here is one from last year for how to plant switchgrass... th-cam.com/video/cq0FRg5RCSM/w-d-xo.html
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 cool thanks for all the help . picked up a 60 peace this year but it's probably a 8yo clear cut and it's alot a saplings really close together.
In my limited experience, the shade from the trees really hurt the height and thickness of the stand. You get 15-20 yards away from the treeline and it's good to go. Like I said, though, my experience is limited to my property. Good luck!
Unfortunately the alfalfa shades out the wheat or rye and it will not grow...same with clover. That's one of the reasons alfalfa is a really bad hunting season food source.
Hey Jeff I live in va and have open hard woods but there is a small ridge that is slope but it makes it hard to see very low ag and my naighbour who just bought the land next to mine they only shoot bucks. What should I plant
I've been watching your videos for a while. I really like your advice here for public land. I hunt Northern NH and Western Maine and had the best year I have ever had this season. The only year I have ever filled all my tags. All the spots I took deer this year had the "uneven canopy" you mentioned. Edged of 7-10 year old clear cuts leading into conifer and alder swamps. Much hardwood regeneration, mixed with skidder trails that are loaded with high grasses and briars and other such vegetation... and water.... really good stuff. Thank you for sharing.
Another great video, thank you. When we moved to our Southern Illinois farm, 150 acres, it was nearly void of any wildlife and there were actually poached deer laying in the field after season was closed. But after six years of changing the habitat we are overwhelmed with the success not just of deer but as you say, loads and loads of other wildlife. Thanks
Our boss jsut bought some hunting land for us employees in midstate PA. It was logged pretty heavily, so it is a serious mix of briars, saplings, hemlock and scattered decidous trees. Super excited to hunt it!
My boss usually sends me nasty emails. Your boss buys you hunting land. 🤦♂️
Some of my best hunting was a few seasons after my neighbors selectivity logged a hundred acres. They took the old oak and maple left the tops and brush. The deer and turkeys had a field day.
Rabitat -love it as brings back good memories from my early snowshoe rabbit hunting days in northern WI. I watch all your videos but rarely comment…I a have had a 80 acre property for the last 6 years and using your suggestions have 100 percent success and with each year harvest older deer. Merry Christmas
I've got 2 northern Mi swamp bucks following you and a small group of others. I appreciate all your content
Picked up a Darton SL50 at Warerford Hill archery,those were the days ,part of the learning curve Jeff! Merry Christmas!!
Oh man...some incredible days my friend
Merry Christmas Tex!!
Hunting pressure seems to be the biggest factor, on top of all this. High value days in areas with less pressure, I suppose that's common sense. Sorry, I'm off topic, great video Jeff!
Nice to see you practice safety while using the saws. Lotta guys think they to tough till something happens.
Thank u. I hunt crp exclusively, the bedding is far more abundant than the feeding areas in late season. This helps narrow down so much.
Fixing to buy some land..figuring on creating some great cedar thickets and cave switchgrass fields..
Some of my biggest bucks have been killed in/around cedar thickets..cant be beat for windbreaks and bedding..
Does and bucks both Love them...
Great info. Our property has a nice mix but is getting Thick. Learned a long time ago that deer aren't in the pretty, open woods much.
I was an idiot 10 years ago and cleared 2 acres of cedar by hand to make a food plot larger. Tons of briars came up and I sprayed them to put in beans. Already had 2 acres. Looking back I should’ve let it grow up. I did a couple of years later and it held wildlife like crazy. My biggest problem was I had to doe sink.
Great videos and knowledge of helping your land out Jeff. Amazing how you describe and detail how you accomplish your area's. I'm currently looking for land in Iowa. And was wondering how much and how too get ahold of you guys. To look at the land and help me or give me advice on how to manage it for trophy deer. When i decide on which property i plan on purchasing. Thanks Jerry.
heading out this morning cutting maples an sweet gum for bedding areas then this week in planting red cedars in those areas where there is nothing but maples are growing there is no hard woods there just junk trees .so thick deer dont go there anymore..great video Jeff thank you for all your help
MERRY CHRISTMAS to you an crew an family .BObby from the missouri se ozarks
Very interesting Jeff how you all wild life ,deer rabbits,pheasant, bees, and others in management solutions .
We can tell it's a pation in you that and that's why it's so easy to understand and it just makes a lot of sense.
Thanks WHS for what you do
Have a wonderful Christmas
Another great video Jeff. I harvested my first buck in 2014 which went 132” and then my second buck a 15 point 190” in 2017 but after having some rough seasons (2018-2020) I slowly started losing my passion for whitetails. You helped light the fire for killing mature deer in me again last winter and with a lot of work this spring/summer I once again harvested my #1 hit lister a 6.5 year old 142 1/2” 8 point on November 7th! I’m making it a goal this year to put all of my efforts this off-season into making 2022 one of my best seasons yet. Thanks again for all that you do and for being an all around down to earth dude!
Dude you are in some excellent ground for big bucks! I've gone 7 years without killing a buck on the UP of Michigan because of never seeing a 2 plus year old buck but I still have good year's like this one I tagged out. Never lose that fire bro it's a long journey filled with ups n downs
@Fisher OfMan if you’re talking to me I hunt in a very low deer population area, not much woods at all, and almost all Ag ground. I also use a bow only. I never said I was complaining about where I hunt I just said that Jeff helped spark my fire after I started losing some of my interest in whitetails for a few years after doing everything I could and still not filling my tag. I love the challenge and if it were easy to kill a mature buck every year I would’ve gave it up after my first one.
Thanks Jeff for another great video and how about those Lions! Main project this year is creating pockets of red osier pockets in my grass area to give more diversity. Thinking of making a grid of old wood pallets and propagating the osier between the slats of the pallets to hopefully do a couple things. One is to knock down the grasses so the osier doesn’t have to compete with the growing grass and two hopefully keep the deer from eating the shouts in the middle of the grid until the roots are established. Has this been tried before or any other suggestions? I have noticed more rabbits and grouse now also.
Jeff, I hope this gives you an opening for another topic:
I noticed both on camera and in person young individual and groups of does/fawns galloping in wooded areas between bedding to food in field.
Are they excited to eat? Feel exposed/scared and just want to get through quickly? Woods is not overly mature. I Can maybe see 50-70yards on the ground. Their are quite a few Popple windfalls however.
I love the "Rabbitat" pallet idea! I also grew up with a beagle hunting rabbits. I have a stack of pallets just begging for a home.
I just picked up 150 acres in Arkansas (Life Dream of mine) most of it has been logged. It is starting to grow back and it is real thick in areas. At this point should I worry about travel corridors more than bedding. I am seeing some great bucks crossing through the thick stuff to my food plot. They come down the hill and I believe they are bedded in on the back side of the hill that is so thick I havent even went down there.
All my white pine and hemlock got rubbed or eaten. Now trying red cedar and Norway spruce. If that doesn’t work I’m finished planting conifers.
Easy to get white going by stabbing back in tops of dead trees. Norways get eaten at a higher rate than Hemlock...not much behind white pine. Red cedar gets rubbed hard...but also starts well on weeds and grasses. White pine does very well in shade...white spruce too...meaning weeds, briars, etc which can help cage them a bit.
Thanks Jeff and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas to all.And have a blessed day..
You should come do a hunt at proud lake in Oakland county. Many different habitats.
Another nice video Jeff. When you talk about creating deer bedding, what would be the smallest range needed for attracting deer into a bedding area? Hope you have a great new year.
Thanks for all the tips on Whitetail content.
Hey Jeff can you do a video for guys who hunt on small parcels that are surrounded by private land , like in Westchester NY . I know you put a lot of weight on getting to and from your stand. But in Westchester Ny you may not have a choice on how you get to your spot. It could be a parking area between someone residential houses . Big Bucks in these areas have to tolerate human more because they don't have a lot of choices for bedding areas
Jeff what is your take on invasive species? I'm starting to get overrun with Honeysuckle bush and Autumn Olive. So much so that the invasives are choking out the good stuff and we are unable to see deer. Keeping this stuff under control is a full time job.
Here in Oregon alit of the wilderness is closed off and hunters running into each other all day in good spots hiking out here I may trespass the forestry dept sold off alot of our public lands where should I go
Wow I live in genesee county .sounds like we are hunting the same ground .
What conifer plantings grow best in sandy soil? Clay soil? I have a mixture of both on my land and will begin planting to accomplish what you have been teaching and want to get the right results.
Eastern Red Cedar
What exactly is hard wood regeneration?
Hey Dillan, next time you are doing a video and see a black squirrel, give him some air time, I haven't seen one in a long time, we don't have many in PA. Thanks 👍
@Number 1 Fan My uncle hunted forest county his entire life and never shot a black, big squirrel hunter, but he and my dad took me for my first squirrel hunt and I got one as my first! Hahaha! He was jacked! If I realized how rare they were here back then (ironically 1984) I would have gotten it mounted! Lmao
Do you have a video pertaining to finding deer In areas like the piney woods in Texas where there is a lot of hard woods but very little open ground or diversity change?
Thanks Jeff! In the climber stand now! First time ever hunting out of it! Man it's loud! 😆
They sure can be!! Can be fairly loud going up the tree depending on the stand...should be rock solid and dead quiet in the tree tho 👍
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 Yep! Most comfortable stands I 've sat in!
Hey Jeff I just tried to buy one of your books on Amazon. The information you provide is valuable but I think paying over 7,000.00 for one of your books is a bit too much. LOL also all of your books are not available are you planning on have another printing soon? I prefer books as apposed to e books. Thanks
Does it matter how thick the diversity is? Or do the deer not care and make paths themselves?
On 100 acres of mountain ground, how many acres would you dedicate to bedding?
Another great video to complement your book Whitetail Success By Design.
Question: on 120 acres of almost pure old hardwoods (no harvesting in last 50 years) with several swamps and beaver ponds, would a clear cut be appropriate after opening the canopy to 30%?
I cut hell out of mine and replanted in eastern red cedar. .
Thanks Jeff I just killed my first bow buck of my life it was awesome!!
Jeff, much of the regeneration on my land is sassafras trees. Will the deer eat that or should I eliminate it?
I'm layout next years plan and right now we have a unmowed field that I plan on putting some switch grass stripsn to allow access to a stand. What should be done to the high grasses in that strip before frost seeding early this year ? Mow it ? cultivate it? or other solutions?
Good luck Jacob! Way to much to fit in a comment...always try the search function in TH-cam and my vids will come up at the top. Here is one from last year for how to plant switchgrass...
th-cam.com/video/cq0FRg5RCSM/w-d-xo.html
Hi Jeff. Do you ever do any trapping on your properties to control predators and nest raiders ?
No I don't...but we are actually going to this year and I am looking forward to it! More for the nest raiders...
Great stuff as always 👍 Thanks Jeff!
Great video!! How big of an area do you recommend when creating a buck bedding area?
What would you say it to thick of cover for bucks to move through??
Literally when they have to crawl, jump through it and can not fit their antlers through it very far without continually twisting their head...
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 cool thanks for all the help . picked up a 60 peace this year but it's probably a 8yo clear cut and it's alot a saplings really close together.
Can we get a rabbit habitat video? Maybe add pheasant with it
Sitka gear for Christmas let’s gooo!!!
Are you doing monthly chores these year?
Yes I sure am Jeremy 😊 I hope you like them!
Yes i like them i think there helpful
Very helpful indeed 👍
Edge and diversity
Will cave n rock grow on the north side edge of timber?
In my limited experience, the shade from the trees really hurt the height and thickness of the stand. You get 15-20 yards away from the treeline and it's good to go. Like I said, though, my experience is limited to my property. Good luck!
Plz make one about rabbit habitat.
Where do you by your conifers at?
Jeff, would it be ok to plant winter rye in an alfalfa plot in the fall, to keep the plot green until spring green up?
Unfortunately the alfalfa shades out the wheat or rye and it will not grow...same with clover. That's one of the reasons alfalfa is a really bad hunting season food source.
Really great information
Another good one.
Hey Jeff I live in va and have open hard woods but there is a small ridge that is slope but it makes it hard to see very low ag and my naighbour who just bought the land next to mine they only shoot bucks. What should I plant
Waterford 👍😁
PREDATORS? Control??
You want to attract whitetails? Plant a garden!
Lol, killed deer by standing on a branch back in the day too :) being able to stand on a 2x4 was a luxury.