Transforming Worthless Open Ground into Great Deer Habitat
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2023
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#deer #deerhunting #habitat #wildlife #whitetaildeer #native #nature
I did this 2 years ago not knowing anything either. I feel like I accelerated the process by picking tree seeds of all the preferred species and I just scattered them throughout a 5 acre piece. After just 2 years the woody species, box elder, ash, etc… are all over my head and most are 10 feet tall. The deer are already using it. I had collected roughly 10 - 1 gallon zip lock bags of different tree seeds. And then just hand scattered them.
Phenomenal idea. It's amazing how fast they can take off. It's so rewarding once the deer start to use all our hard work
You should have more subscribers. Good information!!!
That means a lot, thank you!
I am doing the same thing at my farm, got a couple small areas going back to nature!
Johnson grass is my biggest problem, I also have river cane.
@carltonbailey3498 it's worth fighting the battle, glad to hear you're getting at it!
Awesome. I love it.
Gracias Kurt!
We have a 6 acre bermuda grass field we are converting, can't wait to get those results
Great to hear, good luck on the journey brother!
That box alder is great food for the deer!
Definitely, they smash it on our farm
I have a 10acre parcel that is currently a brush field, some of if is over 8ft tall ..working on habitat design that promotes a loop of deer movement
Sounds like some great habitat. Having a piece like that to set up for hunting is definitely a blessing. Good luck!
@PFHabitat thanks little different than hunting the old 280 acre farm , but the surrounding land by my 10 is good habitat and 100 yds to its south is a decent swamp. That funnels them around towards my property.
@ginogranata6548 yah sometimes the size doesn't matter as long as it's the "right 10" in the "right situation". There's a 10 acre chunk I could pull off ours that has been phenomenal over the years
I am doing something similar with oaks trying to recreate an oak savannah. I planted 3-4 gallons of a mix of white oak acorns (Chinkapin, Burr, and Post) on 3/4 of an acre. I also have 15 or so gallons of a mix of red oaks (mostly Texas Red Oak) to go on 1.8 acres.
Both patches are within a 26 acre prescribed fire I plan to burn in the next couple of months. The white oaks I will leave at forest densities, but the red oaks I plan to maintain at Savannah densities.
I love to hear that! That's going to be a fun area to watch develop over the rest of your lifetime. Our country forester had a ton of extra acorns this past fall he offered to me for direct seeding but unfortunately I didn't have time to do the prep needed so I missed out. But I will be doing something similar to you in the future!
@@PFHabitat I am seeding using a tulip bulb auger and a drill. It will burn through some batteries… but it doesn’t require any extra prep. Just drill a 2-3 inch hole, drop and shove dirt back over. The hole isn’t much bigger than a bit oak acorn.
You get a pretty good germination rate planting that way?
@@PFHabitat we will see. I figure, if I get about 1% of planted acorns to mature tree, I will have the density I want. It is free (collected them myself) and only costs a little sweat equity. If I have less than desired germination, I will supplement with more plantings every couple of years until I get my desired outcome.
Sounds like a great plan! I've planted a lot of free trees I dug up myself. Lots of great habitat work that can get done at little to no cost
how do you spray when everything is that tall?
Once it gets taller than 4 feet I stop spraying. That's is as high as I'm able to set my boom
How old are the spruce trees and how big were they when you planted them
They were planted in 2002 as saplings (6 to 12")
Where do you buy your cleth?
Normally keystone online. It's cheap right now
Do you prefer this habitat or switchgrass?
This hands down. This is year round food and cover. Whereas switchgrass is just cover and doesn't stand all year. Switch has its place and I want some on the farm to give the deer diverse bedding options. But if I had to choose this is my preferred without a doubt
Why protect the oaks? I’d run fire through it once they get past the deers browse line…to set it back.
Fire is a great tool. But I don't want to kill all the trees in this circumstance so I'm letting them grow. Fire would girdle and kill a majority of the trees this size (speaking from experience).
Can't believe all that box alder wow. We call it Manitoba maple here in Canada. I would love to have this many alder growing on my property
It's definitely a great browse and wildlife tree. All the farmers around us see it as a weed but I love seeing it return to the landscape
Why do you use crop oil versus non-ionic surfactant?
You can use either (per the label). The local coop sells herbamax crop oil at a good price so that's why I go that route
Thanks, good to know.