Starting my journey...Locust Hill Farms in the Piedmont of Northern VA

[John Paul]

Went and cut on the future Oak Savanna today with a buddy. Looks so much better than before we started.

Bucks are still holding so haven't done much shed hunting yet.

 

[cutman]

We are doing this on our property as well. Approximately 70 acres of mostly water oaks being cut to a 40 basal forest. We will go back and replant longleaf pine and more desirable oaks to thicken it up. We are getting $14/ton for hardwood pulp.

 

[Native Hunter]

Went and cut on the future Oak Savanna today with a buddy. Looks so much better than before we started.

Bucks are still holding so haven't done much shed hunting yet.

Looks good. Do you have a feel for what species may come out of the seedbank now that the canopy is opened?

 

[John Paul]

Looks good. Do you have a feel for what species may come out of the seedbank now that the canopy is opened?

Not really to be honest.

 

[John Paul]

We are doing this on our property as well. Approximately 70 acres of mostly water oaks being cut to a 40 basal forest. We will go back and replant longleaf pine and more desirable oaks to thicken it up. We are getting $14/ton for hardwood pulp.

WOW! Can I take some of our hardwood pulp down to you? Not nearly that good up here, how far do they have to truck it to the nearest plant? That’s a problem for us , most of the hardwood pulp goes to PA and transport cost kill what they pay the landowner.

 

[Native Hunter]

Not really to be honest.

You will probably see a few species that you don't want but many that will be good. Some spot spraying from an ATV or pickup truck will help you get rid of any undesirables and promote the good species. That's how I manage my prairie, and the beginning of an oak savannah shouldn't be that much different. Good luck.

 

[Gator]

Found my first fresh sheds today

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[John Paul]

You will probably see a few species that you don't want but many that will be good. Some spot spraying from an ATV or pickup truck will help you get rid of any undesirables and promote the good species. That's how I manage my prairie, and the beginning of an oak savannah shouldn't be that much different. Good luck.

Good news is there aren’t a ton of invasive showing around this part of the farm. I’m more nervous opening up stuff on other side of mountain because the invasive load is stout. If you scratch dirt over there and leave it be for a year you will have a jungle of Russian Olives quickly.

 

[John Paul]

Found my first fresh sheds today

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Nice! I’ve found a handful checking cows but haven’t hit it too hard yet.

 

[cutman]

WOW! Can I take some of our hardwood pulp down to you? Not nearly that good up here, how far do they have to truck it to the nearest plant? That’s a problem for us , most of the hardwood pulp goes to PA and transport cost kill what they pay the landowner.

They are chipping them in the field (or at least they were until the chipper broke) and transporting them about 25 miles to Charleston. The mills were apparently desperate when they signed the contract with us because our neighbors down the road got $9.75/ton a few weeks earlier).

 

[John Paul]

They are chipping them in the field (or at least they were until the chipper broke) and transporting them about 25 miles to Charleston. The mills were apparently desperate when they signed the contract with us because our neighbors down the road got $9.75/ton a few weeks earlier).

The logger around here would love to only have to truck 25 miles for pulp. There isn’t even a chip market around here right now. $9.75 is more on par with what we are getting.

 

[John Paul]

One of my hunting buddy’s wanted to try out his new tree shear mounted on a skid steer. This is back over in a bedding thicket. Not as fast as the feller buncher but still better than chainsaw work.

 

[John Paul]

One of my shed hunting buddy’s was driving past my farm today and saw this 5 yards off the blacktop by one of our gates. Nice find minus the extra pedical attached.

 

[John Paul]

Cut a few minutes after lunch on the future oak savanna. Jumped up into a ladder stand to get an overview shot of what we have cut. Behind the stand would be a before look:

And the after look:

 

[Mennoniteman]

Cut a few minutes after lunch on the future oak savanna. Jumped up into a ladder stand to get an overview shot of what we have cut. Behind the stand would be a before look:

And the after look:

Are you going to let some thicker cover right behind the stand to break up your outline?

 

[John Paul]

Are you going to let some thicker cover right behind the stand to break up your outline?

Since starting all these projects on the farm we have decided to take all our current stands down and start over. Deer movement will change and we figured it would be a good time to start new and rethink all our stand locations.

 

[John Paul]

Been busy doing work work and haven’t done much fun project work in a few days. A buddy asked to take a shed walk today and found a neat set of sheds. Haven’t seen this buck on camera since September, neighbor sent me a photo of him in November I think. Funny how they can disappear on you.

 

[gut_pile]

Since starting all these projects on the farm we have decided to take all our current stands down and start over. Deer movement will change and we figured it would be a good time to start new and rethink all our stand locations.

I'll be curious to see your results with the movement.

In my experience, tree cutting (thinning and clearing) does not effect deer patterns at all unless there is an obstacle that is put in place.

 

[John Paul]

I'll be curious to see your results with the movement.

In my experience, tree cutting (thinning and clearing) does not effect deer patterns at all unless there is an obstacle that is put in place.

I think it was just an excuse for us to start over really. Doing all this has made us start saying things like, "Why did we ever put that stand there?"

Entry and exit into stands has always been a consideration but now we are really thinking it through.

 

[John Paul]

Buddy took the feller buncher and opened up a trail to the bedding thicket we have been working on. Cutting cedars and poplars and stacking. Getting there slowly..: