Land Management Critique

[DougG]

We have owned our land for going on 5 years now and have made good progress and was hoping for some input on how to improve things. We have apx 50 acres and apx of that is 10 that can be used for ag/food plots and the like. We are working on ideas for the northern 6 acres(apx) of the property. This area is shown in the attached image. The red and black circled areas are usually planted in winter wheat to give deer a winter food source. The blue area is an orchard with pears, apples and crab apples that is also sown with clover that is doing ok. The balance we plant in corn and let stand year round, mowing some during hunting season and the rest early in the new year to allow it to rot away some before next planting season. What we are thinking of doing is planing the area in red in Cave In Rock switch grass, to provide additional bedding cover. Our only concern is the size of the area, just south of 1 acre in size. Would the be too small for do any good?

Any other thoughts on this layout would be appreciated.

 

[X-farmerdan]

We have owned our land for going on 5 years now and have made good progress and was hoping for some input on how to improve things. We have apx 50 acres and apx of that is 10 that can be used for ag/food plots and the like. We are working on ideas for the northern 6 acres(apx) of the property. This area is shown in the attached image. The red and black circled areas are usually planted in winter wheat to give deer a winter food source. The blue area is an orchard with pears, apples and crab apples that is also sown with clover that is doing ok. The balance we plant in corn and let stand year round, mowing some during hunting season and the rest early in the new year to allow it to rot away some before next planting season. What we are thinking of doing is planing the area in red in Cave In Rock switch grass, to provide additional bedding cover. Our only concern is the size of the area, just south of 1 acre in size. Would the be too small for do any good?

Any other thoughts on this layout would be appreciated.

EDIT, i cannot get the image to insert. I choose the file and it never puts it in.

Reduce the size of your image. There's a limit here.

 

[buckdeer1]

Look for what you need more of,if it's food then go with food if you feel it's cover then work on that.It's kind of hard to tell without seeing a larger picture of whats around you as this can be just as important

 

[j-bird]

The area you are considering making CIR - I would not. At less than an acre I fear it would not really impact the deer much at all. My experience with swithgrass as bedding is that the deer tend to bed on the edges of it and not right smack in the middle of it unless there is some other "structure" in it...like a tree top or cedars or the like. Deer will use the switch as cover to move around so it works well for that.

Without knowing a lot more information it's difficult to develop a plan. Some general things to consider:
1 - are the deer eating everything you currently plant/is food the limiting factor of your habitat? The reason I ask is everybody likes planting plots, but in many cases (in my opinion) cover is far more important. If your deer are not eating all the food you plant - then you have wasted acres that could be used in another way to better your habitat. Also don't over look shrubs that provide a mast or browse AND cover. Deer are browsers and eat lots of different things...even a small area of young saplings and the like will "feed" deer.
2 - if the understory in the area is poor (you can see a long way in your woods) the deer are likely staying back in the woods and watching the plot from a distance. Consider improving the understory and implementing screens around the plot as well as to make the large open areas into small ones. Keep in mind that deer like edges, so things like buffers create additional edges for the deer as well. Sometimes you can even use screens and areas of cover with paths in them to steer deer past a stand. I personally can not say enough about the value of a proper timber harvest and it's ability to improve a stand of hardwoods.
3 - if your trying to improve bedding - ideally you want it away from the food source. You don't want the deer bedding right on top of the food as this makes them far more difficult to hunt and easier for you to educate...especially if your hunt right on the plot itself. You want the bedding back away from the food so you can more effectively hunt the deer as they move between the bedding and food.
4 - Don't be afraid to plant some even longer term food sources like chestnuts or oaks. I have chestnuts that I planted as 3 gallon trees produce mast in 5 years. I have some sawtooth oak planted as well in an effort to provide a more permanent food source and will require little work on my part to care for.
5 - Don't be afraid to "double crop" either. Soybeans and corn can both have small winter grains and brassica spread in them as they dry down and provide some additional food as well. I really like doing this with soybeans...you just have to either get a bean that matures a little sooner OR plant on a little wider row. I try to get the most I can out of an acre of plots...and this is one trick to be able to do that...like you having clover planted in the orchard. This allows me to try to use more ground for cover or other "non-plot" type food plantings of trees and shrubs and the like or improve cover.

Like I said - these are all just things to consider. Without seeing the situation first hand it's difficult to make solid recommendations... Every property is different and every property owners goals are different...

 

[DougG]

Hi Jbird,
thanks for the options and ideas. In response to your questions
#1 the deer are eating the corn to the point by the beginning of dec, there is at least 1/3 of the cobs gone, if not more. If we were farmers we would not make it on what would be harvestable.

#2, some areas are thicker than others, we have done some edge feathering around this plot. we have done some clearings in the woods area to help thicken things up.

#3 we have bedding areas in our woods, seen plenty of beds while walking. we think most of the bedding is in a giant clear cut to the north. The switch grass idea was to help them bed more on our land.

#4 we have plenty of oaks, both reds and whites. also quite a few persimmon. we are working on planting more, as most that we have are older

i will try to get a full area map with more details to get a fuller picture of what we have and what we are doing.

thanks again.

 

[DougG]

Here is a image that shows our whole property, the white being property boundary, the red being existing wheat fields, the light blue clover and orchard and they yellow in the south area is another corn. The light brown circles are existing areas that are thicker, either from us or existing, that we know deer bed.

 

[Chainsaw]

DougG, it is looking more understandable now with all the details you provided and two more details would give us the full picture. The first an aerial view that shows your property in the middle about 1/8 of the pic with the rest being the surrounding area. The second would be some photographs taken showing field edges and in the woods growth. Then one of us or some of us might be able to come up with some good ideas regarding your plan.

 

[swat1018]

My opinion is on a small tract with 20% open field, I would be hard pressed to plant it in cover. I would concentrate on turning the timber into the best "cover" by doing timber harvest, TSI, edge feathering, etc. If your Timber acreage was thick and holding more deer you could utilize the openings for food. A bigger factor is what is the surrounding landscape? If you are in an area with hundreds of acres of timber, I would be even less inclined to fill your open ground with brush. I must admit, I'm a food plot guy.....

 

[Mennoniteman]

I'm with the other guys, plant more food. With what your neighbors land looks like, food is your best game in town. It looks to me like your two northern neighbors have large clear cuts, while you have mature woods around your field. You are going to lose the bedding battle, but you can win the food war. Like swat said, consider doing a timber stand improvement on all of your woods around your field, and you can win both.

 

[DougG]

thanks all for the input. i was thinking the sections were too small for switch grass, and you guys confirmed things. Thanks all for the input.

 

[farmhunter]

I like the layout - The vertical field is a good candidate for making into an hourglass field. You can do that with corn or switchgrass if you didn't want to permanently give up the field. Would make a good spot for a blind for bow. You already have a great funnel in the center - got to think that is a natural spot. I'd enhance that spot - I agree that you could get better use from the fields and use the woods for bedding / cover and a sanctuary where it makes the most sense.

 

[DougG]

yes we have a stand(actually an elevated blind) there in between the two fields, which we call the gap, but the camera we have there mainly shows night movement through there. the camera has been there for 3 years. only daylight pics there are usually during the summer.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Daytime movement in summer but not fall at what should be a main travel corridor... Too much pressure?

 

[DougG]

The pressure isn't super high, only issue is that is where we travel when going to the north field. Our thought is always that it is too visible from the road. We added corn as a screen and this increased sighting in the field. We have day time deer pics in the field further to the west, by the pines at the west edge of the field.

 

[Mennoniteman]

I'd say try to screen off the road permanently with pines should be a priority. I think I'd also consider cutting an access trail through the woods behind that house to get to the north field without going through the gap.