Mo-Ape Acres - 2017 Habitat Journey

[Mo-Ape]

I recently had a top-notch habitat consultant team out to my 135-acre Pike County, MO farm (Dogwood Land Management out of West Central IL)...I already started executing their plans and am instantly seeing a vast improvement.

The first challenge I laid out for them was helping protect my deer herd from a fence sitting leasee on my neighbors. There is a ladder stand about 15-20 yards off my fence facing me in a small finger of timber in a pasture. Easy fix, we made a picket fence of hinged trees to make a half-moon to ensure no deer could be seen or shot from my ground. The deer will now travel 50 to 75 yards off of the fence line:

This pic is literally standing on my ground looking at the stand, invisible this time of year and leaf out hasn't really even started:

This will be an impenetrable mess by late summer, and totally blocked an inconsiderate hunter:

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[Mo-Ape]

The next challenge was reducing deer entry and exit routes in a large 4-5 acre foodplot. There was no less than 30 deer trails that we condensed down to three. This technique will serve multiple purposes, obviously condensing deer down to locations within bow range, but also will provide valuable food and cover on the field edges for a multitude of species. Lastly it will provide a visible screen of the plot to force bucks to step out to look in the plot for does.

We used edge feathering techniques of felling low-value trees (elm, cedar, hickory and inferior oaks):

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[Satguy]

The next challenge was reducing deer entry and exit routes in a large 4-5 acre foodplot. There was no less than 30 deer trails that we condensed down to three. This technique will serve multiple purposes, obviously condensing deer down to locations within bow range, but also will provide valuable food and cover on the field edges for a multitude of species. Lastly it will provide a visible screen of the plot to force bucks to step out to look in the plot for does.

We used edge feathering techniques of felling low-value trees (elm, cedar, hickory and inferior oaks):
Is there a timber harvest in your future plans?

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[Mo-Ape]

No timber harvest in the immediate future, we have a significant amount of crowded out 18" white oaks. I'm going to focus heavily on timber stand improvement for the next 5 to 10 years. There are some marketable trees now, but outside of a fungus or other mother nature tragedy... we will be best served by waiting.


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[Mo-Ape]

A third project that is not entirely finished yet, is condensing deer traffic on a very heavily traveled ridge. Deer literally had the option to travel about 80 yards wide down this 600 yard ridge. We hinge cut both sides of the ridge, to pinch deer down to about 30 yards in most places. It will be a picture perfect rut corridor that is traditionally littered with waist sized rubs and car hood sized scrapes.

This is one area of the farm that was over logged about 30 years ago, and chocked full of second growth junk trees. We put a significant amount of browse on the ground by dropping red buds, silver maples, elms , hackberries, etc:

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[Satguy]

We are are having ours logged right now. 14" and up white and black oaks. Its opening up alot of canopy and the tree tops will provide alot of bedding and nesting habitat. I would also find it frustrating if someone placed their tree stand on my fence line facing in towards my farm.

 

[Mo-Ape]

We are are having ours logged right now. 14" and up white and black oaks. Its opening up alot of canopy and the tree tops will provide alot of bedding and nesting habitat. I would also find it frustrating if someone placed their tree stand on my fence line facing in towards my farm.

Outstanding, hopefully you have some before and after shots. I'll love to see that ground after the sun soaks on it for a few seasons.


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[Chainsaw]

Great start Mo-Ape. I look forward to following your thread. How deep are you running your edge feathering?
And an additional benefit of edge feathering that kinda comes for free (almost free) is crop tree releasing or figuring out which trees are the best fruit or nut wise or timber potential and taking that into consideration when planning the edge feathering cuts. The subsequent releasing of the crowns of your designated crop trees through edge feather cutting significantly increases their production.

Projects like edge feathering that give so many benefits are extra exciting to see and work on. And won't it be fun watching use of that ladder stand dwindle down to nothing?

 

[Mo-Ape]

Great start Mo-Ape. I look forward to following your thread. How deep are you running your edge feathering?

Just one row deep for now, probably 15-20'. I certainly have some spots to fill in, but love the results after one week. It was awesome to take a quick walk around the field and see how many buds have already been nipped off.

How deep do you usually take yours?


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[Paradise725]

Looking forward to following along! Do you mind sharing who your habitat consultant was?


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[OkieKubota]

Looking forward to following along! Do you mind sharing who your habitat consultant was?


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From his first post in this thread...
"I recently had a top-notch habitat consultant team out to my 135-acre Pike County, MO farm (Dogwood Land Management out of West Central IL)...I already started executing their plans and am instantly seeing a vast improvement."

 

[Paradise725]

From his first post in this thread...
"I recently had a top-notch habitat consultant team out to my 135-acre Pike County, MO farm (Dogwood Land Management out of West Central IL)...I already started executing their plans and am instantly seeing a vast improvement.

I swear I didn't see that the first time I read it this morning. I'm losing it. Thanks.


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[Mo-Ape]

Yeah, Chase Burns and Sam Leatherman from Dogwood are absolutely legit. One of the best investments I've ever made on any of my farms. I also need to give a huge call out to Phil Stark, a.k.a. Letemgrow, for helping me execute some of their plans. Having him there on a tree-by-tree level was invaluable.


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[Chainsaw]

Just one row deep for now, probably 15-20'. I certainly have some spots to fill in, but love the results after one week. It was awesome to take a quick walk around the field and see how many buds have already been nipped off.

How deep do you usually take yours?


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The edge cleaning sections that we have done have ranged from twenty feet to 60 yards. All but one edge cut have been coupled with releasing apple trees along the edge of openings, some along fields and others along tractor roads. The odd one was a clear cut this past summer done by the loggers of a poplar stand that had grown along the edge of a field. It was from twenty-feet to 60 feet in depth and about 150 yards long(estimating from memory). If it had been 200 feet deep starting at the field edge, it all would have been cut. The purpose of cutting it was to create a regeneration of poplar sprouts and new brush growth to replace the older poplar trees. Thus how deep we cut there was based on how deep the poplar stand grew.

We have other mature poplar edges to cut but want to see the result of the one done last summer before doing more.

 

[Native Hunter]

Good stuff. You are doing some wise moves. Welcome to the forum.

 

[letemgrow]

It was my pleasure being out on such a great property!! Can't wait to see the pics of improvements/game in the coming years!!!

 

[lakngolf]

Looks like chainsaw was at top of list from top notch consultant. Good work. Should make a big difference

 

[BC Buck]

Fence sitters are one thing but when they are facing your property they get what they deserve. Had to do some hinge cutting to discourage at my place also. All my prop lines are purple.

 

[Mo-Ape]

Fence sitters are one thing but when they are facing your property they get what they deserve. Had to do some hinge cutting to discourage at my place also. All my prop lines are purple.

Exactly, no big issue with a stand by my property line facing away, but they're clearly hunting deer on my side. Well, they used to be . They are lease guys too, so zero cares about ticking them off.


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[BC Buck]

You up by Louisiana. My place is 16 miles SW of Bowling green.