Opening the canopy - death to the Balsam?

[Chipdasqrrl]

I have quite a bit of balsam fir on my place, and I think I’m about ready to remove every single one of them. (Loggers are coming next winter, and I would remove any that they miss).

The only thing it seems to be good for is cover when it’s young. I would gladly sacrifice some cover in order to get some more sunlight on the forest floor. Where I’m at in Michigan, what my deer need is more food.

What do you guys think? I am also considering removing some mature hemlocks for the same reason, but those are more beneficial despite not allowing a single plant to grow under them.

 

[Buckly]

Deer need food no doubt but in northern climates where it can get nasty I think they also need some thermal cover when it’s really cold. Like a blanket over them. I wouldn’t cut my mature hemlock stands for anything as I’ve seen too many times that deer need them in the worst weather. The fir trees , I have no experience with but if you have an over abundance then I think your plan is a good one.

 

[MarkDarvin]

I have quite a bit of balsam fir on my place, and I think I’m about ready to remove every single one of them. (Loggers are coming next winter, and I would remove any that they miss).

The only thing it seems to be good for is cover when it’s young. I would gladly sacrifice some cover in order to get some more sunlight on the forest floor. Where I’m at in Michigan, what my deer need is more food.

What do you guys think? I am also considering removing some mature hemlocks for the same reason, but those are more beneficial despite not allowing a single plant to grow under them.

What would take it's place if you took the balsam out? I might still keep some pockets for strategic cover.

I've got a good mix of balsam on my place. It's not dominant, but there's just enough native out there I can manage it for cover without having to bring in any big amount of conifers. I have started taking down some of the absolute largest ones to get sunlight to the 2'-6' trees growing in the shadows.

 

[gasman]

I would hold off on the hemlock. Once they are gone they are not coming back. Where we hunt it seems like a deer trail runs under every hemlock tree. Any branch that falls to the ground from the wind seems to be browsed clean within a few days. With the loggers coming next winter there should be plenty of sunlight for regen coming in.