Pinetag's Plot - 43 acres in Virginia

[pinetag]

I think you guys will appreciate how well these things work! Here's the method I use... Rev it up real good and "pop" it into the tree in a swinging motion, as opposed to holding it against the trunk like a chainsaw, and the little saplings just fall over. If the tree is too large, just try to pop it again in the same spot. I've actually bent the pole a little bit after getting aggressive on some of the bigger trees but hey, it still works.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[dogghr]

Here is a pic showing the top of the tree that had fallen on the other side of the bridge, right where my path was planned. I had to cut an opening through all the branches hanging in the way first and then I could clear out all the saplings on the ground. I will take down the big standing tree at the end of the bridge on a different day.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Do you work for the WV dept highways? That bridge to no where resembles a 4 lane one built down the road a ways before elections a couple years ago. It ends across the river directly into an uncut mountain side. Supposed to be back on it this year to finish but yours prob will beat them to it. Good job

 

[pinetag]

Do you work for the WV dept highways? That bridge to no where resembles a 4 lane one built down the road a ways before elections a couple years ago. It ends across the river directly into an uncut mountain side. Supposed to be back on it this year to finish but yours prob will beat them to it. Good job

LOL! Nope, I just have your average desk job. I bet I will be done before them as the plan is to get it cut down in Feb, when I have some help. If it was one straight trunk I could knock it out myself but it's got 3 separate trunks, one of which is leaning toward the bridge. I'm just not experienced enough to attempt that alone.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[pinetag]

I got another 280 yards of trail cut this morning, all the way to the corner of the property.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[pinetag]

This is only the second time I've been in this section of the property so I didn't hunt it last year. About 18 untouched acres that I'm looking forward to hunting next season.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[pinetag]

Lots of good sign...

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[pinetag]

Based on online searching, I believe there is a fair amount of black cherry down along the river. Can anyone confirm this is a cherry sapling?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[pinetag]

A section of new trail...

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[pinetag]

Got some new reading material for my birthday!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[pinetag]

I'm really liking the new book! It mentions a lot of the concepts I've already learned from all you knowledgable folks, but it provides a lot of good examples of how/where/when to apply them. I definitely had some light bulbs go off in regards to my property layout. It also goes into more details about some things that I was not as familiar with and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[weekender21]

I'm really liking the new book! It mentions a lot of the concepts I've already learned from all you knowledgable folks, but it provides a lot of good examples of how/where/when to apply them. I definitely had some light bulbs go off in regards to my property layout. It also goes into more details about some things that I was not as familiar with and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I’ve read that one twice already! Along with his other books and Jeff Sturgis’s books. Like you said, great for those “lightbulb” moments. Gets you thinking, even if it might not directly relate to your property.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pinetag]

It was a cold morning to be cutting trails but I was able to finish my atv/walking path on the lower 20! Man, does that feel good. 1,000 yards in total!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[pinetag]

A little bit of disappointment though... I had a bunch of big oaks (some of the biggest on my property) come down within the last couple of months. My oaks are very spread out and not nearly as plentiful as a lot of properties because it is mostly flat river bottom. Kind of a big loss for my habitat!

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[pinetag]

I checked the larger of the two hinge cuts I did last spring and I didn't see any sign of bedding, but they definitely travel through and around them. I had some sprouting on a few of the trees and you can see more open canopy so hopefully it will continue to thicken up in the coming years. I plan to expand them as well as create some new hinge pockets.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[dogghr]

Man that’s some big oaks that went down. I feel your pain. Good news understory will explode providing winter browse. Place looks great.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pinetag]

Man that’s some big oaks that went down. I feel your pain. Good news understory will explode providing winter browse. Place looks great.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks dogghr! My biggest concern now that the trees are down is it might turn into a bedding area right where my property line and access trail runs. The good news is, with our predominant wind directions being what they are, I won't use that side nearly as often to get down to the river.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[pinetag]

Now that my access trail is done on the lower 20, I can focus on the rest of my 2019 habitat plan which includes hinge cuts, native grasses/shrubs, and food plots. Here is my plan for the next couple months...

1. Expand my existing hinge cuts and create some new ones in strategic locations.
2. I just placed an order for 10 persimmons and 10 crab apples that should be delivered at the end of Feb from the VA dept of Forestry. I'll be putting them in the ground the first weekend in Mar.
3. Expand my food plot from last year and create another micro plot toward the northern end of the the upper 20. I will likely be seeding oats and clover.
4. I will be ordering my custom mix of grasses/shrubs from Ernst Seed sometime later in Mar and spraying clethodim on the Jap stiltgrass a couple weeks prior to seeding. It starts popping up in mid-to-late March around here so my hope is to kill it early and give my custom mix a chance to establish well for the coming years.
5. I have identified a couple SWO seedlings that I will be transplanting into better locations in either Mar or Apr, as well as moving a few chinese chestnut and AC seedlings that probably weren't placed in the best location last spring. It may set them back another year but I would rather them be a year behind in the right location than producing one year early in the wrong one.

 

[pinetag]

I haven't been able to get out for the last few weeks due to family commitments but I'm hoping to get out this weekend, unless heavy rain rolls in. I plan to open up a new micro food plot and I bought a couple hazelnut seedlings to put in the ground on the edge of my existing food plot.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[pinetag]

Just ordered 4 chestnuts from Stark Bros that should be here next week, just in time for me to do a bunch of planting/transplanting on Mar 2. I plan to spend most of the day out there with a shovel and chainsaw.

 

[pinetag]

My existing "creek" food plot will get some of the persimmons and crab apples as well as 2 of the chestnuts down there and then I'm going to open up this new "horseshoe" shaped food plot a little further to the north in the upper 20. I'm going to put the hazelnuts, 2 chestnuts, a few crabs, a few persimmons, and a couple pears in it. The northern/northeastern edges should get good afternoon sun so that is where they'll be going. The deer already seem to want to move in a North-South direction so I am just trying to direct the bucks around these plots when scent checking and hopefully right passed my stands along the perimeter.