Shaded Trail Thru Woods - What to Plant

[wbpdeer]

Need the advice of those that done it successfully.

My son got a Caterpillar D5C Hyrtat Bull Dozier. It has two joy sticks and runs very well. I have about 9 to 10 hours on it. My son has about 2 hours on it. Got better by my third day - learn the right rpms to operate at and feel the drag as you move to leave more topsoil in place.

Also I am better at spotting stumps ahead of impact. Ha Ha

I cut a north - south trail next to a bluff and a cedar thicket. It runs from 2 plots in Tennessee to a 3rd plot at the edge of the Kentucky / Tennessee State Line. Two-thirds of this trail is simply trail - the northern third will be food plot.

2 Questions
1) What can I sow on the trail to reduce erosion? It is a trail that can be mowed with a bush hog. The farm was timbered two years ago - so we are creating trails and food plots to improve the hunting and attract deer from neighboring farms.

2) When can I sow what you recommend. I am in Zone 7 on the TN / KY State Line.

Likely not to lime the trail.

Thanks for any proven advice that can be shared.

Wayne

 

[suburbhunter]

Wayne,
Look at grandpa ray's logging trail mix. I did, then I made the same mix by buying the ingredients for much cheaper and more of it. I top sowed it and packed it in when I had dozer work done in October. It germinated but the jury is still out until spring for the final results.

 

[wbpdeer]

I will check that out. My trails will have more shade than your trails - best I remember. My trail has tall cedars on the uphill side.

If your stuff germinated I would expect it will do well when temps and ground temps rise.

Thanks

 

[Mennoniteman]

Annual ryegrass is probably your best choice, it grows like weeds with quick germination and reseeds itself every year. You could also use perennial ryegrass, or a mixture of the two. Just don't use cereal rye, which is the proper planting for a winter food plot or cover crop, but won't tolerate trail traffic.

 

[dogghr]

Regardless of what you plant.... Alsheimer in his books recommended planting on north/south roads for deer to allow sunshine , but main thing I liked is he suggested clearing 10 yds to each side of road to allow sun which helps keep road dry and allow plant growth. In addition, the side clearings create great browse. Haven't done such yet but plan to when I log in few years. I do however sow grains, and clover on my woods roads and they do quite well especially in the fall. I do run the tractor and atv on them although not daily. You might also research strip mine reclaim suggestions, as they have great ideas. My dnr web page has section for those as well as gas line row and accesses. All deer related.

 

[TreeFan]

I had timber harvested in 2016 (80 acres) and again in 2017 fall (40 acres) in northern Michigan. The trails were destroyed and I was left with bear dirt. I planted the trails with the objective of holding the soil together and providing some nutrition. Michigan DNR has a trail mix used for gas wells and such. I spring planted the 80 acres (full sun) with trail seed mix (5 pounds), primarily grasses, with red and white clover and alfalfa. I added durana clover, chicory, and 50 pounds triple 12 on a 1/2 mile trail (no lime). I used a bedspring drag for seed/soil contact. By fall results were good for the 80 and the trail will definitely hold together for limited traffic and erosion control. The 40 (partial shade) will be planted this coming spring. Grasses fill in space, durana clover spreads and withstands abuse including mowing and limited traffic, chicory for dry conditions.

 

[THE LLC]

I be honest with you, I wouldn't plant anything---mainly because nothing is gonna grow well in shade. I'd back-blade it smooth then use the tracks to compact it and let leaves/pine needles cover it naturally.

 

[Mennoniteman]

I be honest with you, I wouldn't plant anything---mainly because nothing is gonna grow well in shade. I'd back-blade it smooth then use the tracks to compact it and let leaves/pine needles cover it naturally.

I assumed that a new trail with a D5 dozer would be getting at least 50% sunlight for several years...

 

[Native Hunter]

 

[dogghr]

I be honest with you, I wouldn't plant anything---mainly because nothing is gonna grow well in shade. I'd back-blade it smooth then use the tracks to compact it and let leaves/pine needles cover it naturally.

My farm roads I referred to are completely shaded by mature overstory. They do well.

If you post that one more time I'm going to unfriend you Native!

 

[Native Hunter]

My farm roads I referred to are completely shaded by mature overstory. They do well.

If you post that one more time I'm going to unfriend you Native!

LOL, I did it just for you. You have to admit that it is tough stuff and would have a good chance of doing well in Wayne's trails....

 

[wbpdeer]

You got a good rise out of him. Guess the Kentucky 31 strikes his funny bone or last nerve.

 

[Native Hunter]

You got a good rise out of him. Guess the Kentucky 31 strikes his funny bone or last nerve.

Wayne, I may just have to send him a bag of seed for Christmas, or better yet, just go plant some for him....

 

[dogghr]

Wayne, I may just have to send him a bag of seed for Christmas, or better yet, just go plant some for him....

You guys are evil. I'm going to tell Santa when he stops by as he always comes my place first do to my goodness. And I do agree, it would work well on his road. Heaven knows we have thousands of acres of reclaim covered in the stuff. Just sure as hell hope he's in to long term comittments as I've spent many and hour and dollar nuking mine only to see it sneak back in. I kill MFR much easier.

 

[wbpdeer]

We could frost seed him some - so he don't have to worry with growing - just killing it.

Good luck with Santa Claus - Dogghr.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Need the advice of those that done it successfully.

My son got a Caterpillar D5C Hyrtat Bull Dozier. It has two joy sticks and runs very well. I have about 9 to 10 hours on it. My son has about 2 hours on it. Got better by my third day - learn the right rpms to operate at and feel the drag as you move to leave more topsoil in place.

Also I am better at spotting stumps ahead of impact. Ha Ha

I cut a north - south trail next to a bluff and a cedar thicket. It runs from 2 plots in Tennessee to a 3rd plot at the edge of the Kentucky / Tennessee State Line. Two-thirds of this trail is simply trail - the northern third will be food plot.

2 Questions
1) What can I sow on the trail to reduce erosion? It is a trail that can be mowed with a bush hog. The farm was timbered two years ago - so we are creating trails and food plots to improve the hunting and attract deer from neighboring farms.

2) When can I sow what you recommend. I am in Zone 7 on the TN / KY State Line.

Likely not to lime the trail.

Thanks for any proven advice that can be shared.

Wayne

and congratulations to you and your son for buying and running your own D5 bulldozer. I admire people who sometimes do some things themselves instead of taking the easy way out (and most expensive) of hiring a contractor to do all their work.

 

[ditty22]

I also plant a mix of red & white clovers with oats and chicory and they do great with mild atv/tractor traffic. Mow them 1 or twice a year and they look great plus the doe’s & fawns like grazing on them. Our land was select cut before we bought it 6 or 8 years ago.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Triple C]

Regardless of what you plant.... Alsheimer in his books recommended planting on north/south roads for deer to allow sunshine , but main thing I liked is he suggested clearing 10 yds to each side of road to allow sun which helps keep road dry and allow plant growth. In addition, the side clearings create great browse. Haven't done such yet but plan to when I log in few years. I do however sow grains, and clover on my woods roads and they do quite well especially in the fall. I do run the tractor and atv on them although not daily. You might also research strip mine reclaim suggestions, as they have great ideas. My dnr web page has section for those as well as gas line row and accesses. All deer related.

Wayne - With your dozer you have the opportunity to do just what dogghr suggested in his recommendation from Alsheimer. I did this exact thing on one of our primary interior roads that is mostly a north/south road. When I had my pines thinned I had a row removed from each side of the road, giving me approximately 10 to 15 yds on each side of the interior road. A primary benefit is that sunshine will greatly improve the drainage of the road by allowing it to dry. A secondary benefit is you can use it as an additional food plot with the extra sunshine hitting the ground. In my case, I had all the stumps removed, limed the heck out of it and then planted a mix of ladino and durana clover that I maintain as a year round food source for wildlife.

Took these pics this past Monday.
This is a pic looking north before the start of the clover planting. You can see where the clover starts. And, due to N/S orientation, you can see sunlight hitting the ground.


This is just a little farther north toward the cabin. Great stand of clover that is feeding animals in January.


Just around the bend, more clover.


I had the lower section of the cabin field cleared as well and planted more clover.


And along the south edge of the cabin field I maintain about a 30 ft wide strip of clover.

When I purchased this property I had trails for interior roads with very little sunlight hitting the floor. My neighbor, who for years managed his property as a high fence commercial hunting operation told me the best thing I could do was widen my roads and plant them. Then had a biologist out to do an initial assessment and he recommended same thing. It works.