"Top of the Hill"

[Chainsaw]

Trust me Jeremy I'm giving your deer my best effort. Two poplar trees cut down three days ago had twenty hungry visitors yesterday. So today I dropped almost twenty poplars in that area. In four or five days I'll do it again. Your deer that don't get convinced into staying here indefinitely will at least return to you in excellent condition.

 

[OkieKubota]

How far apart are you guys properties from each other?

 

[Chainsaw]

How far apart are you guys properties from each other?

Its a twenty-five minute ride so maybe air miles it is twelve to fifteen miles a part. What do you think Chummer? Snow wise though it is a completely different continent.

 

[Chummer]

Totally a different world. Why any deer come back is beyond me. I have looked at google earth and it doesn't seem like it is a distance that deer would be afraid of. I really don't understand why they come back. I have some boss does that would easily take any territory they wanted. For what ever reason they make this journey every year. If I was them I would be eating at your place and a bounch of yearlings would be taking a hike. For the deer that stay at my camp, they are playing roulette. They have the river and hemlocks that lure them into staying but I wish they all left. There is is no easy path for these deer. The one thing I worry about is coyotes. The locals say they didn't exist 20 years ago. It is not a fair playing field when they stay on top of the snow and the deer sink.

 

[Chainsaw]

Your are spot on Jeremy about the coyotes. Though it was an easy winter for the deer I have found six dead deer remains within the last two weeks that were almost completely eaten. The year the 38 deer died on this property from the winter, bodies were uneaten and simply drying up as late as the middle of April. The six recently found were different, almost totally consumed but evidence of fresh kills was present. On the plus side I'm seeing twenty to thirty deer a day just going about my regular routine around the barn.

 

[Chummer]

Your are spot on Jeremy about the coyotes. Though it was an easy winter for the deer I have found six dead deer remains within the last two weeks that were almost completely eaten. The year the 38 deer died on this property from the winter, bodies were uneaten and simply drying up as late as the middle of April. The six recently found were different, almost totally consumed but evidence of fresh kills was present. On the plus side I'm seeing twenty to thirty deer a day just going about my regular routine around the barn.

That is discouraging. 6 seem like a high number for the "relatively" mild winter we have had. Could you tell their size? My guess would be last years fawns. We have a group that runs dogs around us. I am hoping they put the smack down on the coyotes through early February. After this week snow shouldn't play a factor in helping the coyote.

 

[Chainsaw]

That is discouraging. 6 seem like a high number for the "relatively" mild winter we have had. Could you tell their size? My guess would be last years fawns. We have a group that runs dogs around us. I am hoping they put the smack down on the coyotes through early February. After this week snow shouldn't play a factor in helping the coyote.

One was a 1 1/2 year old seven point and that looked like a very fresh kill;the coyotes probably caught him off his game. The deer are sort of docile now lounging around and out and about all morning. This morning there was a loose group of 14 hanging in the barn and garden to be area. I had released some apple trees and they were feeding on the dropped tree tops as well as eating grasses and of course apples as well. Two or three coyotes could easily have cut one off and would have been right on top of them easily if they used the terrain right. Of course any coyote that shows himself chasing "my" deer would be a target.

The other five dead deer appeared to be two does and three fawns. The fawns are mostly pretty large themselves now. Six is not so bad;still a couple or three more winter killed deer are possible as there is more ground to cover yet. Its not that they starved;its just that the large coyotes in our area are so efficient and the deer though as " fat as pigs"are less than on their A game at this time of year.

 

[Chummer]

This is the time of year I usually see the most kills. The deer are still getting weaker everyday and the coyotes are getting stronger everyday.

 

[Weasel]

Beautiful place Chum. You have done an amazing amount of good work there.

 

[Chummer]

I managed to get a little work done today despite 2' of snow and my chainsaw not wanting to cooperate. I release about 6 big apple trees before I gave up on the saw.
Here are a couple pre release.

Here are the post release pics. For the most part the trees are in okay shape. A couple will be touch and go.

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[Chummer]

Found this pleasant surprise. At first I thought it was deer hide. After inspection it a fresh piece of coyote hide

Not sure how it got there but I will take it.


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[Chummer]

Now onto the bad news. Many of my trees have limbs or central leaders snapped by the snow pack. Usually I have a couple but this year it was severe. I also lost three trees that were girdled on top of the snow pack. I have never lost a tree to rodents before. Not sure if it is a coincidence but my SLN trees have no damage. Other than that Dolgos have no damage. Liberty, enterprise many broken branches.

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[Chummer]

Silky dogwood was hit hard sometime from November till now

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[Chummer]

This tree will be the source of my first grafting try. I have named it Centerfield Apple, for obviously reasons. The deer are browsing what they can reach, with the snow pack they get up in the tree about 8'. This is the deer's first stop. It has bright red apples about the size of golf balls. This tree also showed no sign of fire blight last year when most trees had it bad.

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[Chainsaw]

Good for you Jeremy; six large apple trees released is a good day. With two feet of snow those deer must be appreciating your efforts already. Dropping all of those bud laden non apple trees will be like a thanksgiving dinner for them!

Sorry to see your planted trees and shrubs hit so hard. The ice and snow is beyond our ability to control. The deer being so hungry though is a bummer. It may be time to teach others on the hill to do some tree and shrub planting like you do. Everyone there would benefit.

 

[Chummer]

Good for you Jeremy; six large apple trees released is a good day. With two feet of snow those deer must be appreciating your efforts already. Dropping all of those bud laden non apple trees will be like a thanksgiving dinner for them!

Sorry to see your planted trees and shrubs hit so hard. The ice and snow is beyond our ability to control. The deer being so hungry though is a bummer. It may be time to teach others on the hill to do some tree and shrub planting like you do. Everyone there would benefit.

No fresh tracks on the property. Not sure how but a field 1/2 mile down the road was mostly bare and there were 5 deer in it. I think they moved this week because there was a lot of fresh browse for no tracks. I am the only one within a few miles doing any habitat work. Most guys don't show up until the first week of deer season. That is fine, if my apples ever produce I will be the deer hub of the neighborhood.

 

[Weasel]

Bummer on the tree damage. I was just telling my buddy while we were planting, screening, landscape fabric, gravel and caging some apple trees, it's a wonder how any trees grow in the wild with so much out to kill them. Those apples you released look like good sized ones, hope they load up for you.

 

[Chummer]

Went up to finish up releasing some apple trees. I had these guys strutting by my driveway. 4 nice toms and 10-12 hens. I rolled down the window and the big guy gobbled at me. The taunting begins.

Finished with 11 apple trees released. Two more that were to far gone and another two that were over the property line I will have to ask the neighbor about. Of the 11 only 2 are in bad shape, the rest need some dead wood removed and hopefully will produce this year.

This was my best shot at domino releasing.

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[j-bird]

the snow you get just floors me Chummer. It seems what the snow and cold doesn't get the deer do! I'm surprised you don't have everything in like 6 foot tall cages!!! And even that won't protect from the snow and cold.

 

[Chummer]

the snow you get just floors me Chummer. It seems what the snow and cold doesn't get the deer do! I'm surprised you don't have everything in like 6 foot tall cages!!! And even that won't protect from the snow and cold.

Actually I do use 6' cages! I am learning this is a loosing battle. I found more snapped off apples today. They are snapping where the go through or over a cage or where they are attached to a stake. I need to re-evaluate my plan. I think I will go back to 5' cages for one year then down to wider 3' cages. Most of the damage appears to be in the 4' range. I will figure this out at some point. I do have a handful of trees that appear to be snow pack safe. I will say that my SLN trees are light years ahead of my Cummins trees. I have 5 SLN trees and there isn't a broken branch on any of them. I will be all SLN going forward.