When do you start your habitat work?

Mike Bolin

5 year old buck +
Deer season here in Indiana runs to the first Sunday of January, but the all intents and purposes, we are done hunting on the "Property" for this season. Being retired and having more time to spend in the woods this year, I have made a mental list of things that I want to get done before next season.
I have some hinge cutting that I need to get done and I plan to clean up some more of the treetops from the logging done 4 years ago. Cleaning up the treetops will open up some areas for next spring's foodplots, so there is some burning to be done as well. Time in the stands this fall also showed me that I need to relocate some stands and get those areas prepped.
We're having temps here in the 50s and I am chomping at the bit to get to work. I can see no reason not take advantage of the good weather and start making some progress. When do you all start working in the woods and have you seen any adverse effects from working this early? When working in the spring I have had deer stand 40 yards away while I am running the chainsaw or tractor.
 
I have started but am confining the work to the front half of my property which due to a hill has little or no effect on the back half where i might still hunt some more this year. Most work is related to a 2 acre pond I built in August. plenty of clean up to do.
 
There isn’t a right or wrong answer. The best time to start doing the things you need to get done for next year are as soon as you have time. Especially if you’re done hunting. Next year will be here before you know it. I honestly think deer can tell a difference between habitat work and being hunted.
 
I personally like to wait until late February, or early March with tree cutting. The reason is because by then the trees have some buds already growing, and by dropping them with buds on them, it gives hungry deer something to eat that time of year. I know a good hinge cut will still grow, but I would say half of my hinge cuts actually survive, so this way the other half that doesnt make it, have some food value to them as well. Although I am sure down by you is much different then up by me, and you may actually have food for the deer year around. Other then tree cutting, I have started on my last day of deer season.
 
I work when I have time, regardless of the month or day.

There are two times a yr I don't mess with the land much; during our archery season (the boys and I hunt a lot then), and during rifle season (I want our place to be refuge for bucks during this time. The last thing I want to do it push them off our property during rifle season).
 
Our deer season runs through January 1. We begin as soon as the season is over. We like to do as much as possible before turkey season begins around the 15th of April. We primarily do this because it is cooler, we have the time and this time of the year there isn't much to do. We don't get very much snow so we take soil samples and lime our plots, make improvements to our shooting houses, cut and trim our shooting lanes and make any improvements we want to. As stated anytime is a great time to make improvements, we just hate trying to accomplish them when it's 90 degrees outside.
 
Our muzzleloader season ends on December 31st here in Mass. I start habitat work on New Year's Day.

I may work before then out on areas of my land where I know I will not be hunting if tracking conditions are tough. But if conditions are good for tracking deer, there's nothing I'd rather be doing.
 
I started today with mine. Our rifle season closed last week and I probably won’t bow hunt or muzzleloader hunt any. If I do I don’t think a chainsaw scares them out of the county. I like to quit by March.
 
This is where I'm so envious of you guys that live on or close to your land. With the warm weather in MO the sap isn't frozen and I'd be hinge cutting tomorrow.

I do it when I can but like to be done cutting anything before the trees put leaves on. Hard to see the big picture when you can't see 30 yards.

I'm two years behind where I want to be. But isn't that always the case. On the bright side when I bought the farm the fields were all hayed, golf course looking in the fall and the Timber was a desert after leaf drop. Two weeks of hunting and the deer had us pegged.

Today the farm is ugly to people and pretty to deer :).
 
Here is one of those old hay fields that used to look like a golf course. The neighbors cows showed up on my trail cam so I went to chase them home and fix the fence. Took this video while looking for them.

Cows are easier to find in a golf course but that's the only down side to making a mess!

 
Interesting thread

"ugly to people ,pretty to deer" = habitat in a nutshell

Mine are used to me in a Ranger pulling a trailer of baby trees

bill
 
That’s nice, Bill. I like how your grass has open spaces between clumps, that’s what I’m going for in mine.


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The thing is .....it depends. If you are fearful of neighbors shooting deer you may be pushing or displacing because of your work then I would wait until at least muzzleloader or the bonus antlerless season is closed if it applies in your county. You are going to be working in the daylight and your activity may bump deer to other hunters. The deer tend to quickly return but you may be exposing them to others that you may not want to....or maybe that isn't a concern. I tend to wait until January.....muzzleloader season and even the late bonus antlerless season will close and thus minimize that risk. I appreciate the fact of taking advantage of this warm weather.....so you simply have to weight the risk/rewards of doing so. I have a small property with only small pockets of cover so if I was to go out and start running a saw I would most certainly be bumping deer towards neighboring hunters....especially on the weekends. I also have increasing pressure on surrounding properties...... I wait until January......but your situation may be very different.
 
Bill what kind of grass is that?
 
I don’t plan on doing any habitat work until I’m done hunting but I do find that I spend hours thinking about and planning this years potential projects while I’m sitting on stand waiting for something to happen. It’s amazing to me how many projects you can see and think about by just being out on your land. It’s a great opportunity to fine tune my plans before jumping right in.
 
I do my winter projects when ever I have the time. I think all of my neighbors are done hunting once the regular WI gun deer season is over, so I do not worry about pushing deer to them. I have seen the cold and snow close down my land in a week. I clear cut three of my small popple (aspen) groves last winter and I have three to do this winter.
 
I also want to add to take the time to follow some deer tracks in the snow after the major hunting season is over. These tracks are left by the survivors and where they go and the habitat they come from and lead to can tell you a lot. I love a fresh snow for this very reason. Hunting season may end, but learning about ho deer use your place is never out of season!
 
Hunting is done on the property except for our late archery season for turkey (comes in on Dec. 9). I ran trail cameras since early spring and it appeared that there were 6-8 adult "resident" does with a total of 4-6 fawns that use the property regularly. Cameras showed that from July thru early November there were actually more bucks than does frequenting the area. 14 total, with 9 of them being 1.5 and 2.5 years old. In total, there were two does and three bucks killed there this season and from the best I can tell I had not gotten any photos of the 3 bucks that were killed. I spoke with the other guys that hunt there and they agreed that there were enough deer killed on this property for the year.
The property (80 acres) is owned by my brother in law and I take care of the road maintenance and mowing. In turn, I get to do food plots and habitat work and have some input on who hunts there. The property is landlocked on all 4 sides and 3 of the 4 sides gets gun hunted heavily. Only 4 folks hunt here, my friend that helps me with the work and I hunt with bows only, a neighbor that hunts with a bow but only 3-4 times all season and my brother in laws nephew hunts it during gun season 5 or 6 times a season. I am working to make this little patch of ground into a sanctuary of sorts. With the gun hunting on 3 sides I have seen as many as 40 deer here on opening morning of gun season.
I love my firearms and have absolutely nothing against gun hunting, I just prefer to deer hunt with my longbow. I have seen the work that's been done and the lower hunting pressure make a real difference in the last 2 years...probably the lack of hunting pressure as much as anything. Thanks to all for the input!
Mike
 
I bow hunt up until the very last day of the season and really try to not do any work until after antler drop in the spring. If I have any decent deer using the property late I will usually wait until March if not I start earlier. Deer held their antlers into late March and with the warm spring there was hardly no habitat season. My farm is going to see fire this year so fire breaks will start immediately after season.

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