Steve Oehlenschlager
5 year old buck +
Doing the opposite of what most people are doing. Plan on cutting 20 acres of oaks and Popple this next winter. Oaks are 65% and Popple 35%. Was logged 37 years ago of all the mature Popple and the forest has totally shifted in balance to the oaks. When originally cut it was probably 50% each. Yes it is nice to have oaks but I got way too many. Plan on cutting 90% of the oaks and 100% of the Popple to try and shift the balance back towards the Popple. You need a ton of sunlight for good Popple regeneration. Of course we like deer but we like grouse a little better! All this is being done with profession guidance. Interesting to see how it comes out. The 10% of the oaks left should be the best mature ones we have. A ton of the oaks are about 50 to 60 years old. Really curious to see how their growth rate exploded after the cut 37 years ago. If this cut goes well, will probably do the same thing on another 20 acres in 10 more years.