Post season habitat projects?

[SD51555]

Who's got 'em?

I have a goal to burn up a gallon of saw fuel each year after hunting closes. A gallon lasts for days when you're cutting 1" and 2" brush. I'm starting early because our hunting has been a complete flop. I'll still hunt a little, but priority one will be getting in the woods and running the saw as much as possible. I've got plans to:

*Clean up trails
*Straighten trails
*Make firewood
*Make new blind locations
*Cut center shooting lane at new blind locations
*Expand current shooting lanes that were never finished
*Cut access path to haul in new blinds
*Gather hugel garden wood-fill

****Cut another half or full acre in my sanctuary. 90%+ comes down. I save conifers, birch, maple, oak, basswood, dogwood, beaked hazel, and any other low prevalence trees and shrubs. I primarily cut all aspen, ash, tag alder, and diamond willow. It all gets laid where it falls. I try to cluster it so there are many pathways through it. I'm also going to tinker with making some deer tents out of hinged trees. I'll hinge them towards the NW, stack extra brush on top of them, and leave the openings facing SE. That way the deer can get the prevailing wind at their backs, and look forward downwind for danger. I made some bedding spots under balsam firs a few years ago with the same idea. Windbreak behind them, opening facing downwind. They used them, but to be honest, I put them where deer were already bedding.

 

[roymunson]

Burn the muther down and start over...


j/k, that's my unfilled buck tag talking.

1. Plug the leak in the pond.
2. Burn the switchgrass
3. keep the lanes mowed (New to me Ventrac is in the works)
4. Fish with the kids
5. Hunt groundhogs with the kids
6. Camp with the family
7. Naked swan dive off the dock (After the leak is filled)

Not necessarily in that order.

 

[TenPoint]

I hope there’s some drinking involved in that last one.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

-Basal bark spray or cut and stump treat a bunch of buckthorn.
-Cut lots of ash, maple, aspen, basswood, birch, and ironwood to release oaks and thicken up my woods for browse/bedding
-Create/improve stand sites adjacent to where all this chainsaw work goes.

 

[bueller]

Burn brush/debris pile
Cut down dead oak next to house
Snowmobile local and "up north"

 

[Tree Spud]

Get through gun & muzzleloader enjoying the remaining season that is left before thinking about after the season.

The list of what to do is always there and never gets smaller.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Suck my thumb and spin in circles. I don’t even know where to begin. I have 11 acres on the new farm to spray and get ready to plant and I don’t have the equipment to handle that. 6 acres at another farm that is a mess that needs spraying, burning and maybe a light disc to turn to early succession.
Fix roads per usual
Knock down a house and burn it. That legal?
Plant some cedar screens
TSI
Build new roads

How much of that will get done. Probably a quarter.

 

[Telemark]

Cut firewood
Overhaul hugel beds
Dig up and pot seedling apple trees
Repot grafted apple trees to bigger rootmaker type pots
Make a dozen large rootmaker type pots
Build some kind of harrow
Order seeds for next year's foodplots

 

[Telemark]

Hunt groundhogs with the kids

Groundhog is quite good to eat. I know it's not a part of the typical American diet, but it is literally a giant squirrel. If you try one, I really don't think you will be disappointed.

 

[Maddog66]

Invasives management, small scale logging, enlarge one plot, fix a couple of leaking blinds, trail clearing, trail building, field edge clearing, apple tree releasing, relocate 2 stands, build a ground blind for turkey hunting, burn a few piles, drink a few beers, dream about next year.

 

[T-Max]

1. Plant all the apple trees I bought from Turkey Creek!
2. Plant a NWSG buffer around my foodplot.
3. Crown release several large bur oaks.
4. Finish a clear cut in the deep woods.
5. Finish restoring my corn planter before it’s time to plant.
6. Shed hunt. A LOT!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[somich]

Who's got 'em?

I have a goal to burn up a gallon of saw fuel each year after hunting closes. A gallon lasts for days when you're cutting 1" and 2" brush. I'm starting early because our hunting has been a complete flop. I'll still hunt a little, but priority one will be getting in the woods and running the saw as much as possible. I've got plans to:

*Clean up trails
*Straighten trails
*Make firewood
*Make new blind locations
*Cut center shooting lane at new blind locations
*Expand current shooting lanes that were never finished
*Cut access path to haul in new blinds
*Gather hugel garden wood-fill

****Cut another half or full acre in my sanctuary. 90%+ comes down. I save conifers, birch, maple, oak, basswood, dogwood, beaked hazel, and any other low prevalence trees and shrubs. I primarily cut all aspen, ash, tag alder, and diamond willow. It all gets laid where it falls. I try to cluster it so there are many pathways through it. I'm also going to tinker with making some deer tents out of hinged trees. I'll hinge them towards the NW, stack extra brush on top of them, and leave the openings facing SE. That way the deer can get the prevailing wind at their backs, and look forward downwind for danger. I made some bedding spots under balsam firs a few years ago with the same idea. Windbreak behind them, opening facing downwind. They used them, but to be honest, I put them where deer were already bedding.

View attachment 59588

Man, you must have stuff dialed in and that would be great and of my imaginary goals. That's got to feel good.

I'll try to prune my list and post in the next couple days. I'm still on this years habitat work.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Last winter I didnt get much post season work done because of all the snow. This year I am going to wait until after bow hunting, and if the snow is still manageable I am going to hit shooting lanes, and make a trail for my son to get to his stand. Right now he walks through my food plot, then onto a trail that goes to his stand, I dont like that.

Then in mid January-February I usually start dropping a couple Aspen trees a week for the deer to munch on the tree tops, plus that gives me firewood the next year, and lots of fresh growth the next few summers because of the extra sunshine on the ground. Aspen may not be great firewood, but it is free, and I want it cut down anyhow. I fill the wood boiler in the morning, then again in the evening, and that is plenty, even when it is really cold.

A few years ago I decided I was going to open up canopy around oak trees. Well this past summer I noticed it did work, the oak tree canopy spread out, and I had an over abundance of acorns like everyone else. But the understory never really filled in at all. Which I was hoping it would, at least some. But I suppose the acidic soil around oaks, and the oak canopy grew in fast to fill the open areas rather quick. I am considering thinning out some of the oaks, but I will probably wait until I get most of the large aspen trees cut and burnt.

I have only been trimming apple trees every other year, and this year is a trimming year for my orchard, so that will keep me busy for a while as well.

Honestly I look forward to most of these things, almost as much as deer hunting.

 

[bwoods11]

Trails and new ladder stands .. lots of them !! We enjoy it ! Good excuse to go to Iowa or for the guys to get together in MN.

 

[T-Max]

1. Plant all the apple trees I bought from Turkey Creek!
2. Plant a NWSG buffer around my foodplot.
3. Crown release several large bur oaks.
4. Finish a clear cut in the deep woods.
5. Finish restoring my corn planter before it’s time to plant.
6. Shed hunt. A LOT!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Its funny how plans adjust in such a short time. After hunting my new bean field for rifle season, I see I need to make it more accessible for my father. That is going to take a good amount of chainsaw work in an area that otherwise wouldn't have gotten it. Since I will be in there creating a nice trail for him to get to a good overwatch, I will need to create some short-term screening for a new blind location, plant some cedars for a more permanent solution, and possibly expand my NWSG planting for the whole thing to come together. In our conversations, he seems to be leaning toward letting me take another field out of brome and putting in more food. He took a chance on letting me convert the first field and it brings me great joy seeing his excitement with the results we have gotten. Heck, he is even starting to brainstorm ideas to make it even better. Something that was unimaginable just a couple years ago.

 

[SD51555]

I forgot one big thing when shutting down the camp for winter. I left my good boat chairs in my blinds. I need to go back and get them stuffed in my tower before the red squirrels decide to make crumbs out of them.

I may try to do some bonus saw work while I'm there, I may not. Depends what kind of mood I'm in. I'm pretty happy with what I got done already.

 

[letemgrow]

Showing my son the ropes of some timber management for the farm he will inherit some day.

We have 20 acres to sort through of tree species to keep/kill.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Cut firewood
drop some trees in a number of locations for browse and increased bedding cover
open up 2 new plots inside of the woods on our top farm.
find some new stand locations for next year
get a red dot on my sons 20 ga.

 

[BIGDHunting]

Given the lack of success this year we have a few projects in mind to help out next year. So, although the season isnt over, we will start tackling some projects / hunting this w/end.
- Just had camp built this year so need to continue cutting, splitting and stacking firewood (OMW to get a new saw in a bit)
- Move 2 stands completely and change direction of another two
- Set up a system to collect rainwater
- Build a buck pole -- in hopes we actually hang something next year
- Shooting range.
- Plant more tress when they arrive in the spring
- Continue clearing and building better trails
- Figure out our food plot situation so it is successful

I am excited and tired just thinking about it

 

[EasyE]

Plant trees that I’m over wintering. Cut down more trees to feed the deer, especially putting some honeysuckle in their reach. Prepare my garden area, and my deer garden for next season. Mulch around my selected persimmon trees and my apple trees.