69 Acre Ohio Land Tour

[Moundhill]

Hey everyone, I'm going to put up my land tour on here and see what your guys' input is. My wife and I just recently closed on 69 acres in SE Ohio. The land is about 5 miles from where we currently live. Our goal for the land is to manage it for wildlife, improve the property as a whole, and eventually build a home on it. Theres approx. 4 acres of field in the front, and another smaller 4 acre field in the back of the property. The rear field used to be an apple orchard, and I am thinking about starting with planting some apple and chestnut trees back there. Some of the land was select cut about 15 years ago, and theres alot of thick cover. The south side of the property, in the timber, it a great oak stand, with pinch points and and trails criss crossing. My favorite part of the property so far is the amount of cover and bedding, its insane. Theres an ash stand around 5 acres, on the west side of the property that's nothing but broken off and dead ash and thick underbrush, mainly autumn olive. My goal with the front field is to let the west portion of it grow up and become thick cover, and put in a 1 acre or so plot on the east side of the field. I'm currently working on making trails through the property, just to be able to access the rear field, and edges of the property with my sxs and tractor.

In the screenshot,

Yellow markers are my current baiting sites
Blue markers are thick areas, bedding sites
2 orange markers on the south, are pinch points in oak stands
The single orange marker above those 2 is a corridor
2 green markers are nice oak stands
Brown marker is where my buddy found a shed a few weeks ago
The southern green shaded area is going to be what I mow, and put in the new "orchard"
The northern green shaded area is where i want to put in the food plot.

The south and west side of the property is 222 acres all owned by 1 guy. Theres some guys that hunt it, but just gun season. They feed corn but dont neccesarily manage the land or have any cut fields or plots. The west side of the property is owned by a guy that lives out of town. He has a few guys hunting but they dont get out a ton.

Thanks for reading and if anyone has any input or remarks, fire away!
Brown shaded area is where I want to let grow up and become thick.

 

[H20fwler]

Welcome Moundhill! Congrats on the new property.

Looks like you’re in an area with a lot of cover and not a lot of open areas. It's a new property so will take you a couple years to see how the deer act and where/how they want to travel. Get to know your new neighbors.
Short term I would try and ad whatever the neighbors don't have to eat for the local wildlife...brassicas/mineral block/year round feeder/soft mast trees/koi pond to attract wildlife to you.
The old apple orchard sounds interesting, are any of the trees alive still?

 

[Moundhill]

The area is absolutely full of cover. The first year or 2 i don't have high hopes as far as harvesting mature deer. But to me, leaning the land and how the deer operate is what makes it fun and rewarding. With the 3 bait piles I've been running, I've already got a good inventory to keep tabs on. The "orchard" is no longer an actual orchard, It's currently just and overgrown field. The guy that owned the land years ago said that it was an active orchard with tons of apple trees, but they cut the trees, and tilled up the land, burrying the stumps in the process, for whatever reason.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Land less than 15 mins away is really nice to have. Wish I could say the same.

A suggestion for you might be to search the threads of a poster on here h2ofwler. Believe he is also in Ohio but maybe opposite side of the state. Impressed with the amount of diversity that his pictures show and think he has about similar acres, maybe a little smaller. He maybe has more open ground and able to do NWSG and stuff. I really like his ponds and duck pics if you are also into the bird side of hunting. Drove thru the length of Ohio this summer. If you are anywhere near Ohio River there's some nice looking land over there.

 

[Moundhill]

I appreciate the suggestion, I'll do a search of his name and check out the thread. We are about 30 minutes or so from the ohio river. It's mainly rolling hills, some fields (mainly crop fields near me) and a mix of good hardwoods and thick woods that have been logged. I don't have many pictures of the property yet, but here are a few I have snapped.

 

[bwoods11]

Congrats to you! Looks nice

 

[BenAllgood]

Looks really nice. You can't ever go wrong by starting with taking out non-native invasives or even natives that have a tendency of becoming invasive. It also helps in learning your property and starting an inventory of what species you have available to manage or promote.

 

[Moundhill]

I've already put a lot of time in cutting grape vines...those things are everywhere! I read on here that some guys are cutting them at licking branch height, so I'll do that in a few locations too, I liked that idea. I really cant stand autumn olive either, but I'm going to leave that alone, for its providing great cover. Once i get back out and get some more progress I'll snap some more pictures of certain areas and post them up so it all makes more sense.

 

[PatinPA]

I've already put a lot of time in cutting grape vines...those things are everywhere! I read on here that some guys are cutting them at licking branch height, so I'll do that in a few locations too, I liked that idea. I really cant stand autumn olive either, but I'm going to leave that alone, for its providing great cover. Once i get back out and get some more progress I'll snap some more pictures of certain areas and post them up so it all makes more sense.

As for the grape vines, location is the key. If you just cut off a random grape vine, it's very unlikely that they'll just start using it as a licking branch. Cut a piece off and hang it along a well used trail, somewhere where you want them to stop for a shot or consistently use that trail. You'll be much better off. I hung one from a random tree branch in my kill plot and it rarely gets used. But one I hung at a road/trail intersection gets used by almost every deer that walks that way.

 

[Moundhill]

Good call, I plan spending a bunch of time cutting grape vines before the green up of spring happens, so that will give me a good chance to do some scouting and looking for trails, especially with the snow we have on the ground here in Ohio. I can imagine I'll be battling the grape vines and ash trees out there for years to come unfortunately. We have a service forester coming out in the coming weeks to check the place out and steer me in the right direction. I'm looming forward to picking his brain.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[BenAllgood]

We have a service forester coming out in the coming weeks to check the place out and steer me in the right direction. I'm looming forward to picking his brain.

That's a very good idea. I had our state's local private lands biologist come out. It was a huge help in taking inventory of what was on my property from a plant/tree species perspective. Bring a camera and jot some notes. He was a huge help in the learning curve for plant ids. You can't manage your property effectively if you can't identify what's on it.

 

[Mattyq2402]

Im is Se Ohio too and have the ash kill as well. Any reccomendations on how to handle the dead standing trees? I assume its wait for them to drop, no access to a dozer. I did see they have been falling perpendicular to my orchard/main plot. My thoughts were they blocked my sneak trails on the benches just below the plots so Ill be notching openings along those corridors but feel it will continue to plug up until the trees drop completely. I believe this affected movements this past year especially during the rut. Wish I had the $ for a dozer.....

Would u guys reccomend notching a gap in the trees to reopen the corridors? Or let the deer figure out their movement patterns on their own?

 

[PatinPA]

Im is Se Ohio too and have the ash kill as well. Any reccomendations on how to handle the dead standing trees? I assume its wait for them to drop, no access to a dozer. I did see they have been falling perpendicular to my orchard/main plot. My thoughts were they blocked my sneak trails on the benches just below the plots so Ill be notching openings along those corridors but feel it will continue to plug up until the trees drop completely. I believe this affected movements this past year especially during the rut. Wish I had the $ for a dozer.....

Would u guys reccomend notching a gap in the trees to reopen the corridors? Or let the deer figure out their movement patterns on their own?

I'd leave them standing unless you need some side cover on the ground. They'll still let sunlight through to promote new growth. For everything that's already fallen, it might be a good opportunity to steer them to directions that benefit you with some strategic cutting.

 

[Moundhill]

I agree with PA. I'll take the easy access stuff thata already fallen and out in the open for firewood. The rest I'll let fall over time. Some spots are so dense with ash that I'll need to be careful with my stand placement in other trees nearby.

I saw something cool today when I was taking out corn and minerals. Theres an old hay bale tucked in the weeds on the edge of the overgrown "orchard." I noticed there were fresh tracks going to and from the hay bale, and it was "fluffed up" It appears that yotes or possibly the local bobcat has been sleeping snuggling up in the hay to stay warm. I thought it was pretty neat.

 

[PatinPA]

I agree with PA. I'll take the easy access stuff thata already fallen and out in the open for firewood. The rest I'll let fall over time. Some spots are so dense with ash that I'll need to be careful with my stand placement in other trees nearby.

I saw something cool today when I was taking out corn and minerals. Theres an old hay bale tucked in the weeds on the edge of the overgrown "orchard." I noticed there were fresh tracks going to and from the hay bale, and it was "fluffed up" It appears that yotes or possibly the local bobcat has been sleeping snuggling up in the hay to stay warm. I thought it was pretty neat.

Yes be careful with those standing dead trees. I heard/saw a large tree fall while hunting when I was a kid. Fortunately I could tell it was far enough away that it wasn't going to hit me but that is a gut wrenching feeling when you start hearing those popping noises and don't know where they're coming from.

I have a few large, dead, standing oaks now. No idea what happened, just up and died. They're along my electric lines so the power company is going to come deal with them at some point.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

Yes be careful with those standing dead trees. I heard/saw a large tree fall while hunting when I was a kid. Fortunately I could tell it was far enough away that it wasn't going to hit me but that is a gut wrenching feeling when you start hearing those popping noises and don't know where they're coming from.

I have a few large, dead, standing oaks now. No idea what happened, just up and died. They're along my electric lines so the power company is going to come deal with them at some point.

Our county will come by and spray trees in one year and then come by and cut them all down the next.

That, or it could be Oak wilt or a number of other diseases. I'd try and figure it out ASAP.

Oak wilt disease

Mid-April to mid-July is the season to avoid wounding oaks. Oak wilt is an exotic disease causing increased levels of mortality in Michigan. Once in an oak stand, the disease will kill most of the oaks and treatment is expensive.

www.canr.msu.edu

Why are so many oak trees dying this year?

This season (2019) the Home and Garden Information Center has received a tremendous number of questions on rapid browning and death of many of our oak trees in urban landscapes and forest situation…

marylandgrows.umd.edu

 

[PatinPA]

Our county will come by and spray trees in one year and then come by and cut them all down the next.

That, or it could be Oak wilt or a number of other diseases. I'd try and figure it out ASAP.

Oak wilt disease

Mid-April to mid-July is the season to avoid wounding oaks. Oak wilt is an exotic disease causing increased levels of mortality in Michigan. Once in an oak stand, the disease will kill most of the oaks and treatment is expensive.

www.canr.msu.edu

Why are so many oak trees dying this year?

This season (2019) the Home and Garden Information Center has received a tremendous number of questions on rapid browning and death of many of our oak trees in urban landscapes and forest situation…

marylandgrows.umd.edu

They're primarily white oak with a few chestnut oak. The electric lines are going down the driveway to my camp so it wouldn't be the township spraying. I have since told the electric company that I don't want spraying but they could've been sprayed in prior years. I've also had some random smaller oaks(<8" dia.) just fall over. I assumed they're just more susceptible to the wind since the hemlocks were removed but not sure.