Forest Stand Improvement guide

[BenAllgood]

Dr. Craig Harper put out a publication on FSI. One of the best parts to the publication is the Appendix at the end. It rates different hardwoods on mast value, browse value, and hinge cut suitability.
https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/PB1885.pdf

 

[Turtlesprings]

Thank you

 

[ruskbucks]

Interesting read. I would have to disagree with quite a few trees on his chart thou. I have never seen a better tree to hinge cut then a box elder, he has it poor for hinge? Maybe it's different on east coast but yellow birch, red maple and hemlock get absolutely hammered by browsing in N WI. He has the listed as low, maple medium. I would rate all these at high.

 

[TreeDaddy]

All of Craig's publications are good reads

I highly recommend them

bill

 

[Chainsaw]

Outstanding paper. Hickory trees in this part of New York are outstanding for deer food but evidently not where Dr. Harper studies. So sure there will be differences in possibly some details due to our different locations but that aside this is one fine paper. Thanks for posting it Ben. It will be a regular handout for landowners in the Master Forest Owner woods walks I get involved in here in New York.

 

[yoderjac]

Outstanding paper. Hickory trees in this part of New York are outstanding for deer food but evidently not where Dr. Harper studies. So sure there will be differences in possibly some details due to our different locations but that aside this is one fine paper. Thanks for posting it Ben. It will be a regular handout for landowners in the Master Forest Owner woods walks I get involved in here in New York.

May be species specific. Many hickory nuts are too hard for deer to crack. We have several different species of hickory here and the nuts are only used by squirrels and then mostly on years when oaks don't produce much.

 

[Lucky_P]

I'm a certifiable hickory NUT. Deer will absolutely browse the hell out of expanding pecan and hickory buds here. But... the nuts...no; while I know they'll eat pecans, I can't imagine deer eating even the thinnest shelled improved shagbark hickory nut, like Weschke(actually a bitternutXshagbark hybrid) or Grainger; shellbark and mockernut hickory... not a chance... they'd just as well be swallowing blocks of wood.
If/when I ever do a timber harvest here (think the previous owner did a high-grade cut around 1987)... I'll probably specify that they leave ALL shagbark hickories untouched.

 

[yoderjac]

Ya, I think location is a factor. I'm sure there is some browsing here, but I'm far enough south that browse is not a big issue. We probably have sufficient favored browse that hickory don't get heavy use. I can see where in the north with shorter growing seasons where browse is a larger part of a deer's diet that hickory could be an effective browse species.

I did try grafting thin walled pecan to hickory. The take wasn't great, and I never really got any significant production out of those who did survive.

 

[CooterBrown]

Is Dr. Craig Harper a member of this forum?

 

[Lucky_P]

The pecan/hickory graft deal works better the other way around... hickory grafted onto pecan is pretty much the industry standard.
Pecan will 'push' more growth, farther into the season than hickory understock, and anecdotally, may result in slightly larger nuts on hickory clones grafted onto pecan understock... provided the site is suitable for pecan. However, on thin droughty soils, hickory clones may perform better grafted onto appropriate hickory understock.
Pecan-on-hickory tends to overgrow the rootstock, with the hickory understock not really able to provide sufficient moisture to adequately fill pecan kernels.

Northern Pecans

Observations on growing pecans in Kansas and across middle America

northernpecans.blogspot.com

 

[weekender21]

I'm a certifiable hickory NUT. Deer will absolutely browse the hell out of expanding pecan and hickory buds here. But... the nuts...no; while I know they'll eat pecans, I can't imagine deer eating even the thinnest shelled improved shagbark hickory nut, like Weschke(actually a bitternutXshagbark hybrid) or Grainger; shellbark and mockernut hickory... not a chance... they'd just as well be swallowing blocks of wood.
If/when I ever do a timber harvest here (think the previous owner did a high-grade cut around 1987)... I'll probably specify that they leave ALL shagbark hickories untouched.

I watched several deer I saw during a late November hunt stop at the base of a hickory tree feeding on nuts. I’m not exactly sure what species (pignut or mockernot best guess). They definitely eat them at times. This property is in the Appalachian mountains. Western NC, 3100’ elevation, zone 6B.


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[yoderjac]

I watched several deer I saw during a late November hunt stop at the base of a hickory tree feeding on nuts. I’m not exactly sure what species (pignut or mockernot best guess). They definitely eat them at times. This property is in the Appalachian mountains. Western NC, 3100’ elevation, zone 6B.


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Yes, I find it amazing what deer will eat when they have to. They are quite adaptable creatures!

 

[BenAllgood]

Deer can detect what they need or what they like. They are "concentrate selectors". In certain areas with certain plant types, they may have an overabundance or lack of a certain "ingredient". I really noticed this with mineral sites. I've put minerals out in areas where they didn't touch it after trying every possible delivery method. But, on others, they dug ponds or whittled stumps down to nothing. The same thing with brassicas. I've planted them where in spring, you had a yellow flower patch from bolting. But, in others, you had what looks like someone came through with a set of discs. Deer can sense what is in food and what they crave or need. And, in areas where that is something in short supply, they will key in on it. In areas where they already have an abundance of something, they may not.

 

[weekender21]

Deer can detect what they need or what they like. They are "concentrate selectors". In certain areas with certain plant types, they may have an overabundance or lack of a certain "ingredient". I really noticed this with mineral sites. I've put minerals out in areas where they didn't touch it after trying every possible delivery method. But, on others, they dug ponds or whittled stumps down to nothing. The same thing with brassicas. I've planted them where in spring, you had a yellow flower patch from bolting. But, in others, you had what looks like someone came through with a set of discs. Deer can sense what is in food and what they crave or need. And, in areas where that is something in short supply, they will key in on it. In areas where they already have an abundance of something, they may not.

I’ve noticed the same preference delta with mineral on our 172 acres. Some are visited daily, others barely touched.

The year I witnessed multiple trips to the hickory tree on one all day sit we had a decent white oak crop but they’re long gone by late November. The reds had a poor crop that same year. Lack of late season hard mast may be a contributing factor.

Looking forward to finishing Dr. Harpers FSI document.

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