We use free wooden pallets for cages. We have a heavy deer population and haven't lost a tree yet. These pics are when we first started using them seven years ago. All of these trees are much bigger now and producing fruit. We still have them caged to prevent rubbing. We use black weed...
Some states have wildlife biologists that will come to your place free of charge and help you put together a timber stand improvement plan. I also recommend you call a couple of professional foresters before he you cut anything. Show them your plan or explain what you are wanting to do...
Weed cloth should cover as much as possible. Water will go through it. Do not staple the screen to the tree. Really not much maintenance after the initial set up. Protect against deer and mice. First year keep watered. Keep weeds under control.
We use 4 pallets with one screw in each corner. Weed cloth runs the full width and length on the ground and is held in place by the pallets. Water that first year is essential. Once a week we would pour 5 gallons of water around each tree. These pics are right after planting. Trees are now...
We run two 6X8 box blinds 10 feet off the ground overlooking a food plot in a saddle. Keep front windows open to minimize movement when it comes time to shoot. Only been busted once in 8 years. I had stepped in some water on the way to the blind and had a wet sock. Took my shoes off and hung...
I recommend using a certified forester. I had a couple of loggers come in and give me an estimate. They were a good bit different. We actually had three different foresters come in before we found one that understood what we were trying to accomplish. Two wanted to do a clear cut. We were...
Grew up in the 50's and 60's. There were no deer. No one in my family hunted or fished. One summer my best friends grandfather retired and he took us fishing almost every day. Cane poles, catfishing. Then came BB guns and bird hunting. Then my best friend and I got into beagle hounds and...
We use pallets to build our cages. They are free. Easy to take apart to apply weed cloth etc. As the sun moves across the sky the slats create periodic shade which helps protect against scald.
Depends on the sun you get. You can see from this report that one has been going for a few years. Some others just recently needed recharging. The ones showing a low number of days finally died out when the leaves started to fill in the canopy. They had been running all last fall into this...