A few habitat pics I thought you might enjoy

[4wanderingeyes]

About 15 years ago we had some strong straight line winds that came through and laid down hundreds of trees. The next 3-5 years was awesome hunting.

Glad everyone is alright!

 

[sandbur]

Thanks Bill. Most of the fruit and nut trees are just fine, but a big part of the white pines near the road are a twisted mess. I will open up passage ways through them and just let them rot where they lay. As vegetation grows back, I will manage it and maybe even set tall shrubs to replace the pines in some spots. At other spots I will just kill the trees that sprout up and have some nice blackberry patches. I’m very thankful that the areas with the best trees and shrubs was spared.

I am glad no homes or people were hurt. When I was a teenager, a tornado came thru and deer were always in that area for 4-5 years. It had lot of popple regrowth and was a sanctuary.

Like above ^ experiences. In those days, we had never heard of a sanctuary for deer.


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[Native Hunter]

Thanks everyone. My dad is helping me with all of this, and we are slowly but surely clearing out the mess. We will simply push some of the debris back into the fence rows and drag some of it into ditches. However, there is also a lot of hand work with chainsaws in other places.

PS - Three of the trees that I had trail camera on went down, and I was able to retrieve all of the camera yesterday. None of them are broken, but I spent close to an hour getting one of them out. I will post a few more pics soon. Thanks for your prayer and concern.

 

[Tree Spud]

Native, hope you are all well! Mother nature sure can release some fury at times. Part of the regeneration process I guess.

 

[Native Hunter]

This is what a 7' DBH White Oak and a 5' DBH Sycamore looks like when they are twisted together by a tornado. I had a Reconyx HC600 back in this, and I got it out. Camera is fine. This was a clover plot, which I won't be spraying now.

Me and Mrs. Sthil...we got a thing going on........

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Good luck, and don’t over do it. I know I have a tendency to keep pushing on, when I know I should be taking a break. It’s not worth having a heart attack for.

 

[Native Hunter]

I was up in it when it stood back up. wheee....a free joy ride!!!

 

[bigbendmarine]

Been through tornadoes and hurricanes and long as the hurricanes aren't major ones, I'll take the hurricanes. Tornadoes are worse in snapping trees in two versus simply blowing them over.

Looked like you had maybe just a few blow-overs? If so, can share this... smaller ones can be lifted back up with a FEL and survive, though for at least a few years they're definitely more prone to getting blown back over again with any really heavy winds. Know because I got tired of cutting smaller ones after one hurricane and found it quicker to simply "replant" those the FEL could handle safely picking back up.

 

[fishin coyote]

I bet that old Homelite makes short work of them trees. I have one but don’t use it anymore it’s just to damn heavy for me nowadays

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Native -
This is the first I've checked in on the forum in some time. I'm sorry for the damage to your property, but glad nobody was hurt. Thank GOD for that.

Go easy and take your time cleaning up the downed trees. Be safe at all times, and don't overdo it - your Dad as well. Best wishes for a safe and beneficial clean-up.

 

[Native Hunter]

I bet that old Homelite makes short work of them trees. I have one but don’t use it anymore it’s just to damn heavy for me nowadays

Yes, that thing is a beast to carry, but it is my salvation on those bigger trees. It runs like a scalded dog....

 

[Tree Spud]

That's gonna make large winnie roast bon fire!

 

[Native Hunter]

 

[Native Hunter]

The last few days have been some of the hardest work I've ever done, but my prairie is now cleared of trees. This is a great milestone. There is plenty left to do, but nothing pressing. I can slowly work on it over the next few months and years. I hired a first class Bobcat man to help, and that made a great difference.

 

[SWIFFY]

Sad. Takes years and years to grow them up and only a second to knock them down. I guess God knows what hes doing!

 

[Native Hunter]

Another hay field bordering my land has been converted to crops. I'm very glad about this and hope it continues into the future.

This clover is insane. You can see a little storm damage in the background.

My new property line screen to the south is 150 yards of mangled cedars.

A new stump to sit on.

Not all news is bad.

Hope to do a better update soon with trail camera pics. Take Care.

 

[bigbendmarine]

My new property line screen to the south is 150 yards of mangled cedars.

If your post-storm results are anything like mine -- "Magic 8 Ball, are a TON of rabbits in Native Hunter's near future?" The Magic 8 Ball's reply, "IT IS CERTAIN."

In all seriousness, after we've had hurricane hits and I've piled up limbs in spots I've gone from rarely having rabbits triggering game cameras to having multiple pairs of them trigger them often chasing one another.

Sure the observation's a Captain Obvious one to most everyone on the forum, but depending on whether you like hunting / eating rabbits or not may be another positive.

 

[Native Hunter]

If your post-storm results are anything like mine -- "Magic 8 Ball, are a TON of rabbits in Native Hunter's near future?" The Magic 8 Ball's reply, "IT IS CERTAIN."

In all seriousness, after we've had hurricane hits and I've piled up limbs in spots I've gone from rarely having rabbits triggering game cameras to having multiple pairs of them trigger them often chasing one another.

Sure the observation's a Captain Obvious one to most everyone on the forum, but depending on whether you like hunting / eating rabbits or not may be another positive.

I think you are correct about the bunny rabbits. We already have a bunch of them, but with all these brush piles, I do expect them to increase even more. And, many of these piles are cedar, which will not rot quickly, so they are here to stay for a long time. I think deer will benefit too. Honeysuckle will quickly cover the cedar brush piles, and desirable annual forbs will come back quickly in the places where the skid steer tore up the ground. Sunlight getting to the ground where the cedars were will bring a flush of different types of vegetation. I will manage all of that in the same way I currently manage my prairie and woods - by giving the advantage to the plants I want to dominate.

 

[Native Hunter]

These two might have some possibilities. I think the forked brow deer is the one that moved in late last year and is the one I passed during late muzzleloader season. He looked like a big, robust 3 year old to me at that time.

 

[omicron1792]

These two might have some possibilities. I think the forked brow deer is the one that moved in late last year and is the one I passed during late muzzleloader season. He looked like a big, robust 3 year old to me at that time.

Dang those are awesome deer. You have to be up north, rare sight to see those down here.

I worry about predators with brush piles. Good habitat for coyote and bobcat.