Aspen flats

[Fair oak]

Fairly new here although I’ve followed for a couple years. Lots of awesome information from a good bunch of guys!

I’m 37 years old and I purchased my 120 acre U.P. Property in 2019. My property is flat as a pancake and predominately aspen thickets, hence the name. I have been hunting since the age of 12 but remember sitting in deer and duck blinds with my dad as early as about age 6. It’s a passion and a way of life for me. I always hunted big woods public land so the private land hunting is pretty new to me.

A little about the property…. The local area is about 50/50 AG to cover. The AG is just hayfields but it still seems to dictate the majority of deer movement. My property is 95 % cover and about 3.5-4 acres of food plots that I’ve carved out of thick aspen forest. The cover consists mainly of thick aspens of differing ages, mostly young. A few decent size areas of mature conifers, White Pine, black spruce, balsams. And there’s a few decent size areas of lower, wetter ground with tag alder thickets, willows and I am fortunate to have a ton of ROD spread throughout the entire property and the deer and grouse both love it.

Now a bit about the work I’ve done. I have cleared 4 areas for food plots and the plots are now well established and after adding 6-7 tons of lime, most ph levels are around 6.3-6.5. I’ve had good luck growing things in my short plotting career. My soil is heavy clay and I disked everything well the 1st year and have transitioned to cover crops and no-till to avoid compaction, crusting issues from leaving my clay exposed. Things have worked out better than I ever expected but will get into plotting details in a later post.

I have carved out almost 4 miles of decent to good access trails around the entire perimeter of the property and to my plots. The trails are 7-8’ wide and I can get my skid steer anywhere on the property now. There’s a couple spots that are iffy and need a culvert and fill but that’s to be expected I suppose. One thing about this clay is, once a rut is made, it will hold water through the worst drought so I try and stay off the trails at certain times of the year.

Well, that’s about it for now. I have lots of work to do this winter and apple trees coming next spring so there will be plenty more posts to follow.

 

[Fair oak]

Here’s a couple more photos of the layout. Cabin is in my southwest corner. The green areas are food plots. Blue is ponds. Red is access roads around the perimeter and to plots, stands, etc. The yellow areas are currently doe/fawn bedding and maybe some young bucks mixed in. The 1st year there was definitely mature bucks bedding in these areas prior to building plots but I think with the creation of Plot C, (center of property) I ruined that area. Through scouting after the 1st rifle season, I found 3 different areas just south of plot c (plot was not yet established) that were all rubbed up around small hardwood knolls and found very large beds under balsams.

My plan is to turn plot C back into bedding with the addition of conifer clumps, switchgrass, ROD transplanting and I’ve found a ton of hazelnut on my property recently so might try that. I will cage everything I plant. Any more suggestions on this area are appreciated!

The red area on my east side is a plot I would like to create this winter. It will be long and narrow, L-shaped and roughly .5-.75 acres. I’m looking for ways to improve my east end as it offers more opportunities to hunt with any winds with a westerly component. I do have road access from the east, up the edge of the field to my northeast so that helps.

 

[rocksnstumps]

Getting good roads and trails going is always satisfying work. Even on my small acreage still making tweaks yrs later but I have a hill to deal with.

What planting zone is that in the UP and are you in the snowbelt or maybe not as bad as those folks closer to the Great Lakes. Luv visiting the UP in the summer but some of those areas with their snow they can keep.

Might want to check out the postings of Wild Thing on here. He is a Yooper that has done lots of stuff with his acres. Maybe some of his earlier threads are on Michigan Sportsman. Don't follow that one much these days but maybe his land building threads are more on that forum. But he posts here too and you could always send him a PM. Think he is somewhere between Escanaba and Iron Mountain

How are you getting your work done? Renting, have access to equipment, or mostly hiring it out. Some suggestions by others might benefit knowing a bit more about your situation.

 

[Fair oak]

My property is in planting zone 4a. We get plenty of snow! The deer in my area migrate in winter somewhat. Still trying to figure out where they go as I’ve had local biologists tell me different things but I suppose they do go to different areas.

I’ve done all the work myself with some help of a good buddy and my brothers help out when they can. I don’t have a tractor yet but I have a tracked skid steer with a bucket, forks, grapple and I have a 72” landpride disk that I welded fork pockets to for disking new ground with my skid steer. Works great and I enjoy it. My most important pieces of equipment are probably my chainsaws and atvs. Couldn’t get by without them.

 

[Telemark]

MI DNR seeks landowners to improve deer wintering habitat in U.P. counties - MidWest Outdoors

Upcoming meetings to detail available cost-sharing programs Private landowners interested in helping to maintain or improve Upper Peninsula deer wintering …

midwestoutdoors.com

Here's an idea of the winter deer yards in the UP. I have the same issue with my place over on Manitoulin. They pretty much hang around until the snow gets too deep, and then they disappear until the snow is gone. Winter on my place is ruled by wolves and foxes, with the occasional reccoon coming out to look for a midwinter snack. My strategy is to give them a lot of diverse, high-quality food during the fall so that they go into winter as healthy and fat as possible and hopefully migrate back to me year after year.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Nice place, that plot looks great in that pic. How frequently do you see wolves on your cams?

I’ve always liked the thought of planting corn up there if you’ve got enough acreage to keep it up through season. Probably plenty of pit falls but it would sure be a big draw.

 

[Fair oak]

Nice place, that plot looks great in that pic. How frequently do you see wolves on your cams?

I’ve always liked the thought of planting corn up there if you’ve got enough acreage to keep it up through season. Probably plenty of pit falls but it would sure be a big draw.

Thanks! Wolves have been less persistent this year. Still get them on camera probably monthly or so.

The 1st couple years it was weekly and I couldn’t go anywhere on the property without seeing wolf sign. They were living close for sure. All that said, the deer manage to win most of the time. I’ve also noticed the more time I spend on the property, the more the predators seem to stay away.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Nice looking property, Fair Oak! I can't offer much for ideas ...... I've never planted anything that far north in that kind of soil / terrain. It looks like you have all the basics in place - roads being the biggest help for getting things in to where you want them. Good luck with your habitat work!! Keep us posted.

 

[Fair oak]

Nice looking property, Fair Oak! I can't offer much for ideas ...... I've never planted anything that far north in that kind of soil / terrain. It looks like you have all the basics in place - roads being the biggest help for getting things in to where you want them. Good luck with your habitat work!! Keep us posted.

Thank you! Yes, the roads are an important piece of the puzzle. I couldn’t imagine bringing tons of lime and other things 3/4 of a mile to the opposite end of the property without decent roads. Atvs would work but would take much longer than heavier equipment. Now I can haul a full pallet of pelletized lime right to my plots.

I plan on posting a bunch and asking lots of questions because I’ve made a few mistakes already by not taking my time and tend to jump head 1st into things. I always try take a bunch of photos too because it helps to tell the story and maybe through my process, hopefully somebody else can learn some things.

 

[Fair oak]

Well my hunting season is over. Tag soup for me this year but my brother and good buddy both harvested bucks off the property. They’ve hunted hard these 1st few years and I’m super happy for them! My bros 8 point was the biggest we had on camera all year and my buddies 6 point was the 3rd biggest. Not big bucks by any means but couldn’t be happier with how things turned out.

Habitat work started yesterday. I scouted and ribboned off the area for a new .5-.75 acre L shaped food plot on my east end. I found 8-10 oaks that I didn’t know were there and also found an old raggedy apple tree that I hope to revive. Most of the oaks are 8-10” dbh and are also pretty rough looking. The apple tree will be in the new plot and I will release the oaks by dropping the larger aspen, red maple and black ash. Anyone have much luck reviving trees that are being choked out? All trees are alive there’s just quite a few dead branches and don’t look that great. Not many acorns in the area so it would pretty awesome if I can get the oaks producing.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

^ ^ ^ ^ Those bucks look good!!! Congrats to those guys.

We've revived an old, suffocated apple tree at camp. It was surrounded by big pines and hadn't produced in years. Too much shade and competition for nutrients. We cut down the surrounding pines to get sunlight on the apple tree and get rid of competition. We pruned off the water sprouts and any dead / damaged branches. Without fertilizing it, that old relic apple tree put on blossoms, and then fruit the year after we released it. The second year, we tossed some 10-10-10 around that tree and it put out more fruit. It didn't take much work to get it revived.

We also have some big, OLD oak trees around our field edges. We found out - accidently - one year, that when we tilled one of the fields & spread a batch of fertilizer for food plot, that those oaks put on lots of NEW shoots and dropped the biggest crop of acorns we'd had in years. So the following year, we singled out another lone big oak, dumped a bag of 10-10-10 around THAT tree, spreading it all around under the canopy - and the same thing happened. That white oak tree had tons of acorns dropping, and deer were under it multiple times a day. A bag of 10-10-10 isn't that expensive - but it seems to work well.

That's our experience on tree revival.

 

[Fair oak]

^ ^ ^ ^ Those bucks look good!!! Congrats to those guys.

We've revived an old, suffocated apple tree at camp. It was surrounded by big pines and hadn't produced in years. Too much shade and competition for nutrients. We cut down the surrounding pines to get sunlight on the apple tree and get rid of competition. We pruned off the water sprouts and any dead / damaged branches. Without fertilizing it, that old relic apple tree put on blossoms, and then fruit the year after we released it. The second year, we tossed some 10-10-10 around that tree and it put out more fruit. It didn't take much work to get it revived.

We also have some big, OLD oak trees around our field edges. We found out - accidently - one year, that when we tilled one of the fields & spread a batch of fertilizer for food plot, that those oaks put on lots of NEW shoots and dropped the biggest crop of acorns we'd had in years. So the following year, we singled out another lone big oak, dumped a bag of 10-10-10 around THAT tree, spreading it all around under the canopy - and the same thing happened. That white oak tree had tons of acorns dropping, and deer were under it multiple times a day. A bag of 10-10-10 isn't that expensive - but it seems to work well.

That's our experience on tree revival.

Sounds good, I’ll see if I can get the oaks and apple tree some more sunlight and nutrients. Always nice to hear success stories!

 

[Fair oak]

I worked on clearing my new 1/2 acre food plot yesterday for about 6 hours. It’s very thick and didn’t get as much done as I would’ve liked. Maybe 1/4 acre cleared so about half done. The ground is pretty rough and quite a few good sized old stumps so the dirt work portion will be interesting. I’m thinking about putting in a small pond/water hole at the north end of the plot and use the fill to level out my low spots. If the food plot doesn’t pan out, at least I was able to open up around a bunch of oak trees that were being smothered… 8” of snow in my woods now and a big snow storm coming so things will only get more interesting!

 

[rocksnstumps]

Felt good to get out and get some exercise I bet. Did the same thing yesterday running saw cutting wood but only have about an inch of snow and was melting.

Like to do my chainsaw work in Dec if possible before too much snow and need the snowshoes to get around and footing is a hassle.

Good luck getting er done and yep always 2x the time on completion but we're not getting paid by the hour for this stuff so set a reasonable pace and be safe

 

[Fair oak]

Looking for ideas on turning a 1 acre food plot back into bedding. Hopefully buck bedding! I just think this area of my property would be more beneficial to have bedding/cover rather than a food plot simply because it’s so close to the center of my property and its hard to hunt near it without boogering things up. The 3 red areas are small hardwood knolls with a few balsams and spruce mixed in that I know for certain were buck bedding before I created the food plot… the creation of the plot kind of ruined those little hardwood islands in my opinion.

So basically I’m just looking for opinions and suggestions on plantings, conifers, shrubs, switchgrass, etc. I can get all the conifer transplants that I could possibly use. Balsam, spruce, white pine, etc. and I have a ton of ROD and hazelnut brush I can transplant and cage. My questions would be, is switch a decent base cover in abundant predator country? Also, if I decide to use switch, should I get switch going this spring and do clumps of shrubs, conifers later? Or should I plant it all together? How many conifers per clump and how far apart? Also, I do have RCG around the plot in a couple spots so I definitely don’t want that getting out of control by letting the plot go back natural on its own… I posted a couple pics of the plot, 1 facing northeast and 1 facing southwest.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Is the food plot area low ground - maybe a bit wetter than surrounding areas??

 

[Fair oak]

Is the food plot area low ground - maybe a bit wetter than surrounding areas??

The plot itself is all higher ground. Surrounding area is lower ground with tagalders, some aspen, and willows. Theres a few small knolls just south of the plot with aspen, red maple and some pines that was definitely buck bedding before I created the plot. I have had RCG trying to creep into the plot so that’s a bit concerning as I don’t want it taking over and dominating.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Do you really need to be hunting the food plot? Could you keep it in food and still hunt less invasive spots that are prime travel to the food?

I know at my parents place in big woods norther mn the food gets hunted so much that’s the last place I want to hunt because it’s become nighttime only for bucks.

 

[Fair oak]

Do you really need to be hunting the food plot? Could you keep it in food and still hunt less invasive spots that are prime travel to the food?

I know at my parents place in big woods norther mn the food gets hunted so much that’s the last place I want to hunt because it’s become nighttime only for bucks.

No, The plot itself has never had hunting pressure within 150 yards or so. A lot of times in my area, one never knows where the deer will come from, there’s good cover everywhere so I just think it’s best moving forward if I stick to my west end and east end and leave the center alone.
It just seems that all the plotting activity in the center of the property ruined what was good buck bedding before the creation of the plot. Yes, it’s only about 1 acre but it seems like 1 acre is ruining 10-15 acres or more. Those small hardwood islands that were loaded with buck rubs and big beds before the plot was created are now void of buck sign and even the doe/fawns don’t seem to be using those little islands.
I’m not sure what I will do yet, looking for ideas. I could definitely leave it clover/rye this coming spring and see what happens.

 

[Fair oak]

Well, still 2 feet of snow on the ground in my neck of the woods and jonesing to get some habitat work done. Had a little free time this morning so I mocked up my apple tree cages. Now I can get all the fencing cut ahead of time at least and I cut a point on each landscape timber. The cages are probably overkill but I don’t mind spending a few more dollars per cage if it means more trees survive the bear onslaught that I foresee…. I will have about 40 bucks into each cage. I have 4- Dolgo, 4- 3006, 2 buckman, 2 Kerr, 2 liberty and 2 enterprise coming April 17th so I’m pretty excited to start my apple tree plots! Also have 40 assorted shrubs coming. Some arrowwood viburnum, highbush cranberry and an assortment of elderberries. Can’t wait to get in the woods!