*Hawaii5joe*
5 year old buck +
How long before aspen is out of reach and not considered browse any longer? 3-4 years?
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sandbur
5 year old buck +
I think they are seedlings from hybrids. Maybe called F 2 or some such thing.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Totally agree with Stu and Bur ^^^^^ above. Both on the aspen thoughts and the spruce plan. I'd LOVE to have another 100 acres to plant with aspen and spruce !!! :);)
Freeborn
5 year old buck +
If you have 40 acres of mixed hardwoods and aspen what percent of the aspen would you cut to continue with maximum browse but not over-cut the aspen? It might be better to base it on the number of resident deer I have on my 100 acres which in my case would probably be 5 +or - 2.
sandbur
5 year old buck +
I am going to take a stab at this, but should let forestry guys correct me.
If managing for aspen harvest, I would think about a 35-40 year rotation would be good and clearcut patch every 5-10 years.
If managing for deer and I had lesser number of acres acres, I would go for a 10-12 year rotation and clearcut a patch every 3 years.
Just a WAG on my part. Expand on the idea further.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
I think it would depend on whether you want to get them to timber size or not. If strictly cutting for deer/grouse use, I'd probably cut some aspen about every 7 to 10 years. I base that on my observations of the evidence I saw on the state land I mentioned at post #56. Even though the clearcuts were surrounded by a mix of red, white and chestnut oaks, maples, hickories, hemlocks, white pine, and birch - the aspen came in so thick, nothing else sprouted among the aspens. Areas that had small patches of open ground had some maples, pines and hemlocks come up, but few & far between.
The progression of aspen growth led me to believe that after 10 years, they could have some swaths re-cut to sprout more shoots from the root systems of the ( then ) 15 to 20 ft. aspens. From my experience there, deer and grouse were very plentiful in & around those cuts from 1/2" caliper on the aspen shoots to 3" dia. Deer would bed right in them and there were more buck rubs around that area than I would care to count. It was an EXCELLENT 15 year period to hunt there !!!
The progression of aspen growth led me to believe that after 10 years, they could have some swaths re-cut to sprout more shoots from the root systems of the ( then ) 15 to 20 ft. aspens. From my experience there, deer and grouse were very plentiful in & around those cuts from 1/2" caliper on the aspen shoots to 3" dia. Deer would bed right in them and there were more buck rubs around that area than I would care to count. It was an EXCELLENT 15 year period to hunt there !!!
*Hawaii5joe*
5 year old buck +
I'm definitely going to get serious about managing our Aspen a little different now. I do think I want to play around with this ROD a little this spring though. I have a lot of Plantra tube kits we bought years ago for fruit trees. Does anyone think planting ROD and protecting it with tubes might work until it gets big enough to handle browsing from deer?
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Sorry - can't help on the ROD. We don't have any at camp and I've never planted any either. I'll have to ask our forester if it would be a good choice for our area.
*Hawaii5joe*
5 year old buck +
I think the tubes would work, but by planting other browse like ROD's on the same property as clearing 25 acres of aspen in the same year, would take pressure off of 100 randomly planted ROD's. Especially under the low deer densities we are having. I think...
chummer
5 year old buck +
Until they figure out they like them, then you will be amazed at how they randomly find those 100.
*Hawaii5joe*
5 year old buck +
I
looked for them pretty good this weekend. Didn't find any, but then again I wasn't near swamp edges and low areas because I didn't want to bump any deer.
*Hawaii5joe*
5 year old buck +
I'll check. Where I cut a trail through alders, is in a completely different area on the property I'm trying to work right now. So opening tag alders release RODs if present?
sandbur
5 year old buck +
It worked for me and I piled some of the tags around the ROD. The tags rot quickly, but helps for a bit. Watch our for the red brush when using the chain saw and bypass it, or cut it back and it grows quickly.
*Hawaii5joe*
5 year old buck +
Very True chummer.
*Hawaii5joe*
5 year old buck +
Im sure I'll run across it somewhere. I guess what I'm trying to do is identify THE most preferred browse, make sure I have it there, if not get it there. So far I see a ton of alder and I read that is more of a starvation browse.
*Hawaii5joe*
5 year old buck +
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Chummer - Do you have ROD at your place ?? If so, is it in wetter ground or doesn't it matter up there ??
chummer
5 year old buck +
I do not have any at my camp. I think I have every other kind of dog wood. I am going to try some next year. My ground stays pretty moist all summer with the cool temps from elevation. I have just fallen in love with the silky's though. They grow like weeds and despite good browsing they just keep putting on size.
