Browse Plot idea?

[Catscratch]

Some recent threads (and my own work with coppicing to produce browse) got me thinking about making a plot of browse.

I'm thinking of taking an existing food plot, fencing it with a double e fence, planting a grid of mulberry trees with approximately 3'x3' spacing, letting them grow enough to establish (5ft tall?), and then taking the fence down in the fall and putting it back up early spring.
Once established the trees should bounce back well if they aren't browsed all summer. From experience mulberry browse is highly preferred and nutritious for deer. Research says a deer's diet is over 50% browse in the winter. This plot wouldn't need much input once established and I bet they would love it.

What do you all think? Mulberry doesn't stand a chance here without protection, I bet an acre of it would be a hot spot.

 

[chickenlittle]

I like it and think there are likely top species for different areas based on productivity, attraction, and maintenance.

The last part is the downside. How much work and how often to keep them fed and coming back.

 

[chummer]

I am doing something similar this spring. On 1.5 acres of clear cut I am planting 20 or so M.111 rootstock. Those will be tubed in 3 foot tubes. The rest of the space will be dogwood, ninebark, American plumb, and midwest crabapples(shrub). I plan on four or five shrubs around each rootstock. My hope is a nice browse thicket until the apples take over. If the apples fail I will be left with the thicket of preferred browse. I don't have to protect shrubs so I should get away with it.

 

[yoderjac]

Some recent threads (and my own work with coppicing to produce browse) got me thinking about making a plot of browse.

I'm thinking of taking an existing food plot, fencing it with a double e fence, planting a grid of mulberry trees with approximately 3'x3' spacing, letting them grow enough to establish (5ft tall?), and then taking the fence down in the fall and putting it back up early spring.
Once established the trees should bounce back well if they aren't browsed all summer. From experience mulberry browse is highly preferred and nutritious for deer. Research says a deer's diet is over 50% browse in the winter. This plot wouldn't need much input once established and I bet they would love it.

What do you all think? Mulberry doesn't stand a chance here without protection, I bet an acre of it would be a hot spot.

Interesting idea. I think the further north you are, the more important browse becomes in the winter. I wonder if the real question becomes whether the effort is worth any differential benefit over what you natural seed bank can provide simply by keeping an area in early succession as long as possible. It would be interesting to see an approach like the one you are considering compared to natural early succession.

We are going the early succession route but our location differences are too much for a comparison. We clear cut about 20 acres of low quality hardwoods, sprayed stumps, and conducted a controlled burn. We plan to continue burning every 3 years or so. Our purpose here is more cover than browse but it should achieve both.

Having said that, I'm just starting with mulberry. My purpose for that is more turkey and general wildlife management than deer browse, but I'm sure that will be a secondary benefit. I bought a couple bare root trees from Willis last month and potted them up in 3 gal RB2s. They had quite long but naked roots, so I plan to grow them in the RB2s for a season before planting them. Once I get them established, I plan to propagate them through truncheons.

Let us know how it goes and post some pics as you go!

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Bill]

I like the idea! You're idea of fencing it the first year is a good one too.
If you do it will be interesting to see how long an acre of browse lasts and how far they browse down past buds.

You have me thinking now. I've got a 14 old CRP tree planting around a 10 acre field. 100's of 20 plus foot sycamores in there. I might have to go hinge cut every one of them next week. Instant browse and a sycamore sprouts like mad below a cut.

 

[Catscratch]

I am doing something similar this spring. On 1.5 acres of clear cut I am planting 20 or so M.111 rootstock. Those will be tubed in 3 foot tubes. The rest of the space will be dogwood, ninebark, American plumb, and midwest crabapples(shrub). I plan on four or five shrubs around each rootstock. My hope is a nice browse thicket until the apples take over. If the apples fail I will be left with the thicket of preferred browse. I don't have to protect shrubs so I should get away with it.

Sounds like an incredible spot! I like your plan with all the shrubs a lot.

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[Catscratch]

I like it and think there are likely top species for different areas based on productivity, attraction, and maintenance.

The last part is the downside. How much work and how often to keep them fed and coming back.

I'm hopeful that a dense planting will last most the winter. If not I bet most will recover fully during the next growing season. I've been coppicing trees for a couple of yrs and it doesn't seem to matter much if you take them to the ground, most recover fine.

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[Catscratch]

Interesting idea. I think the further north you are, the more important browse becomes in the winter. I wonder if the real question becomes whether the effort is worth any differential benefit over what you natural seed bank can provide simply by keeping an area in early succession as long as possible. It would be interesting to see an approach like the one you are considering compared to natural early succession.

We are going the early succession route but our location differences are too much for a comparison. We clear cut about 20 acres of low quality hardwoods, sprayed stumps, and conducted a controlled burn. We plan to continue burning every 3 years or so. Our purpose here is more cover than browse but it should achieve both.

Having said that, I'm just starting with mulberry. My purpose for that is more turkey and general wildlife management than deer browse, but I'm sure that will be a secondary benefit. I bought a couple bare root trees from Willis last month and potted them up in 3 gal RB2s. They had quite long but naked roots, so I plan to grow them in the RB2s for a season before planting them. Once I get them established, I plan to propagate them through truncheons.

Let us know how it goes and post some pics as you go!

Thanks,

Jack

One of the studies I read about deer diets was out of Texas. It had the winter browse percentage of diet very high so I think the same would hold true for Kansas deer even though we have mild winters.
Early succesional would be part of the plot. Anything fenced in would get shallow winter soil disturbance and a burn to encourage forbs (forbs are also high on the percent diet list, but more so in the summer). If protecting an area for the majority of the growing season I would try to make the most of it. I like to save wild flower seed and switchgrass seed so that would be thrown in to the mix as well as some beans and millet just because I like them.

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[Catscratch]

I like the idea! You're idea of fencing it the first year is a good one too.
If you do it will be interesting to see how long an acre of browse lasts and how far they browse down past buds.

You have me thinking now. I've got a 14 old CRP tree planting around a 10 acre field. 100's of 20 plus foot sycamores in there. I might have to go hinge cut every one of them next week. Instant browse and a sycamore sprouts like mad below a cut.

Sounds like a wild mess! I do similar things with osage orange because they stump sprout so well and the deer like it.
Do deer browse Sycamore?

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[Bill]

Sounds like a wild mess! I do similar things with osage orange because they stump sprout so well and the deer like it.
Do deer browse Sycamore?

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They do at my place when it's young enough for them to reach. Worse case if I hinge it, there will be more tangle at the edge of the field. When I bought the place I thought the guys that planted them were nuts. Until then my only experience with sycamore was seeing it on the east coast. Every farm house has a 100 year old sycamore in the yard. Their dirty, bark peels off and the leafs fall off all summer making a mess in the yard. I mentioned it on the old forums and Stu told me about how they branch out after being cut. I cut a few down and they did sprout like crazy. I kinda forgot about them until your post sparked an idea.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

I have a browse plot/transition area in the making. I am using Hazelnut in the short tubes and wild plum in the tall tubes. It is right next to a clover kill plot we just installed. It is all located right of a major cedar bedding area.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

Hazelnut and Plum growth is great until they come out of the tubes. I will start caging them now.

 

[Catscratch]

Damn Mo, that's a lot of cattle panel to cage all of them! I wonder if it would be easier or cheaper to fence that area now?
I don't know much about hazelnut. Did you plant it for nut product or browse? It's a great looking spot!

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[MoBuckChaser]

Damn Mo, that's a lot of cattle panel to cage all of them! I wonder if it would be easier or cheaper to fence that area now?
I don't know much about hazelnut. Did you plant it for nut product or browse? It's a great looking spot!

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Wire mesh and posts cost about the same. Fencing this is out of the question as I have no time to keep the fence going. I have about 300 cattle panels out now, whats 100 more......LOL

I am setting this up for browse, should be a killer plot someday for the next owner.

 

[Catscratch]

Wire mesh and posts cost about the same. Fencing this is out of the question as I have no time to keep the fence going. I have about 300 cattle panels out now, whats 100 more......LOL

I am setting this up for browse, should be a killer plot someday for the next owner.

Lol, "What's another 100 more"? and "for the next owner". True statements that I've thought many times myself.

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[MoBuckChaser]

Just remember, if your married, you are just the manager, she can get rid of the manager any time she wants! LOL

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Mo - I asked you this on another thread, but after your comment above combined with your avatar pic ......... You ARE the Grim Reaper, aren't you ?? !!!! :p We all know we can be sh-- canned any time ......... but you had to go & point it out for us !! :eek:

The browse plot sounds like a great idea. We're trying to increase our " eating height " browse too, but by logging and getting sunlight on the ground and some shrubby plantings. Your focused idea may be an even quicker route to lasting available browse.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

Mo - I asked you this on another thread, but after your comment above combined with your avatar pic ......... You ARE the Grim Reaper, aren't you ?? !!!! :p We all know we can be sh-- canned any time ......... but you had to go & point it out for us !! :eek:

Its one of the reasons I don't cut to much firewood ahead!

If she moves Fabio in some day, he can cut his own damn Firewood!

 

[Catscratch]

Its one of the reasons I don't cut to much firewood ahead!

If she moves Fabio in some day, he can cut his own damn Firewood!

If she want a real man Fabio doesn't stand a chance. Habitat guys rule the world! That dude got the shit beat out of him on a roller-coaster.
Lol, this thread took a turn...

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[TreeDaddy]

My money on Mo in a throw down with Fabio......

bill