Burning grassland for quail?

Have drip torches, will travel.

The later in the spring that you can burn the better forb production you'll find.

The best fire lines i've used are green, such as winter rye. It's added food production for deer and then great for broods later in summer at maturity.
 
Catscratch, one question:
The leaves burn ok? My forestry guys told me that I would not get a good burn except in the pine needles.
Oak leaves burn well. A lot of other leaves do not burn well because they dont have enough structure to them and lie flat and get matted down.
 
Catscratch, one question:
The leaves burn ok? My forestry guys told me that I would not get a good burn except in the pine needles.
Depends on conditions. It's easy to burn the top "fluffy" layer of leaves. The bottom compacted layer is a different story. Under what I consider comfortable and safe conditions it'll burn right over the top of the compacted leaves without doing much to them. If it's dry enough and hot enough to burn the bottom layer then it's also lends towards a fire that might get away from ya.

No, I don't stay up all night. It just so happens that I'm not home in the daylight much so I have to work in the dark. I'll spray it out then check back on it in 10 minutes and them an hour later. I don't burn if wind is predicted to pick up.
 
Oak leaves burn well. A lot of other leaves do not burn well because they dont have enough structure to them and lie flat and get matted down.
Roger that! I did some research about burning in Louisiana. There is a law on the books that establishes a burn certification program. According to what I read, if one attends a burn certification workshop and gets certified he can legally do burns here in Louisiana. Otherwise he might be subject to some sort of legal actions.
 
Depends on conditions. It's easy to burn the top "fluffy" layer of leaves. The bottom compacted layer is a different story. Under what I consider comfortable and safe conditions it'll burn right over the top of the compacted leaves without doing much to them. If it's dry enough and hot enough to burn the bottom layer then it's also lends towards a fire that might get away from ya.

No, I don't stay up all night. It just so happens that I'm not home in the daylight much so I have to work in the dark. I'll spray it out then check back on it in 10 minutes and them an hour later. I don't burn if wind is predicted to pick up.
Since I am a fire bug anyway I thought the pictures of the fire at night was awesome. Yeah, I figured that a responsible person would not just leave a fire on its on. Too much responsibility there.
 
My experience over burning 1000’s of acres of southern forest is burning in hardwood or mixed hardwood is a crapshoot. A typical burn will leave a mosaic of burned and unburned area. Chances are, if it all burns, the fire is too hot and you will see fire scarring on some of your hardwoods. Just as likely, the fire will not be hot enough to control much small unwanted vegetation.
 
There are a number of free online courses you can take or webinars to watch on prescribed fire for wildlife management. Here are a few links:






Thank you for that. Much appreciated.
 
Have drip torches, will travel.

The later in the spring that you can burn the better forb production you'll find.

The best fire lines i've used are green, such as winter rye. It's added food production for deer and then great for broods later in summer at maturity.

Just to be clear; the burning I'm doing now is strictly for fire breaks around the house. I do intend to burn the attached pasture later in the season and want breaks already in place. And... I don't trust a neighbor's burn won't get away from them and burn my house down. So I burn down fuel load on my own.
 
Depends on conditions. It's easy to burn the top "fluffy" layer of leaves. The bottom compacted layer is a different story. Under what I consider comfortable and safe conditions it'll burn right over the top of the compacted leaves without doing much to them

That is exactly what I'm trying to do. For me, that's the best of both worlds. I get some ash into the soil along with some organic matter when I disc it all up with the lime and gypsum I will spread. Then I just need to spread the peas and oats and drag-harrow it in, and come back later to broadcast the clover, small grains, and brassicas before a big rain event.

I use the NOAA Doppler radar mosaic to make sure I get the timing right, if it happens when I'm there. Otherwise I just have to broadcast the small seeds and hope for the best.
 
Just to be clear; the burning I'm doing now is strictly for fire breaks around the house. I do intend to burn the attached pasture later in the season and want breaks already in place. And... I don't trust a neighbor's burn won't get away from them and burn my house down. So I burn down fuel load on my own.
I did just that today. Took the leaf blower and blew the leaves and pine straw away from the house and from along the woods the spent the rest of the day burning.
 
Oak leaves burn well. A lot of other leaves do not burn well because they dont have enough structure to them and lie flat and get matted down.

I remember from a college forestry class that trees that evolved with fire tend to drop leaves that curl to promote fire and those that didn’t tend to lay flat.


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I remember from a college forestry class that trees that evolved with fire tend to drop leaves that curl to promote fire and those that didn’t tend to lay flat.


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Now that is an interesting fact. Yesterday I burned leaves and pine straw in the yard. The leaves from a Bradford pear tree burned fine but the oak tree leaves were hard to burn.
 
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