Cedar thicket

[Soggy McBottom]

Soggy ... just curious, have you done any camera monitoring of this area to see what type of deer activity there might be?

No, I have not. When I bought the property in 2014 I thought this "feature" was interesting and could be great for deer. I scout each winter and have yet to find any sign of deer in this thicket. No rubs, scrapes, hair, scat or tracks (tracks may be hard to find due to the thick moss). I did some reading about cedar monocultures and came to the conclusion that a closed canopy eastern red cedar monoculture is terrible deer habitat (in my area anyway).

 

[Catscratch]

We don't have them here. But that looks like a bedding/deer holding juggernaut.

I know some of you hate them, but my instinct is to think that looks awesome.

It's the "busiest" spot on the place for deer activity. With that said there is very little tree cover here. Most of the place is grass, with some trees along the creek bottoms and also a mature oak bluff. I imagine if there was more cover this spot wouldn't be so active. I also imagine that if there weren't some lanes and pockets opened up inside the thicket for grass and sunlight it wouldn't get as much use.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

They seem to grow like weeds around me after land is idle for a few years. I've got them coming up in a switch grass field. I like it but they are spaced out. If they grow in a thicket or clumps they do seem to self prune on the bottom making them useless as thermal cover.

I do have one area I need to thin them a bit so they don't turn into a desert.

I like the approach of managing them. Awesome trees to tuck a ladder stand into. I will never take the kill them all approach to cedars! Very useful trees.
John Roemhild found an awesome set of matched sheds tucked up under a cedar to a buck named cactus jack that many of us were familiar with!

 

[roymunson]

It's the "busiest" spot on the place for deer activity. With that said there is very little tree cover here. Most of the place is grass, with some trees along the creek bottoms and also a mature oak bluff. I imagine if there was more cover this spot wouldn't be so active. I also imagine that if there weren't some lanes and pockets opened up inside the thicket for grass and sunlight it wouldn't get as much use.

I can understand that. The thermal cover is what sounds slick to me.

As for bedding, I think a chainsaw and some high hinging will get more immediate results. We have a 3 year old regrowth from a heavy hinging and if someone said "you can shoot a giant buck, but you'll have to go get him out of that stuff" I'd have to seriously think about it.