All attempts to make my properties different from the neighboring lands. I live in farm country and taking ag land out of production has helped a ton in holding deer. So has opening up my timbers and letting sunlight in. There is not really much that makes my corn or bean plots different than all the surrounding fields but brushy cover and quality natural browse does.
Discussion: What have been some habitat projects that you believe have had the greatest impact on herd quality and quantity?
- Thread starter greekfreak
- Start date
Definite food for thought for me. Mainly timber and clearcuts around me. Good plots have made a difference. Gonna expand some onto my recent property acquisition next year.
westonwhitetail
5 year old buck +
I love this conversation, hope you all keep it going. I’m early in my habitat adventure, about 1 year in on my new property so I love hearing from you guys who are many years down the road to learn what has worked
g squared 23
5 year old buck +
Undisturbed cover first and foremost. A chainsaw and lack of human intrusion (discipline) are the only tools necessary. 1b is food plots, which doesn’t necessarily mean a lot of equipment but some do help.
Everything else has not made a difference so far, or the impact has been negligible. 6 years in.
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Everything else has not made a difference so far, or the impact has been negligible. 6 years in.
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Booner21
5 year old buck +
I think the importance of this goes up the smaller your acres are. Deer especially mature deer are very good at finding areas of low pressure. I only have 58 acres but i really believe that a lot of the deer that stay there do so because of the pressure factor.
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Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Since our camp is in heavily forested mountains, logging has been a good thing. It gets sunlight onto the ground and all sorts of things begin to sprout then. We also re-planted Norway and white spruce, balsam fir, serviceberry, Washington hawthorn, witch hazel, and some ROD to add diversity. Immediately caging cut tree stumps lets new stump sprouts get started from the established root systems of the logged trees. Vast stores of nutrients in those roots push new growth easily. Cages keep the deer off until the sprouts are big enough to survive browsing.
Planting apple & crab apple trees as additional food sources, as well as food plots for all seasons gave us the best year-round smorgasbord for deer and other game animals. Turkeys, grouse, foxes ( great mousers!! ) and all sorts of birds have made our property home. DIVERSITY is the key to good wildlife habitat.
Planting apple & crab apple trees as additional food sources, as well as food plots for all seasons gave us the best year-round smorgasbord for deer and other game animals. Turkeys, grouse, foxes ( great mousers!! ) and all sorts of birds have made our property home. DIVERSITY is the key to good wildlife habitat.
greekfreak
5 year old buck +
I will add what I believe to be what has changed my properties the most.
In my journey through habitat I have yet to notice one project succeed more than the other (maybe open edge feathering into fields). One thing I will note that I can honestly say helps me see more deer is being a freak about access, wind direction, and stand location. It is what has made our properties different than the neighbors. Stay out and be calculated about when you intrude. You do not belong there and everything in the woods knows it. It sucks, we all want to be out in the woods.
I have witnessed neighbors, on different properties, do silly things to get out into the woods. Walking on the upwind side of bedding, riding four wheelers to the stand, hearing two people talking to each other from a couple hundred yards away. and worse yet..... Walking.... The death of literally everything. I know some guys are good at it. They can attribute all their success to driving deer or steady walking through the woods. I would never do it though. I am too clumsy lol.
In my journey through habitat I have yet to notice one project succeed more than the other (maybe open edge feathering into fields). One thing I will note that I can honestly say helps me see more deer is being a freak about access, wind direction, and stand location. It is what has made our properties different than the neighbors. Stay out and be calculated about when you intrude. You do not belong there and everything in the woods knows it. It sucks, we all want to be out in the woods.
I have witnessed neighbors, on different properties, do silly things to get out into the woods. Walking on the upwind side of bedding, riding four wheelers to the stand, hearing two people talking to each other from a couple hundred yards away. and worse yet..... Walking.... The death of literally everything. I know some guys are good at it. They can attribute all their success to driving deer or steady walking through the woods. I would never do it though. I am too clumsy lol.
greekfreak
5 year old buck +
I have never heard of anyone caging off stumps. But now that you mention it.... I can see why you would. Most of our cut stumps dont sprout more than a maybe 6 inches and you can literally see the ring of sprouts around the stump that never succeeded due to browsing. I will be trying this.
Mortenson
5 year old buck +
I'll go with the pretty common responses: food plots, trigger restraint, and leaving untouched spots on the farm. Providing extra food has really been a game changer as far as keeping deer interested in our land for more hours per day and more months during the year. The deer will be around, it's just a matter of getting it done on the hunting end of things. Planning and scheming is so important for every hunt and every project. I've been on our farm since childhood, yet I still spend time every day staring at it on the maps, hoping something pops in my head that I haven't thought of before. I usually encourage anyone to leave as many crops standing as possible, something my dad isn't on board for, but hoping someday to leave several acres out there for them.
greekfreak
5 year old buck +
I also grew up with most of our farms. Know them all like the back of my hand. I have more damn maps than I even know what to do with. Between the prints designed with POI, giant hunterra maps, and my phone, i still look at them everyday. Never know what you might cook up while thinking.
Bassattackr
5 year old buck +
This x1000! Couldn't agree more..
Mortenson
5 year old buck +
Which sucks for us because we only have west access and our best turf is on the east end of the farm, and neighbors definitely take advantage of that.
greekfreak
5 year old buck +
Guys have come up wit creative ways to work around this. I watched a video where a guy was in the same position as you are talking about and created a closed sided property line with open timber on the backside of the cut to discourage deer from exiting that way. Then put more favorable habitat leading deer deeper into your property.
Bassattackr
5 year old buck +
Any ways to create better access? Screens? Ditches? A day of Forestry Mulcher rental? Different time of day? AM vs PM sits?
We need a plan of action here Mort
trampledbyturtles
5 year old buck +
Winter Rye, might be the only green for the first month come spring after they endure our brutal winters.
Teeder
5 year old buck +
I have this too, but in most cases I can either hunt the north or south ends depending on the wind.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
The stumps I didn't cage were just as you described - a ring of sprouts that never get above 4" to 7" tall due to browsing. The ones the deer ate tried to push more sprouts - same result. Those stumps ended up looking like a wire brush of sprouts - but all died from browsing. The caged stumps ....... growing like crazy. 5 to 7 new young trees growing in a circle around the stumps.
The best parts- the speed they grow from established root systems, and you get clones of the very same trees you cut.
Without a doubt, secure access is our biggest improvement.
My buddy bought my land originally in 2013, then I bought half from him in 2018. I've been able to hunt it since he bought it, and my contribution until I bought was I did most the habitat work. Today we both share in the work of both parcels and hunt both.
Anyway, he closed in early October that year. Closing with season already open, there was no improvements or stands hung. Property was a third each of ag, park effect timber and swamp and we experienced some pretty spectacular hunting that season. Well, until the crops came down and pressure built up at least.
He then hired a big name consultant who formulated a plan and we went to work implementing. It was a checker board of food plots and bedding areas with stands scattered throughout. We'd have a few good sits every year (killed a couple good bucks) and the property would just turn off. The more we did, it seemed the worse the hunting got. The plan had a major flaw, which I identified right from the get go, and that was secure hunter access.
When I purchased in, it was with the understanding that the consultants plan needed to go. With now a few years of hunting frustration, my buddy was happy to welcome change. A habitat pioneer friend of mine always would tell me his goal in setting up his property was to never let deer see, hear or smell him. So I formulated a new plan with those goals in mind. The center of the property was designated sanctuary and the major food plots moved to areas where natural topography screen our movements. We don't hunt food except from gun blinds we can get in/out cleanly without alerting deer in the plot. We rarely hunt more than 30 yards from the property line leaving the vast majority of the property to the deer. It's been a dramatic improvement. We are seeing, passing, and killing more and bigger bucks than before by a wide margin with relatively the same quality/quantity of food and cover.
My buddy bought my land originally in 2013, then I bought half from him in 2018. I've been able to hunt it since he bought it, and my contribution until I bought was I did most the habitat work. Today we both share in the work of both parcels and hunt both.
Anyway, he closed in early October that year. Closing with season already open, there was no improvements or stands hung. Property was a third each of ag, park effect timber and swamp and we experienced some pretty spectacular hunting that season. Well, until the crops came down and pressure built up at least.
He then hired a big name consultant who formulated a plan and we went to work implementing. It was a checker board of food plots and bedding areas with stands scattered throughout. We'd have a few good sits every year (killed a couple good bucks) and the property would just turn off. The more we did, it seemed the worse the hunting got. The plan had a major flaw, which I identified right from the get go, and that was secure hunter access.
When I purchased in, it was with the understanding that the consultants plan needed to go. With now a few years of hunting frustration, my buddy was happy to welcome change. A habitat pioneer friend of mine always would tell me his goal in setting up his property was to never let deer see, hear or smell him. So I formulated a new plan with those goals in mind. The center of the property was designated sanctuary and the major food plots moved to areas where natural topography screen our movements. We don't hunt food except from gun blinds we can get in/out cleanly without alerting deer in the plot. We rarely hunt more than 30 yards from the property line leaving the vast majority of the property to the deer. It's been a dramatic improvement. We are seeing, passing, and killing more and bigger bucks than before by a wide margin with relatively the same quality/quantity of food and cover.
greekfreak
5 year old buck +
This touches on the point I mentioned above. You can do all the habitat work in the world. If they know you are there... none of your work matters.
hunts_with_stick
5 year old buck +
So I only have 12 acres, but the farmer next to me said he will sell me some of his land, probably another 12, but the issue is, it is all ag. Some sort of rye/wheat or something that he round bales. Anywa, my concern is what do I do with it? I can’t keep it that way because I don’t have any equipment. On my 12, I planted apples and pears so far. Getting some late season persimmons and putting in some screening in the spring. On the other side of me is 96 acres that the lady doesn’t let anyone hunt (for now). Hoping she doesn’t decide to sell anytime soon. She will be timbering as I saw timber boundary tape. i like the idea of adding to my existing property but not sure what to do with it that will benefit what I currently have.
