IkemanTx
5 year old buck +
OK, This was my pre-emptive thread I started over on QDMA before they lost their heads... Projected start time is 2020 for me to have the lease.
I was bit by the habitat bug several years ago, but am just getting to where I can devote a little time and money towards it. My wife and I plan to either buy or lease my mother's 42 acres of what used to be my Great-Grandmother's farm. The time frame we are looking at is taking over management of the property in 2020. The rancher that currently leases the place put a bit of work into fences, seed, and chemicals a few years ago, and I want him to have time to re-coup his investment. My mother has always had this "dream" of building cabins for us kids out there, so is hesitant to outright sell it to me (she admits she probably never will, just doesn't want to stop dreaming). But we have already gotten the OK for leasing. Since all this is only 4 years away, that means my planning and research has already started (and tree planting on a small scale is already occurring). The access for the property really couldn't be any better situated. It is almost center on the north border. This area's primary wind direction is out of the SE for most of the hunting season. I don't plan on this property ever being my primary hunting spot, as the area it is in has VERY low deer densities (until the last few years, my neighbor to the west hadn't seen a deer in over a decade). The population is slowly starting to rise because ranchers are starting to let less productive fields sit fallow now that the last generation of subsistence farming in the area are either passing, or too old to maintain the levels of production they once did and properties are getting broken up more and more and pulled from cattle production completely. A recent switch to the county's antler restrictions, along with reduced Doe harvest times, is also allowing populations to grow that have been stagnant for 4 or 5 decades. I would like to catch the rise in population as I build the cover and food availability over 5 or 10 years.
A little about the place... My mother's portion is just a hare over 42 acres, and quite open. My aunt has the other 27 acres bordering to the west. A decade ago, the only trees on the property were consolidated to a single north/south ridge on the south of the place, and a TINY east west line of trees on the west fence line. Fortunately, pretty much every fence line is now filled with scrub trees or cedars at least 10 or 12 feet tall. They aren't a food source, but do act as great screening to separate small portions. There is currently cattle on the place, but will not be once I take it over. This area, and especially this specific property, will need just about everything but water added. No cover, and no food exists currently save some old Burr oaks on the previously mentioned ridge.
Here is the overview of the area
A bit closer
And a close-up
There are 2 ponds on the place, and this sat pic was taken during the only single time they have gone dry in 80 years. There is also a creek that flows to the north and has a Y coming from both the east fence line, and the property south of us. The field in the south and center is by far the best farmable ground on the property.
My plan is to plant cover, in the form of warm season grasses (such as bedding in a bag). This will have fire breaks of clover around about each 2-2.5 acre chunk. I will be adding about 8-10 acres total of mast producing trees, so 500ish trees minimum. I will probably plant at a closer spacing to mitigate drought loss, which may put actual planted trees up to 1000. I will also be planting between 4 and 7 acres of food, split between multiple locations and food types. The rocky area west of the north/south ridge will not be planted in anything due to poor soil and erosion issues, it will be left fallow. Same goes for the rocky portion of field at the northeast corner. Below is what I am considering most right now. Although White oaks do have a specified destination plot (hard to see, but it is the white polygon just south of dead center), they will also be mixed in with the locations labeled "hard mast mixture". The sawtooth, white oak, and chestnut specific stands will be planted into clover. I hope to keep that clover dominant for 6 or 7 years via mowing and cleth/gly spot spraying.
Obviously there are 2 glaring holes that don't have plans yet. I have yet to decide what to do with the empty space west of the creek, and the larger area east of the creek that adjoins the east pond. On the larger spot, I want to design a compartmentalized network of cover and micro food plots (1/4 acre or so) to increase daytime activity on the place. I am just having a hard time figuring out a layout that would be huntable without increasing percieved pressure. The spot to the west of the creek is pretty wet/soggy in the spring and winter. I haven't decided what I want to plant there to tolerate that.
Let me know what you think, design changes I could make, entry and exit improvements for plot or tree plantings and so forth. Fortunately, I have a few years to put the plan into action, so nothing is set in stone.
I was bit by the habitat bug several years ago, but am just getting to where I can devote a little time and money towards it. My wife and I plan to either buy or lease my mother's 42 acres of what used to be my Great-Grandmother's farm. The time frame we are looking at is taking over management of the property in 2020. The rancher that currently leases the place put a bit of work into fences, seed, and chemicals a few years ago, and I want him to have time to re-coup his investment. My mother has always had this "dream" of building cabins for us kids out there, so is hesitant to outright sell it to me (she admits she probably never will, just doesn't want to stop dreaming). But we have already gotten the OK for leasing. Since all this is only 4 years away, that means my planning and research has already started (and tree planting on a small scale is already occurring). The access for the property really couldn't be any better situated. It is almost center on the north border. This area's primary wind direction is out of the SE for most of the hunting season. I don't plan on this property ever being my primary hunting spot, as the area it is in has VERY low deer densities (until the last few years, my neighbor to the west hadn't seen a deer in over a decade). The population is slowly starting to rise because ranchers are starting to let less productive fields sit fallow now that the last generation of subsistence farming in the area are either passing, or too old to maintain the levels of production they once did and properties are getting broken up more and more and pulled from cattle production completely. A recent switch to the county's antler restrictions, along with reduced Doe harvest times, is also allowing populations to grow that have been stagnant for 4 or 5 decades. I would like to catch the rise in population as I build the cover and food availability over 5 or 10 years.
A little about the place... My mother's portion is just a hare over 42 acres, and quite open. My aunt has the other 27 acres bordering to the west. A decade ago, the only trees on the property were consolidated to a single north/south ridge on the south of the place, and a TINY east west line of trees on the west fence line. Fortunately, pretty much every fence line is now filled with scrub trees or cedars at least 10 or 12 feet tall. They aren't a food source, but do act as great screening to separate small portions. There is currently cattle on the place, but will not be once I take it over. This area, and especially this specific property, will need just about everything but water added. No cover, and no food exists currently save some old Burr oaks on the previously mentioned ridge.
Here is the overview of the area
A bit closer
And a close-up
There are 2 ponds on the place, and this sat pic was taken during the only single time they have gone dry in 80 years. There is also a creek that flows to the north and has a Y coming from both the east fence line, and the property south of us. The field in the south and center is by far the best farmable ground on the property.
My plan is to plant cover, in the form of warm season grasses (such as bedding in a bag). This will have fire breaks of clover around about each 2-2.5 acre chunk. I will be adding about 8-10 acres total of mast producing trees, so 500ish trees minimum. I will probably plant at a closer spacing to mitigate drought loss, which may put actual planted trees up to 1000. I will also be planting between 4 and 7 acres of food, split between multiple locations and food types. The rocky area west of the north/south ridge will not be planted in anything due to poor soil and erosion issues, it will be left fallow. Same goes for the rocky portion of field at the northeast corner. Below is what I am considering most right now. Although White oaks do have a specified destination plot (hard to see, but it is the white polygon just south of dead center), they will also be mixed in with the locations labeled "hard mast mixture". The sawtooth, white oak, and chestnut specific stands will be planted into clover. I hope to keep that clover dominant for 6 or 7 years via mowing and cleth/gly spot spraying.
Obviously there are 2 glaring holes that don't have plans yet. I have yet to decide what to do with the empty space west of the creek, and the larger area east of the creek that adjoins the east pond. On the larger spot, I want to design a compartmentalized network of cover and micro food plots (1/4 acre or so) to increase daytime activity on the place. I am just having a hard time figuring out a layout that would be huntable without increasing percieved pressure. The spot to the west of the creek is pretty wet/soggy in the spring and winter. I haven't decided what I want to plant there to tolerate that.
Let me know what you think, design changes I could make, entry and exit improvements for plot or tree plantings and so forth. Fortunately, I have a few years to put the plan into action, so nothing is set in stone.
