Habitat Improvements after logging

[ruskbucks]

Has anybody done improvements in the cut areas after they had their properties logged, such as planting seedlings,moving tops, create funnels,etc. Some areas are clear cut, most are selective cut hardwoods.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Yes - my camp just did a 22 acre selective cut this year. We also did a clearcut about 19 - 20 yrs. ago in another area. We planted Norway & white spruce, white pine in the older cut just after it was logged. White, yellow, and black birch, plus hemlock seeded in naturally. It was an area of open woods that were easy pickings for road shooters for a bit of our property. Not any more !! Thick, quiet, it's now a good holding / bedding / secure area for the deer. Best move we've made for habitat.

The new cut done this year, we'll do some of the same things. Norway & white spruce will be planted. We'll do some in clusters for bedding areas, and plant some staggered, double rows for travel corridors from heavy cover to our food plots and apple trees. We'll also plant some Washington hawthorns and witch hazel, and maybe a few silky dogwoods in a wetter area of the cut. We already have lots of stump sprouts on the many maples we cut, and on the few oaks we took down. Lots of mineral soil was exposed and the acorn crop was heavy this fall, so I expect some of those will be hatching too. This spring will be busy !!

We left the tops lay at the advice of 4 different foresters. They said the tops will provide browse and also protect new seedlings from deer until they get a good start. Free fence they called the tops. They also told us that once the tops decay back into the soil, they'll be putting lots of minerals and other goodies back into the soil. This fall I saw deer already using the piles of tops for security and bedding.

 

[TjdUSAF]

You've got a clean slate! Start reading a lot here and come up with some plans.

One thing I noticed after ours was done a few years ago was how open the canopy appeared.... What I noticed this year was how quickly it closed back in!!! So you may want to evaluate what's left and make sure you have some big holes for the sun to start regenerating things.....

Not first hand knowledge but I would assume those tops are a great place for hardwood cuttings and bareroot seedlings (dogwood, arrowwood, elderberry, etc) that deer love to browse.

Take pics and track your progress!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Big Snow Man]

If you have poplar in the area of the regeneration you have about 2 years to make your changes before it gets to thick. Two weeks ago we made a trail system thru our area we clear cut this spring. In April we will make some bedding pockets with spruce in areas that didn't regenerate that well .After this spring we will let nature take its course and make it thicker.

 

[chummer]

My cut was just finished this fall. I had them leave the tops and I was shocked at how open the property was. It is by no means flat, actually as opposite as you can get. With a dusting of snow you could see 4-500 yards easy. I will be doing a lot of hinging as well as planting half the property with as many evergreens as I can get. I am Definately on the side of cover is everything. I also have a bunch of silky dogwoods and nine bark on order. My plan is to plant 4-5 seedling around every stump they cut.

 

[tooln]

Has anybody done improvements in the cut areas after they had their properties logged, such as planting seedlings,moving tops, create funnels,etc. Some areas are clear cut, most are selective cut hardwoods.

My clear cut was 2+ acres, tops were placed in select areas for visual & funneling, it was planted in Norway Spruce & became a sanctuary. I also did a heavy select cut on another 2+ acre's where the top were left and it also became a sanctuary.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

As Tooln said above ^^^^^, we moved some tops into spots we wanted funnels and we also piled some around the stumps to protect the stump sprouts for a couple years as they grow. Fairly easy to make funnels or shooting lanes with loose tops. Best done in cool weather .... less sweat !! For security / bedding cover, I plant the spruce 8 ft. apart or better. While they're still young, the closer spacing creates thicker cover QUICKER. Then, as they grow, you can cut down as needed to avoid crowding if you wish. I think it's better to start thicker - then alter the patch as you need to. Growing takes some years ........ cutting only takes minutes.

 

[bueller]

As Tooln said above ^^^^^, we moved some tops into spots we wanted funnels and we also piled some around the stumps to protect the stump sprouts for a couple years as they grow. Fairly easy to make funnels or shooting lanes with loose tops. Best done in cool weather .... less sweat !! For security / bedding cover, I plant the spruce 8 ft. apart or better. While they're still young, the closer spacing creates thicker cover QUICKER. Then, as they grow, you can cut down as needed to avoid crowding if you wish. I think it's better to start thicker - then alter the patch as you need to. Growing takes some years ........ cutting only takes minutes.

Agreed. Trees are cheap and some will die anyway. Plant thick instead of waiting 25 years to become thick.

 

[j-bird]

Yep - the logging is just the first step. You can leave the tops where they fall or put them in places to promote bedding. You can even cut them up if you want. You can turn log landings into plots or even follow up by hinging low value trees they left. You can even use some of the slash and the like to create funnels or blockades. It's a matter of what you want and what equipment you have. I had it in my contract to repair trails and even install 2 culvert pipes to insure access as part of my logging. Maybe even put in a waterhole or the like as well. i will tell you this - avoid pushing tops and the like into the small ravines and the like - the deer (at least mine) like to use these low areas to move thru a property and you could actually makes things worse by choking these full of "stuff". I like leaving these areas clear with the tops and hinges on the higher ground - this seems to work better for me. the deer seem to like bedding where they can get an elevation advantage - yet move freely without having to work at it and or feeling exposed.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

J-Bird ..... I agree 100% on not filling the low spots like swales and ravines. Natural travel lanes. I'll also hinge some of the standing, smaller trash trees that they left. Plenty of maples to do that with !! I read your post ^^^^^ and it was like reading my own thoughts and plans !! ......... evil men of the same mind .........

 

[j-bird]

Just do it with a plan in mind so you can hunt it effectively. I pretty much do all the work on my place by myself so I have to do a little at a time. I also wish I had our place cut a little heavier than I did but it was my first time so I was on the conservative side. The other thing I wish I had done was left the tops - we cut them up for firewood. I will make up for that with some hinging later this winter if I get to it. I had such an explosion of growth I don't know if trees planted would have gotten enough light to survive. It looks like a jungle in the summer time in some places!

 

[ruskbucks]

Thanks for the help, I will add some more Norways to my order to try a bedding area with a few white pines in the middle of the spruce. The forester had suggested I leave the tops spread out all over, he said they will act like cages for the new growth. I might have to steal a few to make some funnels. I'm afraid I won't have anything of low value to hinge, I think all the junk is marked to be cut. I never had a problem with cover because of all the balsams growing everywhere in the hardwoods. That was another reason I needed a cutting, otherwise I think I would have a woods full of balsams because they thrive in the shade and the deer wont touch them. The weather finally got cold enough to bring the machines in. I will be up there on the Jan 1st to check the start of the logging out.