Help with habitat grooming.

[TxA&Mhunter]

Need help on how to groom an area on the farm. (Mid south Texas)

Purple is where we need to plant screening
Yellow lines are rows of chestnuts
Red line is rows of crab apples
orange dots are dco
Green outline is good plot this past summer

So the trees next to the food plot are huge old oaks.
Live oaks and post oaks mostly... most trees are 2 ft thick or more.
And it's a mostly closed canopy

Inside here is thick as can be of yopan
And American beauty berry.
So thick you can hardly walk.

What do I do with it? And how much of the youpan do I take out? Any suggestions?

 

[Bill]

Never heard of yopan. Is it browsed?
Your stand of timber Sounds like good cover. Have you ever tried cutting trails through it to direct the deer movement where you want it?

 

[TxA&Mhunter]

yaupon
Correction on spelling lol... that's what I get for typing at work on my phone lol.
It's hard to describe how thick it is... I'm headed down there this weekend I'll take pictures to better illustrate. Cutting trails might be the best course up get y'all photos of it.

 

[H20fwler]

I like the cutting trails idea, around here thick is good for bedding&pressure cover. You can always ad some sort of tall native grass strip along outside edge of your oaks to sexy it up for bedding cover and to get good "edge" activity.

 

[TxA&Mhunter]

Here is my issue I'm struggling with. There is a lack of sunlight that gets let through the oak trees. Most of the time we hear about letting sunlight in to bedding area... I am not sure that can be done here unless I cut some of the oaks.

I'll get pics so y'all can see what I'm talking about lol it's hard to describe

 

[IkemanTx]

Yaupon gets as thick as privet, that would be the best comparison. Impenetrable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TxA&Mhunter]

Thanks Ike, I googled that and it's a fair comparison.

I'll post some pics Saturday and give y'all a better idea of what I'm dealing with.

Honestly is all that yaupon was where the purple lines were I'd be great with it lol but it doesn't transplant worth a darn.

 

[TxA&Mhunter]

Here are some of the photos from the outside looking in!
In the middle it's as thick or thicker.
Any one have any suggestions?

 

[Bill]

Do the deer browse that stuff?

I'd be cutting trails through it and opening up 15 yard circles so the does can bed in it. If you do that give them more than one way in and out of the opening.

I'd put money down that if there are deer in there and you open a path for them. It will be used.

 

[Bill]

That's crazy by the way. Looks like Russian olive gone mad.

 

[TxA&Mhunter]

I'm sure they do but with the Growth I'm seeing in there I have to imagine is second or third choice stuff or the would be thinned at lower levels.

So with the 15 foot cleared areas, will that work for bedding even tho not a lot of sunlight getting in due to mature oak canopy?