How can sunlight improve your woods for deer.

[j-bird]

Well I was out today and took lots of pics and like my other post - I thought I would share, some not so new ideas.
The first pic is a view of a woods that is in desperate need of being logged. Look how far you can see, and at the lack of any ground level food or cover. Now these are mostly mature oaks so the acorns these trees produce do provide food, but hunting in this area is simply a waste of time - simply because the deer won't step foot in here until the cover of the dark falls.


Before I had my place logged my place wasn't too much better - a weak understory (dominated by maples). The pics below are representative of my place before the logging. The pic on the right is why I hate mature american beech trees - they produce so much shade it stifles any growth under them.


How much difference does a little sunlight make? Look at the difference at the edge of the woods (which is the large pic). Other things are oak, generation, raspberry and other browse species flourish AND the amount of cover EXPLODES!!!!


The pic below is a very good, no great, example of what sunlight does for you in the woods. This pic is taken facing an ag field that isn't 50 yards away and it has a very defined hard edge. You can just barely see any daylight thru the trees.

I was SO afraid to use a chainsaw early on in my habitat days and didn't understand how you could cut a tree to improve the habitat - it just sounded counter productive. Now - my #1 tool for habitat work is a chainsaw. it's the only tool I can think of that you can create cover and food (2 major components of deer habitat) with just one tool and it isn't a significant equipment purchase either.

 

[huntall]

That's so true. I was in bad need of undergrowth in a part of my timber stand and got started hinging and in 2 years it's a big difference. The deer are bedding in an area that used to be a wide open forest floor.

 

[SD51555]

It takes a while to no longer see the forest through the trees. Pun intended.

 

[Rally1148]

Well I was out today and took lots of pics and like my other post - I thought I would share, some not so new ideas.
The first pic is a view of a woods that is in desperate need of being logged. Look how far you can see, and at the lack of any ground level food or cover. Now these are mostly mature oaks so the acorns these trees produce do provide food, but hunting in this area is simply a waste of time - simply because the deer won't step foot in here until the cover of the dark falls.
View attachment 5667

Before I had my place logged my place wasn't too much better - a weak understory (dominated by maples). The pics below are representative of my place before the logging. The pic on the right is why I hate mature american beech trees - they produce so much shade it stifles any growth under them.
View attachment 5668

How much difference does a little sunlight make? Look at the difference at the edge of the woods (which is the large pic). Other things are oak, generation, raspberry and other browse species flourish AND the amount of cover EXPLODES!!!!
View attachment 5669

The pic below is a very good, no great, example of what sunlight does for you in the woods. This pic is taken facing an ag field that isn't 50 yards away and it has a very defined hard edge. You can just barely see any daylight thru the trees.
View attachment 5670
I was SO afraid to use a chainsaw early on in my habitat days and didn't understand how you could cut a tree to improve the habitat - it just sounded counter productive. Now - my #1 tool for habitat work is a chainsaw. it's the only tool I can think of that you can create cover and food (2 major components of deer habitat) with just one tool and it isn't a significant equipment purchase either.

My only problem is that it's 97% Autumn olive within 3 years. To adjust for this, I do it in "chunks" where I can either plant some dogwoods or ninebark, or just let stuff come up. Then in a year or two I go through cut and treating the AO with gly. I've actually had pretty good luck with that. A lot more roses (not sure if it's MFR), briars, nettles, some raspberries (usually gone as soon as there is any green growth), oaks, beeches. It's amazing how much it helps to clear that initial burst of AO.

 

[j-bird]

Rally - you are correct - you have to have the invasive plants under control first or you are just opening a can of worms. A neighbor did this and the jap bush honeysuckle simply exploded. So far I have been fairly lucky in that I didn't have that happen, but I hunt the JBH on my place every spring to keep it in check. The other thing I do is follow up the logging with hinging and the like to try to promote certain trees. My woods was once a oak, hickory mix, but poor forestry practices shifted it more towards a maple and beech based woods - which isn't good for wildlife. I am trying to reverse the "sins" of the past on my place. When I had my logging done we removed every maple and beech that was of interest to the logger, the oaks (unless damaged) where off limits as I wanted them to fuel the next generation if possible. I find "new" oaks every year now, not many but a few. It's going to be a long process. I have only a handful of truly mature (from a timber perspective) oaks - most of mine still have not "peaked" from a timber perspective and they are few and far between as it is.

 

[Bill]

Looks good J-bird.

I may be wrong but I don't sweat the invasives. When I hinge cut, I get MFR. At first that bothered me. Then I realized I didn't plant it and the deer love it.

Screw it, it beats what I had :D

I'd feel the same about AO. I have some but I don't kill them.

Heck the only reason those two are here is because the U.S. wildlife service told us they were the be all end all.

I'd take a field over grown in AO and red cedar any day over grass or mature timber.

 

[Rally1148]

Looks good J-bird.

I may be wrong but I don't sweat the invasives. When I hinge cut, I get MFR. At first that bothered me. Then I realized I didn't plant it and the deer love it.

Screw it, it beats what I had :D

I'd feel the same about AO. I have some but I don't kill them.

Heck the only reason those two are here is because the U.S. wildlife service told us they were the be all end all.

I'd take a field over grown in AO and red cedar any day over grass or mature timber.

While I agree with the taking a field of AO and cedar over mature forest, I'd say that at least for my property, replacing AO with natives that provide quality browse is one of the best things I can do. I've got 20 acres, half is swamp, and I'm between two ag fields. Luckily, I've found that the deer aren't in such a density anymore that they kill EVERYTHING but the AO.

IMO, for my situation, there is a native that I can put in for almost any place there is AO, and it will do as well if it gets a bit of protection. IME AO gives some cover, and deer will travel through it, but it's not their first choice. They'd much rather be screened by spruce, which I have no shortage of, or travel through a stand of alders. I'm also only 23, so I'm looking long term as to whether I want to "manage" my AO, or slowly get it to something that will not need managing.

As for the MFR, I've heard that it at least gives lots of browse, so it's not ALL bad.

 

[wiscwhip]

If there is a drawback to opening the canopy, invasive plants are the number 1 drawback to allowing more sunlight to the ground. In most cases they should be controlled out of the gate so they have no chance to take over. I do like the idea of doing it in smaller chunks to alleviate some of the issues with invasive species. Much easier to stay on top of 10 acres than 40.

 

[Rally1148]

If there is a drawback to opening the canopy, invasive plants are the number 1 drawback to allowing more sunlight to the ground. In most cases they should be controlled out of the gate so they have no chance to take over. I do like the idea of doing it in smaller chunks to alleviate some of the issues with invasive species. Much easier to stay on top of 10 acres than 40.

I do even smaller chunks than that. I'm talking about a quarter of an acre. It creates a nice little bedding pocket in a year or two after the cutting.

 

[wiscwhip]

I do even smaller chunks than that. I'm talking about a quarter of an acre. It creates a nice little bedding pocket in a year or two after the cutting.

If that is all the bigger of an area your talking, you could darn near pull any invasives by hand and plant only beneficial stuff in there to displace the nasty's. I can see where that would work well for you.