Black Swamp
5 year old buck +
I'm looking for ideas. I live in NW OHIO and bought 23 acres of feild that connect to two small wood lots. I'm trying to hold some deer on this property and am looking for advice on what to do and what to plant.
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IDEAS PLEASE
- Thread starter Black Swamp
- Start date
M
MoBuckChaser
Guest
Plant spruce on the entire 23 acres and wait ten years.
M
MoBuckChaser
Guest
And welcome to the Insane Asylum!
Black Swamp
5 year old buck +
It was all beans last year
Black Swamp
5 year old buck +
i should not of said hold deer but I have 120 acres that my family owns that surround the property only 40 acres of hardwoods the rest is farmed. I'm trying to take my 23 acres and make it better for deer
j-bird
Moderator
NW OH - Like Toledo/Lima area? My son goes to UNOH up in that area. If I remember it looks a lot like my area......lots of ag, flat and not much in the way of trees. If that is the case - the suggestions are right. Your going to need cover and the more cover you can create the more deer you will see/have. With al lthe ag around the deer have food - you might put in some real small like plots but those will be on the outside perimeter. 23 acres is still pretty small, but if you make it a thick tangle and only hunt the outside edges you could develop yourself a sweet little spot. You have 2 options. #1 - plow the entire thing and let mother nature do her thing. It will grow up in all sorts of weeds and saplings and the like in just a few years. #2 - you plant what you want in the configuration you want. I think you would want to go heavy on the spruce (whichever type is best for your conditions). Mix in some hardwoods and possibly the outer perimeter being in switchgrass to screen as you access from an open field.
I know the wind can be pretty constant up there so the spruce will offer some protection from that. Red cedar will grow but tends to lead to apple issues later if they come into play down the road. White cedar and most pines the deer will browse and rub to death if given the chance. Talk to your DNR they may have cost share programs to help you out and they may also have a state nursery where you can get trees for a better price that are native as well. Sounds like you have a blank slate - so it's all up to you. You may want to try to plan it into the other property you have as well. connecting 2 blocks of cover with a thin narrow strip of cover for those deer to travel can be a great way to promote movement and provide great hunting as well.
I know the wind can be pretty constant up there so the spruce will offer some protection from that. Red cedar will grow but tends to lead to apple issues later if they come into play down the road. White cedar and most pines the deer will browse and rub to death if given the chance. Talk to your DNR they may have cost share programs to help you out and they may also have a state nursery where you can get trees for a better price that are native as well. Sounds like you have a blank slate - so it's all up to you. You may want to try to plan it into the other property you have as well. connecting 2 blocks of cover with a thin narrow strip of cover for those deer to travel can be a great way to promote movement and provide great hunting as well.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
If that spot were mine, I'd go with Norway spruce - as others have said - some Washington Hawthorn ( they grow fairly quickly and make good thickets ), a few apples & crabs, and maybe 2 small plots just for added attraction, ( in that immediate area for shot opportunities ).
Spruce on 12' spacing like NoFo said. Spruce did a great job for us on bedding / thermal cover. As long as you're planting from scratch, design your shooting lanes as in NoFo's pic. No cutting necessary later. I'd plant the apples & crabs within an easy shot of a good stand location. Hawthorns put on loads of red berries that drop and attract grouse and turkeys. Those berries also will sprout new hawthorn seedlings that will make thicker cover. Deer bed in both spruce and hawthorns here. We don't have switch at my camp, so I can't comment on it from experience - but most guys who have it say it makes great cover.
Spruce on 12' spacing like NoFo said. Spruce did a great job for us on bedding / thermal cover. As long as you're planting from scratch, design your shooting lanes as in NoFo's pic. No cutting necessary later. I'd plant the apples & crabs within an easy shot of a good stand location. Hawthorns put on loads of red berries that drop and attract grouse and turkeys. Those berries also will sprout new hawthorn seedlings that will make thicker cover. Deer bed in both spruce and hawthorns here. We don't have switch at my camp, so I can't comment on it from experience - but most guys who have it say it makes great cover.
Black Swamp
5 year old buck +
Y
About 20 minutes northeast of Lima!
j-bird
Moderator
Yep - flat, farm ground and windy! Like I said - my boy goes to college in Lima. My area isn't as windy, but I have lots of heavy ag as well and cover is king. Not many folks will walk away from tillable ground - you might be able to talk to your local NRCS office and get some CRP programs installed to help make you some money with all of this as well. Welcome to the site, if you can post a sat picture of the area you are talking about folks could get into more detail if your interested. Lots of experienced folks here - most from the old QDMA forum (before they kicked us out), that have been doing this for decades. Biggest issue is limited space so you will have to keep your goals and expectations in check, but turning bare dirt into deer habitat is a very doable thing......just takes time and money.....like anything else.
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