J-birds place

[j-bird]

It's funny you talk about hard edges. I'm letting a farmer hay a 15 acre field at my place in return for some plot work, and I asked him to leave a 20' edge around the field so that I could begin feathering it. Lol. He left me at most five feet, barely enough to walk. I think that most farmers can't stand to see a piece of plowed ground go unplanted. We will need to have a conversation...

Depending on the situation (if you own the and or not) I would put out the little marking flags (the little wire ones the utility companies use) and mark where the edge should be. I know my local farm retail store has them in different colors in bundles of 100 for a reasonable price. And yes...many old school farmers can't stand to see "good ground go to waste by growing up in weeds". I know when I first got started I was given plenty of funny looks when I claimed I was putting in programs to reduce the tillable ground in favor of wildlife programs. Turns out the farmer liked not having to work the less productive ground in the end.

 

[j-bird]

Might be a good shed season for you!

Might be...typically shed season here is pretty poor. Them bucks live on the neighbors place, and visit mine. They have all/most of the cover...I have the food. I'll certainly keep an eye out for them though.

 

[j-bird]

I like how each one is bigger than the last. Until the end when the first buck comes back.

It was interesting watching it the first time. At first I was like, "what sort of ragged little buck is that?", then he had a buddy that got a little bigger, and then another buddy, and then more and bigger and it was like a buck parade! If it wasn't a video and not seeing them move and full bodies I would have sworn someone was messing with me!

 

[j-bird]

Took a walk today....

Here is how I took a single stem willow and over time, I have since turned into a shrub. Bringing cover done to the deer level and going from a single stem to 100's.


This area is where I took several willow "trees" and have reset them as well. Cut them to the ground last winter.... They grew to almost the diameter of my thumb and roughly 6 to 8 feet in the air. The deer like the higher stem count....not for food but for cover.


My plot still hasn't seen any or much use of the turnips....regardless of their size.

 

[j-bird]

I was also looking at some of my "edges" as well. I like to use edges to help my property feel bigger and to expand my cover options and offerings since they are so limited.

What to avoid...with a "hard edge". Here you see an abrupt transition of "cover" to no cover.


Here you will see an edge between cover type (timber/grasses) you also see the addition of edges, where traditional farming would extend the ag field edge to the timber and create a single edge. The use of the grass buffer creates an additional edge and a different cover type to add diversity to the property. Here we also see where deer will avoid using the edge of the ag field due to exposed nature, yet the deer regularly use the edge between the timber and grass.



Here the left pic shows how even the age class difference of timber can create edges. You can even see along the green line where as the cover matures how a "tunnel" almost is created where the deer can move freely and still feel very safe.



Here I found how even in a very small area how the cover types can change quickly. In one area you see conifers, in the lower you see how the regen can begin to canopy and reduce the grasses and lowers stem count, and then in the right pic you see where the regen for one reason or the other the sunlight is still reaching the ground and promoting the grasses and the like increasing stem density.


This all shows how our ongoing management and "re-setting" different habitat types is important to keeping cover and food at levels to attract and hold deer and other wildlife.

 

[Knehrke]

Great examples of different types of edges! I'm a big fan of dropping box elder and letting them stump sprout. They are crappy trees but make great bushes!

 

[j-bird]

So I am making this post in response to some questions I have received in the past regarding posting some of the images I do. It typically goes like this..."How do you draw on your pics and post them?" I will be honest in that I am NOT the most computer literate person around....I just use the tools I have.

#1 - I locate a pic off my cell phone or off the interwebs and and decide I want to share something about it.
#2 - I use a clipping software called "snipping tool" - not sure if it's a standard windows accessory but it is in the windows version I use.
#3 - I dump the image into microsoft paint - again not sure if it's a standard accessory or not, but I have it. Here is where I can manipulate the image size, crop it down, enlarge it and draw on it and the like. The big thing here is being able to get a nice image without exceeding either the file size limits or the actual image size limits per the website rules and you will have to play around with that.
#4 - Once I am done in paint I simply save the image as a jpeg file and upload it/attach it in my post.

I find being able to "draw" on the images can help highlight or clarify what I am trying to communicate in words....and they say a pic is worth 1,000 words...well, if I can draw on it and put your attention right where I want it. It means you don't have to read all 1,000 words!!! It's also a great way to put a couple related images into one image as well.

I am sure there are other and better ways ....this is just the way this guy does it.

 

[j-bird]

So nothing to report in my northern card pulls today... I did however take a few pics...

This is my road screen...the red is a woven wire fence that I have vine honeysuckle growing on. To the left of the fence is the county road (and thus the desire for the screen). The green are transplanted red cedars. The yellow is some MG I grew from cuttings. These different "layers" if you will I leave room to mow as I don't want any bedding in this area. I like multiple layers because as one fills in others fades away the others help pick up the slack so to speak. The MG here is also where I pull my rhizomes from and distribute to other screening projects. The cedars I simply transplant from other places on the farm in the early spring and they do fairly well as long as they are roughly 3 feet or less when moved.


Some other things that I noticed was how you can learn and see a lot if you just look. I love a fresh snow fall for seeing deer tracks, but the melt can also tell you some things. Below a new and active deer trail was easily found, and on the right you can see where the sun hits the ground the best in this wooded area and as such this is where the deer will bed to soak up some of that sun shine. You can also see the drainage that is right there hat allows the deer to slip away if so desired as well. I have jumped deer out of this area in the past during the winter. But the snow here shows you EXACTLY where those places are and can help you narrow down areas if you so desire for future habitat projects if you wish. All that point needs is a few tree tops drug in there and the deer will be there time and time again. This is a "bad" location however for me as it is less than 50 yards from my access trail. As such I try to leave it fairly open to hopefully make the deer bed further away. This location is also a prime example of where buffers and edge feathering can help you. That spot...if you sit on the ground you can see thru the wood 75 yards or so and then see out into a wide open ag field so the deer would be able to see an approaching hunter from a long distance. And they used to do that. A weed/grass buffer of 3 or 4 feet cuts down that line of sight for the deer and keeps them from watching me from a distance....the less they know the better.


And lastly...the value of beech trees. Many people don't like them as they are shade tolerant and when mature have huge canopies. I like younger one for their mast and the fact that they hold their leaves well into the winter...as shown here. Those leaves can really help make a wood lot feel a whole lot bigger. I like a few bigger beech for tree stands (the leaves really help hide a hunter) and the mature trees tend to hollow out and create cavities for other wildlife as well. I don't want my woods covered in beech...but some, and keeping them managed can be an asset.

 

[j-bird]

So with the snow storm we had this week we ended up with about 12" of snow on the ground. Considering we typically average 24" all winter...so 12" in 2 or 3 days was a pretty rare event for us.

It comes with some frustrations.... like trespassing snowmobilers....I don't understand why they think laws don't matter if there is snow on the ground. Don't get me wrong...they are not hurting anything...but it's still not something I appreciate. Makes me want to put up some woven wire fence!


I will say apparently it takes 12" of snow to FINALLY motivate the deer to eat some of my turnips! Turns out they must have FINALLY gotten hungry enough to stoop to such levels! You can see they had a pretty good path leading to the plot and they dug it up in some spots pretty well also. My deer typically don't eat the turnips but I plant them just for cases like this...just to ensure they do have something should we have a harsher winter than normal.


I was also able to locate a few beds as well.... I like finding beds in the snow because it helps me understand better what deer look for and I can try to replicate it in other places... These below are on a elevated point. You can see in the one pic they have a wide open field in one direction.... what you can't see is that on the other side is a steep bank with some fair cover and they can see over the entire creek bottom. I also thought this area would be a good place for a deer to bed, but have struggled in the past to confirm that. Now I have proof and I need to promote this and keep this in mind for my habitat plan and hunting efforts.


And lastly...this snow event showed me some of the value of switchgrass. The lead edges of the swithgrass acted like a snow fence and then lessened the drifting and the like in the rest of the taller grass which made moving easier on the deer and thus the other edge of the switchgrass had a lot of evidence of use...

 

[Bowsnbucks]

J-Bird -
Snow can be like sight for the blind. It highlights travel patterns, bedding sites, food use, and as you pointed out earlier ........... the sunny spots that deer will be happy to lay in for warmth. Great pics and colored highlight lines / circles.

I don't know how many years you've been planting turnips there, but it took about 3 years before our deer finally understood they were food!! Our deer hit the radish and turnip tops in the fall / late fall - but hit the bulbs in the winter months. Even the remaining wilted tops get eaten.

 

[Bill]

I too wonder if the deer now won’t use them more readily.

 

[j-bird]

J-Bird -
Snow can be like sight for the blind. It highlights travel patterns, bedding sites, food use, and as you pointed out earlier ........... the sunny spots that deer will be happy to lay in for warmth. Great pics and colored highlight lines / circles.

I don't know how many years you've been planting turnips there, but it took about 3 years before our deer finally understood they were food!! Our deer hit the radish and turnip tops in the fall / late fall - but hit the bulbs in the winter months. Even the remaining wilted tops get eaten.

I have been planting turnips now for what seems like a decade....I am sure that isn't true, but I know it has been several years. I would see only minimal use of ANY part of them. I figure they always simply had better things to eat (me being in heavy ag country) which was fine, but you still get a little frustrated that your efforts are sort of wasted. I still don't see them eating the greens, but maybe things will change a little now. I am certainly glad I had the emergency food there for them. Will be interesting to see if they continue to eat them or not now that the snow is already melting away.

 

[j-bird]

I too wonder if the deer now won’t use them more readily.

We will see. The snow is already starting to melt so it will be interesting to see if they continue to eat them or not....

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I have been planting turnips now for what seems like a decade....I am sure that isn't true, but I know it has been several years. I would see only minimal use of ANY part of them. I figure they always simply had better things to eat (me being in heavy ag country) which was fine, but you still get a little frustrated that your efforts are sort of wasted. I still don't see them eating the greens, but maybe things will change a little now. I am certainly glad I had the emergency food there for them. Will be interesting to see if they continue to eat them or not now that the snow is already melting away.

Being in a heavy ag area may make a difference, with more to choose from. See how this winter plays out - if they keep eating them or not. If the deer end up liking them, you may have a viable winter food option. Good luck with those turnips.

 

[j-bird]

Being in a heavy ag area may make a difference, with more to choose from. See how this winter plays out - if they keep eating them or not. If the deer end up liking them, you may have a viable winter food option. Good luck with those turnips.

Well the snow is almost entirely gone now so I will see how the deer react now.... Maybe they use them...maybe they just rot... either way, I'm not out a whole lot. Cheap insurance even if they did only come in handy for a week or so....

 

[j-bird]

So my fall annual plots are showing signs of life.... the turnips have mostly survived the winter. Some of the clover, wheat has as well, but not in significant amounts that I can tell as of yet. The winter peas seems to be gone as well, but without much protective snow cover that doesn't surprise me. I will monitor to see how things progress, but I fully expect the turnips to bolt, flower and produce seed if I let them. I am curious how the clover, wheat and possible peas do. I was hoping the deer would finally really dig in to the turnips....but other then when we had snow on the ground for a week or so...no such luck.

I'm thinking I will just till it all under and plant beans again this spring once the ground warms up...and then overseed into the standing plot come fall.

 

[j-bird]

I was out removing some trees and I found a yellow poplar with an odd growth on it. I am pretty certain this is what they call a "burl". I have seen smaller ones (size of a baseball or so), but this one is bigger than a softball, but not the size of a basketball. The tree itself had a trunk of only about as big around as your wrist. I thought it was pretty cool so I brought it home.

 

[Tree Spud]

I was out removing some trees and I found a yellow poplar with an odd growth on it. I am pretty certain this is what they call a "burl". I have seen smaller ones (size of a baseball or so), but this one is bigger than a softball, but not the size of a basketball. The tree itself had a trunk of only about as big around as your wrist. I thought it was pretty cool so I brought it home.
View attachment 34056

That is a burl. Depending on the consistency of it's density & structure, can make beautiful knife handles and bowls.

 

[Troubles Trees]

So my fall annual plots are showing signs of life.... the turnips have mostly survived the winter. Some of the clover, wheat has as well, but not in significant amounts that I can tell as of yet. The winter peas seems to be gone as well, but without much protective snow cover that doesn't surprise me. I will monitor to see how things progress, but I fully expect the turnips to bolt, flower and produce seed if I let them. I am curious how the clover, wheat and possible peas do. I was hoping the deer would finally really dig in to the turnips....but other then when we had snow on the ground for a week or so...no such luck.

I'm thinking I will just till it all under and plant beans again this spring once the ground warms up...and then overseed into the standing plot come fall.
View attachment 34002

Even if the deer never totally take to the Turnips and only eat a little here and there, the option is there for them during some of the hardest times to find food. The bonus is, rotten turnips turn into great fertilizer for future plots.

Everything looks great J, thank you for updating here. It is always great to see how others do things differently than I do it.

 

[j-bird]

That is a burl. Depending on the consistency of it's density & structure, can make beautiful knife handles and bowls.

I'm not a wood worker and because poplar is so light and soft I doubt it would be worth the effort....it's a decoration now! I will probably sand it smooth a bit and try to seal it as best I can. but otherwise...that is about as far as I plan on taking it. I have seen some TV show where really big ones of top tier tree species can bring big money. I haven't found one of those yet!