Lessons learned

[Teeder]

I second the comment about planning. On my home property, I started out just planting as many trees as I could, mainly because it was just an overgrown field with little to no quality trees. Zero mast. Now I'm cutting some of those trees out, because I can't hunt it or a less desirable tree is now shading out something else. Of course you don't always know what it will turn out like 20 years down the road.

 

[PatinPA]

I immediately cut the hemlocks off of my property when I bought. Not because I wanted to but because they were being destroyed by the wooly adelgid. Hemlocks don't provide much cover with no branches on the lower 20-30 feet of them. The mistake was allowing the logger to use a limb stripper as he cut them. He explained that there wouldn't be a large pile of limbs at the end which at the time I liked the idea of. Now I have 100's of small piles of limbs that are matted down and won't allow anything to grow up through. And also making putting in food plots or planting anything that much more of a pain. Wish I would've had a large pile instead that I could've burned over the winter.

Also wish I would've found this site before I started planting anything. Wasted a lot of plantings with no cages or care. Just put them in the ground and forgot about them. I do occasionally find some still alive but they show little to no growth after 4-5 years.

 

[Catscratch]

Plant fewer trees but take better care of them (weed mat and cages).

If it isn't already there it's because it either; can't grow there... or it's invasive. Be careful in selection and do some research.

Changing how I hunt was more significant than changes to habitat. Too much pressure = less mature deer sightings.

 

[Teeder]

"If it isn't already there it's because it either; can't grow there... or it's invasive. Be careful in selection and do some research."

Or in may case, it was logged out before I bought the place.

 

[TreeDaddy]

Plan improvements( food plots,feeders,mast tree plantings,etc) based on access and where the deer already bed

This is intuitive to most on this forum but not so to me my first few years

bill

 

[j-bird]

Listen to the deer....they will tell you what they want....if you know how to listen!

I learned the hard way that deer don't read the same books we do. They don't watch the same TV shows we do. They don't listen to your uncle, or grandad either. Hell, they won't even cross the road where the signs tell them to!

In all honesty....read the sign, watch what the deer do, see what foods they like and when with exclusion cages and monitoring native food sources. Follow the trails, examine the beds a try to figure out "why". Connect the rubs and scrapes and follow where they go to and come from. The deer will tell you.... I say all of this because most of us don't hunt the same deer they do on TV. In fact, my deer may be very different than yours. Mostly based off of food sources, cover types, terrain features and hunting pressure.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Too much pressure = less mature deer sightings.

I think that's true in most places. The BIG ones go where people aren't.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Lots of good thoughts so far! Keep 'em coming gents.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Plan improvements( food plots,feeders,mast tree plantings,etc) based on access and where the deer already bed

This is intuitive to most on this forum but not so to me my first few years

bill

I think a lot of us struggle with this even though we know it. Largely because of where desired improvements are easiest to make doesn’t typically play nice with access, existing bedding, existing deer movement, and neighbor dynamics.

 

[yoderjac]

I agree with what you’re saying but the middle bandwidth between the worst and best scenarios has a sweet spot where a little investment has a substantial return. All of this is being deercentric of course.

IE- if you know you’re lacking bedding in a mid successional period of tree growth … or you have nothing but row evergreens… a day with a chain saw will pay back huge.

Now in the context of spread Deeroids 3000 supplement or a Artichoke plot added will take your bucks encountered from a 1.5yo to a 200”+ teenager….. that’s where we have all found ourselves on the hook before.

Just a general statement often forgotten. I spent way too much time on deer hunting and deer ground. Lots of hours and dollars into habitat… but if I am not judging the end product as a grip and grin with a way above average buck and focussed on the experience- everything has had value.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

My take-away is that the sweet spot is bending nature slightly to favor deer. I find the more you try to bend it, the less differential return you get. Bending it a little in the right direction has the biggest return for the lowest cost. That is why I advocate slowing down for most folks. We all tend to get excited and want to act. We often do more harm than good. More thinking and more strategic action seems to be the most prudent.

 

[GoldenTriangleIL]

The first few years I owned my farm I chose not to spray fescue in fall to avoid disrupting deer. Spraying fescue in the fall after other plants have went dormant is ideal. Additionally, if you want to control invasives, don't give an inch and attack them with aggression.

 

[tlzkaasen]

This is an interesting question that took me some time to think about. I just purchased my first piece of ground here in Northern WI 3 years ago after my kids finished college and I had a little more disposable income. I started my journey right away after reading everything I could get my hands on. I was also fortunate enough to bring in a Habitat Consultant.

With that said here are my "Major" misses:
1.Not making the food plots large enough. In North Central Wisconsin I've got the only food plots for miles and attract deer up the ying yang. Each year I progressively make my plots larger. Each of these plots is carved out of the woods which is a ton of chainsaw work. This year another acre will be added by carving around each plot.
2. Brought in a dozer for leveling. This was just plain dumb on my part
3. Jumping on the "oak" band wagon. Planted several dozen hybrids, tube, etc. The deer would of appreciated another orchard more than those oaks - just saying. We have Northern Red oak all over the place.
4. Keeping the food plot plantings simple and stop trying to over complicate, manicure, etc.
5. This is a big one and a big investment, but my LOCATION needs sufficient enclosed box blinds for those "must" hunt days. E.g. Our 9 day traditional gun hunt in wisconsin was 1 degree w/o windchill. I was fidgety as well as my guests that were hunting - really hurt us.
6. Understanding cover needs and my tamarack swamp. Still hurts me. This is gold mine location that not a ton of habitat recommendations/information exist on.
7. Lastly, screening my neighbors better. all of them are Non-hunters and not full time residents, but they're all a serious pain in the ass. I would've thought that I would've had more issues from hunters on the national land, but that couldn't be more far from the truth. Hunters I meet on the National land have all been very courteous, respectful and enjoy some good conversation. I'm sure I'll meet a jerk or two, but so far so good.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

This is an interesting question that took me some time to think about. I just purchased my first piece of ground here in Northern WI 3 years ago after my kids finished college and I had a little more disposable income. I started my journey right away after reading everything I could get my hands on. I was also fortunate enough to bring in a Habitat Consultant.

With that said here are my "Major" misses:
1.Not making the food plots large enough. In North Central Wisconsin I've got the only food plots for miles and attract deer up the ying yang. Each year I progressively make my plots larger. Each of these plots is carved out of the woods which is a ton of chainsaw work. This year another acre will be added by carving around each plot.
2. Brought in a dozer for leveling. This was just plain dumb on my part
3. Jumping on the "oak" band wagon. Planted several dozen hybrids, tube, etc. The deer would of appreciated another orchard more than those oaks - just saying. We have Northern Red oak all over the place.
4. Keeping the food plot plantings simple and stop trying to over complicate, manicure, etc.
5. This is a big one and a big investment, but my LOCATION needs sufficient enclosed box blinds for those "must" hunt days. E.g. Our 9 day traditional gun hunt in wisconsin was 1 degree w/o windchill. I was fidgety as well as my guests that were hunting - really hurt us.
6. Understanding cover needs and my tamarack swamp. Still hurts me. This is gold mine location that not a ton of habitat recommendations/information exist on.
7. Lastly, screening my neighbors better. all of them are Non-hunters and not full time residents, but they're all a serious pain in the ass. I would've thought that I would've had more issues from hunters on the national land, but that couldn't be more far from the truth. Hunters I meet on the National land have all been very courteous, respectful and enjoy some good conversation. I'm sure I'll meet a jerk or two, but so far so good.

Curious why you feel the dozer was a bad move?

 

[Ruffdude]

My take-away is that the sweet spot is bending nature slightly to favor deer. I find the more you try to bend it, the less differential return you get. Bending it a little in the right direction has the biggest return for the lowest cost. That is why I advocate slowing down for most folks. We all tend to get excited and want to act. We often do more harm than good. More thinking and more strategic action seems to be the most prudent.

I like to say that man likes everything in a a tidy little box but Nature is chaos and variety and unpredictable.
I will use your phrase of "bending Nature slightly" , it paints a good picture.

My main lesson learned for our sandy soils is I would not plant any apple trees. It's been a major chore to keep them alive for 9 years now. Instead, I would only plant crabs from a short list of select nurseries all of which are talked about often on this site.

 

[tlzkaasen]

Curious why you feel the dozer was a bad move?

I'm sorry. I phrased that totally wrong. I feel it was a bad move for NOT bringing in a dozer for leveling.

 

[yoderjac]

I like to say that man likes everything in a a tidy little box but Nature is chaos and variety and unpredictable.
I will use your phrase of "bending Nature slightly" , it paints a good picture.

My main lesson learned for our sandy soils is I would not plant any apple trees. It's been a major chore to keep them alive for 9 years now. Instead, I would only plant crabs from a short list of select nurseries all of which are talked about often on this site.

The first three lessons for sandy soil are: Don't till, Don't till, and Don't till.

 

[ChrisA]

This is an interesting question that took me some time to think about. I just purchased my first piece of ground here in Northern WI 3 years ago after my kids finished college and I had a little more disposable income. I started my journey right away after reading everything I could get my hands on. I was also fortunate enough to bring in a Habitat Consultant.

With that said here are my "Major" misses:
1.Not making the food plots large enough. In North Central Wisconsin I've got the only food plots for miles and attract deer up the ying yang. Each year I progressively make my plots larger. Each of these plots is carved out of the woods which is a ton of chainsaw work. This year another acre will be added by carving around each plot.
2. Brought in a dozer for leveling. This was just plain dumb on my part
3. Jumping on the "oak" band wagon. Planted several dozen hybrids, tube, etc. The deer would of appreciated another orchard more than those oaks - just saying. We have Northern Red oak all over the place.
4. Keeping the food plot plantings simple and stop trying to over complicate, manicure, etc.
5. This is a big one and a big investment, but my LOCATION needs sufficient enclosed box blinds for those "must" hunt days. E.g. Our 9 day traditional gun hunt in wisconsin was 1 degree w/o windchill. I was fidgety as well as my guests that were hunting - really hurt us.
6. Understanding cover needs and my tamarack swamp. Still hurts me. This is gold mine location that not a ton of habitat recommendations/information exist on.
7. Lastly, screening my neighbors better. all of them are Non-hunters and not full time residents, but they're all a serious pain in the ass. I would've thought that I would've had more issues from hunters on the national land, but that couldn't be more far from the truth. Hunters I meet on the National land have all been very courteous, respectful and enjoy some good conversation. I'm sure I'll meet a jerk or two, but so far so good.

Curious about your comment on your tamarack swamp and what you have learned. I have one on my property, but don’t really know how to incorporate it into my overall hunting plan other than sImply staying out of it.

 

[TreeDaddy]

This is an interesting question that took me some time to think about. I just purchased my first piece of ground here in Northern WI 3 years ago after my kids finished college and I had a little more disposable income. I started my journey right away after reading everything I could get my hands on. I was also fortunate enough to bring in a Habitat Consultant.

With that said here are my "Major" misses:
1.Not making the food plots large enough. In North Central Wisconsin I've got the only food plots for miles and attract deer up the ying yang. Each year I progressively make my plots larger. Each of these plots is carved out of the woods which is a ton of chainsaw work. This year another acre will be added by carving around each plot.
2. Brought in a dozer for leveling. This was just plain dumb on my part
3. Jumping on the "oak" band wagon. Planted several dozen hybrids, tube, etc. The deer would of appreciated another orchard more than those oaks - just saying. We have Northern Red oak all over the place.
4. Keeping the food plot plantings simple and stop trying to over complicate, manicure, etc.
5. This is a big one and a big investment, but my LOCATION needs sufficient enclosed box blinds for those "must" hunt days. E.g. Our 9 day traditional gun hunt in wisconsin was 1 degree w/o windchill. I was fidgety as well as my guests that were hunting - really hurt us.
6. Understanding cover needs and my tamarack swamp. Still hurts me. This is gold mine location that not a ton of habitat recommendations/information exist on.
7. Lastly, screening my neighbors better. all of them are Non-hunters and not full time residents, but they're all a serious pain in the ass. I would've thought that I would've had more issues from hunters on the national land, but that couldn't be more far from the truth. Hunters I meet on the National land have all been very courteous, respectful and enjoy some good conversation. I'm sure I'll meet a jerk or two, but so far so good.

Be blessed neighbors dont run cattle

bill

 

[tlzkaasen]

Curious about your comment on your tamarack swamp and what you have learned. I have one on my property, but don’t really know how to incorporate it into my overall hunting plan other than sImply staying out of it.

Chris, We continue to learn more and more about the tamarack swamp. It holds several islands that are up to 1/2 ac in size with 100 year old red pine. The deer bed on these islands and travel to the food plots. The tamarack swamp is in the center of my property is about 150 yards deep and 4000-6000 yards long across several properties. I also only use it as a sanctuary, but feel I should be doing more or planting xyz. Hope to figure that out one day. maybe we should start a dedicated thread to "what do you do with your Tamarack swamp?"

 

[Catscratch]

Be blessed neighbors dont run cattle

bill

Why?