Lessons learned

[TreeDaddy]

All my neighbors run cattle and they are quick to head to my place and plots whenever a fence is down

bill

 

[TreeDaddy]

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?"

or marshland,in general (besides leaving it alone)

Tee up a new thread,tizkaasen!

bill

 

[Wind Gypsy]

All my neighbors run cattle and they are quick to head to my place and plots whenever a fence is down

bill

Yeah, talk about a gut punch having your food plot wiped out by neighbor's cattle..

I'd like to hear about what problems @tlzkaasen has with non-hunting neighbors though. Dogs? motorized recreation? interfering with hunts?

 

[b116757]

I grew up with a tamarack swamp my brother still owns it. Ours also had some raised islands in it of other trees mostly birch that the deer would bed on. The south edge of ours had spruce and hemlock growing along a steep 20-30’ bank that dropped to the swamp. We always had reasonably good luck hunting along the edges of it. Just south of that steep bank was a creek bottom. Some of the best hunting on that property is on that raised area between the swamp and creek bottom.

 

[b116757]

Orange is tamarack swamp
Blue is raised hill
Purple is creek it winds all over

 

[ChrisA]

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?"

That sounds like a similar situation to mine then......my tamarack swamp is about 7 acres in total, which is in the center of my property also, and also has a small island in the middle. I know they bed on that island, as well as in the tamarack swamp itself, but I haven't done anything proactive with this knowledge. This weekend I did put a trail camera on the edge of this tamarack swamp pointing out toward the island in hope of seeing some traffic, but this is the closest I've really gotten to this spot on my land and only now since my hunting is done. I am all for learning if others have ways to hunt, or as you said, do other planting around it.

 

[tlzkaasen]

I'd like to hear about what problems @tlzkaasen has with non-hunting neighbors though. Dogs? motorized recreation? interfering with hunts?

It was all about hunting disruption and walking their dogs down an easement and letting them urinate on my young trees.

Every Spruce up and down that easement/road is dead. 5 yards in back - lively, healthy trees. I did ask them to make sure the dogs do not urinate on the trees, but that went in one ear and out the other. I was trying to be a good neighbor by not fencing the trees down this picturesque, remote easement, but every dead tree up and down the road will be getting replaced and fenced this spring.

The other neighbor will see us enter stands, start up his leaf blower, take it the edge of the property and just leave it idling on a major deer trail for hours.

The third neighbor is in his late 80's and will drive his offroad golf cart up and down my easement for fun (no malicious harm) at the worst possible times or best possibly hunting hours.

I need to figure out something with the easement road. It gives two neighbors access to their houses - part time residences - summer cottages on a lake. The easement splits a few acres of my land, but the land surrounding it is a funnel and increible hunting. It needs to be heavily screened, hinge cut in both areas.

 

[Telemark]

It was all about hunting disruption and walking their dogs down an easement and letting them urinate on my young trees.

Every Spruce up and down that easement/road is dead. 5 yards in back - lively, healthy trees. I did ask them to make sure the dogs do not urinate on the trees, but that went in one ear and out the other. I was trying to be a good neighbor by not fencing the trees down this picturesque, remote easement, but every dead tree up and down the road will be getting replaced and fenced this spring.

The other neighbor will see us enter stands, start up his leaf blower, take it the edge of the property and just leave it idling on a major deer trail for hours.

The third neighbor is in his late 80's and will drive his offroad golf cart up and down my easement for fun (no malicious harm) at the worst possible times or best possibly hunting hours.

I need to figure out something with the easement road. It gives two neighbors access to their houses - part time residences - summer cottages on a lake. The easement splits a few acres of my land, but the land surrounding it is a funnel and increible hunting. It needs to be heavily screened, hinge cut in both areas.

Are you allowed to move the easemenr?

 

[tlzkaasen]

Are you allowed to move the easemenr?

I think the easement is probably in the best location. I just need to Screen off by planting more spruce, transplanting balsam and white pine to the area and just basic protection via fencing, mulch. Maybe hinge cut on the road? some beautiful trees dot that road.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I need to figure out something with the easement road. It gives two neighbors access to their houses - part time residences - summer cottages on a lake.

Put a locked gate on the access and fence it if need be. Then the people who are part-time residents ....... give them your contact info so you can unlock the gate when they're coming. One crappy neighbor can ruin things for everyone in the area.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

The other neighbor will see us enter stands, start up his leaf blower, take it the edge of the property and just leave it idling on a major deer trail for hours.

Sounds like hunter harassment. Document and prove it and make them pay for being dicks with the long arm of the law.

 

[FarmerDan]

Lessons learned. I think I can only reiterate the golden advice offered above. Great thread!!
1. Habitat, habitat, habitat. If you don't have it make it. Thick, brushy, hide-the-needle kind of stuff.
2. Control your expectations. Man plans. God laughs!
2a. If you like to plant trees plant trees. If you like apples plant apple trees. Check your expectations at the gate!
2b. If you like to grow crops, grow crops for the sheer joy of growing crops. It might provide some benefit. Again, your expectations?
2c. And all that other hopeful stuff we do. What is it you hope for? Hopes and dreams keep us going because reality is a bad ass.
3. Challenge your beliefs and assumptions. The sooner you get to the reality of your situation, and everyone person's is truly different, the sooner you start having some (small?) impact.
4. Master the basics. A lot of the stuff we dive into here requires mastery of the basics first.

See the posts above for all the details.

I'm intrigued by the tamarack swamp discussion. I think I've been on the edge of one once. We do have plenty of coastal lowland swamp here. I identify with the isolated elevated islands where deer will lay. It's great sanctuary. We can't hunt it even if we wanted to. But deer do have to leave, don't they? And where are they going? To the thickest nastiness habit as close as possible to that island. Habitat, habitat, habitat!

 

[tlzkaasen]

Lessons learned. I think I can only reiterate the golden advice offered above. Great thread!!
1. Habitat, habitat, habitat. If you don't have it make it. Thick, brushy, hide-the-needle kind of stuff.
2. Control your expectations. Man plans. God laughs!
2a. If you like to plant trees plant trees. If you like apples plant apple trees. Check your expectations at the gate!
2b. If you like to grow crops, grow crops for the sheer joy of growing crops. It might provide some benefit. Again, your expectations?
2c. And all that other hopeful stuff we do. What is it you hope for? Hopes and dreams keep us going because reality is a bad ass.
3. Challenge your beliefs and assumptions. The sooner you get to the reality of your situation, and everyone person's is truly different, the sooner you start having some (small?) impact.
4. Master the basics. A lot of the stuff we dive into here requires mastery of the basics first.

See the posts above for all the details.

I'm intrigued by the tamarack swamp discussion. I think I've been on the edge of one once. We do have plenty of coastal lowland swamp here. I identify with the isolated elevated islands where deer will lay. It's great sanctuary. We can't hunt it even if we wanted to. But deer do have to leave, don't they? And where are they going? To the thickest nastiness habit as close as possible to that island. Habitat, habitat, habitat!

Moved our Swamp discussion on its own thread Swamp Discussion