New To Habitat Work, Ask Your Questions Here!......Sticky!

[MoLandOwner]

I think Bill and Stu had a great idea for this!

No habitat questions are stupid in this Thread, feel comfortable in posting!

Ask questions about up coming projects you have in mind, like hinge cutting trees, types of trees/shrubs and tree plantings for your area, creating bedding areas, road or food plots screens, CRP planting, hunting access, or anything else. Post your land pictures if you have them and get some of the best help with all projects in one Habitat Site.

 

[MoLandOwner]

Credit for the idea to Bill...not me...but good idea to start a thread

Done!

 

[Greta&Gus]

I have a multi-parted question that might spark some thoughts. In regards to preferred browse for deer, what would you list as the top low growth plants, i.e. shrubs, ground cover, or bushes. What would you list as the top forage trees to hinge cut? Not trees for mast production but trees that provide the preferred leafy greens and buds?

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

Great question Greta&Gus. I will be standing by for some of that answer myself.
What I have found in my woods is that any cedar below 6 feet will be nipped, now that I have layed down some Hawthorns they will work on them a little but not alot. Hinged maples get browsed. Ash, Cedar and Hawthorne dont hinge at all so your just putting it on the ground dead. In our front 15 they have nipped every maple that is a foot tall back to 4 inches.

 

[phil@thesidehill]

In my area hinged maples get hit pretty hard through out the year. I have also seen them browse on black walnut, hickory, beech, gray birch, and elm....but i wouldnt call these "preferred"...by deer on my place browse them fairly regularly.

 

[Native Hunter]

For the low growth plants/shrubs I can give you some that are browsed hard in my area:

Elderberry
Arrow wood Viburnum
Wild Plum

We have a plant that grows here that some people consider invasive, which is probably one of the top winter deer foods - Japanese Honeysuckle (a vine). It's definitely hardy here but not invasive - mostly because it only has moderate shade tolerance. Also, it doesn't withstand mowing, so it can only spread where it gets enough sun and isn't disturbed severely. I see more winter browsing on it than any shrub. IIRC, the protein level is close to 20% and the leaves stay green all winter. It covers an undisturbed fence row and they just walk up and eat it like candy.

I'm not suggesting that anyone plant JH, and don't even know how far north it grows. But just wanted to mention it since ground cover was mentioned in the question.

 

[Steve Bartylla]

G&G, both aspen and poplar are both great browse species when hinged, but are a challenge to hinge successfully. You have to be on your toes when hinging them and I expect a higher than normal failure rate (snaps), but that's not all bad either. The first year, even completely severed from the roots, they'll often continue growing for a year. At the same time, new shoots are coming up hard and fast, due to all the food/energy stored in the roots. My favorite trees on typical properties to hinge are maples, as they just hinge so darn well for me and still supple decent browse.

 

[MoLandOwner]

Shingle Oak Stump sprouts the deer seem to go gaga over at our place!

 

[chummer]

I have been planting for three years now. All stuff recommended on here. My favorite so far is silky dogwood. It tolerates shade and the deer love it. Second would be elderberry, the deer have kept them trimmed too.

 

[Terrific_tom]

The deer by me love to browse any fresh growth maple, oak and wild raspberry bushes along with what has been mentioned already.

 

[MoLandOwner]

Deer here are actually browsing the ironwood tops I've hinged. Kind of surprised me. Aspen, red maple, basswood, burr oak, hackberry, blue beech, and even birch are also getting browsed (all hinged). Pretty much whatever fresh tops hit the ground get browsed.[/QUOTE]


yep

 

[bryant]

We have a different mix of trees than a lot of folks here but we have seen the highest browse use from hinged trees on black gum, winged elm, dogwood and cherry. Hickory gets a lot of browse now while it is just budded.

 

[sandbur]

G&G, both aspen and poplar are both great browse species when hinged, but are a challenge to hinge successfully. You have to be on your toes when hinging them and I expect a higher than normal failure rate (snaps), but that's not all bad either. The first year, even completely severed from the roots, they'll often continue growing for a year. At the same time, new shoots are coming up hard and fast, due to all the food/energy stored in the roots. My favorite trees on typical properties to hinge are maples, as they just hinge so darn well for me and still supple decent browse.

That first year or two of popple regrowth is excellent browse. The top leaves of popple regrowth stay green into fall and can be a great feed source.


After this fall's storm during deer season, I watched a doe fawn come though the woods and pick out the green leaves from buckthorn. I would NOT plant the buckthorn, but it was getting nibbled on.

In the northwoods, I have seen deer eat dried up asters in the fall. Sometimes called fleabane or daisy fleabane. They seemed to be picking them out.

G and G-you will see lots of interesting regrowth after your oaks are cut. Take some pictures and let us know what they eat on your place.

 

[Kansas-andres]

The only hinged tree that I've seen that don't get browsed, Is thorn apple trees. basswood, Ironwood, maple, oaks, hickory, poplar, cherry all get hammered. Imo, hinge cutting any poplar over 8 inches is suicide. Poplars barber chair fairly easy.

 

[SD51555]

Basswood and RO dogwood. Back home at my Dad's in McLeod county (where there are no deer) they eat basswood before an unlimited buffet of everything else under the sun from fresh soybeans, new oats, clover, and anything else that's green in May. I gotta talk my brother into getting some of those pole basswoods to the ground to create a living buffet and bedding area. Hell, I browse basswood in May. Delicious.

On our northern property, I have found almost every single RO dogwood browsed at almost every point during the year. Best case I ever came across was when I was pushing back the forest edge to get sunlight to the edge of my plot. The snag of 2-6" thick basswood I dropped and the regrowth were bigger hits than the plot i was trying to establish. If it were up to me, I'd mow 1/3 of our basswoods every year to to keep that cover/browse cycle rich and repeating. It'd probably cycle the soil nutrients a lot faster as well.

 

[SD51555]

Those giant basswoods are like a bully taking lunch money from the soil. Doesn't make a lick of sense to keep all those nutrients and forage hanging 40 feet in the air.

 

[SD51555]

^^^I wish I had more basswoods here. I'm hoping that by opening the canopy I'll get more to show up

Coldstream sells seedlings. Maybe try a couple dozen in tubes spread out and see if you can't get them going. If they go, you won't get rid of them. I was also cutting them down to open the canopy for white oaks that were in that mid-life stage where they had a great chance of reaching the canopy top but were at risk of still getting crowded out. 4 years after cutting, they were right back up at the top of a 25' tall oak tree.

http://www.coldstreamfarm.net/p-111-american-basswood-tilia-americana.aspx

 

[Bill]

I tend to agree that if you hinge it they will come. In my experience. Red cedar is number one. I'm loaded with shag bark hickory. Which seams useless until you hinge them. In my area a hinged hickory that sprouts get hit harder than a hinged white oak. Go figure.

But I like the fact that my whites are growing and the hickories are stunted.

Long term

 

[sandbur]

Would wild rice or arrowhead grow on the bank of a springfed pond or a marsh without much waterflow? Thanks

wild rice grows in the water and does best with some water flow.

 

[MoLandOwner]

Those giant basswoods are like a bully taking lunch money from the soil. Doesn't make a lick of sense to keep all those nutrients and forage hanging 40 feet in the air.

Basswood logs are worth some good money right now. My buddy is logging them off his place as fast as he can right now. They are going to a mill north of hill city.