ethan_holzfaller_midwest
A good 3 year old buck
I've been getting more landowners as clients looking at whitetail habitat specifically in the NW/North Central parts of Minnesota. Now I've been doing some deep diving and researching including the Mississippi Deer Lab, MN DNR, North Dakota game, as well as watching videos from Whitetail Habitat, Mr Deer, and others in and around Minnesota/Upper Midwest. I already offer and do TSI work for folks to create gaps and bedding areas where applicable, it is the open area/food plot or screening that I'm more confused on.
I was wondering if any of you are in that general area have used switchgrass, Egyptian wheat, I was told by a Real World Wildlife Products that Miscanthus doesn't do well up here with the cold and all. Not a big deal as I just learned about it anyway.
Interested in what switchgrass variants work, what people are using in food plots with success again specific to the NW MN. We get cold, and than if don't have cold, we seem to get drought, so curious what has been working recently that I could look more into that would help my clients.
I'm more interested in real world scenarios of successes and failures of what you guys have done on your land, costs associated with those operations, and what you would have done differently or will do differently if failed. I see videos on social media but want to get the empirical evidence first before I make any recommendations.
For example: I have a client that I'm writing a Stewardship plan for that has an old gavel pit as the property (85 acres). We plan to plant a windbreak of white spruce/black hills spruce along the highway edge consisting of 2-3 rows. I would like to create some screening of a couple rows of switchgrass abut 10 feet off the inside of the windbreak as a screen until the trees have grown. 1) this gives us access along the edge of property to reach future stands/blinds and still be screened from deer line of sight 2) Gives access for herbicide treatments to combat grass competition vs trees 3) Can be utilized as a dual trail/firebreak for prescribed burning 4) Is a screen in itself until trees have grown tall enough to become a windbreak
I'd like to add additional screening and planting of red-osier dogwood around edges of current islands and do additional tree planting 5-15 acres to increase continual woodland acreage that would be eglibility for SFIA or NRCS program requirements. I got 47 acres of open alfalfa fields on a sandy ridge that is poor, but well draining. Client already has about 5-7 acres of food plots established in soybeans and alfalfa.
Thanks for the help!
I was wondering if any of you are in that general area have used switchgrass, Egyptian wheat, I was told by a Real World Wildlife Products that Miscanthus doesn't do well up here with the cold and all. Not a big deal as I just learned about it anyway.
Interested in what switchgrass variants work, what people are using in food plots with success again specific to the NW MN. We get cold, and than if don't have cold, we seem to get drought, so curious what has been working recently that I could look more into that would help my clients.
I'm more interested in real world scenarios of successes and failures of what you guys have done on your land, costs associated with those operations, and what you would have done differently or will do differently if failed. I see videos on social media but want to get the empirical evidence first before I make any recommendations.
For example: I have a client that I'm writing a Stewardship plan for that has an old gavel pit as the property (85 acres). We plan to plant a windbreak of white spruce/black hills spruce along the highway edge consisting of 2-3 rows. I would like to create some screening of a couple rows of switchgrass abut 10 feet off the inside of the windbreak as a screen until the trees have grown. 1) this gives us access along the edge of property to reach future stands/blinds and still be screened from deer line of sight 2) Gives access for herbicide treatments to combat grass competition vs trees 3) Can be utilized as a dual trail/firebreak for prescribed burning 4) Is a screen in itself until trees have grown tall enough to become a windbreak
I'd like to add additional screening and planting of red-osier dogwood around edges of current islands and do additional tree planting 5-15 acres to increase continual woodland acreage that would be eglibility for SFIA or NRCS program requirements. I got 47 acres of open alfalfa fields on a sandy ridge that is poor, but well draining. Client already has about 5-7 acres of food plots established in soybeans and alfalfa.
Thanks for the help!
