Easterhouse
Yearling... With promise
Hey guys,
Love the content on here. I’m at the start of the habitat improvement journey and a first time poster, but I’ve been lurking in the background trying to learn as much as possible for a couple of years. Several years ago, my family purchased 187 acre property in Sawyer County, WI near a cabin we’ve had for years. The property was financed from the seller for the first 2 years, so we were not allowed to “make significant changes” until now that the financing is through a bank. Not all bad as it’s given us ample time to observe how the land is used before taking any action. Before we get started this coming year, I was hoping to get some thoughts from the much more knowledgeable people that frequent this site.
A little about the property:
The previous owners did some significant work cutting the lanes that cover the land as well as building 5 permanent box blinds that we have used as is up to this point. We were allowed to continue planting the two fields that were cleared, so the south field (1.5 acre) has been planted with soybeans each year and the north field (4 acres) has been planted with corn. Unfortunately, the soybean field is demolished each year by late summer and offers no real attraction during hunting season.
The access to the property is from the northeast border on a trail that runs mostly north to south to the southern border. The north east open area is mostly old field with some decent summer habitat, but doesn’t seem to get much use during the hunting season when the grasses get knocked down. Northwest area is a mixed aspen forest. Northern hardwood forest runs through the middle of the property, which was select cut about 15 years ago. There is a mixed conifer forest that runs between the two fields from mostly west to east just north of the area that was select cut. The large southeast swamp is about 15 acres of spotted alder and about 20 acres of a mature cedar swamp. Surrounding the property are some private lands to the west that don’t seem to have much for hunting pressure, except on the southern half. To the south and east is over a 1000 acres of consolidated forest owned by the paper company which allows public use.
The pictures included show the borders of our property in red, tower stands in blue, and then a picture with less zoom showing the surrounding property. I’ve also included a few pictures do give an idea of the habitat, but I plan on taking more when I am up there for gun opener in a couple of weeks.
So far the observing hasn’t really been all that productive. The bean field is usually gone by hunting so hasn’t been much of a draw. The corn field seems to have most of its activity just before and after dark. Most of the activity has been brief crossings of the lanes that our towers look over, but it has been difficult to pattern over most of the land. We have noticed the northern and northwestern portion seems to be a prominent doe bedding area. The swamp on the east end has been the most productive hunting with mature bucks enjoying the cover and lack of hunting pressure.
Any observations or comments are welcome but my main questions are:
What are your thoughts on the set up of the tower stand and shooting lanes? It would be a lot to work to change so I don’t foresee that happening, but I’m not sure its show I would have set the property up if starting from scratch.
I’m thinking of trying to establish some switch grass in the old field to the north, but it’s a pretty wet area during the spring. Does switch grass handle moisture and the northern climate (zone 3b) well enough to give this a shot?
The shooting lanes are mostly grasses and forbs that provide little draw during the season. Would it make sense to convert as much of those as possible to a perennial clover or LC mix, or would you pick select lanes and leave the rest as is?
Thanks for all the insights.
Shane
North field where corn is usually planted. Aspen forest with porcupine above and lanes with grass and forbs near one of the tower stands
Cousin with one of those mature bucks hiding in the cedar swamp.
Love the content on here. I’m at the start of the habitat improvement journey and a first time poster, but I’ve been lurking in the background trying to learn as much as possible for a couple of years. Several years ago, my family purchased 187 acre property in Sawyer County, WI near a cabin we’ve had for years. The property was financed from the seller for the first 2 years, so we were not allowed to “make significant changes” until now that the financing is through a bank. Not all bad as it’s given us ample time to observe how the land is used before taking any action. Before we get started this coming year, I was hoping to get some thoughts from the much more knowledgeable people that frequent this site.
A little about the property:
The previous owners did some significant work cutting the lanes that cover the land as well as building 5 permanent box blinds that we have used as is up to this point. We were allowed to continue planting the two fields that were cleared, so the south field (1.5 acre) has been planted with soybeans each year and the north field (4 acres) has been planted with corn. Unfortunately, the soybean field is demolished each year by late summer and offers no real attraction during hunting season.
The access to the property is from the northeast border on a trail that runs mostly north to south to the southern border. The north east open area is mostly old field with some decent summer habitat, but doesn’t seem to get much use during the hunting season when the grasses get knocked down. Northwest area is a mixed aspen forest. Northern hardwood forest runs through the middle of the property, which was select cut about 15 years ago. There is a mixed conifer forest that runs between the two fields from mostly west to east just north of the area that was select cut. The large southeast swamp is about 15 acres of spotted alder and about 20 acres of a mature cedar swamp. Surrounding the property are some private lands to the west that don’t seem to have much for hunting pressure, except on the southern half. To the south and east is over a 1000 acres of consolidated forest owned by the paper company which allows public use.
The pictures included show the borders of our property in red, tower stands in blue, and then a picture with less zoom showing the surrounding property. I’ve also included a few pictures do give an idea of the habitat, but I plan on taking more when I am up there for gun opener in a couple of weeks.
So far the observing hasn’t really been all that productive. The bean field is usually gone by hunting so hasn’t been much of a draw. The corn field seems to have most of its activity just before and after dark. Most of the activity has been brief crossings of the lanes that our towers look over, but it has been difficult to pattern over most of the land. We have noticed the northern and northwestern portion seems to be a prominent doe bedding area. The swamp on the east end has been the most productive hunting with mature bucks enjoying the cover and lack of hunting pressure.
Any observations or comments are welcome but my main questions are:
What are your thoughts on the set up of the tower stand and shooting lanes? It would be a lot to work to change so I don’t foresee that happening, but I’m not sure its show I would have set the property up if starting from scratch.
I’m thinking of trying to establish some switch grass in the old field to the north, but it’s a pretty wet area during the spring. Does switch grass handle moisture and the northern climate (zone 3b) well enough to give this a shot?
The shooting lanes are mostly grasses and forbs that provide little draw during the season. Would it make sense to convert as much of those as possible to a perennial clover or LC mix, or would you pick select lanes and leave the rest as is?
Thanks for all the insights.
Shane
North field where corn is usually planted. Aspen forest with porcupine above and lanes with grass and forbs near one of the tower stands
Cousin with one of those mature bucks hiding in the cedar swamp.