Pheasant Acres

[Badgers80]

Hey all, I've been lurking this forum for a bit and have always liked seeing what other projects & improvements people make on their land. Thought I'd add another to the mix

I bought 65 acres 2 years ago in NW WI. Funny enough, at the time I was looking for private lands to hunt and wrote letters to several landowners. I got a few yeses, and I was pretty stoked about this piece. I asked if the landowner would consider selling and low and behold here we are. When I bought it, it was 35 acres of ag (corn, beans) and 30 acres of a mixture of mostly wetlands (reed canary, dogwood, willow) and a few fallow, pasture-like acres. The neighborhood looked very "pheasanty" and "deery". But, I was really excited about the potential of the land. I knew it could really turn into some great habitat.

I love pheasant hunting and wanted to focus my improvements on the birds first and foremost - hence the nickname for my land, "Pheasant Acres". With the cattails, dogwood, and willows, pheasants flock to the place in winter. Though deer, turkeys, woodcock, etc. all benefit from the improvements, too.

So, I had the east side ag field (15 acres) planted into a pollinator mix (big bluestem, indiangrass, little bluestem, switchgrass, side oats grama along with 16 forbs) through CRP this spring. The neighborhood is heavy on monoculture corn & beans, so I wanted to provide the opposite with lots of diversity in this planting for turkey & pheasant chicks as well as provide fawning cover. Some pics of that first-year planting are below. I think it came on really well this year. Was a nice year rain-wise to plant anything! I jumped two chicks out of it a week ago walking the edge to get to my deer stand. Spooked me good when they flushed not 5 ft in front of me! Really excited to see what this turns into with all the diversity in the mix.

And, I planted 2 rows of white spruce along the east and southern border this spring. I'm planning on frost seeding RC Big Rock switchgrass into this 20ft field border this winter as well. I'm not a big fan of peeking/poaching Toms and Nancys as is a little common in the area.

The plan next year is to continue converting ag & marginal land into habitat. The other side of the ag is going into a tall grass/forb mix in CRP which should be good for deer bedding & more winter cover when the snow flies. I'm converting a couple other acres from brome into switchgrass & hopefully more pollinator habitat for chicks.
Black Eyed Susan & Ox Eye Sunflower
Blue Vervain

CRP in background with a kitchen sink of a fall plot (brassicas, clover, rye, wheat, oats)
20 ft border planted in white spruce. To be frost seeded into with RC Big Rock Switchgrass



Brome dominated area that I killed this year in preparation for frost seeding switch or pollinator mix. Thatch is a major concern of mine with this spot. Probably have to mow it short and try to rake off? Wife doesn't want me burning here.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Cool property. I think adding some shrub and spruce tree windbreaks to shelter your existing winter cover would be beneficial as well. I've seen some blizzards fill up cattail sloughs, but if there's a windbreak on the north and west side that might make a big difference.

 

[Turkish]

Beautiful! I’m quite certain some dry lightning needs to hit that broke spot, though.

 

[Badgers80]

Cool property. I think adding some shrub and spruce tree windbreaks to shelter your existing winter cover would be beneficial as well. I've seen some blizzards fill up cattail sloughs, but if there's a windbreak on the north and west side that might make a big difference.

Yeah I planted about 30 leftover spruce on the west and east but need to add some more spruce/shrubs overall and to the north. I like that idea. They were filled in quite a bit in the winter of 2022.

 

[Badgers80]

Beautiful! I’m quite certain some dry lightning needs to hit that broke spot, though.

I hear ya

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Yeah I planted about 30 leftover spruce on the west and east but need to add some more spruce/shrubs overall and to the north. I like that idea. They were filled in quite a bit in the winter of 2022.

There are some windbreak designs on pheasants forever and several DNR websites, but the more rows you can plant the better. An outer row or two+ of shrubs (I like ninebark, dogwood and plum for this) can catch some of the snow before it hits several inner rows of spruce.

I've seen some old windbreaks around farm sites that are absolute wildlife magnets during the worst winters. The bigger the windbreak the better and if you can somehow add some food it that's a huge bonus.

 

[Badgers80]

There are some windbreak designs on pheasants forever and several DNR websites, but the more rows you can plant the better. An outer row or two+ of shrubs (I like ninebark, dogwood and plum for this) can catch some of the snow before it hits several inner rows of spruce.

I've seen some old windbreaks around farm sites that are absolute wildlife magnets during the worst winters. The bigger the windbreak the better and if you can somehow add some food it that's a huge bonus.

That's kind of the idea for the west side of the land; provide the best winter habitat since it naturally has some great winter cover there already. I've seen fish & game do habitat hand outs for trees, shrubs, and seed before. I'll try to catch the next one. Do you have pics of your own windbreak?

I will have 1.5 acres of likely milo just east of the cattails in CRP.

 

[SD51555]

I think what you're doing there is great. Keep up the good work buddy.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

That's kind of the idea for the west side of the land; provide the best winter habitat since it naturally has some great winter cover there already. I've seen fish & game do habitat hand outs for trees, shrubs, and seed before. I'll try to catch the next one. Do you have pics of your own windbreak?

I will have 1.5 acres of likely milo just east of the cattails in CRP.

My first tree row planting was more of a visual screen along road frontage, so I used a mix of trees and shrubs to accomplish that. I planted this starting in 2007 (somewhere over 5000 trees) and I'll try to take some pics next time I am there. It worked great as a visual screen and I'm impressed with the white spruce for the habitat they provide. The white and red pines grew fine as well, but they tend to self prune on the lower branches over time and have limited wildlife value then. In one section I planted a row of ninebark and I was very impressed. They start slow, but turn into a nice shaped shrub for wildlife cover and food. I would plant a windbreak for wildlife differently though after learning what works and doesn't from my visual screen.

My SE MN place has some pheasant potential and I've been thinking about a windbreak there. I think my plan will be about 6 rows of trees - ninebark, plum, white spruce, white spruce, white spruce and then a shrub of some sort on the last row.

Another great option for long term winter pheasant food is a row of red splendor crabapples. The fruit size is typically around 3/8" and the fruit typically hangs on the tree all winter until birds like pheasants and grouse eat them off. You can order seedlings from Yellow River Nursery in Wisconsin for around $5/tree, which is a great deal. I have dozens of these planted specifically for pheasants and grouse and they are great.

 

[Badgers80]

My first tree row planting was more of a visual screen along road frontage, so I used a mix of trees and shrubs to accomplish that. I planted this starting in 2007 (somewhere over 5000 trees) and I'll try to take some pics next time I am there. It worked great as a visual screen and I'm impressed with the white spruce for the habitat they provide. The white and red pines grew fine as well, but they tend to self prune on the lower branches over time and have limited wildlife value then. In one section I planted a row of ninebark and I was very impressed. They start slow, but turn into a nice shaped shrub for wildlife cover and food. I would plant a windbreak for wildlife differently though after learning what works and doesn't from my visual screen.

My SE MN place has some pheasant potential and I've been thinking about a windbreak there. I think my plan will be about 6 rows of trees - ninebark, plum, white spruce, white spruce, white spruce and then a shrub of some sort on the last row.

Another great option for long term winter pheasant food is a row of red splendor crabapples. The fruit size is typically around 3/8" and the fruit typically hangs on the tree all winter until birds like pheasants and grouse eat them off. You can order seedlings from Yellow River Nursery in Wisconsin for around $5/tree, which is a great deal. I have dozens of these planted specifically for pheasants and grouse and they are great.

Sweet, thanks for the info.

We'll have to swap hunts at each other's place after all the work!

 

[Badgers80]

I think what you're doing there is great. Keep up the good work buddy.

I appreciate it! It's interesting after I have owned this place for two years, how I drive around in the country and think about how I would try to improve lands I spot. "I wish they would do some TSI on those woods" or "I wish this field of brome were something better".

It's funny; I was talking to my neighbor when I was planting trees, and I was talking about my plans for trying to improve the land and get rid of invasives/brome. Anyway, he seemed to like the outdoors as well. I said I'll be doing some work near the property border. Would you mind if I tried to improve a couple of your fallow acres and turn it into a pollinator mix or just something better. I'm glad that he was all ears for it and gave me the green light. I think a lot of people like the outdoors and nature but don't have a desire to put forth the effort to change it - I'm not saying shame on them, but I just thought it was a great opportunity for me, who has that desire, to change a little something.

 

[Brian662]

Great start, looking forward to what you can do there. Are there native pheasants in the area? What county are you in? I know some folks in St Croix and Pierce county with native (non released) birds, they have pretty good habitat for them like you do.

 

[Badgers80]

Great start, looking forward to what you can do there. Are there native pheasants in the area? What county are you in? I know some folks in St Croix and Pierce county with native (non released) birds, they have pretty good habitat for them like you do.

Spot on. I’m in St Croix. It’s in a great habitat area for the birds so hoping I can just add more and increase the numbers as much as I can.

I sent you a pm fyi.