Potential Land Purchase- Mixed cover with lots of pine- former timber company land

[DRG3]

I am looking at purchasing some former timber company ground. The draws, slops and creek bottoms are in hardwood, and there are logging trails and some large landings on the property. That said, Basically all of the ridgetop and flat upland ground is in rows of pine that are probable 4-6" DBH. I would say it's 50% pine, and evenly interspersed with the other habitat types- with most of the large openings in the center.

I have managed, improved and sold a couple smaller farms, but never one that was old timber ground.

My primary goal would be for turkey, and my secondary goal is for deer.

What are some management strategies for the pine areas at the stage they are in that could maximize turkey habitat, and then deer. Also- what strategies could optimize the land value should I decide to try and flip it in 5 years or so.

The price is right per acre- I'm sure because of the logging aspect, but there is no way I'd be able to get this large of a tract of prime land. Still- If I buy this- I will be at least 3 years from being able to afford to bring in a dozer or a forestry mulcher due to cost, so initially, I will be limited to what I can do by hand or with my tractor.

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Curious what state? I hunted similar ground in the 90’s and 2000’s in southwest Georgia. Pretty much everything was commercial pine production but the smz’s. It was loaded with turkeys. They loved the cutovers and hardwood bottoms.
Depending on the total acres and the acres of “useable” ground for a turkey, it may be worth it or it may not. Meaning if it’s 100 acres and 10 acres are in hardwoods, you are gonna be spinning your wheels managing for turkeys without some big equipment to manage those pines. Only so much you can do by hand or even tractor with pines of that size.

 

[DRG3]

Thanks. This is KY that I'm looking, and around 200 acres, of which about 80 are those mid-story height pine. around 5 acres are landing openings and probably another 4-5 of road

 

[Howboutthemdawgs]

Thanks. This is KY that I'm looking, and around 200 acres, of which about 80 are those mid-story height pine. around 5 acres are landing openings and probably another 4-5 of road

With only 80 in those pines I’d say go for it. You have the majority in usable turkey ground. And not to mention you could hack and squirt a bunch of those pines to get some nesting and brood cover pretty easily. A pine is about as easy as it gets to kill which is nice

 

[Foggy47]

I bought 110 acres of pine plantation from a timber company in MN.....this was about 15 years ago. A few years prior to my purchase the logging company had done a select cut of the pines. I cleaned up the log landings.....and ground stumps out of the logging trails and landing sites....first with a rental grinder and later. with a three point grinder on the back of my tractor. I ground out over 3000 stumps which made for lots of nice trails and a few acres of food plots. A grapple on my loader and that stump grinder got allot of work done for me.

Later, about 7 years ago now, I had the pines logged again....and enlarged my food plots to about 7 acres currently plus my trails. I was able to get a good logger who cleaned up and made chips out of most of the slash. Sold many loads of chips. Logging was the best thing I ever did to this property.....as it released thousands of burr oak that were held back by the pines.....as well as some birch regen and aspen stands that were mature. I used some of the logging proceeds to get a large forestry mulcher to take our many of the stumps and clean some of the additional food plot ground. I also ground out more stumps to total about 4000 pine stumps over the years.

A three point grinder will give you a sore neck.....I'm here to tell you. The forestry mulcher is a better way to fly. My cover is probably the best it's ever been at this point. I have been seeing some forestry munchers at local rental yards recently. This could be an option? Also, we have lots of forestry mulching companies around this part of the country. That may prove to be worth your time.

 

[Turkish]

I am looking at purchasing some former timber company ground. The draws, slops and creek bottoms are in hardwood, and there are logging trails and some large landings on the property. That said, Basically all of the ridgetop and flat upland ground is in rows of pine that are probable 4-6" DBH. I would say it's 50% pine, and evenly interspersed with the other habitat types- with most of the large openings in the center.

I have managed, improved and sold a couple smaller farms, but never one that was old timber ground.

My primary goal would be for turkey, and my secondary goal is for deer.

What are some management strategies for the pine areas at the stage they are in that could maximize turkey habitat, and then deer. Also- what strategies could optimize the land value should I decide to try and flip it in 5 years or so.

The price is right per acre- I'm sure because of the logging aspect, but there is no way I'd be able to get this large of a tract of prime land. Still- If I buy this- I will be at least 3 years from being able to afford to bring in a dozer or a forestry mulcher due to cost, so initially, I will be limited to what I can do by hand or with my tractor.

Biggest question: are you in a region for which there is a pine pulp market? In other words, will you be able to thin the pines without paying out the nose to do it? If not, that will be largely useless wildlife acreage.

Managed pine plantations are better deer and turkey habitat than unmanaged hardwoods. Moreover, it is easier to manage succession in pines, given their shorter harvest rotations, tolerance to herbicide, and tolerance to fire.

Managing your forest to yield the most cool trail cam photos will provide the most return of you want to resell.

 

[Buckly]

Turkey need a certain amount of open space preferred. So if you have some hardwood mast already I think your good if you can maintain the open areas in some way. Mast for the fall and winter and bugging areas for spring and summer.