South Facing Slope Habitat Development

[Tree Spud]

I have a south facing slope on my property that is all in ag land planted in alfalfa now. I am thinking of converting some of it back to wild habitat. It has a direct south exposure and west exposure. It has a 40' elevation change over approximately 650-700'.

I have about 4 acres to work with and was thinking of planting spruces and some shrubs to create a bedding and thermal cover. There would still be approximately 15 acres of ag land to the south of this area.

How would you go about developing an area like this?

 

[bueller]

Sounds like a great idea. To me it screams prime bedding area if you get spruce and pine growing with grass filling in between them. I'd be tempted to do 4 one acre blocks of different plantings so you see what they prefer most. You may want to do more of this in the future.

 

[Someday isle]

I'm sure someone with similar experience to your situation will respond soon. There's lots of good information on the value of tree planting and NWSG to develop good thermal cover but sometimes there's nothing better than an old fallow field. Maybe it'd be okay to let nature take its course and just let it grow wild.

 

[j-bird]

You get far more snow than I so that may impact things. However when I find deer beds on south facing slopes in the snow there tends to be a few common factors.

#1 - They have a commanding view of the south
#2 - They tend to be in areas where the most sunshine can reach the ground from a cover perspective. It's not totally barren, but it's pretty weak and mostly small stemmed cover. They tend to not like big trees to block the sun. Sort of like sun bathing in the winter time!
#3 - Good escape cover tends to be not far away
#4 - To an extent the steeper the slope the better. They want to be comfortable laying down, but the angle of the sun in the sky in winter is low and the steeper the slope the more direct that sunlight is.

I would not let the slope affect your decision too much. It may help, but I would treat this mostly just like any other bedding area. Keep the south portion open of shade producing trees to take advantage of that sunshine if you wish. Otherwise I would simply mimic what you see holding deer in your area. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[Mortenson]

Exactly what I've started doing to make a new bedding area and a future hunting spot. Going with spruce. It's a 10 acre chunk of overgrown pasture. I cleared the honey locust on 3 acres and started there. There are already some cedar growing that I'm glad to have. I simply started by flagging rows and spraying circles 2 falls ago with Gly and Oust. Some guys don't like them in straight rows, but for my spot I think it's OK because I didn't walk very straight and there are little elevation changes that will help offset it. I want all spruce for the thermal/bedding but also because my spot is closer to the road and I don't want anything to be seen in it.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

We love spruce, but you don't have to plant them so thick that you don't get sun into your bedding area. If your prevailing wind is from the west/northwest, plant a double row - staggered - as a wind blocker. Then plant in scattered clusters so the sun can reach the ground. Weeds and goldenrod would be great " fillers " between the spruces, and maybe seed some native grasses in the spaces too. You could create a couple clearings in the patches of spruce where shrubs could be planted for browse purposes, and have native grasses in those clearings too.

Calm, wind-protected areas with plenty of sun and grass / weeds / shrub cover = deer bedding.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

I would want my bedding area no where near the middle of a field.

 

[Tree Spud]

I would want my bedding area no where near the middle of a field.

Please explain ...

 

[MoBuckChaser]

I bow hunt, I want to know what direction the deer are most likely to go when traveling from bedding to food and back. To many directions to go when bedding in the middle of the field, and they can see to much if its open all the way around them. But that's just me!

 

[bwoods11]

It's hard to picture your exact setup, but I always give thumbs up to spruce or cedar plantings.

Unless it's strategically wrong, it will only help. Switchgrass on the side of a hill with cedar or spruce mixed in or rows behind it, hard to beat!

 

[j-bird]

Without trying to speak for MO I think the idea is that you would want the bedding away from the food to better determine a bedding to feeding pattern and then being able to hunt in between. With a bedding area in the middle of a field you create an area nearly impossible to hunt depending on the wind and your access. Last thing most of us want is an area full of deer we can't hunt.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

What J-B said!

 

[wiscwhip]

If it affects your access AT ALL, I would not do it. That said, if one could see the exact specifics, they might be able to give a better answer. If they walk down the hill to the alfalfa field, how would you hunt them? Can you get into a huntable position without them seeing you from the top of the slope? One could maybe surround the whole thing with multiple rows of conifers and plant the center with switch, but you would be looking at a very long term proposition as far as making it into great habitat. And then the whole "is it huntable" thing comes into play again?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I would want such a set-up away from food plots as well. I want a " reason to travel " for the deer. After re-reading the OP, the 15 acres of open to the south ( last sentence ) creates an island. Not a good hunting set-up ........ at least for bow hunting. Where / how do you cut them off ?? Avoid being seen ??

Our (one of several) camp set-up is spruce plantings and logged-over new growth for bedding on a south-facing slope surrounded by woods. Deer must travel at least 200 yds. to get to food plots and apple trees. Plenty of stand sites in between.

 

[Tree Spud]

I bow hunt, I want to know what direction the deer are most likely to go when traveling from bedding to food and back. To many directions to go when bedding in the middle of the field, and they can see to much if its open all the way around them. But that's just me!

I agree with you; however, this will not be in the middle of the field. It will be at the north end of the property along the road. It should do a few things ...

Connect my neighbors property to mine as his is all wooded. Create additional screening near the road. The road is a dead end to a neighbors house about 1/2 mile away.

Should create a corridor from my neighbors to mine, and down to a lower spruce bedding area to the south I am creating between the ag field (corn & WR), further south is all marsh. The deer already travel through this area now. The marsh is sanctuary with heavy bedding cover.

 

[Tree Spud]

Without trying to speak for MO I think the idea is that you would want the bedding away from the food to better determine a bedding to feeding pattern and then being able to hunt in between. With a bedding area in the middle of a field you create an area nearly impossible to hunt depending on the wind and your access. Last thing most of us want is an area full of deer we can't hunt.

Agree, this will be one of multiple spruce bedding (1-2 acres) areas I am putting in. The food will actually be in the middle of the bedding areas. There will be transition areas between the bedding and food and plenty of stand sites.

I know the travel patterns of the deer so these will act as scent checking points.

I am not really expecting to hunt this area at the top of the hill. It should act as a link in the chain.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

I agree with you; however, this will not be in the middle of the field. It will be at the north end of the property along the road. It should do a few things ...

Connect my neighbors property to mine as his is all wooded. Create additional screening near the road. The road is a dead end to a neighbors house about 1/2 mile away.

Should create a corridor from my neighbors to mine, and down to a lower spruce bedding area to the south I am creating between the ag field (corn & WR), further south is all marsh. The deer already travel through this area now. The marsh is sanctuary with heavy bedding cover.

Your original post said the middle of the field. That is what I based my answer on.

 

[rocksnstumps]

I know the travel patterns of the deer so these will act as scent checking points.

I am not really expecting to hunt this area at the top of the hill. It should act as a link in the chain.

Fresh off the trail camera. This is the southern edge of a small block of red pine. I had multiple pics (cleared them all before reading this thread though) of deer checking that pine bough weighed down by the snow, normally out of reach.

In another location some scattered 20 ft+ tall spruce. The side facing south is pretty much clear of snow. My hill in that area has about 16" of snow otherwise.

These spots are not anything special during hunting season, but once winter rolls in after Xmas they start to get used and keep them happy I guess.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Rocks - ^^^^^^ This pic shows the kind of spruce locations we create/use at my camp to encourage deer bedding. Deer at our place would be backed right into that spruce and be facing outward, soaking up the sun !!! Dry(er) grass and weeds make for good beds. Sometimes they remind me of rabbits, hiding in or just under spruce limbs. Great pix, Rocks !!!

 

[rocksnstumps]

We love spruce, but you don't have to plant them so thick that you don't get sun into your bedding area. If your prevailing wind is from the west/northwest, plant a double row - staggered - as a wind blocker. Then plant in scattered clusters so the sun can reach the ground. Weeds and goldenrod would be great " fillers " between the spruces, and maybe seed some native grasses in the spaces too. You could create a couple clearings in the patches of spruce where shrubs could be planted for browse purposes, and have native grasses in those clearings too.

Calm, wind-protected areas with plenty of sun and grass / weeds / shrub cover = deer bedding.

Thought I'd come back to this post and show what BnB was discussing and how the goldenrod holds up pretty well over the winter if mixed in with the spruce to keep the wind and heavy snow from folding it over. The goldenrod filled in between the trees and along the trail pretty much on its own here.