nwmn
5 year old buck +
I am trying to enhance my swamp edge by adding some spruce to the mix with the willows and tag alders. We are in NW MN where the NW winter wind is prevalent and nasty. Right now we've got food to the North of the swamp, with no relief from the wind to the swamps. Looking at some aerial shots, I notice a funnel of willows N/S through the swamp, and I would like to add spruce to that mix as well as enhance the edges and toy around with what I've read people on here planting lines of spruce in woods and guiding deer to where I can ambush them. HEre is a quick aerial. Lime green is where new food will be, and the red is proposed spruce planting, blue is existing trail and the black is where i'd like to connect the main trail to new food plot, and have it wind near the spruce planted swamp edge.
To enhance the bedding capabilities both long term and short term would it be foolish to mow a ring around the swamp where I wan tto plant spruce? I would think it would thicken the area up quite a bit and get the spruce a headstart. It'll be thick and nasty either way so i think getting the long term objective a head start it would be best. I would also like to create some sort of inside corner access into the food, so i would shape the food plot to achieve that objective. I feel spruce cover is what our property is lacking and I'd like to maximize bedding near the food so the deer have easier going come winter.
To enhance the bedding capabilities both long term and short term would it be foolish to mow a ring around the swamp where I wan tto plant spruce? I would think it would thicken the area up quite a bit and get the spruce a headstart. It'll be thick and nasty either way so i think getting the long term objective a head start it would be best. I would also like to create some sort of inside corner access into the food, so i would shape the food plot to achieve that objective. I feel spruce cover is what our property is lacking and I'd like to maximize bedding near the food so the deer have easier going come winter.