2023 Agenda

[Ski]

What's on your agenda for habitat season? Are you gona do anything new or different?

Big priority for me this year is creating a couple good openings to maintain for forbs. That and cover are the Achilles heal for my property of huge, overly mature hardwoods. I've got several plots and plenty nut & fruit trees. What lacks is cover & browse.

And if I can make it happen I want to add a porch to the cabin, re-roof it, hook a pump up to the well, and get a septic system installed. Would be nice to have a comfortable place to stay on site.

 

[BSK]

Experiment with summer food plots.

Backpack spray as much acreage as I can of my 3-year-old timber cuts to knock back the hardwood saplings. This will only end up being a small percentage of the timber-cut area, but I want to turn as much of that acreage as I can into permanent early-stage regrowth (tall bunch grasses and forbs). Fire would be the best option biologically, but the logistics of burning on steep hillsides with little equipment access would make burning a nightmare.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Tons of stuff to do. I'd say the top 2 are creating fire lines for atleast 6 areas and will burn them when the conditions are right - Hopefully Feb-Apr. the other task is to hack-n-squirt and/or girdle several areas. Those areas are still in the planning stages.

Frost seed clover into 4 new perennial clover plots.

Get the traps out. 2022's totals were up to 90 grinners, coons and skunks. Also need to clean up my coyote traps and play around with those

Also need to move some stands around before the leaves come out. A couple I put up late summer were trash due to poor visibility and dumb decision making on my part.

Come about May, we'll be planting about 25 acres of soybeans, with some corn/sorghum screening.

Tons of little things, but those are the bigger ones that come to mind

 

[TNTreeman]

Move stands, swap several fields from corn to beans. I've got a killler area near stuff so thick you can't walk through it but it's so rocky outside that you can't plant it. I've been dumping wood chips there for five yrs and this spring I'll spread all those out with my dozer and plant it in the fall. The deer funnel out of that thick area and will browse on whatever weed grows out of the breaks in the rocks so next year hopefully they will actually have something to eat . Build a bridge over a creek for easier access. Lots to do, but I enjoy it as much as hunting

 

[bigtex]

I'm going to try and create a couple of acres of thick cover by hinge cutting.
The only cover around is off my property, pine thickets, Kudzu patches etc. They work well for holding deer but often times by the time they leave these areas to feed in my plots it is past shooting light.

 

[Ski]

Backpack spray as much acreage as I can of my 3-year-old timber cuts to knock back the hardwood saplings.

That's an idea I've not considered. I'm really nervous about burning because of the terrain and remoteness.

Tons of little things, but those are the bigger ones that come to mind

Holy smokes it sounds like you've got a full plate!!! Make my humble efforts seem like peanuts.

Lots to do, but I enjoy it as much as hunting

Amen! I love this stuff. I think I might be at the point where I actually enjoy it more than hunting. But I suppose the two are so tightly connected that one doesn't seem right without the other. Don't get me wrong. I still love hunting public, but there's just something extra special about plucking the fruits from the land I work so hard on.

often times by the time they leave these areas to feed in my plots it is past shooting light.

That is a problem indeed. Hopefully your efforts correct it and get you some opportunity. I'd never considered wood chips for adding biomass. It's silly because I have a sawmill and am constantly fighting with sawdust trying to figure out what to do with it. I'm pretty absent minded sometimes (a lot of times). That's a great idea I will not forget.

 

[deerhunter10]

January-march move stands add a few. Picked up a new property a few weeks ago truly scout it and get it set up. Work on our cover. It has gotten woody for me. Have some crossings to work on with new culverts. We bush hog 80 percent of all of our acres during this time. Trapping as well. Had a shooting house knocked over with the storm last week so we need to fix it. Frost seed clover.

April to may- turkey hunt get our plots planted, going more grain than ever before. Refresh our mineral sites.

June not a ton going on spraying depending on weather clip clover.

July- cameras back out road maintenance.

August and September. Check stands, end of September get our shooting lanes from stands and in our fields cut in.

October fall food plots we drill wheat and oats. Will have standing beans and corn so we will figure out a new plan for this.

November and December enjoy hunting and figuring out our plan for next year.

Main focus of our this year Is our cover getting them less woody and more grassy may have to mulch some of them and redo some. We have great cover but some of our areas we have lacked some.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things but that's the highlights.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

I've got a lot of fruit tree pruning to do. Hack and squirt. Some road improvements. Started a new orchard also in an area I can control the bears.

 

[Shooter77]

Way to much stuff for time available...lol

1) Clear my main plot of some trees I cut to open it up more back last Feb but wasn't able to get completely cleared up before turkey and fawns took over the cover.
2) Create 2 new 1/4 plots.
3) Open up 2 of my current kill plots by 1/8 acre.
4) Plant 27 dunstan chestnuts that I got for 2.75ea from Rural King
5) Plant 16 fruit trees I got on clearance from TSC
6) Put 3 new stands up
7) Move 3 current stands to different spots
8) Continue my hinge & junk tree removal to thicking up areas.
9) Soil Samples
10) Frost seed clover in 2 plots
11) Clear some more shooting lanes.
12) Paint my front gate
13) clear the limbs along my road.

 

[BSK]

Also need to move some stands around before the leaves come out. A couple I put up late summer were trash due to poor visibility and dumb decision making on my part.

We move stands in August, after I've got some idea about the acorn crop (very different movement patterns in a good acorn versus poor acorn years), but we certainly mark trees for stand placement in winter. In fact, by the end of deer season we will have a list of stands that absolutely "should be" moved, as well as a list of stands that "could be" moved because they didn't end up being as productive as we hoped. I'll also go around and look for trees in places I think could be hot-spots next year, or are a better location for a nearby stand. Basically, hunting a stand, seeing the deer patterns, and realizing the stand should have been "over there" instead of "here."

 

[Ski]

Sounds like everybody gona be plenty busy! I like it :) I guess I'm not the only one sitting on stand thinking about all the projects I will be doing when season closes.

 

[Popcorn]

I have about 65 acres of timber that was logged 2 years ago that has been overtaken by japanese stilt grass. I need to get ahead of that among everything else.

 

[Outdoor Enthusiast]

1. Build a new elevated shooting house.
2. Chainsaw work to cut small trees on a steep hillside.
3. Hack and squirt as many Osage orange as possible to open up canopy.
4. Hang/move stands.
5. Frost seed clover for new plot.

 

[FARMTOFIELD]

I've got 25 sawtooth oaks coming from the state, gotta get those out. I have to get some lime on my plots. I plan on having a forestry mulcher come in and create a lane or feaux powerline through my cutover, and clear a few areas that I will have to weedeat every couple years. May create another long narrow plot and plan on putting in a water tank, as well as some rope style licking branches.

 

[BSK]

I plan on having a forestry mulcher come in and create a lane or feaux powerline through my cutover...

That's a great idea. The food benefits of timber thinning are short-lived. It peak around the 3rd summer of regrowth and then rapidly decline as saplings begin to form a low canopy that blocks sunlight from the ground. Keeping some of the cut-over in perpetual early-stage regrowth is a great idea. I'm going to try to do the same, but with broadleaf herbicides in a backpack sprayer.

 

[FARMTOFIELD]

That's a great idea. The food benefits of timber thinning are short-lived. It peak around the 3rd summer of regrowth and then rapidly decline as saplings begin to form a low canopy that blocks sunlight from the ground. Keeping some of the cut-over in perpetual early-stage regrowth is a great idea. I'm going to try to do the same, but with broadleaf herbicides in a backpack sprayer.

The herbicides will probably be better than a weedeater for years to come in my plan actually

 

[UCStandSitter]

I really don't think I'll change much. The improvements I made this year brought in (or dumb luck did) more mature bucks than I've ever seen on that property. I worked hard and I think it paid off. The only thing I'd change would be not to get sick for 5 wks during the best part of the season. Outside of that, same plots in the same spots and I might add one set of climbing sticks in another location I have my eye on.

 

[BSK]

The only thing I'd change would be not to get sick for 5 wks during the best part of the season.

Ya, might want to reschedule that! ;)

 

[UCStandSitter]

Ya, might want to reschedule that! ;)

It really stunk man. Even when I had my energy back I had this vicious cough I couldn't shake so going to the woods was pointless. I sounded like a 75 yr old smoker yackin every 5 mins. I let a lot of fellas walk early season but during that period, I almost found myself regretting it. Now on the side of the sick I'm glad I did. I know it was the right move. At the beginning of the season I said if I eat tag soup, I'm fine with it. I have age requirements in mind and won't take anything smaller and I've stuck with it. Been a couple where it was tough but, I really want to see my area continue to improve. Can be tough with another moron hunting it but...

 

[BSK]

Was it Covid, RSV, something else? Although as far as I know I haven't had Covid, in the last couple of years I've had RSV twice. The hacking dry cough lingered for a month in both cases. Hated it.

 

[UCStandSitter]

Was it Covid, RSV, something else? Although as far as I know I haven't had Covid, in the last couple of years I've had RSV twice. The hacking dry cough lingered for a month in both cases. Hated it.

It was the flu actually. Really whipped my tail. My youngest had it as well but she was over it in a week. My fatigue, etc. lasted about 10 days and then the cough. Ironically similar to when I had Covid just before archery season in 2021.

 

[FARMTOFIELD]

I also have a pile of does, I've seen as many as 15 in my plot at once, killed one this morning, but I hate shooting them, I feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot.

 

[Ski]

The improvements I made this year brought in (or dumb luck did) more mature bucks than I've ever seen on that property. I worked hard and I think it paid off.

Not luck. Hard work. Sounds like you're on the right path for sure!

 

[Ski]

I also have a pile of does, I've seen as many as 15 in my plot at once, killed one this morning, but I hate shooting them, I feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot.

My brother refuses to kill does because he thinks as long as he has them, bucks will flock in from surrounding areas during the rut. Problem is he's been thinking the same thing for many years straight now and each year there are more does & less bucks. They're getting bred alright .... just not on his place. They leave to get bred then come back to raise fawns on his ground. Now he's got a downward spiraling situation that's ruining his hunting.

My property is complete opposite. Any given year I have 2 or 3 mature does on 100 acres, and each one has a yearling or two and fawns. I have the same number and age structure of bucks any given year, and often more bucks than does. I've got legit chance of killing a mature trophy buck any time of season, not just the rut. My brother catches one or two mature bucks cruising his place per season, and it's usually at night. Before he began the habitat work to create what I call his "women & children shelter", he'd regularly kill a good buck. On paper the only difference between his place and mine is that he doesn't keep his does under control and I do.

It's been my experience that the years when I have the fewest does, I have the most bucks. And it makes complete sense. The land only has so many resources and those said resources are depleted by hungry mouths and bodies looking for cover. Doesn't matter what sex or age the deer is. It's consuming resources. If I didn't have does & fawns then those resources would be not only available to bucks, but inviting to bucks. My neighbors will still have plenty does.

I know that's not the popular "QDM" approach, and maybe even borders radical. Most folks want balanced sex and age ratios. I want a bachelor pad. That's just my experience and how I made sense of what I've personally experienced. I'm not trying to persuade you into killing off all your girls. All I'm doing is offering an example of a different perspective for conversation sake.

 

[deerhunter10]

I also have a pile of does, I've seen as many as 15 in my plot at once, killed one this morning, but I hate shooting them, I feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot.

We kill our does at the end of the year that 5 day doe season imo is awesome. But if Temps look better we will shoot some before then. Our farm we live on doesn't have a high deer density at all and ratio while we guess at it seems to be pretty good overall. One of our other places is high deer density and we take that into consideration along with how many bucks we have killed and how many does and bucks we are seeing. It's probably not the technical way, but it seems to work for us. Thay place does have a high carrying capacity with the acres food and cover and also water. But we do our best. we have taken as many as 12 one year and some years zero. Honestly I cannot tell a difference to be honest. But I don't think the ratio has ever been out of whack. But I have hunted places with the ratio way way out of whack and the rut was always bad. Seeing decent to big deer was a challenge as well. Some people like to shoot them early some late. I am a late person as I hate intrusion, pressure and honesty during November to Christmas I want to shoot a buck and not a doe. I personally don't think you are hurting yourself at all by shooting a few.

 

[Lost Lake]

Most spare time is spent just keeping the farm tended in a somewhat normal manner. It's a 2+hour drive over, so that eats up a lot of time.

Take down any hang on stands, and move the ladders in a few places and tweak them just a little as far as placement. I do a lot of shooting lane trimming in late Winter right before greenup, and again in late August.

With so much thick regrowth in the three major blocks of woods, it's a constant battle to keep entrance/exit routes chopped to our stands. That pretty much has to happen year round to stay on top of it.

The bunkhouse needs new floor treatment, and other fixes in general in there as well. Always something to do.

 

[DoubleRidge]

That's a great idea. The food benefits of timber thinning are short-lived. It peak around the 3rd summer of regrowth and then rapidly decline as saplings begin to form a low canopy that blocks sunlight from the ground. Keeping some of the cut-over in perpetual early-stage regrowth is a great idea. I'm going to try to do the same, but with broadleaf herbicides in a backpack sprayer.

2023 will be our fourth year following our TSI project which included hack-n-squirt and certain areas have good patches of grass and forbs....but after three years there are other areas where saplings are thick and taking over....poplar saplings in particular....and we do have a couple of areas that are not too steep that we hope to burn in the future...but in some other areas I'm interested in the herbicide application using a backpack sprayer....I would like to treat patches or blocks....with multiple acres in each block...then later compare it to non treated areas....and then the following year add more blocks....have different areas at different stages of early successional growth.

Still working on my 2023 list of projects...but creating more natural food and cover is certainly on the to-do list.

I heard a quote the other day...may have been Al Brothers who was quoted...can't remember...but it was said:

"Land managers need to manage habitat for the bad acorn years...so when you get a good crop...it's a bonus"

After this year I understand that statement clearly.....and knocking back the sapling canopy with spray and burning both support that statement.

 

[BSK]

2023 will be our fourth year following our TSI project which included hack-n-squirt and certain areas have good patches of grass and forbs....but after three years there are other areas where saplings are thick and taking over....poplar saplings in particular....and we do have a couple of areas that are not too steep that we hope to burn in the future...but in some other areas I'm interested in the herbicide application using a backpack sprayer....I would like to treat patches or blocks....with multiple acres in each block...then later compare it to non treated areas....and then the following year add more blocks....have different areas at different stages of early successional growth.

Still working on my 2023 list of projects...but creating more natural food and cover is certainly on the to-do list.

I heard a quote the other day...may have been Al Brothers who was quoted...can't remember...but it was said:

"Land managers need to manage habitat for the bad acorn years...so when you get a good crop...it's a bonus"

After this year I understand that statement clearly.....and knocking back the sapling canopy with spray and burning both support that statement.

I would love to use fire. Biologically, that's the best practice. But I've been a part of burns in very steep terrain, and to use the word "scary" would be an understatement. Plus, creating fire lanes on steep hillsides requires serious equipment I don't have easy access to. I'm going to try the herbicide treatment as a "Plan B."

 

[bjohnson]

1. Prescribed Fire on 3 blocks ranging from 10-20 acres.
2. Clearing 3.5 acres of pine and junk trees on a ridgetop in preparation for alfalfa. Will plant in sunn hemp to build up soil this coming summer and lime accordingly.
3. Thin a 6.5 acre block of pines and burning. Hope to turn it into a pine savanna in 2024.
4. TSI on some drainages full of poplar
5. Converting 2 acres of pipeline into NWSG.
6. Converting 3 acre food plot into a pollinator meadow in the bottom of hollow next to a year round stream.
7. Planting some plum trees to form thickets and some allegheny chinquapins.

Going to be a busy year.

 

[UCStandSitter]

1. Prescribed Fire on 3 blocks ranging from 10-20 acres.
2. Clearing 3.5 acres of pine and junk trees on a ridgetop in preparation for alfalfa. Will plant in sunn hemp to build up soil this coming summer and lime accordingly.
3. Thin a 6.5 acre block of pines and burning. Hope to turn it into a pine savanna in 2024.
4. TSI on some drainages full of poplar
5. Converting 2 acres of pipeline into NWSG.
6. Converting 3 acre food plot into a pollinator meadow in the bottom of hollow next to a year round stream.
7. Planting some plum trees to form thickets and some allegheny chinquapins.

Going to be a busy year.

Dang! You aren't kidding!