Food Plots Fields back to forest

[BSK]

The seedlings we planted this last time were Gen 1.5 from the East Tennessee Nursery Boll Weevil posted the link to in his above post. Their survival and growth rate has been crazy good. Below is a picture of us planting the seedlings February, 25, 2021 (four guys all in their 60s ). The next picture is one of the pines as tall as I am as of July, 29, 2022. That's 5+ feet of growth in 17 months!

 

[Boll Weevil]

I meant to share these other day but fooled around and got busy. In the early years there's all sorts of browse and bedding but by about year 12 or so the canopy closes and you're left with nothing but pinestraw. Burning can help some but without sunlight hitting the ground there's little food value in a pine stand for deer (turkeys is another story).

Plan accordingly.

 

[BSK]

Absolutely true that food value declines rapidly once canopy closure occurs in a planted pine stand. However, I find they will still use those areas as cover from precipitation and cold winds well after that. Although I would think LARGE blocks of pine would make hunting around the edges difficult because there aren't any concentration points. That's why, when I plant pine in a hardwood environment, I tend to keep each section at no more than 5-6 acres.