Planting For Cover

348Winchester

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One of the properties I hunt is mostly mixed hardwoods. It has some cover but not much. I was planning on having a forestry mulcher come in and clear some areas. Would planting these areas in plants designed for screening create some quick bedding cover? I was also planning on some hinge cutting next to or very near these new clearings.
 

BSK

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The trick is keeping the cover provided by Nature. It will quickly grow out of the cover stage, which generally peaks after 4-6 years of regrowth. Then it turns into pole timber, which has some cover value, but not like the quality of cover provided during the "impenetrable jungle" stage. You can either cut more 1-acre patches or try some sort of regrowth restart process. This year, I'm going to try restarting little patches of regrowth using a backpack sprayer with broadleaf herbicides. Have no idea how well it will work, but gotta' try something. If I wanted to keep big areas open, I would use fire. But I'm just trying to restart 1-2 acre patches here and there.
 

DoubleRidge

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One of the properties I hunt is mostly mixed hardwoods. It has some cover but not much. I was planning on having a forestry mulcher come in and clear some areas. Would planting these areas in plants designed for screening create some quick bedding cover? I was also planning on some hinge cutting next to or very near these new clearings.
Agree...get sunlight to the forest floor and let the natural growth take off. Sunlight is the limiting factor. Let it in and let it work. I've never hinge cut but I do have some concerns with the technique...in the short term I can see where it would be very effective providing immediate horizontal cover....but as the canopy of these hinge cut trees grow you now actually have created an even larger canopy shading the ground....I personally would rather kill the tree....leave it standing or remove the log and leave the top and allow the sunlight to the forest floor... it's been said many times that we need to think of cover as 36" to 48" from ground up (a deers world).... another positive... not only are you creating great cover but you will be increasing forage tremendously.
 

DoubleRidge

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As for forage (and cover generation)
I recently listened to an older MSU Deer University podcast and I had to listen to the following comments twice to make sure I heard it correctly: when measuring pounds of forage per acre they found that in a beutiful closed canopy forest that the forage generated averaged only 100lb per acre....running fire alone through the closed canopy forest increased forage to around 200lb per acre....Now opening the forest canopy by 50% by harvesting timber or by hack-n-squirt...the generation of forage was increased to 400lb per acre....then running fire through the 50% opened canopy and the study found they could generate up to 1,000lb of forage per acre.....so again, sunlight to the forest floor is key....we must have sunlight to grow forage and cover.
 

DoubleRidge

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The trick is keeping the cover provided by Nature. It will quickly grow out of the cover stage, which generally peaks after 4-6 years of regrowth. Then it turns into pole timber, which has some cover value, but not like the quality of cover provided during the "impenetrable jungle" stage. You can either cut more 1-acre patches or try some sort of regrowth restart process. This year, I'm going to try restarting little patches of regrowth using a backpack sprayer with broadleaf herbicides. Have no idea how well it will work, but gotta' try something. If I wanted to keep big areas open, I would use fire. But I'm just trying to restart 1-2 acre patches here and there.

I am ordering the 4 gallon solo backpack sprayer and plan to experiment with a few areas myself.
I would love to create burn units in the future and rotate every three years burning....but the spray method is something I can do by by myself.... curious to see how it works with getting more sunlight to the ground....I believe it will work....I would like to do several small one or two acre patches verses one large area.
 

BSK

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I am ordering the 4 gallon solo backpack sprayer and plan to experiment with a few areas myself.
I would love to create burn units in the future and rotate every three years burning....but the spray method is something I can do by by myself.... curious to see how it works with getting more sunlight to the ground....I believe it will work....I would like to do several small one or two acre patches verses one large area.
I'm also purchasing the best backpack sprayer I can find.

My problem is the rapid regrowth we've experienced in our timber cut areas. We had 100 total acres cut fairly hard (down to 10" DBH), spread across 7 different cuts. The remaining canopy in those cut areas varies from 70% in patches down to 0% in patches. After 3 summers of regrowth, the areas with 0% canopy have already regrown to saplings (mainly poplar) over a deer's head. This almost eliminates sunlight from the ground. I want to go around to those patches of head-high poplar saplings and nuke them with herbicides. Basically, just 1-2 acre patches scattered through the 100 acres of heavy timber thinning. Ultimately, I would like to see these patches turn into a permanent mixture of tall grasses and weeds. The rest of the cuts will be allowed to regrow naturally.

We have two high-tension powerline right-of-ways that cross our property. Years ago I though these right-of-ways cutting across mature hardwoods were going to be a Godsend of cover and food. However, they never turned out to be. Deer would bed in patches of the right-of-ways, but they never turned into the hunting hot spots we expected. Originally, the right-of-ways were maintained through mowing every 3-5 years. between mowings, they would fill in with hardwood saplings. However, ever since TVA switched to maintaining the right-of-ways through spraying herbicides, the species composition within the right-of-ways has switched dramatically to Indian Grass, blackberry and a multitude of forbs (weeds). NOW, after the switch to broadleaf herbicide maintenance, the right-of-ways have become a major focus of deer activity.

I hope to permanently turn patches of our timber harvest into the same species mix as the powerline right-of-ways.
 

DoubleRidge

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I'm also purchasing the best backpack sprayer I can find.

My problem is the rapid regrowth we've experienced in our timber cut areas. We had 100 total acres cut fairly hard (down to 10" DBH), spread across 7 different cuts. The remaining canopy in those cut areas varies from 70% in patches down to 0% in patches. After 3 summers of regrowth, the areas with 0% canopy have already regrown to saplings (mainly poplar) over a deer's head. This almost eliminates sunlight from the ground. I want to go around to those patches of head-high poplar saplings and nuke them with herbicides. Basically, just 1-2 acre patches scattered through the 100 acres of heavy timber thinning. Ultimately, I would like to see these patches turn into a permanent mixture of tall grasses and weeds. The rest of the cuts will be allowed to regrow naturally.

We have two high-tension powerline right-of-ways that cross our property. Years ago I though these right-of-ways cutting across mature hardwoods were going to be a Godsend of cover and food. However, they never turned out to be. Deer would bed in patches of the right-of-ways, but they never turned into the hunting hot spots we expected. Originally, the right-of-ways were maintained through mowing every 3-5 years. between mowings, they would fill in with hardwood saplings. However, ever since TVA switched to maintaining the right-of-ways through spraying herbicides, the species composition within the right-of-ways has switched dramatically to Indian Grass, blackberry and a multitude of forbs (weeds). NOW, after the switch to broadleaf herbicide maintenance, the right-of-ways have become a major focus of deer activity.

I hope to permanently turn patches of our timber harvest into the same species mix as the powerline right-of-ways.
Your experience with the the right of way matches ours exactly....in recent years they only spot spray saplings... hardwood and cedar....and allow everything else to grow.... blackberry, honeysuckle and weeds flourish... fantastic fawning and nesting cover....and I too would love to have patches of this type habitat scattered throughout the property. (vs. poplar sapling thicket).

As for backpack sprayers....I was planning on the 4 gallon Solo brand with the piston type pump....if memory is correct you recommend the piston over the diaphragm type pump?
 

BSK

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Messages
80,895
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Nashville, TN
Your experience with the the right of way matches ours exactly....in recent years they only spot spray saplings... hardwood and cedar....and allow everything else to grow.... blackberry, honeysuckle and weeds flourish... fantastic fawning and nesting cover....and I too would love to have patches of this type habitat scattered throughout the property. (vs. poplar sapling thicket).
I've run into their spray teams a couple of times. Man, those are some brave souls to wade through those right-of-ways in summer spot-spraying saplings! I plan on hitting my patches as soon as the sapling leaf out. Perhaps early May.
As for backpack sprayers....I was planning on the 4 gallon Solo brand with the piston type pump....if memory is correct you recommend the piston over the diaphragm type pump?
Yes. They seem to last longer.
 

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