Releasing oaks

[buckaroo]

What's the best strategy; cut down all your hickories and walnuts or leave some to keep the squirrels off your oaks, or does those few hickories keep them around? I've been cutting hickory on my land for 7 years and it seems like I have a million squirrels, I don't eat them so I don't hunt them.

 

[BowGuy84]

If your wanting so see better oaks in the future then I'd cut the surrounding trees that are in competition and give them a spray of something to kill them. This should allow the crown to expand and help the tree(s) I don't think squirrel populations will hurt a tree though.

 

[buckaroo]

I was thinking of the squirrels eating the acorns.

 

[stik]

I was thinking of the squirrels eating the acorns.

they're gonna eat the acorns. not much you can do about it. if you have turkeys, they will eat more than the squirrels.

 

[buckaroo]

Kinda funny when I bought the place the woods were wide open, turkeys everywhere, I've thickened the woods and now not too many turkeys.

 

[cecil30-30]

I wouldn't cut my hardwoods..Especially Hickory and Walnuts..

 

[Football Hunter]

Ive been thinking of reducing some competition around some of my white oaks

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Its a tricky business. Walnut is not good at all to have around for wildlife. Produces a toxic substance that will kill many desirable plants around it, but of course is very valuable for timber unless your talking English Walnut. Hickory of course isnt good for much on the wildlife side either in my eyes, at least not compared to what it could be replaced with. But is worth some money, still not near as much as oak though. I will kill hickory if there is to much of it in a stand but wont kill all of it. You really just have to figure out which is more important to you- max timber production or max hunting opportunities. One property of mine is pretty well 100% managed with wildlife in mind while the other favors timber.

 

[buckaroo]

I have cut down thousands of hickories on this place, and you can stand anywhere on the property and still see mature hickory. I use firewood so I'm going to keep hacking maybe leaving 3 or 4 an acre. I can tell that my oaks are really growing better branching out.

 

[Boone 58]

too funny!