The ONE thing I like about winter logging

[BSK]

The ONE reason I had winter logging done on my place this year: It gets regrowth started right away. The below pictures are just one month into the growing season after completion of logging. With summer logging, little regrowth occurs that first year and hunting season is hunting over bare dirt (usually, completely avoided by deer). I logged to create cover, and this winter logging will give me cover one year earlier than summer logging would have.

 

[BSK]

...and the downsides to winter logging: the normally hard-pack chert road network was demolished. We're still having problems with it. Luckily in the first picture, the ground was frozen solid. Once it thawed, the road was impassable. The second picture is self-explanatory.

 

[DoubleRidge]

We are entering year two following our timber harvest and it's truly amazing the amount of food and cover that's been generated.....and.....the oak canopies are opening up on the mast producers that remain....could not be happier with our TSI project results so far.....but we too have a few roads that need attention, but for the most part they are holding together pretty good.....at the advice of so many on here we've recently sowed buckwheat on both newer "ridge top" plots that were previously log loading decks....before sowing the buckwheat we sprayed to terminate what weeds were present as well as the wheat that was planted last fall....hoping for a good stand of buckwheat we can broadcast our fall blend into late August or early September....oops...I got off topic.....timber harvest done correctly can have a gigantic positive impact on wildlife habitat....the generation of food and cover in truly amazing.

 

[BSK]

We are entering year two following our timber harvest and it's truly amazing the amount of food and cover that's been generated.....and.....the oak canopies are opening up on the mast producers that remain....could not be happier with our TSI project results so far.....but we too have a few roads that need attention, but for the most part they are holding together pretty good.....at the advice of so many on here we've recently sowed buckwheat on both newer "ridge top" plots that were previously log loading decks....before sowing the buckwheat we sprayed to terminate what weeds were present as well as the wheat that was planted last fall....hoping for a good stand of buckwheat we can broadcast our fall blend into late August or early September....oops...I got off topic.....timber harvest done correctly can have a gigantic positive impact on wildlife habitat....the generation of food and cover in truly amazing.

Great stuff DoubleRidge.

I plan on designating a few sections of the 100 total acres we had cut for future burning. That way we always have a few patches of new regrowth for natural foods. Probably burn these areas every three years.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Great stuff DoubleRidge.

I plan on designating a few sections of the 100 total acres we had cut for future burning. That way we always have a few patches of new regrowth for natural foods. Probably burn these areas every three years.

BSK....That sounds like a great plan!... believe JCdeerman has a similar burn plan and has gotten some training... I hadn't got there yet....but I'd like to some day!.....we do have around 14 acres in a utility line right of way that has blackberry, other type of briars, natural grasses and honey suckle.... We bush hog multiple small areas at various locations once or twice a year to keep new tender growth growing and the deer and turkey absolutely love it..... natural attractive food source with no cost other than diesel fuel....also when bush hogging head high black berry and honey suckle we've learned over the years that the deer will travel that edge which is created.....long narrow strips verses large open areas are very popular....and it makes it easier to see while hunting as well... win-win.

 

[BSK]

BSK....That sounds like a great plan!... believe JCdeerman has a similar burn plan and has gotten some training... I hadn't got there yet....but I'd like to some day!.....we do have around 14 acres in a utility line right of way that has blackberry, other type of briars, natural grasses and honey suckle.... We bush hog multiple small areas at various locations once or twice a year to keep new tender growth growing and the deer and turkey absolutely love it..... natural attractive food source with no cost other than diesel fuel....also when bush hogging head high black berry and honey suckle we've learned over the years that the deer will travel that edge which is created.....long narrow strips verses large open areas are very popular....and it makes it easier to see while hunting as well... win-win.

I've got two big high-tension power-line right-of-ways running across my place. Ever since the TVA switched from bushhogging to spraying these right-of-ways, the deer LOVE them. For some reason, the tall-grass and brier plant community created by spraying is used more by deer, for whatever reason.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

The ONE reason I had winter logging done on my place this year: It gets regrowth started right away. The below pictures are just one month into the growing season after completion of logging. With summer logging, little regrowth occurs that first year and hunting season is hunting over bare dirt (usually, completely avoided by deer). I logged to create cover, and this winter logging will give me cover one year earlier than summer logging would have.

You are a lucky man. Our logger was supposed to start last October and I was thrilled to have everything done by March or so. Didn't happen. He started April and is focused on the foodplot areas so we can get them prepped for fall plots. The select cut areas won't be done until about September (completely missing the growing season). This was the 2nd year trying to find a logger, and at this point, we just wanted it done! Love the natural growth, btw!

 

[JCDEERMAN]

the oak canopies are opening up on the mast producers that remain....could not be happier with our TSI project results so far

It's amazing what can be produced by oaks once the competition is eliminated from around them. Call me crazy, but the next "splurge buy" I do is on a small 5-7 lb arborist chainsaw for nothing but girdling trees to spray....and sapling removal

 

[JCDEERMAN]

BSK....That sounds like a great plan!... believe JCdeerman has a similar burn plan and has gotten some training... I hadn't got there yet....but I'd like to some day!

Anyone that wants to get info on this, just let me know. It was free and was 1.5 days. 75% of it was teaching about how animals, birds and other critters benefit from burns. Only 25% roughly was strategizing burns. Very informative stuff

 

[JCDEERMAN]

I've got two big high-tension power-line right-of-ways running across my place. Ever since the TVA switched from bushhogging to spraying these right-of-ways, the deer LOVE them. For some reason, the tall-grass and brier plant community created by spraying is used more by deer, for whatever reason.

That baffles me. I would have thought it would have been completely opposite. Might be worth giving them a call and seeing what herbicide they use there. Their objectives of killing woody browse for retarding faster regrowth may benefit the desired forage for deer. Imazapyr maybe? I'd be interested in knowing

 

[DoubleRidge]

That baffles me. I would have thought it would have been completely opposite. Might be worth giving them a call and seeing what herbicide they use there. Their objectives of killing woody browse for retarding faster regrowth may benefit the desired forage for deer. Imazapyr maybe? I'd be interested in knowing

The power line on us is the same....years ago they bush hogged about every two or three years.....then one year they aerial sprayed....that practice didn't go over well with area land owners and according to the vegetation manager I spoke with the aerial application has been discontinued.....now what they've done on our place is hack-n-squirt saplings and back pack sprayed around the towers.... nothing grows under or around the towers....one year they did open up the woods line back to the original easement....for this they used a mulcher machine that ate everything in it's path..... we actually saw TVA trucks in our area today....looked like they were surveying some work.....grown up pretty high in areas so we'll see what they do this year.....as far as food plots go....I've spoken to the vegetation manager for our area and he said they do everything possible to stay out of any planted areas....they have been good to work with....never had an issue.....but next time I speak with them I'll ask about what spray they use.

 

[DoubleRidge]

It's amazing what can be produced by oaks once the competition is eliminated from around them. Call me crazy, but the next "splurge buy" I do is on a small 5-7 lb arborist chainsaw for nothing but girdling trees to spray....and sapling removal

I read an article one time that spoke to mast generation in an oak stand.....can't remember the exact details or tonnage quoted but it was interesting that by removing some oaks , allowing canopies to open and develop, you can actually generate more acorns with less trees.... obviously there's a threshold....but it makes sense when done correctly.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

The power line on us is the same....years ago they bush hogged about every two or three years.....then one year they aerial sprayed....that practice didn't go over well with area land owners and according to the vegetation manager I spoke with the aerial application has been discontinued.....now what they've done on our place is hack-n-squirt saplings and back pack sprayed around the towers.... nothing grows under or around the towers....one year they did open up the woods line back to the original easement....for this they used a mulcher machine that ate everything in it's path..... we actually saw TVA trucks in our area today....looked like they were surveying some work.....grown up pretty high in areas so we'll see what they do this year.....as far as food plots go....I've spoken to the vegetation manager for our area and he said they do everything possible to stay out of any planted areas....they have been good to work with....never had an issue.....but next time I speak with them I'll ask about what spray they use.

That makes me want to take a closer look at ours. Ours isn't a "powerline" per say. Ours is just the lines that run up to our cabin. It's 400 yards long and we plant 300 yards of it. It's only about 15-20 yards wide. But that 100 yards we don't plant - I've always wondered why it hasn't grown up more than it has. It's hard to access and see, but they had to have sprayed it periodically and I just haven't payed attention. They come up every couple years and shave back the limbs reaching out into the plot.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

I read an article one time that spoke to mast generation in an oak stand.....can't remember the exact details or tonnage quoted but it was interesting that by removing some oaks , allowing canopies to open and develop, you can actually generate more acorns with less trees.... obviously there's a threshold....but it makes sense when done correctly.

Whatever that article is, is spot on. The toughest part is this - some oaks never produce, and some always produce (given the year they are supposed to). You have to mark the trees that do produce and those that don't. Keep track of that for several years and then kill the ones that never produce. It's time consuming and a hell of a science to figure out. Frustrating but fun and interesting at the same time

 

[BSK]

That baffles me. I would have thought it would have been completely opposite. Might be worth giving them a call and seeing what herbicide they use there. Their objectives of killing woody browse for retarding faster regrowth may benefit the desired forage for deer. Imazapyr maybe? I'd be interested in knowing

I talked to them about it years ago. It was a real cocktail of chemicals. But primarily, it knocks back broadleafs and promotes grasses. It kills the blackberries, but they're back in a year or two. In fact, looks like it's going to be a big blackberry year. Plants are loaded.

 

[BSK]

The power line on us is the same....years ago they bush hogged about every two or three years.....then one year they aerial sprayed....that practice didn't go over well with area land owners and according to the vegetation manager I spoke with the aerial application has been discontinued.....now what they've done on our place is hack-n-squirt saplings and back pack sprayed around the towers.... nothing grows under or around the towers....one year they did open up the woods line back to the original easement....for this they used a mulcher machine that ate everything in it's path..... we actually saw TVA trucks in our area today....looked like they were surveying some work.....grown up pretty high in areas so we'll see what they do this year.....as far as food plots go....I've spoken to the vegetation manager for our area and he said they do everything possible to stay out of any planted areas....they have been good to work with....never had an issue.....but next time I speak with them I'll ask about what spray they use.

I'm surprised to hear they stopped using spray. They sprayed our right-of-ways just two years ago. They DID get spray drift one year and killed some of my mature white oaks. I was NOT happy about that, and I can imagine other landowners complained as well. To date, they have never accidentally sprayed my food plots in the ROWs.

And I distinctly remember when they widened the ROWs to the legal size with the big mulching machinery. They brought their equipment in right at the opening of MZ season! I hated to do it, but had a family member pull some strings (he had worked closely with a TVA board member), and magically the crew skipped our property until after deer season was over!

 

[BSK]

I read an article one time that spoke to mast generation in an oak stand.....can't remember the exact details or tonnage quoted but it was interesting that by removing some oaks , allowing canopies to open and develop, you can actually generate more acorns with less trees.... obviously there's a threshold....but it makes sense when done correctly.

I'm going to watch closely and see if the young oaks in the heavily thinned areas start producing noticeably more acorns. And it looks like it's going to be a pretty good acorn year this year, at least for White Oaks. Recent storms stripped branches out of trees, and most of the White Oak family tree branches I looked at had a high number of acorn buds. Red Oak family, virtually no acorns.

 

[DoubleRidge]

I'm surprised to hear they stopped using spray. They sprayed our right-of-ways just two years ago. They DID get spray drift one year and killed some of my mature white oaks. I was NOT happy about that, and I can imagine other landowners complained as well. To date, they have never accidentally sprayed my food plots in the ROWs.

And I distinctly remember when they widened the ROWs to the legal size with the big mulching machinery. They brought their equipment in right at the opening of MZ season! I hated to do it, but had a family member pull some strings (he had worked closely with a TVA board member), and magically the crew skipped our property until after deer season was over!

Years ago when they did aerial spraying we too lost some trees to one side of the powerline.... assume due to drift?....but it looked horrible.....the following year we were going to add some new food plots and the thought came to my mind about them spraying from above so I researched and found out they had a specific position for vegetation management.....so I called.....guy was very cool to talk too and I explained that we were planting food plots and didn't want them sprayed.....he kinda laughed and said not to worry...the aerial spraying didn't go over very well and they wouldn't be doing that again....allot of angry landowners.....not sure if that pertains to only our area or in general? But only spraying they do on us now is spot spraying.... curious to see how they manage it this year....it's been a couple of years and it's due.

 

[DoubleRidge]

I'm surprised to hear they stopped using spray. They sprayed our right-of-ways just two years ago. They DID get spray drift one year and killed some of my mature white oaks. I was NOT happy about that, and I can imagine other landowners complained as well. To date, they have never accidentally sprayed my food plots in the ROWs.

And I distinctly remember when they widened the ROWs to the legal size with the big mulching machinery. They brought their equipment in right at the opening of MZ season! I hated to do it, but had a family member pull some strings (he had worked closely with a TVA board member), and magically the crew skipped our property until after deer season was over!

Thinking back to when they bush hogged everything every couple of years.....even then.....when the driver got to a food plot he would bush hog around the edge and not even drive through it.....his tracks would always go around.....even an older weedy plot....he could tell it was an old plot and he went around verses driving through it......for the most part having the powerline the good has far outweighed the bad.....for us it adds great diversity to the property being we have mostly timber ground...we have some cultivated plots on the easement....then we have some areas we strip mow for new natural growth previously discussed, then lastly we let portions of it just do it's thing with blackberry and honeysuckle, etc.....works out good for our situation.

 

[BSK]

In the early years, before we were doing much in the way of habitat management, the ROWs were a Godsend. They were our only bedding areas, and were the locations we first started experimenting with food plots.