Two years after logging... ugh!

[Pic IN the Casa]

Wish I had pics but looking for advice. I am admittedly a mere novice at land mgmt so forgive my ignorance.

So my MIL had 24 of 60+ acres of family land logged in 2015. Of course this let the light in and allowed it to completely overgrow with weeds, etc... This portion of the land also has about a 2-4% grade to it. The over growth is literally 5-6ft tall and can't hardly even get through it.
Question is, where to even start at getting this mowed down to a starting point. Should I hire a dozer? Or what? I had a guy tell me he could knock it down with his bush hog but I am scared of him doing it with the grade and stumps, etc...

Right after it was logged I suggested getting a dozer in to stack the tree tops and regrade an old road that the logging crew tore up. But that didn't come to be.

Any suggestions?

 

[JimFromTN]

I have often wondered about this. There is allot of clear cut land for sale for cheap. I am trying to buy about 10 to 15 acres of clear cut from my neighbor and am wondering what would be the best approach if I get it. What about a controlled burn?

 

[Pic IN the Casa]

Crossed my mind but this section of land butts up to the neighbors whose house is within 50ft of the mayhem. Not sure how they'd react.

 

[Mike Belt]

Used to be where I deer hunted in Ms that once they went in and clear cut the timber the land sold for $100/acre. Not anymore, lol. I should have snapped up a bunch then. Hindsight can give you nightmares.

Where I hunt now there are 100s of acres that have been clear cut and have grown up. Some were planted back in pine and some weren't but they're all standing 5-8 feet in weeds, saplings, etc. Walking through them is out of the question but they're laced with deer trails. We're not allowed to do any kind of work in them. If I were able to I'd put a dozer in there to make a few access trails through them and have 2 or 3 1/2 acre areas opened up for food plots. Think direction before doing so. Entering or leaving. Which way are the deer most likely to travel in relation to surrounding terrain, which ways can you go in without being detected, and most likely wind directions during deer hunting season for your area. I've always wanted to create a hub with food plot spokes in areas like this.

 

[ERIC]

I bought 40 acres of land which was mostly mature pine trees in 1999.The first thing I did was hire dozer work to clear out a powerline right of way( about 1.5 acres). In 2001, the pine beetle infestation was hitting everything around us, and after a friend of mine (who was the local TN Forestry agent) spotted a few trees with signs of beetle damage, I decided to have all of the pine trees cut and sold. That was 27 acres of my 40 acres. It grew quickly, and I have since hired a guy with a bulldozer to clear out roads and openings for me on 4 different occasions. Its worked out well. I now have an apple orchard, sawtooth oak orchard, and many other areas that I have planted Dunstan chestnuts, persimmons, pears,muscadines, and other mast producing trees. I also have three food plots including the powerline right of way. It has been about 17 yrs since the clearcut, but I still have plenty of cover and some openings that I can hunt. I would recommend clearing some if you can. It would be awfully tough to hunt a clearcut after 3 or 4 years unless you have some sort of opening. I really like the hub and spoke idea, too. Plant the spokes with Durana clover.

 

[LanceS4803]

You might want to rethink trying to clear it.
My neighbor clear cut 30 acres about 8 years ago. As you described, after a few years it was super think. While bowhunting, I shot a coyote a few years ago and he took off in there. So thick that even when I could see him, I could never have gotten an arrow through the brush.
BUT, it has slowly become a deer haven. There are tunnels all throughout where they move. I consider it a sanctuary now, one that isn't even on my property.
The above suggestions about carving some access roads through it are good ideas. At least they will be there for future use.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

It took 4 years for one of my places to start thinning enough to hunt after the logging.when it started thinning out it became a gold mine for deer

 

[Hunter 257W]

I'd be thankful you have the cover and available browse to draw in lots of deer and hunt it as it stands right now. At the most you might get a bulldozer to cut a few strategically placed roads for access. I'd not waste time and money on food plots with all that browse. Land that's recovering from a clear-cut may look bad but it will draw deer like a magnet.

 

[Moonman]

This is only my limited experience and it's not much. I've was awarded through the nrcs to get a forest management plan and used a forester to draw up my 10 year plan. We are planning around a 30 acre cut of trees anywhere from 75 years and up of mainly white oaks and red oaks. Part of the plan will be leaving certain trees for natural regeneration for the oaks. Once they get to an established height, we will then cut the seed trees to finish opening up the canopy. So I'm applying for my grants for next year and the part of the plan is to do a controlled burn. Before we do the burn, I'll be using my forester to go through with his team and hack and squirt all the invasives (privet, sourwood ,etc) so that it will be dead by late summer. Late summer we will do a cot rolled burn to clean the understory up and then we will have the harvest done at the time that we can have the most acorn to bare ground rate. We have 2 5 acre sections that is nothing but junk and they will be completly killed off and replanted in short leaf pine. Also there is a prescription for every 2-3 years we do prescribed burns. So based on that, I think controlled burns will be the best option to clean it up. If you have any undesirable species go ahead and kill them so that the burn will get them cleaned up. We also have 15-20 acres of grassland and we are going to kill it all and replant with native grasses. I think it depends allot on your goals.

 

[Doskil]

Just keep an eye out for invasive shrubs like privet.

 

[csi-tech]

I have alot of this stuff. Cut paths through it and the occasional half acre field and enjoy it. It is hard to hunt but that is where the area deer will bed. Catch them early.

 

[Smo]

I have alot of this stuff. Cut paths through it and the occasional half acre field and enjoy it. It is hard to hunt but that is where the area deer will bed. Catch them early.

Sound advice, I have 52 acres that was cut in 2011.

I managed to keep a trail open from the North end, back to the South end.

And there's an old logging road that runs the East to West along the ridge line.

I have 3 small plots on the land and 2 salt licks.

The hollows are super thick but the tree tops have mostly rotted out on the ridges and they are starting to open up some in late Winter.