Word for the year….cover….

[Ski]

I realizing burning is the best way to restart the regrowth process, but considering how difficult it would be to get all the equipment in to make firebreaks and how steep the terrain is, I'm seriously considering aerially spraying some of my timbered areas to knock them back.

When you describe your place it sounds like you're describing mine. I asked my forester about doing a burn and he said absolutely not, terrible idea. No way to control it because of the steep terrain and unpredictable wind shifts.

 

[DoubleRidge]

After years of cutting patches of timber to produce cover, and then watching those patches rapidly grow out of the cover stage (around 7-10 years), requiring more timber to be cut, I've eventually realized I'm just going to have to restart the regrowth process in the same areas. Otherwise, I'll eventually cut through all of my best timber. And although "big woods" mature timber isn't the greatest wildlife habitat, it does have value. Fire is the "easy" answer, but not easy in practice.

Another practice we've used recently, which created allot of early successional growth (and the deer are hammering it) is where we reclaimed head high old field growth of saplings and briars...some saplings golf ball to wrist size with briars well over head high...but we hired a mulcher to reclaim this 3 acre section and to grind one half rotted stump....but everthing was taken to the ground and shredded....and currently, three weeks later, the new growth is young and tender and the deer are loving it......But (always a but) its not cheap to run a mulcher over a large area like we are talking about.....but it is an option and a very capable habitat management tool.
For reference, the operator we hired did the 3 acres mention and ground one stump in under half days work and he was $600....so some will run $150 - $200 per hour....but they can cover some ground.

 

[BSK]

Absolutely true....totally agree....and finding cost effective and creative ways to create early successional growth is an interesting conversation.

EXACTLY!

 

[BSK]

Another practice we've used recently, which created allot of early successional growth (and the deer are hammering it) is where we reclaimed head high old field growth of saplings and briars...some saplings golf ball to wrist size with briars well over head high...but we hired a mulcher to reclaim this 3 acre section and to grind one half rotted stump....but everthing was taken to the ground and shredded....and currently, three weeks later, the new growth is young and tender and the deer are loving it......But (always a but) its not cheap to run a mulcher over a large area like we are talking about.....but it is an option and a very capable habitat management tool.
For reference, the operator we hired did the 3 acres mention and ground one stump in under half days work and he was $600....so some will run $150 - $200 per hour....but they can cover some ground.

Problem is, I have no old openings on my place. Only openings are the high-tension powerline ROWs (now in awesome cover habitat due to the spraying), and old log-loading decks, which have all been incorporated into food plots. Only openings I have are areas where we've cut timber, and they are way too large and steep to run mulching equipment on. Heck, even loggers have rolled skidders and a bulldozer on our hills.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Problem is, I have no old openings on my place. Only openings are the high-tension powerline ROWs (now in awesome cover habitat due to the spraying), and old log-loading decks, which have all been incorporated into food plots. Only openings I have are areas where we've cut timber, and they are way too large and steep to run mulching equipment on. Heck, even loggers have rolled skidders and a bulldozer on our hills.

Yeah...the area we reclaimed with a mulcher recently was not steep at all...good point.

 

[TRHC]

I realizing burning is the best way to restart the regrowth process, but considering how difficult it would be to get all the equipment in to make firebreaks and how steep the terrain is, I'm seriously considering aerially spraying some of my timbered areas to knock them back. I checked into it and it's not as expensive as I thought it would be. The question is, will the spraying company be willing to do smaller acreages (say 20 acres)?

Have you checked into the possibility of drone spraying? Some of the farmers here in N. Alabama have experimented with that recently. I've watched some YouTube videos on it, seems like they can fly lower and more controlled to reduce wind drift. Would probably be able to accommodate smaller acreages as well.

 

[BSK]

Have you checked into the possibility of drone spraying? Some of the farmers here in N. Alabama have experimented with that recently. I've watched some YouTube videos on it, seems like they can fly lower and more controlled to reduce wind drift. Would probably be able to accommodate smaller acreages as well.

How fascinating! I had no idea anyone was doing that, but I'll look into it. Because my property has been digitally mapped, I can provide the spray people with a GIS/GPS file with the exact boundaries of what I need sprayed.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Have you checked into the possibility of drone spraying? Some of the farmers here in N. Alabama have experimented with that recently. I've watched some YouTube videos on it, seems like they can fly lower and more controlled to reduce wind drift. Would probably be able to accommodate smaller acreages as well.

Wow....Technology today is just amazing!

 

[dogtown]

I had an area prepped for pine replanting via aerial spraying last month. My neighbor didn't know what was going on with the helicopter so he downloaded the flight map of the spraying. Crazy what information is out there. Cost for spraying was $106 per acre for 22 acres.

It killed the grasses and shrubs but come of the tall hardwoods survived.

 

[BSK]

Very cool dogtown! If I get results like that I would be thrilled. My client paid around $118/acre, so your rate was good. Glad to hear they would do 22 acres. That's about what I want done (about 25 acres).

 

[dogtown]

My understanding is the the vendor comes one or two times a year to the Roane County area. I think they sprayed 4 tracts/owners during the same trip. So you need to be patient on timing.

 

[dogtown]

One other planning note for aerial spraying, the vendor needed a flat area to load the helicopter spray tanks from a truck. They asked for a 50 yd by 50 yd area for landing and takeoff with truck access. I moved my planned soybean field prior to planting to accommodate.

 

[muddyboots]

I have a property full of cover. It does help but with no food we have no deer. It's a balance for me.

 

[Gobble4me757]

Yep it's a balance. If there is no food while you may have them early in the year, the does will go find other food sources once the frost hits. I've noticed feathering in food plots works wonders for bucks in the 10 yard or so buffer of tall grass you can shoot through but they not thinking they can be seen. Also, large food plots I've noticed are better than small. If you're going to do small, just do turkey foot strips through cover. One other thing…make your shooting house be off the field a distance as in 30 yards plus from the front of the field and plant some cover in front making entry and exit undetectable.

I have seen good fields pull deer from all over. A lot of people don't do a fertilizer method with their fields and of course deer don't hit em good cause they taste like crap to them. Especially here in Tenn where people think big wheat fields are great food sources, if you go plant a mixed bag of clover, peas, oats, brassicas the deer will run by a wheat field to tear your field up.

 

[SALTMAN]

one of my neighbors showed a video last week of his new drone spraying . He said it holds 80 lbs of liquid . It can be programmed to cover whatever you are trying to spray . It was running a grid pattern . I was afraid to ask what that baby cost . It was a big machine . Amazing to watch .

 

[BSK]

one of my neighbors showed a video last week of his new drone spraying . He said it holds 80 lbs of liquid . It can be programmed to cover whatever you are trying to spray . It was running a grid pattern . I was afraid to ask what that baby cost . It was a big machine . Amazing to watch .

I'm definitely going to look into drone spraying for my place. About the same cost as helicopter spraying, and I bet a drone can be programmed to do a more precise job.