How To Improve Hardwood Timber for Wildlife - Part 1: Principles (801)

[@DefensorFortis]

Thank you. I am too old to go to college again and appreciate you giving me the important stuff to maintain a healthy property

[@iamtheshaker]

For me in Texas, we deal with Ashe Juniper instead of Eastern Red Cedar. Seeing those single trunks you can walk up to and cut down makes me jealous

[@xpsychfour]

i am currently taking a break from cutting about 30 of those down. I’m getting sick and tired of these popping up everywhere. I just got 40 acres so probably 300 to go :|

[@iamtheshaker]

@@xpsychfour yep that’s about how it goes.. pretty brutal but I’m hoping fire in the future keeps them gone

[@MrRABland]

Excellent, very informative video! I've got a similar mature hardwood situation on my 120 acres. This video reinforces my thoughts and ideas for resetting the property for wildlife. And it's timely because I have a forester coming today to discuss my plans.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

I hope your project goes well!

[@mreyes43]

This was great info. Sorely needed on this topic.

[@nhmountains5683]

Great video Grant. You have a very thorough and explanation of what needs to be done. Thank you!!

[@sipes2]

This is such a helpful series. We have about 60 acres of hardwood SMZs that are a biological desert. Really looking forward to applying these techniques.

[@robertmense8906]

Grant, really enjoy the forest management & prescribed burn videos. Can't wait to see the results. Because of your videos I'm actually preparing to do a commercial harvest on my property.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Glad you like them!

[@SpringfieldGuy]

Keep up the good work, Grant!

[@showmetheheartland]

Great video and great information. I'm certainly waiting for part two.

[@lakratlowry]

Great info and exactly what I’m needing to do. Will be eagerly waiting for your next video on how you do this! Thank you!

[@johnsandell4501]

Learned a great deal. Thanks!👍👍👍

[@jerryhill4893]

Great stuff, Doc. Thanks

[@DiversifyYourself]

Excellent video Dr Grant.

[@showmetheheartland]

Gosh, ive watched this series several times over the last eight months, so much good information. It's TSI in a nutshell. Its really worked out well, meshing up with the "Rare and Declining Habitat Restoration" in my EQUIP contact. Your videos have basically allowed me to work my way through my own 140 acres and knock out most of the TSI on my own instead of hiring a contractor to fo the work. Ill finish up the TSI portion of my current contract this winter. Thanks again.

[@timgiles9413]

Thank you for everything Lord Jesus 😊

[@victorandrews9790]

great video & info!!👏👏👏👏

[@wayneedgerton5892]

Great information in a format that is easy to understand. Thank you. Keep it up!

[@bigmike2680]

Thank you for the info, would it be better to pull out the trees that you can easily , most of our trees we are able to push over or just pull out.

[@lwdeer1]

This is great info, it is definitely what my woods look like. thanks for sharing. I look forward to all your videos.

[@JustJaken]

Thanks for the information especially enjoyed your final comments.

[@markfox6574]

I'm digging your info!

[@ScottCruikshank]

Great video... I have 155 acres in S Illinois that has been neglected for years by the previous owner. Im in the RCPP program that will help pay for wildlife improvement. This information helps me . Waiting on part 2

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Thanks and I hope your project goes well!

[@charlesrhea6810]

Excellent video!

[@ChadMcNew]

QUESTION: when you cut down those bad trees - are you hinge cutting them or removing and killing the stump?

[@markpiersall9815]

Consider installing a Screech Owl nest box. Owls eat rodents which host ticks and pit vipers.

[@adamredden2007]

I've never even considered that. I hear them "trilling" during certain times of the year. I'll make note of this.

[@markpiersall9815]

Rodents host ticks and feed and attract pit vipers. It would make a educational video. Given Forestry Management practices there are not enough quality nesting cavities for Screech Owls. I think this contributed to too many rodents, ticks and disease. Just an educated inference.

[@patrickwolf4373]

Thank you, Grant for all your great videos and content! Will you be hosting a springtime learning tour on the property again this year? Stay Healthy, Patrick Wolf

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Patrick - We are so busy assisting landowner that we won't have time to host our Field Event this year. Sorry! We are planning to host an event next year! Thanks for asking!

[@patrickwolf4373]

Completely understand! Looking forward to attending the next Field Event (I retired this year from my emergency medicine practice in WI, so I finally will have time to travel to MO!). In the meantime, I pray for your health - the knowledge you've brought to so many landowners, myself included, is amazing. It is, and will be, your wonderful legacy @@GrowingDeerTV ! Thank you, Pat

[@stevebostic9812]

Terrific video sir! Thank you.

[@DunRovinRanch-1969]

Do you take into consideration the understory tree species such as dogwood?

[@danleffelman6446]

Grant, how do you decide which trees to fell and which trees to girdle? Im having a similar conundrum in Wisconsin with an old growth hardwood closed canopy piece i just picked up.

[@DefensorFortis]

If you ever come through Central florida, Putnam county, come pay a visit.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Thanks! We often assist landowners in Florida. We were just in southeast Alabama and will be in Georgia again soon.

[@SandwichKing-lj4ej]

Great explanation of how to select which trees to keep and which to remove. Thank you

[@BillNash-t7w]

Great video! When making decisions on what trees to keep, from a deer and turkey perspective, is there any reason to save a hickory? I have areas on my place that are overrun have small diameter hickory trees.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

I rarely save a hickory.

[@frenchpotato2852]

Hickories used to be kind of a dominant tree. However, I don’t know their value to game though.

[@CodyR2767]

Great video. I live in north east Arkansas and recently bought some land. A lot of the woods are overgrown with large pine trees. I would really like to get rid of them and plant some trees that are both better to look at and better for wildlife. Any suggestions?

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Cody - Don't tell my wife that! She's a southern bell from North Carolina and loves/misses pine trees. Would it work to log the pines and create a hardwood savanna?

[@CodyR2767]

@@GrowingDeerTV Well she would love it here then. Lots of pine trees with large areas of bottom land oaks. Yes sir I love the thought of replanting with oaks but I know they have a pretty slow growth rate. Would you suggest red oaks or a different species?

[@hawessell]

Can’t wait for part two. I don’t want to waste expensive herbicide during winter if it’s a 50/50 shot of working.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Thanks! Unless it's below freezing, the girdle and spray technique works during the winter. Hack and squirt works best when the leaves are fully formed and until they start turning colors.

[@jeffgriffin1497]

Great video

[@davidjune]

I’m plagued by multi flora rose that fills the forest floor in sun or shade. Been working to get it out but the seed bank is enormous.

[@showmetheheartland]

Burning helps immensely with keeping multi flora at bay on my property. Usually anytime I find some, it's dead or mostly dead. That's because of the regular fires at my place.

[@indyhunter9541]

Small 30 acre Property I hunt is being logged for the first time in 30 years. 18 and over trees all will be gone. Low deer density what can you recommend I do before and or after the logging to make it the best I can Thanks in advance and God Bless

[@indyhunter9541]

Not sure if it matters but in central Indiana

[@GrowingDeerTV]

I start such projects by determining what's the least available resource for wildlife on the surrounding properties and then try to add that resource. This may be food during the hunting season, cover, or water. This has proven to be a great starting point!

[@williamlittle2814]

So no timber value there Grant? Instead of terminating and leaving? VS forestry mulching to add mulch to improve soil?

[@GrowingDeerTV]

No timber value or market.

[@jamesmccloskey3577]

Hey Grant, would acorn production make you pick a tree over another close oak even if that close oak “looked” like a better candidate to keep? Just curious, cause when scouting areas to deer hunt(land that’s not yours) I always try to find acorn producing oaks. Once you find them, it seems to me that those oaks produce the most every year. And I ask the question because they’re not always the best or biggest or have the best canopy. Thanks!

[@GrowingDeerTV]

James - I agree and yes I work. to leave and protect oaks that are known to produce above average acorn yields.

[@vvetkin1]

Is there a way to improve habitat without prescribed fire? It's very hard to accomplish where we at. Planning on extensive mulching this spring.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Mulching - mulch is what's used to suppress weeds in gardens, yards, etc. It doesn't facilitate the growth of native vegetation like fire. If fire illegal to use where you are?

[@vvetkin1]

@GrowingDeerTV sorry I meant forestry mulching. Skid steer with mulcher. Fire is going to be problematic for variety of reasons: 1. We are in PA. 2. Property is on top of the mountain. 3 it's 80% overgrown with mountain laurel and surrounded by state forest 4. Since it's on top of the mountain can not predict the wind. It's all over the place.

[@albertvillafain9337]

What crew do you use to cut trees down. I have some acerage in Camdenton

[@GrowingDeerTV]

I do the work in hardwoods but use a crew to fell cedars. Write me at [e-mail] and I'll share a contact of the crew I use. We've assisted landonwers near Camdenton, MO!

[@waynegalyen6176]

In a hard woods senior do you take the tops out

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Wayne - I leave then where they fell unless they are close to a tree I don't wish to scorch with fire. The tops have nutrients in them and removing the tops take nutrients off the site.

[@Garrettito6671]

Are cedar elms decent quality forage? I doubt it but I’m curious before I cut them all down

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Red cedar is very low quality deer forage. Elm sprouts from a cut stump are OK quality due to mineral content, but not forage from a mature elm tree.

[@usernamehere6061]

Canopy competition is good for producing straight logs? What if you are not 100% on the wildlife end of the continuum?

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Trees want to grow straight. Trees without competiton will grow straight - but have more limbs. Trees grown in competitoin often grow crooked as they reach for light - like trees growing toward light at the edge of a road.

[@northernoutdooradventures3883]

If canopy competition to too high it with slow growth rate. Slow growth rates will offset any gains in profitability from straighter(ish) logs, especially in the long term. Even if maximum profits are your goal, you will still benefit from removing poor trees.

[@drewmiller8454]

Is this even worth doing without prescribed fire?

[@GrowingDeerTV]

A closed-canopy forest will remain a desert for many species. Getting sunlight to forest floor is necessary to produce quality forage. With the ability to burn, the thinning needs to be limited to about 20-25% open canopy.

[@psk2005]

Re multi-sprout stumps. If they are the 'best of the bad' in an area, do you leave them? If so, do you terminate all but the best stem or leave all? This series couldn't be coming at a better time and boy am I greatful. We are starting a project in the north Ozarks that looks just like Proving Grounds 2. White/red oak on ridges that you could ride a horse through at a gallop. Looking forward to watching both our places develop!

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Ha - I know the feeling. I leave the "best" trees (from the choices available) and work to free up around the canopy of those trees.

[@marcruel9401]

Imagine the bird habitat in those dead trees. Screech owls…

[@frankgaal6096]

You do not believe in hinge cutting??

[@Treyno94]

You must be new to the channel lol

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Frank - Hinge cutting can redirect where deer travel - and provide winter food (low quality but better than nothing) in the northern portion of the whitetail's home range. I don't hinge cut at my place and assist many landowners that wish they hadn't hinge cut.

[@ronaldcalvird8116]

Are you worried about losing any of the trees you keep by opening the canopy up so much that those trees don’t have the root structure to handle a strong windstorm?

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Ronald - Wind throw - as it's called - can be a real problem! However, this section of my place isn't providing quality wildlife habitat and improvements need to be made. I see the most wind throw damage in plantation pines and not native hardwoods stands.

[@tommyhunter1817]

Hey buddy, great info. Just one thing, if you’re talking about square feet of basal area per acre, a 12” tree has an area of 3.14 square feet, not 1 square feet. So 60 square feet per acre would only be 20 trees.

[@GrowingDeerTV]

Tommy - I may have misspoke - but it's diameter - not circumference - not 3.14

[@tommyhunter1817]

@@GrowingDeerTV I don’t think you mis-spoke. The graphic showed 1 square foot. Instead of 1 linear foot. By the way, when Steve checked my pine plantation that was thinned in 2015, he said it had 160 feet per acre. Guess what we’re going to do. 😁

[@tommyhunter1817]

@@cutnrun95 10-4. You are correct. For some reason I had a=pi x d in my head. Of course, that is circumference. Sheesh. You’d think an engineer would know better. 😂. Sorry Grant!

[@dustinhogue6057]

Dr.woods we lease from timber co not allowed to cut trees but what about our clear cuts grown up cutovers is that quality stem count for food