Transforming Worthless Open Ground into Great Deer Habitat

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#deer #deerhunting #habitat #wildlife #whitetaildeer #native #nature

[@tfrost33elkhunter]

I did this 2 years ago not knowing anything either. I feel like I accelerated the process by picking tree seeds of all the preferred species and I just scattered them throughout a 5 acre piece. After just 2 years the woody species, box elder, ash, etc… are all over my head and most are 10 feet tall. The deer are already using it. I had collected roughly 10 - 1 gallon zip lock bags of different tree seeds. And then just hand scattered them.

[@PFHabitat]

Phenomenal idea. It's amazing how fast they can take off. It's so rewarding once the deer start to use all our hard work

[@kurtcaramanidis5705]

Awesome. I love it.

[@PFHabitat]

Gracias Kurt!

[@guyrosenbarker5113]

That box alder is great food for the deer!

[@PFHabitat]

Definitely, they smash it on our farm

[@scottpavek236]

You should have more subscribers. Good information!!!

[@PFHabitat]

That means a lot, thank you!

[@carltonbailey3498]

I am doing the same thing at my farm, got a couple small areas going back to nature!

[@carltonbailey3498]

Johnson grass is my biggest problem, I also have river cane.

[@PFHabitat]

@carltonbailey3498 it's worth fighting the battle, glad to hear you're getting at it!

[@dennispawlowski1290]

We have a 6 acre bermuda grass field we are converting, can't wait to get those results

[@PFHabitat]

Great to hear, good luck on the journey brother!

[@Isaacmantx]

I am doing something similar with oaks trying to recreate an oak savannah. I planted 3-4 gallons of a mix of white oak acorns (Chinkapin, Burr, and Post) on 3/4 of an acre. I also have 15 or so gallons of a mix of red oaks (mostly Texas Red Oak) to go on 1.8 acres. Both patches are within a 26 acre prescribed fire I plan to burn in the next couple of months. The white oaks I will leave at forest densities, but the red oaks I plan to maintain at Savannah densities.

[@PFHabitat]

I love to hear that! That's going to be a fun area to watch develop over the rest of your lifetime. Our country forester had a ton of extra acorns this past fall he offered to me for direct seeding but unfortunately I didn't have time to do the prep needed so I missed out. But I will be doing something similar to you in the future!

[@Isaacmantx]

@@PFHabitat I am seeding using a tulip bulb auger and a drill. It will burn through some batteries… but it doesn’t require any extra prep. Just drill a 2-3 inch hole, drop and shove dirt back over. The hole isn’t much bigger than a bit oak acorn.

[@PFHabitat]

You get a pretty good germination rate planting that way?

[@Isaacmantx]

@@PFHabitat we will see. I figure, if I get about 1% of planted acorns to mature tree, I will have the density I want. It is free (collected them myself) and only costs a little sweat equity. If I have less than desired germination, I will supplement with more plantings every couple of years until I get my desired outcome.

[@PFHabitat]

Sounds like a great plan! I've planted a lot of free trees I dug up myself. Lots of great habitat work that can get done at little to no cost

[@ginogranata6548]

I have a 10acre parcel that is currently a brush field, some of if is over 8ft tall ..working on habitat design that promotes a loop of deer movement

[@PFHabitat]

Sounds like some great habitat. Having a piece like that to set up for hunting is definitely a blessing. Good luck!

[@ginogranata6548]

@PFHabitat thanks little different than hunting the old 280 acre farm , but the surrounding land by my 10 is good habitat and 100 yds to its south is a decent swamp. That funnels them around towards my property.

[@PFHabitat]

@ginogranata6548 yah sometimes the size doesn't matter as long as it's the "right 10" in the "right situation". There's a 10 acre chunk I could pull off ours that has been phenomenal over the years

[@ianmiller8276]

How old are the spruce trees and how big were they when you planted them

[@PFHabitat]

They were planted in 2002 as saplings (6 to 12")

[@ryan_riggs5738]

how do you spray when everything is that tall?

[@PFHabitat]

Once it gets taller than 4 feet I stop spraying. That's is as high as I'm able to set my boom

[@stevelamie2009]

Do you prefer this habitat or switchgrass?

[@PFHabitat]

This hands down. This is year round food and cover. Whereas switchgrass is just cover and doesn't stand all year. Switch has its place and I want some on the farm to give the deer diverse bedding options. But if I had to choose this is my preferred without a doubt

[@craigweinmann320]

Why do you use crop oil versus non-ionic surfactant?

[@PFHabitat]

You can use either (per the label). The local coop sells herbamax crop oil at a good price so that's why I go that route

[@craigweinmann320]

Thanks, good to know.

[@case8987]

Where do you buy your cleth?

[@PFHabitat]

Normally keystone online. It's cheap right now

[@ianlilley6430]

Can't believe all that box alder wow. We call it Manitoba maple here in Canada. I would love to have this many alder growing on my property

[@PFHabitat]

It's definitely a great browse and wildlife tree. All the farmers around us see it as a weed but I love seeing it return to the landscape

[@tidecoys]

Why protect the oaks? I’d run fire through it once they get past the deers browse line…to set it back.

[@PFHabitat]

Fire is a great tool. But I don't want to kill all the trees in this circumstance so I'm letting them grow. Fire would girdle and kill a majority of the trees this size (speaking from experience).