What Bill Winke Avoids When Buying Hunting Land!

In this week's episode, Bill, Garrett, and Eric are working together to talk about one ugly thing, invasive species. Together, the three illustrate how the species can negatively impact the habitat on your farm!
#hunting #billwinke #bowhunting

[@justinbruce1225]

I worked on a WI DNR crew removing invasives. Cutting and spraying are effective, but you really need to use controlled burns for a lasting effect.

[@grapejuice3087]

I actually hunt public in Jackson county WI. It’s a night mare. Almost 200k acres of public and most of it is so thick you can’t even walk through it.

[@midwesternoutdoorsandnatur8272]

I’ve fought invasives here in IL for 20 plus years. Bush honeysuckle is never ending. I’ve been aggressive with cutting and herbicide and I’m ahead of it, but it’s still there. Our state is doing aerial sprays with some success, some area are matted with it. You don’t want any of it. Look at the bare dirt beneath the plants. They are allopathic and nothing else grows around them. All around bad news for landowners and wildlife. Thanks for the focus on this!

[@Farmersforever1993]

Prescribed burns works well in controlling invasive plants but it takes alot of work. Spraying works well but over time can create resistance to chemicals.

[@luisrodragon4938]

I think that using a good quality nonharmful herbicides is a good idea in controlling these weeds. I personally stay away from roundup. I have a close personal friend who constantly used roundup to control the weeds in his garden and now he has parkinson disease. Every year that passed by he has been getting worse. We used to bow hunt together, but now his bed bound. It breaks my heart to see him in that condition. No one else in family has such disease. I miss going hunting with my friend.

[@MG-fn9xw]

I will never understand how these ppl can feel okay spraying that much chemical into the air just to kill a plant. I’ve got asthma an couldn’t imagine livin down the road from their property. I’d be pissed bc I know round up can kill you, just like it’s killing your friend. Imagine how it affects the wildlife that feed on that last green leaf in the winter

[@raymonddam6587]

Round up is bad. I would 100% agree with you

[@jphickory522]

Please give an example of an effective non harmful herbicide for bush honeysuckle.

[@bch5513]

Bush honeysuckle is beyond terrifying. I'm not sure you can win. I have a family friend that is rich and has a 1000 acres of premium land in IL that battles it with a vengeance. He sprays aerial during dormancy and all sorts of stuff and suppression. Told me on last decade has spent 50k+ just on bush honeysuckle abatement ...😮

[@PassionfortheWildandWonderful]

I have a contract and work with the NRCS in Ohio to follow a habit management plan with primary focus being invasives. I have been actively working on 16 acres of autumn olive, multiflora rose, grapevines and Japanese barberry bush. It does feel overwhelming with how much there is, but you eat an elephant one bite at a time 😊. I do both cut stump treatment and foliar applications.

[@bengalewski5136]

You guys bring up some excellent points regarding these invasives. They truly do inhibit deer. The round up idea might work but it would be dependent on what Invasives you have. Round up was developed as a grass killing herbicide and might have some affect on other small herbaceous plants. It will not affect honeysuckle, buckthorn, or barberry to the point where it would be worth the cost. I do not recommend flying it on either even if everything is dormant… though I appreciate the seriousness with which you all are talking about these species! Mass spraying is definitely a tool when combatting these and should be used but flying it on could result in unwanted drift. Hire a professional contractor in your area to go in with backpacks, and boom sprayers! NRCS can also provide cost share and technical expertise with which to control the specific invasive you might have!

[@kennethflynn2469]

Autumn olive I only see few miles out from state parks that planted it and lost control. Government been doing this for years. Can say it hurts but we have documented 30 head of deer staying on our 80 acres farm. So don't think honey suckle an issue. Also we manage 53 acres in pollinator fields. We deal with catalpa, walnut, black locust, sour wood, and mulberry trees in fields but very seldom do we see honey suckle trying to move in

[@Clake52]

I had a strip of Autumn Olive about 20 - 30 feet wide along the side of my yard. On the other side of the brush was a road. At night when a car came through you couldn't even see the headlights. It was a literal wall.

[@stickbowsniper7789]

Being from Alabama, 3:05 to 3:35 made me chuckle. "It's so thick and nasty". "The deer aren't where they should be". He should have added, "it's like hunting in the south". You midwest guys are so spoiled when it comes to whitetails. 😆 Just ribbing you. : )

[@smcmurr86]

They do the aerial spraying for honeysuckle here in IL. They also have programs to help with cost as well.

[@h-minus2212]

I live in Wisconsin on 7.35 total acres with just over 4 acres of primarily oak forest. We have buckthorn and prickly ash but I am able to pull it by hand due to our sandy soil. Having acres upon acres of invasive species would be a nightmare - but it would remove the need to hit the gym.

[@KDOGGER11]

Up here in west central Wisconsin it's mainly buckthorn. But I know a few folks using goats once the large female trees (berry producers) are removed.

[@randyanderson7010]

That’s everywhere in VA cut-over with head tail breyers! You guys are lucky!

[@ChilcoteForestryServices]

I treat invasives professionally and the idea of flying herbicide on sound a whole lot easier than backpack mist blowers. I was also looking at drones to apply with. If i had enough land to treat i would buy one

[@MG-fn9xw]

If you ever get cancer in your life, you can attribute it directly to your heavy use of chemicals out in the wild. There’s gotta be a better way that doesn’t contaminate the soil permanently

[@chaddollard9405]

I've killed half my booners in honeysuckle and autumn olive in the Midwest. makes some of the best cover. its not pretty but it's great bedding

[@stevegaines-vq3bd]

I have 10 acres in Southern Ohio & i have a problem w/ Russian olive trees....they have big thorns & you damn near can't kill them....& they spread quickly...I have to make paths through the areas....It's so thick, nothing can walk through it..

[@johnlindstrom3290]

Sand Creek Wildlife Area in Decatur County Iowa undertook a project to remove honeysuckle a few years ago. I’m pretty sure the DNR were mass spraying the area from overtop. May be someone who would know more about getting rid of it!

[@theuntamedambition]

I know the farm at 4:47 in the video! Significant buckthorn problem on the east end... It is an ongoing war with invasives, and it is only going to get worse. Landscaping companies are still selling a lot of problematic shrubs, and not enough land owners are keeping things in check. There is a significantly better solution than adding more chemicals to the environment with repetition, but it requires more planning and work in the short term, and better management long term.

[@ShochCustomCalls]

If the deer don’t like bedding in this kind of thick stuff, what thick stuff do they like to bed in? Grasses and young cedars?

[@coleromine3905]

Hey Bill. What are you spraying the bush honeysuckle with?

[@bustinbass78]

My honeysuckle has died out over the years. I'm not a scientist but I belive walnut trees choked it out. I plant walnut when I can and over the years my property has went from honeysuckle, autumn olive to a walnut stand. I have done nothing to control Brush. As we all know not much grows under walnuts and all these years later I regret planting them. The floral and fauna was dense and lively now its barren and open just large walnut trees. Great video. Not many think about the plants they are buying.

[@stephenhammock1217]

What about doing a control burn? I live in Arkansas and a lot of people do that here.

[@Halcyon1861]

The hunt club I'm in that's been there 40 years and has 1,600 acres, well to most hunters that saw it and were not used to it, would say, where am I hunting? Right there. You mean the briars that are ten feet tall? Yeah find a pine tree and maybe cut a shooting lane with a lawn mower and you're set. Deer are giant rabbits.

[@marklohman965]

Bill, my question is how do I affectively hunt a piece of property that is literally covered?

[@amjorgy1]

I've been battling buckthorn on my property here in NW Wisconsin. It's very prevalent around my neck of the woods and really hard to control and get rid of.

[@daveroberts9480]

Buckthorn now a favorite food of deer. It is also excellent security cover for them. Hunters hate it because they can't see or walk through it. I have found many a deer bed in the middle of buckthorn. Bedroom and kitchen all in one!!

[@Computahguy]

Wouldn't burning be an option for invasives? Good video, thanks for the information.

[@buck16]

You mentioned Honeysuckle as an invasive. I don't dispute it' can be invasive but most (not all) honeysuckle is eaten by deer. Deer do prefer some types of honeysuckle more than other types and prefer not to eat some types. So, I'm wondering if it would be best to identify what type of honeysuckle is growing there before just marching in a search and destroy mission. I'm not an expert so that's why I'm asking the question.

[@joshmoyer815]

Deer might not like it in the fantasy land states but I’d love 10 acres of it in Michigan. I guarantee they’ll be bedding in it the thicker th better.

[@gavinbenz9034]

Man that just isn’t true

[@joshjewell1960]

You could literally plant 10 acres of honeysuckle and it isn’t going to help you. Deer don’t want a 10 acre field of honeysuckle to bed in. They love honeysuckle because it creates tunnels to travel in from food to bed. And they will have 10 exits along the way. So plan accordingly.

[@keithmclaughlin1827]

I quit hunting an area that l loved after 15 yrs. Not because the honeysuckle took over. But because the deer were gone.

[@russelllangworthy8855]

Fantasy land state? Where have I heard that ridiculous term before?

[@curte7739]

Here in Central kentucky they wear the honeysuckle out it's the last green thing in the woods in the winter or the fall more often than not and I'm talking about the vine honeysuckle not the bush honeysuckle which is a horrible invasive. I've actually got a couple spots on my 300ac farm that I fertilize the vine honeysuckle and it is a great late season bow hunting spot. We have attempted to eliminate all of the Bush honeysuckle we could though as well as the Autumn Olive in several other invasive that seem to grow in this area

[@loisbuttray2937]

We have property in Northern PA. We have Spicebush. Its horrible.

[@michaelcampbell5567]

You can arial spray rodeo roundup after the leaves fall on trees and that nukes it.

[@seregill13]

If you want cover grow switch grass, don't use honeysuckle

[@ssr4656]

What about using goats?

[@KyleAldinger]

I can't understand why people stand up for these plants here in the comments, as if a near monoculture of honeysuckle or autumn olive is higher quality than a mix of dozens of native species that each provide something a bit different for wildlife.

[@dougkraemer8327]

Just think.of the future. After the mature trees die they will not be able to replace themselves cause nothing can out grow the honeysuckle. No more forest of trees, just bushes left. I used to hunt a place that was so bad with it that if you climbed a tree to hunt you couldn't see the ground. It sucked. Horrible

[@stevedenoyer5956]

Can’t you cut and spray the stumps?

[@stevegaines-vq3bd]

yes, i use TORDON, but the roots underground sprout new baby plants up....My problem is mostly russian olive trees....& honeysuckle...

[@PotentialEn3rgy]

I don't know a thing about land, but I would advise anyone reading this to consider carefully spraying some of these strong chemicals onto your land. There's a reason we have such terrible chemicals in all our drinking water!

[@scottb6098]

I had land in Northern Illinois, full of honeysuckle....I loved it..great deer hunting + nice and thick + leaves stayed on late...maybe Illinois deer are different??

[@daveroberts9480]

No some people just need something to b@@@ about LOL

[@MG-fn9xw]

Spraying your whole property with round up, is a great way to contaminate all the soil on the ground. It almost doesn’t even make sense to eat a deer out of some woods that have been heavily sprayed with chemicals every year. Why not jus buy meat from the store? What’s the point of eating a super chemical filled deer? There’s gotta be a better way.

[@demsrchildabusers7959]

Controlled burns

[@randyanderson7010]

And y’all’s deer must be different VA deer live in the thickest cut-over they can find

[@MexicanMovie]

People worried about killing honeysuckle are the ones who don't (or won't) work hard to kill deer, they like the easy life getting their "free" deer on the family farm or unpressured land.

[@stevegaines-vq3bd]

you must not own any land....if you had land, you'd understand, it's a big problem.....but you may live in a trailer park....? don't have a yard....?

[@MexicanMovie]

@@stevegaines-vq3bd hard to take you serious when you're commenting from a troll channel with no content....

[@gmtoutdoorsindiana2785]

deer love honeysuckle

[@operationandy]

Y’all talk as of deer do not have legs. And dogs don’t run deer to other counties. 😂

[@jeremyr942]

Wah wah wah

[@brandonyoung7760]

I completely disagree💯. Autumn olive, honeysuckle and a few others are great for wildlife habitat. It's also great bedding for whitetail. They absolutely do live in it after they lose their velvet.

[@KyleAldinger]

The issue is that you end up with almost a monoculture of those non-native invasive plants. No doubt animals will use them for cover, but you lose so much when it's all the same. We have thousands of species of butterflies, moths, and other insects, for example, and many have larva that can only survive on certain plant species. So you lose those host plants, then you lose a food source for turkeys and songbirds. Say you have 10 acres of autumn olive and not much else. Then you also only have soft mast at one time. If you had other species mixed in that produced mast at different times, like viburnum, dogwood, persimmon, oak, hickory, blackberry, etc., then you have food spread throughout the year.

[@toucanvanbeak]

Ive never seen something too thick for deer lol. When we drive deer we look for stuff like this.

[@daveroberts9480]

Amen!!!