RalloZ35 Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Would putting small patches of clover in my woods keep the deer on my side, I have about the same thing as rapidfire but the deer come at night then leave for the forest preserve. During deer season all the deer stay over there and then poachers come and drive the deer out of the park and get about 6 a day, so Im gonna try to keep them in my woods this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoythunter37 Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Dogwoods or white oaks for trees and supplement that by planting some honeysuckle. That should provide you with some good forage. No offense but PLEASE and I mean PLEASE!!!!!! DO NOT PLANT HONEYSUCKLE!!!! I work in the forestry business and yes this does make great cover for deer and wildlife. But you will have no understory trees what so ever after you plant this. It is one of the most highly invasive species out there. Once you plant this you will hardly never be able to get it out of your woods or your neighbor's woods ever again. I would recommend doing a TSI (Timber Stand Improvement). I would go through and cut all the tree's around your crop tree's allowing about 30ft around that tree's canope. Doing this will allow more light down to the forest floor getting better oak regeneration for a better stand of cover and food for wildlife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 So when you guys say hinge cutting, you mean to pick out a few trees here and there and chop them down? Do you guys advice me to let the trees lay where they fall or can I cut them up and stack them up around the edge of the woods where the wind normally blows through? Hinge cuts are usually made between 3 to 5 feet up. You cut the tree just enough to let the top fall. Idealy the tree lives after cutting. Hinge cut every sycamore I could in one brush pile bedding area here about 3 years ago. With deer numbers on the decline and all the river bottom willow thickets nearby not sure whether it really helped out so much in our situation but no doubt it thickened that area and deer do use it some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rapidfire09 Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Hey guys I have just one more question and I think I will be all good with what I am gonna do. Is there a specific time to hinge cut trees? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 It depends on the size and type of tree. It's in general best to do it in early spring. Right now you could probably get away with cutting smaller and softer trees. Due to it being cold and relatively dry, most will pop/break apart or split up the middle right now. As soon as sap starts to flow, spring thawing (lots of water), and before they take off with growth is best. Summer is alright too, as long as it's not very hot and dry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 No. Chop them most of the way down. Check out this link: http://www.outreachoutdoors.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2010 That was a great link. If you click onto it be patient. It does take a couple minutes to load. Alot of pages of good info. Well worth the wait. Thanks for the reference S 10. Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LETMGROW Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 No. Chop them most of the way down. Check out this link: http://www.outreachoutdoors.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2010 That was a great link. If you click onto it be patient. It does take a couple minutes to load. Alot of pages of good info. Well worth the wait. Thanks for the reference S 10. Lynn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestKyTeacher Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 (edited) No offense but PLEASE and I mean PLEASE!!!!!! DO NOT PLANT HONEYSUCKLE!!!! I work in the forestry business and yes this does make great cover for deer and wildlife. But you will have no understory trees what so ever after you plant this. It is one of the most highly invasive species out there. Once you plant this you will hardly never be able to get it out of your woods or your neighbor's woods ever again. I would recommend doing a TSI (Timber Stand Improvement). I would go through and cut all the tree's around your crop tree's allowing about 30ft around that tree's canope. Doing this will allow more light down to the forest floor getting better oak regeneration for a better stand of cover and food for wildlife. I'm currently doing a TSI and forest enrichment program on my 67 acres of woods and starting to row crop the 25 acres I just purchased. I will say it is a lot of work and will most likely benefit my children more than me (it takes a long time for oaks to mature). I am currently cutting down the smaller less desirable tress (maple, sycamore, gum, etc). In their place I am planting 200-300 samplings per acre, a mixture of white oaks, cherry bark oaks, bur oaks, persimmon, northern red oaks, etc). In 10 yrs we'll cut all the less desirable bigger trees for timber and the samplings will be established and take over, (I'm only doing this in the areas of no mature oaks and only soft wood trees. So I should have some good areas with acorns and the others will be really thick cover as they start growing). I am also starting a decent size orchard with a variety of different pears and apples. In KY, I think it is Federal money so all states should have a program, you can sign up for programs that helps offset some of the costs. However, you still have to break your back planting and cutting all the smaller trees down. That link explains most of the practices I am currently doing to my forest. I even received a nice sign for my Forest Stewardship Program. Edited March 13, 2011 by WestKyTeacher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need2hunt Posted March 13, 2011 Report Share Posted March 13, 2011 I'm with the group that says keep honeysuckle OUT! One of the areas I hunt is overrun with honeysuckle and there is ZERO undergrowth. I had to cut paths through it just to get the deer to want to come in to the area. This spring I am planning on cutting and spraying as much of it as I can and starting to try to get rid of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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