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Aerial drone survey- Deer not bedding in Switchgrass Late season

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Missionshooter

New Member
Very good interview Jake did with drone deer surveyor.

He mentioned late season when he does drone surveys, VERY FEW deer are seen bedding in switchgrass. Most deer choose to bed in timber and prefer timber than has been TSI cut.

Why then is NWSG hyped up as year round deer bedding??!
 
That’s an interesting take . I’ve found that some deer do bed in CRP, but not as much as the season gets colder.

The bucks sure like to rut & chase does in CRP!

I break mine up with tree plantings & that seems to help . Natural pockets of willows or dogwood in low spots.

In MN I have spruce & pine planted as windbreaks on the edge of my CRP…

Good topic though!
 
The mosquitoes were so bad in the timber until recently, I think a lot of deer bedded out of the timber this spring/summer. I can see TSI being a big bedding draw in the fall/winter. Switchgrass is too thick in a lot of stands I’ve seen and I believe bucks like waterways in ag, or grassy areas better.
 
The switch I planted 3 yrs ago is thicker than the hair on a dogs back in most areas…some thinner spots here & there and even a few tiny openings. But not many. While I haven’t scoured every inch of it (I have ~15 acres of switch in a few blocks from 1 acre to 5+ acres) I don’t see near the evidence of deer use that I imagined I would. I know they go THROUGH it, but I haven’t seen a preponderance of evidence that they are IN it…like bedding/living there. There’s a chance I’m just way too thick in many areas…or maybe it’s because I’ve got a lot of high-quality timber/forest area in close proximity. Final thoughts; I like it, It added a layer of diversity to the landscape of my farm, but I wouldn’t add any more of it than what I have…in fact, just this spring we took a 5 acre patch that was basically knee high weeds and converted it to a more “traditional” mix of Big Blue, Indian, Switch with a few other grasses & legumes. Bottom line, monocultures bad, diversity good.
 
I've never been in a Switchgrass field I did however used to hunt crp back 30 years ago when northwest mn had millions of acres.
Was common for my group of guys to jump 100+ deer out of a big field.
( we had WAY TO MANY) deer back then.

As a side note for you fellas that know this Jack , it would be a fun topic for him to watch a bedded deer and have someone that is dressed in stinky cloths and also someone who has taken extreme scent control methods and walk towards them from upwind.
Would be an interesting experiment to see how far away a deer bedded in secluded cover would detect.
Just a thought ?
 
This is my take and I feel fairly strong about it.

Switchgrass is an awesome tool but you have to be aware of how you are applying it.

I would never plant a big field of switchgrass and expect deer to bed in middle of it in significant numbers. In that scenario I view switchgrass as the backdrop to a canvas painting. If im painting an ocean I start by painting the canvas blue. Then I start adding interesting things like a beach, coral, a boat, a seagull, etc. Establish a field of switchgrass then start adding diversity with pockets of trees, shrubs, weedy pockets, trails. Deer LOVE that environment.

Anothet one. Switchgrass is excellent up against draw as or ditches that might not otherwise hold many or any deer. Take those and band them with switchgrass and all the sudden they become WAY more protected and deer will like those spots tenfold.

Great for screening and way easier and cheaper to install than miscanthus.
 
tall@wide said:
The mosquitoes were so bad in the timber until recently, I think a lot of deer bedded out of the timber this spring/summer. I can see TSI being a big bedding draw in the fall/winter. Switchgrass is too thick in a lot of stands I’ve seen and I believe bucks like waterways in ag, or grassy areas better.
Click to expand...
I am curious about this subject too. I have long had an impression that deer, particularly bucks, will bed in CRP in the summer...A LOT. They tend to be in the shade of the random tree(s) scattered in the grass IMO. I think they are also in the "open" to avoid horseflies. Those big, nasty flies that WILL NOT leave you alone once they find you.

I encounter them more in the timber than in the open fields and I suspect that the deer have been able to avoid them more out in the open. Just an opinion/theory.
 
Marty Edwards said:
The switch I planted 3 yrs ago is thicker than the hair on a dogs back in most areas…some thinner spots here & there and even a few tiny openings. But not many. While I haven’t scoured every inch of it (I have ~15 acres of switch in a few blocks from 1 acre to 5+ acres) I don’t see near the evidence of deer use that I imagined I would. I know they go THROUGH it, but I haven’t seen a preponderance of evidence that they are IN it…like bedding/living there. There’s a chance I’m just way too thick in many areas…or maybe it’s because I’ve got a lot of high-quality timber/forest area in close proximity. Final thoughts; I like it, It added a layer of diversity to the landscape of my farm, but I wouldn’t add any more of it than what I have…in fact, just this spring we took a 5 acre patch that was basically knee high weeds and converted it to a more “traditional” mix of Big Blue, Indian, Switch with a few other grasses & legumes. Bottom line, monocultures bad, diversity good.
Click to expand...
I wonder if you were to add some more "structure" to your switch by planting some miscanthus in it too if that would help. I have visited a farm where this was done and the deer beds were everywhere next to that miscanthus, in the switch. I have tried to duplicate that on my place, but have had modest results getting the miscanthus established...due largely to drought conditions that past couple years. (BTW - no drought this year at my place, best soil moisture through this point in the summer in years! Yay!)
 
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