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Hickory woodlot

Thinkin Rut

Thinkin Rut

PMA Member
I have a mainly Hickory woodlot and would like to get some assorted Oaks going throughout. I was wondering the best way to go about this would be. I was curious the size of free space that would be needed for a young tree to thrive or maybe planting along the edge only would be a better bet? Thanks to any thoughts!
 
We too have an oak/hickory timber with a variety of other species mixed in there too. I wanted to tip the scales over to more oaks and fewer hickories so I have TSI'ed quite a few hickories out over the years. BUT last year I had small scale timber harvest where we marked the trees we wanted cut and then had the loggers come in and cut only those marked trees. (Never let a logger loose in your timber cutting what they want!)

I did purposely include some nice oaks to sweeten the pot for them, but also to strategically thin some oaks that were beautimus...but also too close to other oaks. BUT to my surprise, when I told them that I wanted to whack a disproportionate share of hickories...they were good with that. They cut hickory too! Now I didn't get the same pricing on the hickory that I did on the oaks, nor would I expect that. But it was nice to thin my trees/thicken my timber AND get paid something for them.

So I would try to find a logger that wants hickories, I did, and I am glad that I did.
 
Lots of firewood there I bet. Anything of decent size history ?

If cut up areas and plant 2-4 foot oaks? Or if you can identify any oaks clear out around them.
 
I have similar deal. Very high percentage of hickory, mostly young and not market ready. I'm doing a timber management cut next week. Forrester is coming to mark trees to cut. I have a fair amount of young oak anywhere from seedling to 10-15 foot so releasing them by removing hickory trees should speed their growth along with opening up timber floor to create some growth and provide some cover. It's pretty open timber right now.
 
All great above!!!
Find the closest oaks and cut the hickory next to it extremely hard. For oak regen - leave it more of a mess so oaks get more of a chance to get going. Whites might take 2-3 years to seed but other oaks will be more frequent.
I would plant in it & not just on edge. I’d much rather plant “way too many oaks” than not enough. Always can thin em & u will lose some along the way.

In areas void of oaks or wanting to speed it up…. Thin the hickories hard & then it’s a “preference”: can interseed piles of acorns (numbers game), can plant oak trees & use the tops & brush as cover. Or, plant oaks and tube/protect them. If it’s upland like I almost sure it is…. Do a big variety of oak: red, white, chinkapin or DCO, burr, shingle, swamp white & maybe a hybrid. Reds like N facing a bit better & drainages. Do a lot of different varieties though.

If this is say “5 acres” ….. cutting & planting trees could be done in a weekend if u reasonably fast. I’ve done every method above. I suppose if I were to do it again, I might try some #’s of trees with hiding them in tree tops but I likely would spend the time tubing or protecting a hundred or so. I’d keep eye on them & each year I’d order more trees to add as needed or keep direct seeding until had successful stand. Not that hard or time consuming & u must spend a few years keeping eyes on it and NOT GIVING UP.
 
I had a 5-1/2 acre hickory block on our farm. Skip was a huge help & encouraged me to cut them aggressively. Seemed insane at the time but I cut 50-60%+ of the total trees in that area. Almost 0 diversity in the timber and there were 20-30' tall shagbark hickories every couple feet. My main goal was just getting light to the timber floor & providing bedding cover. This might be good motivation to go back and cut even more because the deer bedding has definitely improved but could also improve significantly more yet.

I bet I could go back and cut 30-40% more and make it even better. Should also get some acorns seeded too. Where does a guy even get acorns necessary for seeding 5 acres? How many pounds would you even put down per acre?
 
Brett Morris said:
I had a 5-1/2 acre hickory block on our farm. Skip was a huge help & encouraged me to cut them aggressively. Seemed insane at the time but I cut 50-60%+ of the total trees in that area. Almost 0 diversity in the timber and there were 20-30' tall shagbark hickories every couple feet. My main goal was just getting light to the timber floor & providing bedding cover. This might be good motivation to go back and cut even more because the deer bedding has definitely improved but could also improve significantly more yet.

I bet I could go back and cut 30-40% more and make it even better. Should also get some acorns seeded too. Where does a guy even get acorns necessary for seeding 5 acres? How many pounds would you even put down per acre?
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Although I do not remember the name of the source...Bill Winke has sourced acorns for plantings at this farm in NE Iowa, I think a couple of times now, and captured his activities via video on his YouTube channel. I think his most recent effort was last spring. But you could search for the video, watch it and learn where he is getting bags of acorns.
 
Brett Morris said:
Where does a guy even get acorns necessary for seeding 5 acres? How many pounds would you even put down per acre?
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I've used parking lots where oak varieties are growing that I'm interested in. The acorns fall on the asphalt, and I sweep those up into buckets on heavy producing years.

Another option I've used is to spray roundup around an oak tree in spring/summer to kill off the vegetation that I want to collect from. Then use a nut gatherer to pick them up in large quantities.
 
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I nearly clear cut hickory. No one around here seems to buy them and all they do is feed the squirrels.

Here is a pic 4 years post cutting. This was completely Shaded with hickory.

Oak regeneration is incredible. Deer sign/beds as good as it gets.

1000092696.jpg
 
I'll be really curious to see how many the forester marks next week. My goal is cover and regen on the oaks. would you guys that have done this before recommend hinging, girdling, dropping or all of the above and what percentage of each?
 
Hawk32 said:
I'll be really curious to see how many the forester marks next week. My goal is cover and regen on the oaks. would you guys that have done this before recommend hinging, girdling, dropping or all of the above and what percentage of each?
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They arnt nearly aggressive enough on hickory in my experience on a dozen walks now with district foresters with private land owners. They follow their stem count guidelines.
 
Hawk32 said:
I'll be really curious to see how many the forester marks next week. My goal is cover and regen on the oaks. would you guys that have done this before recommend hinging, girdling, dropping or all of the above and what percentage of each?
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I would be shocked, shocked I tell you :), if a forester marked anywhere near the amount of hickories, no matter what goals you communicated to them in advance, that would need to come down to look like the pic in post #9. That's just not what they do, IMO. Now then, I am not saying don't do it that way, just that a forester couldn't bring themselves to be that aggressive.
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
They arnt nearly aggressive enough on hickory in my experience on a dozen walks now with district foresters with private land owners. They follow their stem count guidelines.
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I am thinking of doing something very similar on my place...just curious, did you leave the hickories lay or remove them?
 
Hawk32 said:
I'll be really curious to see how many the forester marks next week. My goal is cover and regen on the oaks. would you guys that have done this before recommend hinging, girdling, dropping or all of the above and what percentage of each?
Click to expand...
Bill Winke just did a couple videos on this. My preference is cut down. Girdle based on size and ability to successfully drop. I hinge a few in spots.
 
I have found that hickory hinges quite well, so I definitely implement that technique on many if the location is right. Most of my hickory is shagbark and I tend to leave one every now and then for diversity sake, especially if they are already well established and there is no nearby oak. I have not really planted any oaks into a woodland/timber section. I have found many small oaks rapidly growing in areas where I cut. However, I will go through and flag with tape any small oaks (easiest to do after leaf out) that I want to protect from deer browse, that is where I will stack my treetops and bush honeysuckle that I remove. Be prepared for a flush of invasives, on my farm that is honeysuckle and multi floral rose. I think you will be surprised at the oak regeneration you will get, running a fire through it might not be the worst idea if it can be done.
 
Well met the forester this morning and started marking trees for a 9 acre timber management deal in a heavy hickory timber. I know people have said cut cut cut but man I was shocked at the number of trees we marked. Really informative stuff working with him. Hopefully get started cutting in the next day or two.
 
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