Property consultant

[Tmayer13]

Couple more ?s. There’s no red cedar around but it’s native. Would it be advantageous to get some going along with some caged plum in the hinge/tsi locations?

I would only put the cedars in the area you are screening from the road. On the areas you plan to hinge/tsi, just let whatever successional growth come that's there.

 

[StucknAz]

Very Start….
FOOD……. I’d keep the corn as it’s necessary evil when your state keeps it wide open to bait-mania. I’d spend the “minor” amount of $ to add 10% anilogics base pellets to the corn so u give em vastly better nutrition than corn alone. Maybe some corn areas where u bring em towards center of farm just to keep em safe.

On the plot side: I’d always have a grain & several areas of clovers. Then… either add dbltree rye mix to eaten areas of it & convert some areas to brassicas. Or - overseed brassicas or rye, etc into the grains. Depends on stage of the grain yellowing. I can’t emphasize enough for folks who “want to do it right” & will do it…. 3-4 varieties in every plot. Grain like corn, clovers, rye mix, brassicas. At least 3 of those & IMO - grain & clover are probably the most important 2 but I personally wouldn’t go without the others either. How u design them- start with common sense & change them if an issue or tweak as needed. More to plots than that…. soil, tighter areas, SHOULD I FENCE GRAIN?, entrance & exits, where put blinds/stands, fertilizing & herbicides right, etc….. but I wanted to focus on what needs planted & IMO- do it and get it all done right!!!

Get mineral out asap & if u guys feed… add anilogics now if u giving em corn. Adds way more to body & racks & now is time for at least mineral.

Food & forest…. Immediately get state forester out there as soon as u can schedule. If u want any cost share. Then- have him look at: crop tree release, basal thinning & brush management (if honeysuckle). If no cost share- I’d be implementing this asap. I have my techniques & what works best but if u start with crop tree release & brush management & cut a bunch of “junk” (hinge or kill) - u will be a huge jump ahead. Can discuss hinge cutting & it’s good in small pockets through out farm. This will blow up: bedding, browse, mast production, timber value, desirable tree regeneration, land value, carrying capacity, mature buck capacity, rut activity, etc etc. Like “10 birds, 1 stone”. Get going asap on this. There’s some tips I can give to at least make some things simple to at least get you started if you gimme list of all tree species out there. Biggest thing with tsi …. I want u to have way more desirable bedding & have more does & bucks on place. Tons of “premium thick nasty spots” & literally u can make it, like…. “There was 3 ideal sought after bedding locations” to “now there’s 30”.

Quick hunting & land thoughts….. cell cams with solar so don’t go in too much. Common sense pressure at all times so don’t blow em out. In OHIO- I wouldn’t let feeders run out and I’d plant so much diversity that food lasts to spring. The cliche of entrance & exits but u gotta have this down. Everyone says it….. very few have it right. Even stands & blinds in right spot with those entrances & exits- be the dude that gets em down & that right there sets u so far apart from your neighbors.

On the road stuff…. I’d do a few rows… million examples…. Like, 1 row miscantheus, 1 row cedars, 1 row willow/poplar….. so many combos it’s endless. IMO - don’t do just one. I do 3 & do a 4th of Egyptian wheat if u got road issues. Fixes it year 1 & better for permanent solution every year following til fills in. Gate & post it with dang good signs, hang cameras in places kinda hidden where maybe any issues.

Off the cuff …. I’d have multiple water holes. I would not be wasted drunk while you’re hunting like your neighbor . Don’t over complicate or over think “the plot design needs to be like made by an architect…. Do it right & lots of diverse stuff is way more important than design. Same with Tsi…. Get over your whole place and at least get pockets started. Year 1.. say 10-20 tanks of chainsaw fuel would be a gauge of like “ya, I cut a lot of areas or pockets to get me started. Maybe some edge feathering.
Yes, shoot bullies or get them shot by a guest if needed.
As many dynamite stands/blinds as possible that cover all winds. I even have a “spot” that’s amazing with 2-3 stands so I can hunt on varying winds. Pick best days to hunt & lay off the iffy days IMO.

Yes - do sections of switch. Pockets, strips, etc. Screen, thermal cover & bedding- yes, absolutely. Any cool season areas doing nothing - put it in. Or areas u want that cover. Go.

2 cents summarized…. Get ur plots diverse & top tier - year round lasting food. Tsi the whole place- start in pockets. Tons of bedding areas. Shut down or minimize poaching or idiots. Blow up nutrition with feed, mineral, plots & Tsi. “Hunt it super careful & smart”. Those foundational issues are KEY and you cannot skimp on those. That’s the core & once u got the core laid down…. Then u start next phases. In reality…. The core things will have u loaded up for a year for sure. There’s my STARTING LIST …. Get those going …. Fire back with ?’s, circumstances, obstacles, ideas. Get some smart buddies to help & give u second set of eyes out there. Have fun & good luck!!

One more to add to the follow up list. When cutting for bedding, what is too small? Do you do any of the “Michigan” guys canopies cuts?

 

[StucknAz]

I think you are thinking a bit too hard about this. I would take 2 things this year and implement them. Concentrate on them and then see what changes on the farm this year and then move onto something else.
For instance, just quickly looking at your maps and hearing what you're saying what I would do is plant your large field into corn or beans. I personally would not plant them together unless you were splitting the field between the two, i.e; 3 acres corn and 3 acres beans, then rotate the next year. Here is going to be the issue with grains. If there is truly no real food in the area, you will have a large population of deer and other critters move in and potentially decimate your row crops. So, you may need to install an electric fence to keep them out. But deer will flock to the growing beans in July/August, and they can put a hurting on 3-6 acres in a hurry (depending on deer density). My point is you need to be thinking about how you are going to protect them and don't be reactive but be proactive on this because once they are gone, well they are gone.

Next, as Skip mentioned included tons of green food sources. .10 of an acre of clover here and there, 1/4 acre brassica plots, 1/2 acre green plots, anywhere ypu can put them. You may not even be able to hunt all of these unless they are some special winds but the goal is just to keep deer living on you. Obviously, you will want some obvious kill plots that you can hunt over and have good access too but just having food around will keep these animals at home. I will post a couple pics of roughly what I would
do.

I saw you mentioned something about not being able to go hard in the timber because of family. So what I would recommend is to pick out some historic areas where you see deer and drop in some bedding areas. Then I would go on the ridges and concentrate on making your oaks happy and removing their competition just to have a better mast crop. It's so hard to give you ideas on the timber side without physically seeing it. But there is a ton of info on this forum about TSI. I would start slow unless you really know what you are doing.

As far as switch goes, with these new varieties offered from RC you can do a lot of stuff in one year. Till early, let growth come back and kill it, then wait and kill it again then go in and plant your switch in late May through June. Can have a great stand first year. The issue I see here is you are not currently there, so you are talking about multiple trips. The other option would be if you can get a drill, then spray it and drill it and walk away.

Start with the basics here, food, good stand location adjacent or over the food, a little timber work. Good bait stations that are easy to access so you arent blowing every animal in your timber out.

I didn’t see your attachments until now. Due to the hay pasture being around those projected plots would u be good with an annual screen, like the real tall one from nw Whitetail’s? Its unlikely I’d get clearance to fill in those gaps with switch

 

[Sligh1]

Nothing too small. Hacking over 1 tree could turn into a “bed”. I make a lot of areas the size of say a swimming pool or maybe the foot print that a small house would lay on. Think of this…. Say a small house should or could be holding only like 5-6 trees…. Sometimes & often times “50-60” will be growing. Thin it way down. Open it up. Maybe a bit of hinging, etc. There’s so many canopies that are so chalked full - I see very few situations that don’t need a lot of opening done

 

[StucknAz]

I think you are thinking a bit too hard about this. I would take 2 things this year and implement them. Concentrate on them and then see what changes on the farm this year and then move onto something else.
For instance, just quickly looking at your maps and hearing what you're saying what I would do is plant your large field into corn or beans. I personally would not plant them together unless you were splitting the field between the two, i.e; 3 acres corn and 3 acres beans, then rotate the next year. Here is going to be the issue with grains. If there is truly no real food in the area, you will have a large population of deer and other critters move in and potentially decimate your row crops. So, you may need to install an electric fence to keep them out. But deer will flock to the growing beans in July/August, and they can put a hurting on 3-6 acres in a hurry (depending on deer density). My point is you need to be thinking about how you are going to protect them and don't be reactive but be proactive on this because once they are gone, well they are gone.

Next, as Skip mentioned included tons of green food sources. .10 of an acre of clover here and there, 1/4 acre brassica plots, 1/2 acre green plots, anywhere ypu can put them. You may not even be able to hunt all of these unless they are some special winds but the goal is just to keep deer living on you. Obviously, you will want some obvious kill plots that you can hunt over and have good access too but just having food around will keep these animals at home. I will post a couple pics of roughly what I would
do.

I saw you mentioned something about not being able to go hard in the timber because of family. So what I would recommend is to pick out some historic areas where you see deer and drop in some bedding areas. Then I would go on the ridges and concentrate on making your oaks happy and removing their competition just to have a better mast crop. It's so hard to give you ideas on the timber side without physically seeing it. But there is a ton of info on this forum about TSI. I would start slow unless you really know what you are doing.

As far as switch goes, with these new varieties offered from RC you can do a lot of stuff in one year. Till early, let growth come back and kill it, then wait and kill it again then go in and plant your switch in late May through June. Can have a great stand first year. The issue I see here is you are not currently there, so you are talking about multiple trips. The other option would be if you can get a drill, then spray it and drill it and walk away.

Start with the basics here, food, good stand location adjacent or over the food, a little timber work. Good bait stations that are easy to access so you arent blowing every animal in your timber out.

I saw your maps, would u just screen those plots via Egyptian for year one?

 

[Tmayer13]

I saw your maps, would u just screen those plots via Egyptian for year one?

Sure. Screening plots is such an under-utilized tactic. My maps were just suggestions as well. The key point is pouring the food to that place. BUT the one thing to remember, in a bait state no magic food plot will ever beat a corn pile so you will need to incorporate that as well, especially if you neighbors are dumping yellow gold on the ground