RE: I need some help
You may be rambling but you're only scrathing the surface for a full plan. You must have the 3 basics: food, cover and water. After that it's evaluating the positive points that the property already has (like the crabapples),where the deer runs are, where the bedding areas are, what is planted on neighbours properties? If you bushhog the roses and then spray the new growth in the spring it'll help free up the apples. You'll need to rejuvenate them by trimming them. You'll probably want to plant more apples, persimmons, oaks. Depending on what the neigbours have planted you may want to plant corn or soyabeans (difficult without equipment) or a legume forage field (clover, alfalfa, trefoil) or grains (oats, wheat, rape, barley, rye). These are easier as you can spray them present vegetation and then plant without cultivating.
You may want to invest in pines, spruce, cedars to create cover and funnels for the deer. Shrubs can also be put to good use.
It sounds like you're young so you've got a good 50 years to get everything in order. Read the deer food section on Huntingnet.com.
Get an aerial photo of the property and start marking what's growing on it. Mark the deer trails on it. Plan it out, take your time and try to learn from all the mistakes that others have made so you don't have to repeat them.
Enjoy it because it can give you as much pleasure as the deer hunting itself.
Dan O.
Edited by - dan o. on 11/05/2002 19:33:18