Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

Each March I look forward to "Burn Day". Of all the things I do throughout the year to manage my farm to make it the best it can be, no doubt the impact of Burn Day is by far the most profound and beneficial to wild game of every variety. Burning kills the small unwanted hardwoods that would take over if left attended, it clears the forest floor for grasses and other food sources, and it reduces the chances of a destructive forest fire by reducing the amout of fuel on the ground that can make a hot summer's fire get out of control.
Anyway, I took a few pics last Friday and thought some of them turned out good. As you'll see, some of the fires were burning well into the night. Hope you enjoy them!

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

Cool pics,

legal arsin...LOL..must be fun:)

Fires are great for new growth and deer do love em.

Good Luck

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

It is fun, especially if you have any sort of pyromanic twist in your personality! [8D]
One thing that was interesting is that Saturday morning when I was out riding around to make sure that only my little portion of the state of had been consumed, I saw deer that were already back into the areas that had been burned. I have a fair amout of young planted pines that I don't burn, as well as portions that I rotate out of my burn cycles for the benefit of quail nesting, but it's still interesting to see how quickly the deer and such move back into the burned areas.

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

That's really cool! Thanks for sharing. Controlled burns are a great idea to keep the undergrowth in check as well as provide the nutrients back into the soil. Way to be proactive!

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

Use to a lot of the landowners and paper companies burned regularly, but with the increased charge per acre for licensed-insured people to burn and the increased liability for smoke related vehicle accidents as well as the occasional fire that gets away on other people's property the amount of acerage burned around here is very low. I had a client that wanted to burn about 5,000 acres this year and when I told him that it would run about $8.50 per acre he axed the plan. It is by far the cheapest hardwood control and timber management tools you can have. Instead we have a forest full of low grade, thick hardwoods and underbrush with a thick layer of straw and weeds that are a ticking timebomb of a wildfire waiting to happen.

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

Those are some beautiful pics. I have no clue when it comes to this type of land management but how would a controlled burn compare to just clearcutting an area?

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

Those are great pictures, I bet it would be neat to be apart of it. I have seen land owners do it but have never taken part in a burn.

Controlled burning vs clear cutting
 

PaBowhuntr,
With controlled burning you don't hurt the larger trees that you like and want while clear cutting wipes them out completely. Big difference! ;)

RE: Controlled burning vs clear cutting
 

great pics, i wish the governement here would consider doing some contolled burning in our area, the provincial park here looks pretty dead and could use a little boost from a burning.

RE: Controlled burning vs clear cutting
 

Hey SpringHillFarms what part of Georgia are you from i am also fromGa and just wanted to know

RE: Controlled burning vs clear cutting
 

Isn't that defeating the purpose of having thick cover for your deer? Where do you expect mr. big boy noctural to hide? Please tell me you didn't burn all of your property like that......

RE: Controlled burning vs clear cutting
 

No, I don't burn the entire place, though it would not be that detrimental if I did. The abundance of food sources that a burn creates, especially when compared to the barren leaf-covered floor of an unmanaged and canopied forest, is so overwhelming that the number of deer/acre that you will find on properties like this will make most hunters drool at the possibilities. Instead of 20-25 deer per thousand acres (heavily timbered North Georgia), we have in excess of 135 (South Georgia). Our four month deer season with double digit limits still does not reduce the herd in most places nearly enough, causing some areas to get permits to harvest deer almost indiscriminately during the summer at night. Believe me, a thick unmanaged forest doesn't hold a candle to a properly managed piece of property when it comes to holding and maintaining a large and healthy deer population.
For what it's worth, here's what my farm looks like in July after a burn. As you'll see, the food sources are everywhere. With all respect, you should see what our southern plantations are doing with game management before assuming that what we are doing is detrimental.

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

In forestry school we learned all about this. Fires are very benficial for the woods and everything in it.

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

I recall reading that the Indians used to do the burning bit 300-500 years ago. Ofttimes nature would take care of it with lightening .

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

Fire is indeed a very natural occurrence, not to mention a tool used hundreds of years ago by Indians and such. Our ecosystem is designed to benefit from it. Only the excessive fire prevention mentality created by Smokey Bear is unnatural. Controlled burning is today's tool to get the benefit of burning while adhering to our modern world's need for the avoidance of destructive fires.

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

Great set of pics!! Nice bucks in velvet I might add.

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

Isn't "Smokey" the one who said, "Remember folks, fires prevent bears" ! :eek:

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

cool pics

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

Cool pics and I always wondered how you keep the big trees like the ones in the first couple of pics from catching fire? How do you control the burn?

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

It's pretty easy to control the burn. First you burn in the winter or early spring. The summer is obviously hot with much more fuel in the forest. Next, you only burn on days with a very slight breeze. You can't get a burn permit from the state on days when there's much wind at all. When you do this, the fire will only burn the things like leaves, grass, pine straw, sticks, and such that are on the ground. It also helps to have burned a place periodically to keep the accumulated debris under control.
Larger trees are not bothered by fire when you burn this way. Generally speaking, hardwoods cannot handle fire as well and pines, so you don't burn areas full of hardwoods that often, unless it's your desire to reduce the number of these types of trees. Scrub oaks and such cannot handle fire well, which is one reason we DO burn in areas where an abundance of them is not desirable. For the most part, we burn areas that of predominantly pine trees. Pines handle fire very well.
Good firebreaks and a source of sprayable water to put out fires that jump roads when sparks sometimes fly are also important.
All in all, it’s actually a FUN day that I bet you'd enjoy! :D

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

Very interesting.

RE: Burning is our best mgt tool; burn days pics
 

My state finally got wise and started to burn and cut, along the river.You could not walk more then twenty feet without having to change course.You couldn't see twenty feet ahead because of the brush .Food for birds or anyother kind of animal could not grow on the river bed.This summer should show the results of clearing and burning.Just the looks of the river and the tall cottonwoods is an improvement.Nice pictures of your burn.