jrfrmn

I need some good advice from anyone that has experience burning.
The property that I Deer hunt has a lot of dead trees and branches that have fallen over the years. There are also a lot of small shrubtype sticker or briar plants all over. It is very hard to see if you are on the ground, and limited when in a tree. Should I burn all this off or leave it. I was told it would be an improvement for turky too.
Thanks.

Wingbone

I'd advise against burning to get the results you want. The branches and sticks will rot and decompose soon enough. I assume the briar shrubs are prickly ash (nasty stuff to get through). We have a lot of that in formerly grazed woodlots around here. If it is, controlled fire won't do much to kill it unless you burn the woods to the ground. You are better off cutting the stuff and applying stump killer.

North Texan

I'm a big fan of prescribed fire. Burning is an inexpensive way to control brush. It is a good bit cheaper than most chemicals. The most expensive part of the burn is having heavy equipment come in to put in the fire guard. The mortality rates of your brush won't be near as high as with chemicals, but a lot of times you can do several burns for what one chemical application would cost. A good burn will open your land up a good bit. When it grows back, simply burn it again. After each burn, the plants remaining will come on strong with a lot of new growth.

Burning also promotes diversity in your plant community. A lot of plants do a lot better where there is regular prescribed fire than in places where there is no fire. Especially many desirable grasses and forbes.

My suggestion is to contact your local USDA-NRCS office. A lot of those guys have a lot of training and experience doing control burns. They can help you come up with a burn plan and even help you conduct the burn. They can also better advise you to the advantages and costs of doing a control burn in your area.

timbercruiser

I second the usage of a control burn in helping out wildlife and as a hardwood control. I wish more people around here would use it. We burned about 1400 acres this year and needed to burn a lot more, but we didn't have a lot of good burn days this year. Your county forester is another one to contact about getting help with a burn.

bowhunt44

I would burn it. If you burn with a lower relative humidity most of the dead trees and branches will burn up. The small brush and shrubs will die, but will probably remain standing for a while. As for the briars, they usually come back and make an excellent food source for wildlife. Burning is one of the best wildlife management tools you can use. There is nothing that can take its place. It will enhance the timber and create more food for wildlife. I can't think of any animal that will not benefit from burning.

There are a few things to watch out for though. There is a huge liability that comes with burning. You may want to hire a professional to conduct the burn for you. Also, if you burn too often you can damage the timber.