Slackdaddy

I have 20 acres that backs to 900 acres of public hunting, with 10-30 acre wooded lots on the other sides of Me.
My property is all wooded (oak) with mountian laurel, mostly ravines/ridges with 2 small (.5-1 acre) meadows in the creek bottom.

I was thinking about planting some bamboo plots to provide cover, maybee in the meadows ?

Any thoughts on that ??

Slack

kevin1

There are many species of bamboo, most are tropicals, and therefore unsuited to your climate. The few that would grow there don't get very tall, and most bamboos are very invasive. Have you considered honeysuckle? Deer love it for both cover and browse, it grows nearly everywhere, and you can root cuttings of it for nothing. It can be invasive too if left unchecked.

RockinChair

x2 on the honeysuckle. Also provides massive amounts of protein.

M.Magis

Though honeysuckle isn't as invasive as bamboo, it can make a big mess. It also provides very little food value and very little cover. I'm not sure why so many people consider it good habitat. On my place the deer have no interest in eating it and it provides cover for nothing bigger than a rabbit. I can find no benefit, but lots of reasons to kill it. Switchgrass would be a much better choice.

Jayme roper

I live in TN and we have what we call creek cane and it dones well in what cold we have here. And the deer do like beding in it. And it dont run every ware like thay say. But you have to plat it in a wet kinda area. It get pertty tall I have some in my fince rows that are like 7 to 8 feet tall.
I would be happy to send you some small ones with the roots on them if you would like? you could try it and see

timbercruiser

Magis you must have a different plant than the Japanese Honeysuckle we have. The deer absolutely love the stuff. I have 4 old fencerows behind the house that are covered with the stuff and the deer feed on it all the time. They keep the fall over vines pruned like you clipped it off with hedge clippers. I think it runs 24 to 30 percent protein.
Try some sort of cedars or maybe Virginia Pines for your bedding areas instead of bamboo..

Dan O.

There are plenty of hardy bamboos which will grow in your area. If you wanted to feed Pandas they would be a good choice but I don't know if deer will eat them :-)

http://www.bamboogarden.com/Hardy%20clumping.htm

I've found a good alternative in Mulberries. They grow fast anddeer love the leaves and fruit. The bearing season is from July to September so they match up nicely with apple plantings.

Dan O.

PS, I have a few bamboos growing in my garden near Niagara Falls. Nothing has fed on them.

Slackdaddy

Forgot about this thread
Was'nt looking for food, just cover.
one property I have hunted for years (but lost) had about 5 acres of bamboo, The the presure was on, they where in there.
The bamboo is so tight, a person could not walk in there, but the deer loved it, I always set up on travel routes leading in and out.

What I am looking to do is provide a "screen" between Me and ajoining properties and cover.

Nick

gregrn43

Im not sure the real name of, but plain ole river cane that you can use as cane poles would be just fine. I have one river bottom farm that I hunt on and there is tons of it on this farm. The deer just flock to it when the pressure hits.Normaly this farm doesnt hold bunches of deer till the end of the season, then its loaded. We push it at the end of deer season.

mossbergman11/OH

be careful with honeysuckle. it is a HUGE pest around here and it grows fast and will grow ANYWHERE. provides good cover but takes over everything and chokes out trees