Wildlife Management Help...
 

Below, you will find a satellite image of the property (south is at the bottom left and north is at the top right...ish). There are over 300 acres, but I have only included an image of the part I am trying to make improvements to. The red line is the property line. There are currently 9 acres planted in corn (shaded blue top right) with around 15 acres of alfalfa to the northeast and northwest of the corn field.

The shaded blue area to the far left (about 24 acres) is wooded, but was logged about 5 years ago. They chose selective logging and left a bunch of junk trees. There are a few oaks, which I would like to leave. There is a small corn plot (1 acre) about a half mile away, but no other ag crops for a couple miles. There are three ridges dividing the area and I would like to clear about 4 acres for a food plot. I was thinking corn/soybeans/clover, but am open to suggestions. I was planning on clearing the area closest to the power line (farthest to the right of the shaded area).

The next shaded blue area is a field that is at the end of a primary ridge. It is currently grazed by cattle and horses, but I am planning to fence it off. It's about 4 acres and I was thinking about putting a food plot in it. What should I plant in it?

The smaller shaded blue area is a field that turkey and deer frequent. It is screened by a line of trees and we rarely go back there. Thoughts/suggestions about what to do with it are also appreciated.

The red shaded area is what I am planning for the sanctuary. We rarely go in there and it has decent cover. There are ridges on each side and it has a couple cedar thickets and is roughly 24 acres. Should I go in and do some hinge cutting now? Anything else to make it better for a bedding area?

I was also wondering about access roads. There are old logging roads that are overgrown and tough to walk on. I was thinking about cleaning them up with a bulldozer so the entire area is more accessible. Maybe one around the perimeter and some benches on the mountain. Would it be better to clear them by hand and make a smaller path? I didn't know if it would disturb the area too much or make the deer feel less comfortable on those trails.

I would also like to hear any other suggestions that you may have.

Thanks!

Dang ya'll have some odd angled land lines. I would go ahead and clear my roads with a dozer soon, I don't think a deer pays a lot of attention to woods roads. Rather than planting soybeans in a small area I would opt for Lab Lab or Iron Clay Peas for a summer plot. Both are good for the soil when you cut them in in the fall and will stand grazing a lot better than soybeans. In the fall plant some Buck Forage Oats. Do your soil test now and get the lime out as soon as possible if needed.

The land lines are weird because of old ridge top fences and benches on the mountain. I thought the line to the southeast was a bit different until my dad and I walked it this deer season. I lost about 50 acres I thought I had to work with. There were old rusty 3 inch poles marking an old fence line. No clue why anyone would have ever put a fence there.

This weekend is the last for turkey season. I am going to mark off the area I want to clear and try to get started on the 15th. Get the good trees down and out of the way then start clearing with the dozier. I am going to do a soil test as soon as possible. I didn't think I would have time to get a summer plot out, but correct me if I am wrong. Is it too late to plant anything but fall plots if I couldn't get anything in the ground until the weekend of May 22? I had planned on just planting fall plots this year.

Should I do some small (.25 - .5 acre plots) in the more open areas of the woods? I was thinking about two maybe three. There are some mature timber spots that would only require the removal of 8 - 10 trees that I was thinking about planting small plots. I'm afraid that the deer will destroy them though. It is worth the time?

What should I do to improve everything else? Girdle the soft wood trees to open up the canopy so it gets thicker? Hinge cut them? Any other ideas?

As soon as you get an area cleared up, go ahead and broadcast some Iron Clay Peas or Lab Lab. It will pop up in less than a week and will provide some summer food and like I said when you get ready to plant fall plots turning it under will help build up the soil, not very expensive for the peas either...

Thanks for the help! I will plan on doing that as soon as I get it cleared. I have been doing quite a bit of reading on the sanctuary and it looks like the best thing to do is stay out. It's fairly thick already, so I don't think I really need to focus on improving cover in there now. I'll work on one food plot and get some trails cleared. That coupled with hanging stands should make for a fairly busy summer. Thanks again! Let me know if there is anything else that would be helpful that I can accomplish in a couple of days in addition to what I am doing.

nice areal pic! Do you have a link to the site where u got it??

I use Google Earth for the images. That image is zoomed out farther than it is capable of. It's a free download and a very useful tool. I would highly recommend it. Image quality does vary by area.

Thanks for the info.