who_else

i just got out of high school and i am gonna get the rights to my dads 10 arce timber on his farm. before this year there were multi flowal rose bushes(sorry for the lack of spelling on that) and this year my dad bought a mower for the bobcat and cleaned it all out, so now it is really open with alot of dead trees in it but some big old oaks still alive and well. with a corn along one side of the timber, not 50 ft from the edge of the timber. and there is a small pond in the middle of the timber too. my question is will more deer come through the timber with it cleared out and the corn along with it, last year there was beans and not many deer come by. i am just excited about dad letting me get the timber all to myself and i am hoping that the cleaned timber and corn planted next to it will bring in more deer! thanks who_else

FlDeerman

Try a feeder and game cam and see if anything comes to it.I' d hunt near the oaks if they start producing.

lunchbucket

Plant some type of forage in the clearing and do some soil samples. Lime and fertilize, with organic fertilizer so you do not have run off into the pond. And stay out of the area...

Dan O.

The oaks and corn are good but if you' ve made to large of a clearing you may have lost cover that the deer were using. As Lunchbucket said you could help the situation by planting forage crops in the cleared area to draw them in. You may also want to set up any permanent tree stands now so you won' t be disturbing the deer closer to hunting season.

Dan O.

who_else

if i do plant that forage wont the cows start eating them right away,sorry i forgot to include that in my first post. thanks who_else

lunchbucket

Of course they will. We need more info. You will want to plant a forage that the cows are use to or you may be in trouble with the higher octane blends. How large are the clearings and what type of soil do you have? What type of soil do you have? How deep is the top soil?

Russ otten

If the cows roam the area free, you may need to fence in the food plot. If not, they may decimate the area and your food plot is history. The fence will not stop the deer. Just throwing out a handfull of seeds does not make a food plot. Sorry.
Russ

psandhu

get a feeder and enclose it in a fenced in area to keeps the cows out. that way, you just have to worry about crows, turkeys and squirrels (no cows) getting to your deers chow.

Dan O.

Is this forest part of a cow pasture with no fencing at all? Don' t you even have some extra electric fence laying around the barn?

Dan O.