You see I would like to make some clearings on my land to attract and hold some of the wild life on my land. Mostly for the deer but small game also. I was thinking 100 feet by about 300 feet (good size??) and let the brush take over, maybe mow every couple years. The problem is where. The land was heavily logged about 15 years ago except for about 40-50 acres of mature hemlock. The rest is almost all small birches 1-3” diameter and 10-20 feet tall. I was thinking having the strips half in the hemlock and half out, any thoughts or suggestions on this? Any other ideas on what to do? I know I'm gonna do this but just not sure where. thanks

I would suggest making the clearing larger. You're only proposing making your food plot 3/4 of an acre. Three to five acres should make a more permanent plot that deer can feed in through the year. Depending on how the hemlock is arranged on the property you may be best to make the clearing in the center of the birches. Then cut access paths (like spokes on a wheel) from the plot to present deer runs. This should draw the activity to the plot area.

Dan O.

i was planning on making a couple clearings that size spread out through the property so that would add up to more, thinking at least 3, maybe up to 5. the problem is my land isn't really a big block but long and pretty narrow in spots, so I don't want to make any thing to large.thinking maybe 2 acres at the most and thats in only 2 spots.