Coastie

Anybody have any experience in the enhancement of natural food sources for Whitetail? I've seen a couple of articles over the past week and was wondering if anybody here has any first hand experience.

benhuntin

I do this every year. Fertilizing woodland openings and other browse areas definatley increases the useage by deer. Liming helps also. This increases the palatability of the plants as well as the nutrition level.

Dan O.

Coastie; do you have any specific areas (food plots, clear cuts, fertilization etc.?) that you want information on?

Dan O.

Coastie

I am primarily interested in enhancing natural areas of mixed hardwoods and pine. From the reading I have done, thinning and fertilization are the recommended methods which I understand. I am looking for anybody that may have tried this and to hear their success with it and get any pointers from them that they may be willing to share. The area here is in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Georgia, not terribly high, but rugged. Soil is of a rather heavy red clay, well drained for the most part with two large streams running through it along the Southern and Eastern perimeters. Suplemental food plots are great but I believe with proper management you may be able to realize a substantial savings in overall labor and other costs if the natural food sources are used to full advantage.

lunchbucket

Do the fertilizing and try to stay away from salt based or high nitrate fertilizers. We suggest organic fertilizers, no pollution or liability. Pines may need more acid around their drip line. Opening up the area for more sunlight will help.

Sagittarius62

One possibility is some selective browse cutting if it is legal in the area. Hinging off selected small trees to bring the twigs and shoots into the the animals reach will provide a spread out non renewable food source that will not foster herding, and the problems that can come with it. Here are the guidelines from NY state and a list of some of the preferred species of trees.
Browse cutting from the NY DEC

farm hunter

You are on the right track

Some good ponits have been made.

Thinning of Hardwoods probably offers the highest return on your efforts. One does have to either own the land or have explicit permission to cut (and what to cut) from the landowner - This limits a lot of us.

If you can trim out "scrub trees" - make Brushpiles out of them (living brushpiles are best). The brushpiles help to offer security bedding once the area begins to thicken up after thinning. Liming a "clearcut" also can work wonders.

The only other habitat adjustments we make is to trim and fertilize apple trees on the property.

Russ otten

Got Honeysuckle? Fertilize it! 3X13 will let it go wild! And also sweeten it some. When other forbs starting freezing out, honeysuckle will still be there (Until the deer strip it bare). Do a scouting trip about the middle of February and see how much Honeysuckle is left in the timber. Guess who ate it up.

Russ