Planting/Introducing cover
 

Hey guys, hoping you could help me out here. I along with a couple other family members just bought about 470 acres. About 170 acres of thick 5 year old pine and the rest in food plots and hardwoods. Some of the hardwoods are fairly open with little ground cover. Is there anything you plant in the hardwoods that will provide cover for deer. I'm hoping to thicken up the woods the so the deer will feel more comfortable traveling through them during daylight hours. Any suggestions. I talking about 10 acres or so to thicken up.

RE: Planting/Introducing cover
 

170 acres of young pine should provide a good deal of cover. Personally, I would leave the hardwoods as they are (depending on what type of trees you are referring to - oak, hickory?), and focus on creating cover where the open hardwoods and fields/food plots meet. This is called edge feathering and can be accomplished in one of two ways - 1) use some of your field edge to plant a width of brushy vegetation, or 2) thin the existing trees at the edge of the woods and let succession run its course. Plantings in the first example could include wild plum, flowering/silky dogwood, Servicberry, Mulberry, Bicolor Lespedeza, etc. If you are determined to create some thick areas within your hardwoods, you may want to create some small clear cuts - they should grow back thick with excellent cover and browse.

RE: Planting/Introducing cover
 

as darton suggested i would open the tree canopy up with select cutting.

RE: Planting/Introducing cover
 

yep - selective cutting (even scaled down clear cutting) works good; it allows young trees & shrubs to start and makes great browse.

if you want food plots, look to clear already fairly open areas and prepare the soil properly (lots of time & $$)

RE: Planting/Introducing cover
 

DC -

Sounds like a wonderful property. The hardwoods sounds absolutely perfect for a summer evening walk, but too open to provide cover for deer come fall. I agree some selective cutting could be in order to "thicken things up" a bit, but do not compromise what you like about the woods in order to attract a few deer.

Just keep it all in perspective, I feel the Pine plantation/ food plots probably offer adequate food/cover already.