schlich92

I have a mature woods that is not ideal for holding deer. They travel through, but never seem to "hang out" in the area. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on what I could do to improve the woods. I was thinking about planting some type of shrub or something to thicken up the cover to hold more deer. Any ideas on trees or things to do would be appreciated.

wvdeerhunter22

schlich,

you could plant some cover, but a cheaper way to do it yourself would be to cut some trees. You clould selectively cut a few to thin an area up or you could make a clear cut of small to medium size. THis allows sunlight to enter and natural growth will occur. Natural woody browse will grow, and the area will thicken up. In addition the cut trees will be good cover and the tree tops will be a food source for a while. If it were me i may consider leaving oaks alone unless you have alot in the area. JMO

Good luck

osiris

Have a logger come in and do some selective cutting so the canopy opens up and lets sunlight to the forest floor. This will then increase the growth of forbes, weeds and young trees. TGK

timbercruiser

Except for acorns, there isn't a lot of nutritional value in mature forest. You didn't say how many acres you have or the type forest, but a timber harvest may be needed. Timber stands have to be managed for optimal timber growth. A plus to this is that the wildlife benefit also. You can leave a couple of open areas for food plots. See if you can get a state forester, or a consultant, to give some recommendations.

Dan O.

You should get some input from the DNR. Selective cutting of the woods will make the woods sustainable but you need larger openings for deer and other wildlife.

Dan O.

BrutalAttack

Just be sure your land isn't winter range for the local deer herd. I don't have my notes handy but probably any kind of disturbance (fire, logging) will enhance growth of forage. Selective cut would be the best means of harvest. If you end up clear cutting do it in as irregular fashion as possible and minimize roads. Also you should have the local NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service) come out and evalute your property. They can give you tips on how to improve your ground for deer and hopefully wildlife in general. I always stress that if you going to do some habitat alteration on your property try to increase forage for deer but not at the cost of impacting other wildlife species especially birds.

Bob S

Buy the book "Grow `Em Right" by Neil and Craig Dougherty.

Buy a chainsaw.

PILOT

Depending on what stage of maturity your timber is you may well need to harvest some of the larger oaks as mentioned above. Most of the trees in my woods are in the pole stage with the largest of the oaks being 15-16" so they will be worth alot more when they reach 18-20" so I have chosen to wait 7 to 10 years for a harvest. The best way to create good bedding areas in open timber is to do selective cutting in different locations. The best locations are located on high ground and have several "junk trees" to be cut. Unless you can identify the different tree species I wouldn't recommend you cut at all until you talk to a professional who can mark the species to be cut. When I cut I leave the oaks,walnuts,cherry,hickories and hard maples etc. with the primary focus being wildlife benefit. The trees I do cut I only cut 2/3 of the way through and let them fall still attached. Many of these trees will continue to leaf for the next several years creating an instant bedding site.

Russ otten

If you are in a rural area, you have a wealth of info available from many sources. The local extension agent would be a start. They put on seminars in conjunction with local logging outfits on managing timber land. Game wardens also have contacts to help, In fact the Dept, of agriculture have land programs you can get into that may even subsidize the work needed to improve the land for wildlife. Gov. foresters can help in determining what trees should be culled and what should be left. As one supervisor I had always said, "Do your homework before lifting a finger." All of these agencies provide panphlets on all of these catagories. (The government loves to print these papers.) Take advantage of them, after all, you paid for them.

Russ

BrutalAttack

Like I said the NRCS has an office in every county and has a number of programs/seminars/papers/anything else you can think of to improve wildlife habitat on private land.