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Al's TSI/EQUIP Journal

at1010

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I figured I would share my journey here as I work on the farm to manage for better timber, now and with future native regeneration goals. Hope you all enjoy it.

Below video:
Talking about how I study deer browse on green briar (smilax), other vegetation, fields, and talk to the neighbors to better understand the density of wildlife on the farm. This information, coupled with my observations helps me to come up with a plan for future deer harvest needs/or not all in relation to sustainable forest management for strong future oak and native timber regeneration.

 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
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Been following your YouTube channel extensively. Keep it up man. The more I learn, the better! Especially learning tips and tricks to manage your own farms/property! We all appreciate you taking the time to make these videos

Well shucks!!! Thank you very much for the kind words!! I am not innovating anything. I simply try to share the information I have gathered from folks far smarter than I, and share it in an easily digestible format.

As a sidebar, I must share: Without getting on too much of a soapbox - I firmly believe much of the deer world is far too concerned with their brand and self-importance (often totting they were the FIRST to do something) vs. teaching the WHYs/HOWs behind soil health, timber management, studying deer browse, etc. It seems it is all about buy this "bug in a jug" or this "mineral in a pale" or this tree book that teaches you about 150 class buck bedding, etc. I think it's utter bs.

My favorite thing to do is read/watch PHDs discuss these complex topics and then try to see how that can be correlated to the deer world and/or successful habitat management. Silviculture techniques and big whitetails can go hand in hand, don't buy into the hype these are mutually exclusive of one another. I plan to continue to increase the quality of both on the farm.

If I had a nickel for every "deer" guy who said you can't manage timber and whitetails simultaneously, I'd now own about 10K acres.

Thank you all for following along. The amount of joy and fun I have sharing this information is unquantifiable - absolute blast!

AT
 

giles

Cull buck specialist
Supporting Member
It seems the disruption of their bucks is what stops people. I'm pushing a buddy of mine pretty hard right now on cutting some woods. He has the perfect spot but it's all bigger timber. Even the edges of the woods aren't thick at all. It NEEDS cut and would be a killer deer bedding sanctuary.
 
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at1010

*Supporting Member*
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It seems the disruption of their bucks is what stops people. I'm pushing a buddy of mine pretty hard right now on cutting some woods. He has the perfect spot but it's all bigger timber. Even the edges of the woods aren't thick at all. It NEEDS cut and would be a killer deer bedding sanctuary.

HAHA yes - that is often what I hear as well. "I don't want to remove my AO thickets because bucks bed there" or "I don't want to cut timber because it might bump a buck out".

Honestly, unless you are chasing a world-class, once-in-a-lifetime deer- this is just an absolute nonsense argument. Once the logging is done, the deer will be in there very soon after. Not to mention, if you cut in the winter - the Spring growth will be tremendous.

A lot of this habitat management stuff is WAY over complicated, IMO. If you are hunting Southern Ohio - with the terrain. Manage the timber in the bottoms/areas that are unplantable, plant the ridges, enter with the wind in your face - shoot deer in the ribs, repeat.
 
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at1010

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So I posted this in the No-till thread but felt it could be useful here as well, in case some are following one but not the other.

My process of doe harvest quotas is as follows
1. Observational counts while hunting
2. Reviewing time stamps on cameras and relating it to each location and time stamp - therefore I can get a rough idea of a number of does on-farm at one time, in front of cameras. I can then assume a slight increase from that we’re out of cameras or in a bottom - conservatively let’s say +2 variance from the mean.
3. Driving around the observation
4. Studying food plot browse and exclusion fence in relation to browse - specifically for larger fields (1+ acre). I also know what plots are more traditionally browsed heavier than others so again if I see a plot that’s not in a traditional heavy browse location - heavily browsed - I take note.
5. Study native browse. When I see green briar and mfr browsed heavily - this is concerning to me. When I can’t find an acorn on a good year for acorns - that is concerning. When I see the blackberry brambles as thick as my pinky browsed off - that’s concerning.
6. Talk to neighbors and see what they did last year and plan to harvest this year.
 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
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Some examples of studying native browse, throughout the year.
Pokeweed - common in spring/summer. Great native browse, deer love it! This is why I don't worry much about Summertime nutrition -I rather focus my time/effort on TSI (July is a great time to treat TOH per Penn State) or building soil in fields. The native browse and even non-native like MFR is thick during these months.
IMG_3141.jpg


Below is a picture of a blackberry bramble in March of 2019. I would not use this as the one and the only indication of needing to harvest does. However, this accompanied by the "formula" I have outlined above - gives me a fairly good idea that the deer numbers are above optimal conditions for increasing nutrition availability per deer, on the landscape. MSU Deer Lab has some amazing studies on the importance of nutrition, in relation to deer numbers on the landscape. The basic idea is a study of efficiency. How can we feed the deer the best, most nutritious food, 365 days a year, without habitat degradation and/or genetic potential degradation.

IMG_2346.jpg
 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
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And finally - for today - one of my favorite past times - Killing TOH. You can see these bastards are choking out a beautiful young oak. These have been hack/squirted with Gly, diesel, and triclopyr. The only time that is not great to treat these is during sap flow. However, it is often a two-year treatment so if you are going to treat them during sap flow, use a basal bark treatment and then come back next winter and hit them again!

Stay safe and thanks for following along!

IMG_3934.jpg
 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
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Well after about 20+ hours treating that 11 acre area, I have the state forester checking it out later this month. I have until August to get approved so hopefully I’ll pass his examination. Assuming, I missed a few spots- I’ll go back in and give it hell.

I feel confident as I put the time and effort in to be sure of adequate treatment and cuttings. Although, it’s a sob to get it all!

I’ll keep you all updated.

AT
 

at1010

*Supporting Member*
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I passed!!!

Well, not without drama. Here is a tip folks, when the state forester sends you the plan they write, confirm it is in the exact order on the NRCS contract. Although this did not harm me, it threw me and the forester for a loop when he was inspecting an area that I had not yet treated. After some additional communication, we noticed that the original plan and the NRCS contract were not in the same order. The area I treated passed and the TOH is already showing signs of being dead (forester showed me when bark/sap turns yellow under the bark on TOH - that means it is toast!).

Now on to the next 11 acre areas of grapevine and TOH, I hope to start that this summer and get the first herbicide treatment completed after deer season. That will allow me to hit everything again next Spring/Summer, in hopes of catching anything still hanging on!

That is all for now! Stay safe!

AT