I realized that some of my habitat stuff ended up in the thread I'd originally started for projects around the house that weren't habitat related. Then I realized the 11 acres at the house is its own rabbit hole and now that I've got a tractor, I've got lots of opportunities to make it hunt even better than it has in the past. We've killed some solid deer here over the years and more will come, so I'm going to track the habitat projects a little closer now that I've got a solid plan/vision for it.
The first thing I wanted to do was improve the bedding and food situation, so I spent a lot of time reclaiming an old field that I seeded with some winter wheat and peas. Over the winter, I'll open the canopy up a bit more and I'm going to turn this into a clover plot. Other than acorns, there's not much food around when the crops come off. This will at least add some variety.
If you turn around in the tractor seat from where I took the last pic, you'll see the new creek crossing. The Redneck blind is under my finger. I added a mock scrape along the road today since it's right on a main travel route between bedding areas. That oak flat is one of the best I've ever found, which is partly why the hunting is as good as it is.
The wild card experiment took place on the gas line right-of-way. The plot screen looks great and is doing exactly what it was supposed to do. A deer filtering through the soon to be established clover plot, might find its way here on the way to bed. Now they can see the barn and it feels much more secluded.
The goal is to encapsulate the right-of-way with switchgrass, then plant a brassica blend in here each fall. Now that I know the plot screen will grow and I've been able to reclaim it from the brush invasion, I'm comfortable putting in the effort to make this a viable plot.
I've got more hinge cutting to do this winter, along with some other bedding improvement projects, so I'll share those then. For the guys working with smaller properties, you're not alone!
The first thing I wanted to do was improve the bedding and food situation, so I spent a lot of time reclaiming an old field that I seeded with some winter wheat and peas. Over the winter, I'll open the canopy up a bit more and I'm going to turn this into a clover plot. Other than acorns, there's not much food around when the crops come off. This will at least add some variety.
If you turn around in the tractor seat from where I took the last pic, you'll see the new creek crossing. The Redneck blind is under my finger. I added a mock scrape along the road today since it's right on a main travel route between bedding areas. That oak flat is one of the best I've ever found, which is partly why the hunting is as good as it is.
The wild card experiment took place on the gas line right-of-way. The plot screen looks great and is doing exactly what it was supposed to do. A deer filtering through the soon to be established clover plot, might find its way here on the way to bed. Now they can see the barn and it feels much more secluded.
The goal is to encapsulate the right-of-way with switchgrass, then plant a brassica blend in here each fall. Now that I know the plot screen will grow and I've been able to reclaim it from the brush invasion, I'm comfortable putting in the effort to make this a viable plot.
I've got more hinge cutting to do this winter, along with some other bedding improvement projects, so I'll share those then. For the guys working with smaller properties, you're not alone!
