Love to improve whitetail deer habitat almost as much (or more than) you love to hunt? This channel is dedicated to all things habitat. The goal is to put out content that helps you learn from my successes and failures to speed up your learning curve and save your time and money. Enjoy your slice of Creation!
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I've done this 3 times in the past few years on trees close to buildings. It was on trees that I could not read well. I'm not a faller by trade and often fail miserably with notches and wedges. This method is good peace of mind. 1 suggestion...there is no need to plunge a channel at the bottom. Just plunge at an angle where the cut is lower on the backside from the fall direction. The hinge lifts away from bottom as it swings.
@@executivestepsthat is a broadleaf herbicide mix under the roundup brand, but isn't roundup. When I spoke of roundup in this video, I am referring to the active ingredient glyphosate. The chemical I chose to use here is Stinger by name, clopyralid by active ingredient.
So when you say useless for horizontal cutting do you mean the wood gets too damaged if it hits the ground too hard or because it is too hard to make long horizontal cuts when the wood is right on the ground.
Aspen doesn’t respond well to hinge cutting, and it’s fragile if hitting the ground hard. That was the reason for doing this type of cut. And then it backfired! ;)
Yessir. When swapping a field from cool season sod grass to warm season natives breaking it up is necessary. I've tried no tilling switch into killed sod but that stuff just doesn't give up easy.
Not sure if you watched the entire video or read the captions, but this is a time when I did not want to just notch and drop. I wanted the stem hung up on the stump to provide more horizontal cover in the area for deer. The tongue and groove technique is something used when you don’t want or can’t have the stem hit the ground.
@@HabitatProLLC l can see how that would work for dropping it in a tight condition like around houses. We don't get fancy in the woods. Deer will make their own way though the woods. A lot of times the deer will start using our logging roads.
In this video I used Measure Map Pro, but that's just a quick app I use when all I need is acreage of a polygon. It allows the user to travel the boundary of a plot dropping a gps track, and then closing that polygon into an area shape to give acreage. Now, all I use on client properties is a Northwoods Mapping PDF map running in Avenza Maps app on my phone. It has that same capability and also allows me to draw and export the entire design.
This shelterbelt travel corridor is fantastic Steve! It's amazing to see how deer in big ag country come like moths to a flame when you build things their way rather than the way of the farmer. Now if I could only get North Dakota folks to lay off the mowing...
In the cam setup he chooses whatever the back is…so if it’s a 12AA cam, then chooses that. If it’s a 4D cam, then chooses that. With the 12AA back, he needs to use either no batteries in the camera or rechargeable batteries in the camera. With the 4D back, he needs to use alkaline batteries in the camera or no batteries in the camera.
Can you explain to me what mode 1 and mode 2? I may have mine set up incorrectly. 4 total cameras all of them have solar panels. 2/4 cameras shows it is not connected to external battery. Great video
I’ve never experienced any residual control with that herbicide. If your switch is young, less than four leaves, you will sting it pretty good. Even mature, switch turns maroon in some cases for some reason. There’s really no predicting which switch plants take it hard and which plants tolerate it well.
Looking to control some grassy weeds that are currently competing with my new switchgrass stand that i frost seeded this winter into last years food plot. Some of the new Switch is already 8"-10" tall with 5-7 leaves and overall seems to be doing very well. The only problem is that getting a mower into the area has been extremely difficult. Im contemplating doing a very light spraying of Drive XLR8 while being very cautious not to overlap while spraying, just to help knock back some of those quack grasses. Just wanted to know your thoughts on spraying with Quinclorac in the first year in mowing isnt an option?
While I cannot give you exact advice without seeing the plot with my boots in it, if the Switchgrass is definitely Switchgrass, and is as tall as you say it is, you can spray Quinclorac at maximum labeled rate with MSO for your unwanted grasses. You won’t get them all but if you let them get much bigger, you won’t have much luck at all. I wouldn’t waste your time with reduced rates of chemical. Good luck sir!
Dirt in this area of Michigan grows some of the best early succession I’ve seen in the Midwest. If I tried to do that here in MN, we’d have nothing but Thistle. 😂
@@HabitatProLLC I really don’t know what the problem is with the guy that commented before me four years ago. But I thought it was pretty straight up and easily understandable video. Continue on can’t wait to see more.
Great video. We have 13 wooded acres in Battle Creek, MI. We mostly hunt it during the Pre Rut as bucks are searching our property for does as well. We use The Habitat Hook for our improvements too!
Thank you Mark. It was really fun to see Nick’s small property. I’m excited for him on his new one. I’m sure the hook will be a major part of it! Good luck, this habitat season sir!
Yes it’s pretty good. As a consultant, I am the first to tell my clients that pretty much any bird hunting outside of the spring turkey season involves invading your best cover at prime deer hunting times. Thankfully, we have enough public land around that also has good habitat that many of my clients who are bird hunters as well are able to leave their deer hunting properties alone for birds. Just have to help them assess their priorities. Some guys go for it just because they value their pheasant dog or two weeks of duck and grouse hunts more than four days of rifle season. For other guys, we design good pheasant habitat on the boundaries and then they can pound that for birds, but save their interior stuff for the finicky five year old buck. I never tell anybody how they need to use their property. However, I’m always honest about what will happen if they make this choice or that choice.
I’m convinced you could plant this stuff about 10 different ways 😂 I just wish it worked better and survived well up here in the north. Lots of money down the drain.
Brand new food plots just carved out of the woods have no cover crop growing. It's bare dirt compacted by logging equipment. This area holds tons of turkeys as well, so there's no way a simple grain broadcast and cultipack over the top would have gotten that seed past those rats. Sometimes tillage is the best thing to do, and this was one of those times.
I was gonna subscribe but u left out the one thing i was watching this video for lol what ph does switchgrass like acidic or lower acidic should i add lime to help it grow better answer then ill subscribe thanks
Does realworld seed company use the Maple River rhizomes or is it a different strand of miscanthis? Thanks for the tips on how to get a trench started!!
I can’t say I know the source, nor do I have any idea if they’ve actually selected better miscanthus. I will have a video update on this as I have some growing in northern Minnesota at my home-The long and short of it is that it might be worth further consideration for those at northern latitudes who have disposable income. It is still a zone five plant however, so if anyone is telling you it does well at northern latitudes they are probably trying to sell it. At least half of mine did not make it. I will be trying more this season. Subscribe for updates!
Yes, this was a great timber harvest and drastically reduced the amount of maintenance we were doing trying to keep trails open after every wind came through and knocked down another 10 balsam fir.
I get a lot of comments from pro tree guys on that, but the logic doesn't pan out. If a saw is safe to use while hanging from a rope in a tree then it makes no sense to say it's unsafe with two feet on solid ground. This little saw is in my hands 95% of the time because it's got power and it doesn't suck the life out of my body carrying it around. I wouldn't suggest a novice do this cut, nor would I suggest a novice ever use a top handle saw.
No it’s not, round up is known to cause lasting health effects not limited to different kinds of cancers, cardiovascular issues, and endocrine disruption not to mention it kills all the good bacteria in the soil.
In the description you say not to attempt if you are a novice or weekend warrior, but what if someone is a weekend warrior but they consider themselves a professional lol. Just kidding. Great technique that I will work up to as I progress
Yes, there’s many things here that are not for the novice chainsaw person. I would say, even with a standard saw, not a top handle, most people shouldn’t even try a bore cut. Then you start screwing around with all these different angles you have to cut in there and it’s one of those things where you just know your strengths and stay in your lane. 😜 I don’t spend much time doing these cuts but every once in a while it’s fun to try again.
If you are no till and the competition is killed off you go right ahead. If you are broadcasting I would get things all killed off and spread after soil temps dip below 50 in October of so.
Watched this video quite few times. Good info for sure. My experience thus far… Summer 2021 leased to farmer, he planted corn. After harvest he had most of the field chopped up nicely with mostly dirt exposed. I flagged my switch grass and food plot areas off based on the habitat map I drew up. November 2021 watched weather closely. Had a big storm coming in 2 days with 1/2” of snow expected prior to the big storm. I broadcast 10lbs/acre soon as the 1/2” of snow had fallen. This way I could see my seed on the ground and not overlap. Next day the 1/2” melted putting the seed on the ground. 2 days go by and we got over 18” of snow and the cold set in for the winter. Wait…. March had good freeze and thaw days. March 31st ground was exposed and I hit it with simazine. Waited for spring green up…. In a way it never came. It was cool wet spring. I planned on hitting it with 2-4d and Gly, but never got the chance. No weeds were coming up at all. 2nd week in May and noticed grass sprigs coming up. I assumed it was switch. I was correct. Now June 12th 2022. I currently have a weed free 3 acres of switch grass. Ranging from 1” to 6” already. Will post end of year progress…
This is good feedback. Thanks for leaving it. Other folks can definitely take some of this and run with it on their properties. That’s what this channel is all about. Now with the new RC varieties, we also have new things to learn because it acts completely differently out of the gate than all the old unimproved varieties. It definitely deserves its own video.
Yes for the most part. My clay soil is many times too hard to get much penetration with the 1200 lbs but I love that one planter can do dang near everything!
When you say "your spray chart", what are you referring to? Is the chart always with you? Which nozzle do you have in the spray heads? Do you have a coarse nozzle because you're using a chemical whose label calls for it? Are you using a fine nozzle because you have no wind and want better coverage? Did you remove the screens because you're using a thick chemical like Simazine? This video is for those who want to know how exactly how much chemical they are putting down with the setup and solution in the tank, especially when it's 125% the cost it was last year. I also have videos on how to run a germination test on your seed so you know how much of the bag we have left over from last year will grow. If you're one who wants to trust a chart written by ??? person in an office then you are welcome to. Be sure you have some extra chemical along with you in case you run out ;)
@@HabitatProLLC each sprayer and Nigel’s have charts already calculated and it makes it very easy to precisely calculate spraying. Not trying to argue, but as a certified applicator we certainly don’t pace off our spray patterns and run out gallons to figure out how much to spray. No need to reinvent the wheel, the math is all done..
@@WC1978 it’s math only way they can be off is if you have one of the factors wrong. Right speed with right nozzle pressure equals gpm. No way around it not being accurate
Let us know how it turned out. Now that we have the new RC varieties it’s probably time for another “only video you’ll ever need” because that stuff acts completely different! 🤷♂️
