Great video, I've spent at least 5 full days on my 23 acres the last couple months cutting trees. I always remember what you said, spend 20% of the time doing 80% of the work. Don't waste time making specific beds, just make the correct habitat and they will use it.
Jeff. Enjoy watching your channel and have learned lots from it. Gotta say though, you can absolutely get deer to bed in certain spots! Bring some after Christmas trees and put them in a crp field in strategic spots or a dry marsh. ( wink).
It’s crazy that you consider your property a 2-3 out of 10. (It already clearly is producing!👍) I’m super interested in the continuing progress that builds it up to its full potential. Thanks for all this insight and advice.
I’ve been hesitant to go in the woods and starting cutting since it’s not reversible (at least short term) as many of the other habitat improvements are. This video helps a lot.
Prune those wild apple trees as it looks like they need some attention in the background. I have been pruning about 20 wild trees over the past 4 years. Its made a huge difference. The deer , rabbits etc appreciate it. The deer comeback and dig through the snow for them.
Oh definitely!! One of the many projects for this year. Not a determination of overall success tho, so plugging the lowest holes in the bucket on this land first and then moving towards the top of the bucket.
In south East Ga. it takes about three years for underbrush outgrow your deer, it gets thick and high. Nothing but stems at ground and canopy above deer. Constant recutting, spraying by the fourth year deer have moved out! It’s nice seeing the first cutting ,can you show what areas look like three,four years out! Maybe in north the undergrowth is not a problem
Great info. Been pushing out openings for food plots with tractor for turkey and deer. Gonna work on bedding for deer next days off tree order comes in Thursday! Thanks for more great info!
Hi Jeff, love this video and the information involving aspen cuttings/junk wood. I get tired listening to "pros" talk about getting rid of this junk timber and only looking at properties with large stands of oaks.
Really good and educational video! Is it ok to remove the larger trees from the area for firewood or is it better for the deer for them to lay on ground?
Hello. I have property in SW Georgia. I would love to know which species of flora are the southern equivalent of the ones you explain in your videos. Most of the names you mentioned are not of the south. Any chance you could help with cross-referencing? I don't have any high-quality bedding areas, and I need to get that ball rolling. Thanks in advance, Jeff!
Hi I have a question ? I get the hinge cutting at first. After two or three years those trees die off or so the sprouts they send up are tall and a tangle. So what then.? Cut up the mess or leave it and start again down the woods?
Great information Jeff! I’m having my ten acres of poplars harvested this spring. There’s a lot (probably 50%) of very large mature poplars and the rest are medium sized (4-8 inches in diameter) that I will cut pockets out of completely. My question is should I cut them off flush with the ground or leave them up a few feet for some cover until the new sprouts come up?
My dad and I do landscaping together and within the last few months every time I see a tree with tons of chutes sticking up I ask what it is and then I follow up with, I wonder if deer would eat those chutes. Bradford pear puts off TONS of chutes and it's very soft wood, susceptible to wind damage but I bet deer would tear it up
Great video. Thanks for the practical, detailed how to on the ground style video. You mentioned planting the red cedars 4’ apart, was that the clusters of cedar or each cedar 4’ apart within each cluster?
Maybe a new guy dumb question but do do you need do anything with the leaf litter to improve any regeneration? Help the acorns or other seeds to start? Thanks again for all the information you provide.
Hi Garrett you do not...good question! You will get either suckering from the root system or stumps...also seeds have a way to get into or onto the soil. The most important factor is sunlight
I have been using lopping shears to cut about 50 percent of 1 to 1.5 inch dbh trees in my bedding areas to a height of about 30 inches to put even more browse at deer level. Studies at Mississippi State show that tree stump sprouts are concentrated with nutrients. Have you tried this?
Hi Virgil...I rarely cut anything that small because there are so many larger trees to cut in order from largest to smallest first. If sun doesn't get to the small stuff because large canooybis removed then the cut small diameter trees die. They do get nutrients from the soil thru stump sprouts! The study is a little late to the party on that one tho 😊 that's the problem with deer science...if folks wait for the studies they will be decades behind acrual in the field experience. Unfortunately tho in regards to browse, without quality food plots on private land the cuttings are all for not. They do represent feedings 1 and 2 in bedding areas tho....to compliment the 3rd feeding of the day in food plots. Basically you can't have one without the other.
How close to an occupied house will deer bed? I know every situation is different; but could you maybe generalize some common situations and how it correlates to daylight movement?
Great video thank you for all the useful information that you provide. Just have one question for you. When making a travel corridor would I be better to just open up the deer trails that already exist rather then trying to make a new trail?
Just curious do thermals not mess with you at all in this set up? It seems your access is on the ridge top and deer are bedding down hill from the food plot. So if you hunt in the evening with it being a food source do thermals carry your scent down the hill at all?
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 got ya thanks for the answer. I appreciate some of your forestry comments I am a consultant forester in md and loggers are never a fan of my sales because I leave as many high quality oaks as I can for future stock creation and forage for wildlife, as long as I think they will survive till the next time the area is cut. My harvests end up looking like a large scale TSI with giving some quality trees here and there to make the logger happy. It’s a fine line for sure but people also don’t understand how hard it is to be a logger
Hi Gary! Never a reason to burn these areas, at all. Burning promotes herbaceous growth or conifer growth in conifer areas. Even when you burn in pine areas you have to be careful because it comes back in too thick for pines and you have to go in and spot remove conifer after. The hardwood regen is key...and you don't want to for hardwood regen! Herbaceous growth is of no value after Sept in the northern 1/3rd of the country, in the woods. Instead, deer live by the amount of hardwood regen, briar or shrub tips that the habitat has. Unfortunately fire is over prescribed because it's a cool thing to do by high paid fire experts. It has its place, but not as often as it is used. For example we have 18 acres of switchgrass in 2 states and I would definitely use fire if needed. But since 2014....no fire has been needed yet, in any way.
Thanks for the timely response. We are trying to create a savannah type habitat on our farm in Western Ky. Its mainly White oak that was timbered several times in the last 25 years. There was a ton of low quality browse and low deer numbers for most of the year. We have done TSI and opened up around 25 acres for food. We are now working on edge feathering and creating high quality bedding. The burning we have done has girdled alot of unwanted growth and stimulated new, more desirable and palatable forage. We would enjoy having you come tour our farm and help us take it to another level. @@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 thanks Jeff! Both of my beautiful parents died from covid a week apart which was a real kick in the nads and I missed the 3rd week of October until right before gun, dad passed on November 4th mom on the 11th. They are in a better place! Guess that’s one way to advance bucks to the next age class huh😂 Appreciate all your help!
I went from ten tanks per day to zero if I can get someone else to do it. Forestry tip: With aspen, we usually cut ALL of the trees so it has no choice but to root sucker to stay alive.
Definitely cut all of them...in pockets. I LOVE when someone else can cut, Steve! I have more to cut to the side in that area...spreading out my efforts right now tho. Have a goal of 15 tanks spread evenly around the land, complimenting the inside of every food plot and then a few more in key spots
would you consider an oak that has a 30+ inch base a mass producer or something that is holding back the younger age class trees. I have a handful on my property and the trees around it seem to grow differently to try to get sunlight.
It's doing both. You could cut it down and loose your mast production. You could do nothing. Or you could cut down all the other trees to give the oak more resources. If the smaller ones are oak, I'd leave a couple to grow and replace the big one when it dies.
@@Scofari its family land and im really trying to convince them that a timber harvest would really help the health of the woods but they are so weary about the "mess" when i think a mess is easier to clean up than cutting whole trees by ourselves lol
Hi Jeff, Quick Question. You say if you spook a mature buck on a small parcel he is gone for weeks to months. Why wont he come back to the low pressure small parcel from one mistake when you see the hunting public guys bump mature bucks and then kill them in the same spot a day or two later?
Hi John! That is very, very rare they do that and on public land hotspots are often extremely limited. Also...not often the best buck, or oldest bucks in the area. For private land where deer have choices and you are after target bucks, your game has to be at a much, much higher level to find consistent success. Think of hunting public land as a sprint in some cases. Bump deer, burn out spots and then move to the next state. Consitent success over a decade or more on private takes a completely different skill set. I've shot close to 30 bucks on public land in OH, MI and PA and even then I hunt extremely careful with the more the long fame in site. Probably cause I'm lazy too and couldn't keep up with Zach or Jake or Ted or Greg or Aaron 😊 Completely different hunting approach for the short game on public vs the long game on private...
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 thank you for the detailed response! I know you don’t have a lotta time to answer RU-vid questions so I really appreciate that answer!
@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 thanks Jeff, just finished watching the video and the visuals, especially the aerial view were very helpful. What’re you doing the rest of the way down the hill since yo just made the bedding areas up top near the food?
Im thinking about signing up for your online class. I tried a different online service a couple of years ago but, was disappointed. Without boots on the ground its hard to see the lay of the land using mapguest. I got a canned plan, access the outside and hunt inwards. Food plots were in the swamp and the access trails were put thru wetland that i couldnt make. Sent an email to you guys to see about having onsite visit but, didn't get an answer back. I know you must be busy with a lot of hunters wanting the service. Wish your online class would have started a year sooner. How is your online service different from the one i used? Really want to enroll, just a little hesitant because if past experience.
Again why switch grass when northwoods whitetail has a specific blend decaited to screening and it's about a 3rd of the price of switchgrass. This will be the 5th or 6th time I've tried to reach out to you with no response. Not sure if ur just busy or hate denny
50 lb will give you a lot of screening in switchgrass. Probably 6 acres. You wanna prep the ground every year for that big of a area and plant a annual plot screen and spend a third of the cost every year? Or spend the money and have a good screen for ten years with switchgrass which will be much cheaper in the end and prep the ground once or twice.
No I get your point totally I'm just saying I'm a roofer average person and there's no way I could drop 700 dollars on 1 bag of seed the cost of this stuff is unreal for the reg guy like myself who does not have deep pockets.
Ha, I couldn't find my old crusty ones! Needed a new helmet too...bothered me so much I scratched it up in the mud and dirt 😁 Then I found my two old helmets. Oh well...moving sucks sometimes!
Hey brother I’m sorry I haven’t hollered in awhile my health has been bad still is. I had shoulder surgery last May now I’ve got to get surgery on my right hand April the 5th. My knuckle is freezing up in my little finger joint and hurting so bad. Turkey season opens here this coming Saturday I’ll be able to shoot though I will shoot no matter what LORD WILLING AMEN 🙏. My 11 year old nephew is going with me I’ve got to get him a great shot on a turkey. I’d rather see a kid take a animal than myself. I’ve been blessed with a lot of deer and turkey in my lifetime I’m satisfied if I don’t take a turkey or deer long as he does. That’s what matters to me anymore. He had a great deer season last season. He limited out in bucks this last deer season and took a doe to with my 7mm-08. He won’t give it back lollllllllllllll but when he gets older I’m giving it to him. I got my 4 year old niece a single shot Rossi chambered in 243. She’s getting ready to hunt to.
