Developing Good Bedding Cover?
Whitetail Deer
What can a guy plant for bedding cover that will grow fast and provide a year round thick bedding cover. I was thinking of tall grasses like they plant in CRP fields but does anyone have ideas on something else?
Switchgrass, corn, or using a chainsaw to cut trees down and create thickets
Switchgrass!!!!!!!! It has a high protein level and gives great cover. Bucks like to use it also.
Big bluestem mixed with Indian clump grass. 6-7 feet in the right soil conditions and deer love it. Not a cheap source.
The problem with some of the grass is that it gets knocked down in heavy snow. I do think it is good though, when balanced with TSI, lots of tree tops, cedars and heavy, brushy undergrowth. I feel a good bedding area is a place where you can't see any farther than about 10 yards. The kind of stuff you can't walk through without getting beat up.
Guy here in Michigan enrolled his land in a CRP program. The fields look awesome(6ft tall grasses), but I dont think the deer bed in it. The field has been established for several years. He has a food plot inside of it(1 acre plot in 20 acres of grasses). He says deer will just pop out of the grass and be in the food plot. He thinks they are coming from other areas and using the grass as a travel coridor to get to the plot. Something to note, this stuff is super thick. According to a food plot expert in our area, most CRP programs over seed when planting. You want the grass to grow in clumps, so theres natural paths for all animals, deer included to walk thru. My friend said theres a narrow strip they must not have seeded, and the deer use it like a highway. One of the grasses the food plot expert recomends is Cave in Rock. This is a fast growing grass that gets real tall. If I had my choice of a field full of 8ft tall scrub brush or that same field with tree's that I could see thru, I would choose the brush field. Make the deer feel secure, they will stick around! Ken
I agree with Bake, use Native Grass a mixture-make sure to throw in some broomsedge bluestem as this remains upright throughout winter and will provide some structure to support the taller varieties-big blue, indian, switch etc.. I don't agree with the deer not bedding in it. Deer like thick NG and will bed and does will fawn in it. More open NG with some forbs will be used by deer and birds alike including quail and turkey. They need more open NG to bug and get weed seed from and thicker areas for nesting.
TSI, chain saw your less productive trees and non-valuable timber-I cut hickories, hedge, locust etc. Let nature take over or burn the woods after this. Plenty of seeds in the soil that will sprout if you open the canopy and allow sun to hit the ground.
Along your woods edge in a start and stop fasion-spray Round-Up out about 50' and then hinge cut trees and lean them over. Let nature take it's course. This creates living brush piles and encourages birds to perch and drop seeds onto the ground.
I've done all of this and continue every year. First year made a difference, second year I had tremendous results with game variety and numbers. Good luck.
I have a 1 acre field next to my 3 acre woodlot I'm going to experiment with this year. I'm going to use a mixture of fast growing pines with bluestem & other clump grasses to create bedding and use the worst thing I could find autumn olive to thicken 1 acre of the existing woodlot. Hopefully in 3 years it will hold deer instead of them just passing thru. I plan on incorporating a foodplot in with the pines & tall grass.
Planting suggestions for switchgrass? How many acres do you need to be effective? I could plant about two that is now in mostly brohm grass and weeds. Is it advisable to mix different varieties such as cave in rock and big bluestem? Do you plant deep or broadcast? Thanks for any tips.
In my area fast growing short pine trees really attract deer. The pines provide great cover and on windy days the deer head to the pines. You will lose some to buck rubs though.
bill, 2 acres is great. Eliminate the current vegetation with herbicide. Disk and wait a month. Kill again. Plant a mixture of NGs as different soil types will work better for some. After disking again, drag &cultipack the soil, broadcast the seed and cultipack again.
Because of the light, fluffy seed, broadcasting is more difficult than drilling. Use a 3 point fertilizer spreader, the cyclone type with the spinning agitator, and you will have good results.
Thanks LW. Should I fertilize this field? It has been dormant for 15 years?
It is always recommended to get a soil sample; however NWSG do well in less than ideal conditions and that is why they were "native" across much of America. For only 2 acres, I would do it and fertilize because it won't be that expensive and it will give you a jump start. If it was completely dormant, not hayed, but occasionally cut and the grass left there, you should be OK the way it is.
Be patient with your plantings. You will be lucky to see any above ground growth the first year as it will be establishing a deep root system. Takes at least 3 years to get established. QDMA has a great book, but you'll have to call and ask for it. 'Native Warm Season Grasses' from the folks at the University of TN. Everything you need to know, and more!
Has anyone experience with planting switch grass? Do you plant in the spring, does it come up quickly? Can I expect tall grasses by mid-summer? Is it relatively inexpensive to plant?
