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The land I hunt has been getting select cut the last few months. What can I expect this fall for deer activity? Mostly soft wood (popple) low value timber taken out. Will they bed in their “normal spots” that have been cleared out? While walking through these areas I noticed fresh tracks from browsing tops left. This is lightly pressured private land. I’m optimistic the re-growth will be a draw for browse and bedding cover.
You will have a dynamite spot for next few years. There will be new bedding spots...right in middle of popple resprouts. Next year will be tough, but year 2 on on...dynamite. My neighbor did the sane thing and it is now unbelievably HOME for deer.
Exactly what Tree just said . A lot of my hunting is in 2nd & 3rd year growths .
With all that slash you could create travel corridors to direct deer past a stand. If you can find some places that are fairly clear of slash, you could frost seed clover. It will become shared out fairly quick but could be worth the $50 that 10 lbs of seed would cost. Or if you have equipment, go whole hog and put in a kill and/or food plot. Any food you put in should be in a spot easy to get to without alerting deer.
I personally would waste my time or energy with a food plot. Getting the sun on the forest floor is the best thing you can do. The amount of regeneration will amaze you especially if it is primarily aspen
I agree,,,, but I am lazy,,,,, I just had my land select cutted in 2013,,,,, the loggers took out all the popple, and popple only most of it was 25 years old...... They came in with one skidster, and used cables, to get fell trees, up from the hill area...... They leveled out every stump, did an amazing job..... Left all the hard woods and conifers, you would never know it was cut......................
You should see the growth in there now, WOW, besides the deer, I can sit and watch the flights of woodcock, pour in,,,,,,,, they love it
I won’t be able to do any food plots since I’m not the owner. They took a lot of trees out of certain areas and only a select few out of other areas. Creating funnels with tops is a great idea for a couple spots.
I was hoping it would’ve been logged off years ago, since a lot of the woods was mature growth with not a lot of understory. If it was mine, I’d be planting some spruce trees in those favored bedding areas that were cut. Really hoping to see some positive results and improved habitat in the next couple of years.
Camp2dukes mine is in the UP..... before the cut, I had a state forester come in from the UP, and UP resources, it is available for free,,,, than I got another opinion from a private forester,,,,,,,,,,,,, and I had to find a logger, that does select cutting, because it is more work, and he gets a bigger cut, because of it.......................
Popple is like a weed, after it gets at the right age, it just rots, look at our own NF..... The state of MI is cutting popple all the time, to create young growth, which is what the animals need for the most part.......................
Popple is diminishing in WI for reasons Camp mentions. Clear-cutting is frowned upon by the public,, reason it is normally done "out of sight" from roadways.
Oak too needs a well-timed clear cut. Look at the population of oak on private property. It too is diminishing.
There is a lot to forest management. Forest owners without knowledge are easy targets for unscrupulous loggers. Never agree to a cut without knowledge or a consultant forester. The consultant will make you more money even after you pay them, plus, your Woods won't be ruined.
The net yield of not managing is what you see in many areas of WI. Overgrown nothing! Poor inventory, poor age class, and many areas, chocked full of exotic invasives. The future is not pretty.
My advice is to become a sponge and learn. Be active in management. Don't be afraid to harvest trees. Manage for the best, remove the poor form and "crap". If you don't know...ask. MFL management plans are a great start. As far as learning, join WI Woodland Owners Ass'n, a group who you can learn from and garner assistance.
Managing your woodlands will make wildlife habitat perpetual. If you can't figure out why the "Saddle" stand doesn't produce deer sightings like it used to, then you are a candidate to learn forest management. Build it and they will come.
A properly managed Woodland is very easy to spot. It is unfortunate that you don't see well-managed forests very often. Like a fine whiskey, forests take time to mature. All it takes is one bad cut to ruin the woods for a century or more.
Situation appropriate thinning/harvests are very necessary to allow for maxiimum growth rates for quality timber. Without sunlight, the forest floor becomes devoid. Study the pictures next post. In one case, there is overstocking in an even-aged stand. The other, trees were removed to allow more sunlight penetration to increase diameter of remaining hardwoods. This open area will act like a seedbed for shade-tolerant species like Sugar Maple to grow. In the end, it is transitioning to an uneven-aged stand. Deer will start utilizing the understory when it thickens up. But for now, it is transitional.
Look at photo of the red pine boughs. There is no need for food plots. Deer have everything they need in a forest.
Pre-thinning
Pre-thinning
Post-thinning
Post-thinning
Deer food plot
Deer food plot
You are looking at an amazing improvement to whitetail habitat! Cousin of mine clear cut about 15 acres of 8"+ diameter poplar woods, and after a year or two of regrowth, the deer numbers easily tripled on his piece, along with an increase in mature buck sightings. I have two on my wall that I credit to that clear cut. His clear cut is now roughly 15 years old, its usefulness for deer is starting to diminish as it opens up again.
One piece of advice that I can give that we noticed helped. If its sporadically cut in areas you may be ok, but if there is a larger chunk, I would say 1/2-3/4 acre plus, cut a route through it that you can maintain once a year. Poplar regrowth with adequate sun in the first few years is so incredibly thick (lucky to see 5 yards into it even without leaves) that deer will not even travel through it unless they are forced to, especially a buck with some wide antlers. One well-placed trail through the center offers more bedding opportunities. Be strategic in your route placement, they will undoubtedly use it!
Young poplar will also provide a great deal of early forage.
I am very excited for the same result on our property. We are having roughly 14 acres of very open poplar cut this upcoming winter. That combined with the 7000 pines planted to help add cover to 17 acres of former ag field, has me very optimistic for the next 10 years
well I have no idea what you are talking about,,,, they took out all the mature popple, and I have new growth, coming up all over the place..... the MI grouse mgt spots, are also having lots of young growth.....
