We planted many oaks on our land and the community property as well as a 2/3 acre food plot (currently clover) that backs up to the creek on the north end of our property, the house being at the south end with a small pole barn half way down the property. Two years ago I planted a clover plot on the community ground next to the lake, and frost seeded white clover on about 1 mile of the 5 miles of horse trails that run through the woods.
The wildlife observed including deer and turkey has increased significantly, with the neighborhood and my immediate neighbors being treated to watching 3 fawns and their moms on a regular basis. This has been such fun that Robin is working with me to take 1/2 of our property and turn it into a wildlife sanctuary. We are letting the creek vegetation grow back naturally and will set it back every few years or so with a brush hog. The clover plot will be planted each year but next to it we have just cleared several cedars and sprayed non-selective herbicide on her once beautiful lawn. This area will be planted in native grasses with a short variety next to our lawn and taller varieties next to the food plot. The cedars were removed to increase sunlight available to the NG. We will keep the oaks trimmed up for the same purpose and create an oak savannah as cover. This habitat should be able to keep deer as one doe and her two fawns are bedding along the creek, and in fact some have been born there for the last 3 years. I also had turkeys hatch there last year.
This is unbelievable as there are houses on every 3-10 acres. I believe this is the future of conservation-private LOs creating additional habitat even in small areas. Done properly to pay attention to fragmentation, I believe this will be successful. What an education for our neighbor's kids who have all moved here from the city. I wanted to share some pictures so you can get a feel for the property including the common areas. My intentions are to keep you updated if there is an interest. The grass is dying where I sprayed and I will install a simple fence to make a distinct separation from our yard to the sanctuary. I can not plant the NG until next year, but will disk and plant something this fall just to start working with the ground.
Simply put, we are excited about doing this and I needed to share it with you. Already neighbors are asking questions and seem interested in at least the possibilities. Yes, there will be downsides like more coons, but the NG will have plenty of forbs planted to attract more birds and butterflys etc.
I'll try to explain each picture to follow and update regulary. Thanks.
This needs to stay on the first page too
Bake
Casey
Thank you!
Casey,
Update-
The grass sprayed last Monday, a week ago, is completely dead. The remaining area sprayed Sunday is on the way. I did it in 2 steps as I was experimenting with different chemicals, both non-selective herbicide at 1.5%. I also set the first post tonight for the split rail fence. I will keep this updated with pictures as we progress.
We are naming it the FRAEBIN Wildlife Sanctuary which stands for Frank & Robin. There is a growing interest in the neighborhood that hopefully will turn into a huge benefit for the wildlife and the environment.
Thanks.
This first picture is just starting to set the posts after the holes were augered with the tractor.
Next to the fence will be shorter varieties-little blue, side oats gramma and some broomsedge for winter structure to keep the grasses more upright.
From this area to the food plot I will plant taller varieties-big blue, switch, indian and a small amount of little blue. All of the grasses will have a custom blend of forbs.
One small area seems to hold more moisture and I may plant this in eastern gamma, but I'll wait and see.
My wife and I are both getting very excited about the potential for this!
The fun stuff is left-disking and planting. I will keep you posted on this as well. Thanks.
Then we got to talking about hunting, fishing, etc. and he said they do have an outdoor living section. And I thought, "That guy from bowsite should write a habitat management article and submit it."
Seriously, I think you would reach a lot of people and pass on some good education if you wrote a series of articles on your urban habitat management project. Think about it. PM me if you want more info.
Bake
The final step was to culti-pack which is what I am doing in the picture. I also burned the freshly cut cedars, and being that it hit nearly 100 on the old thermometer today, I'm sitting here with a tall glass of lemonade and Absolute Citron. I will attach a picture when it comes, or doesn't come up so you can all laugh (or cry if you've been there!). Thanks.
Stan-
I absolutely think hunters need to emphasize this aspect more than we do with the general public. There are so many on this site that perform habitat work, I am convinced that all wildlife would suffer if it were not for the hunter/conservationists.
I reply with "Blue in the field and Green in my wallet!"
I think this is a simple project that most property owners could use to boost their food production and increase the attractiveness of their properties. Most properties I have looked at used for recreational hunting have vehicle paths on them. This is worth a try, and obviously results will vary based on soil conditions, i.e. soil profiles, ph levels, traffic frequency etc...
Good luck!
If this is your cup of tea, one does not need a huge block of land to benefit wildlife and/or kill a few critters.
Thanks. Nobody will be hunting this actually. I'm an eternal optimist, and I think the value of projects like this lie mostly with educating the public, especially that 80% of the public that does not hunt.
Obviously though you are correct in that you can have a "good" and "involved" hunt by undertaking management on smaller parcels. With leasing and the challenges that many city hunters face, looking for that golden parcel may be a little easier than some folks currently believe.
Thanks again.
Hopefully this information opens the mind to the fact that an individual doesn't need an abundance of land to have a quality outdoor experience. Think what even a small hunting parcel can be transformed into with a little work!
Great job. Your work just proves that you don't have to have large acreages to provide quality wildlife habitat. I'm sure the QDMA magazine is always looking for good articles, maybe you should talk to them and submit your pictures. I know you determined that your oaks were white oaks, don't the burr oaks take 20-25 years to produce nuts? I have some burr oaks on my property and they seem to be the lowest preference for deer but a high preference for squirrels.
Danny Cary Pres. Green Country OK Branch of QDMA
Thank you.
Yes, my oaks are mainly whites, but I did plant some Burrs (white family also). I am amazed that the whites have already started to produce, but I do fertilize 2X per year and water for the first 3 years.
I have raved about QDMA on many threads here, even very recently. However, I was slightly disappointed in them this year. A couple of years ago I contacted my area's representative and asked if I could start a local chapter. They were not interested at that time, but this year another individual(s) were given permission to start a chapter. I was asked to participate, though I declined. The person sending me an invitation, and wanting to start the chapter is very nice, but IMO lacked any measureable experience. The magazine and other material available from them is first rate, but still, this episode has caused me to reconsider my involvement. I'm not so sure I believe in Quality Deer Management as much as I believe in Quality Habitat Management. I may also be paranoid, but if you look at when I first initiated this thread, I had never heard of the term "Micro Habitat" before that. I was kind of proud of it actually. I noticed a column in their most recent monthly magazine used these words. Maybe I wasn't as original as I thought, so I probably have little to add that would be ground breaking for them.
Thanks again.
I will spray a non-selective herbicide as soon as things are green enough to kill off, and then plant the corn on the lower half and the WSNG on the upper half. I will probably use a drag harrow to smooth the soil and will not disc again as the soil has been cut very deep. I will cultipack then drill the corn in and broadcast the WSNG, and cultipack the WSNG again. I will plant some rye grain with the WSNG for soil stabilization and will put that seed down right before I drag the soil. I'll keep you posted.
Do you take multiple samples of the soil to determine proper pH? I'm guessing that different plants require different soil pH - will the proper pH range information be supplied along with the seed?
Adding oak trees to the plot is great for attracting more wildlife, but aren't you creating a future plot with shade? Or is that part and parcel of eventually having a mature area with less forb/crop and a bit more cover? iowaPete
Pete, clover in your state can be planted spring or fall, but I have had my best luck in the fall. Clover grows more underneath the ground first, so I have had better luck with weed and grass control by planting in the fall and allowing the clover to get established. If planted in the spring, you still have plenty of time, go to Imperial Whitetail's website and they will show spring and fall planting dates by geographic area. If you get a dry summer, the clover can suffer as a spring planting has not usually allowed enough time to get the clover established, thus allowing invasive plants an opportunity to come in. With clover, the closer to nuetral (7) on the ph scale the better. Anything above 6 with proper fertilizer will work, but getting it over 6.5 seems to enhance the performance and make it taste better to the deer IMO. To get a soil sample, take at least 8-10 core samples from about 4" down, mix them together and send some of this mixture in for a test. If planting for a fall attractant, I would plant this spring and just frost seed next winter. If planting in the fall and wanting to use it for hunting, plant oats or wheat or rye along with it as the clover will not be tall enough usually for the deer to feed.
Tom, 5 years only, but I fertilizer spring and fall and kept them watered for the first 3 years. They also come from good stock. Obviously they are not producing loads of mast, but enough that the deer did eat them as they came in to munch on the clover.
GBTG, The deer never hit my turnips, they ate the oats and hit the tops of the turnips just a little bit. They never touched the bulbs. I assume there is plenty of food in this area since they came to the plot and didn't eat any. Brassicas certainly live up to their reputation of hit or miss. I have a client within 10 miles of this plot who swears by them, go figure!
I forgot to add about the trees and shade. Yes, I am trying to creat an oak savannah, not just a field of prairie grass. Even quail will benefit from the shade. I will keep the trees trimmed up very high, and as they mature I will begin to eliminate some of them. Hopefully I will live long enough. To me, this will be much prettier than just NG. My small company is closing down and I have sold the idea of habitat management to a large commercial nursery that I have worked with the last 8 years. I always felt this type of work would complement the kind of services and products that a commercial nursery provides, specifically to their clients that own 40-80 acre hobby farms and grow tired of mowing cool season grasses. I will be working with them and it is interesting to see personal preferences. Some of these folks want a straight out prairie, and some like the savannah effect. I guess it is what visually pleases an individual. On my plot, there are no tall trees on the south side of this area, so it receives full sun exposure for most of the day. If I keep the trees trimmed up it should be no problem having a thick stand of NG with some open areas directly under the trees-which should be good actually. Thanks.
I've taken a similar task to heart with my 35 acre farm. I'm learning as I go. I plan on planting a 1-2 acre mixture of clump grass & switch grass along with numerous fruiting trees (persimmon,apple & paw paw). I recently had a friend remove what I considered excess hickory trees to provide openings for cover & open some of the smaller white oaks. I'm working with a 3 acre wood lot trying to improve it as bedding cover.
Do you think autumn olive planted as a screen & bedding cover in an area where I can control its growth is a bad idea? The neighboring farms get hunted hard and I'd like to provide cover for the deer to stay instead of just running through. I'm digging 2 ponds for a constant water source & plan on planting white clover on the trails as you noted above. I'm hoping within the next 5 years its a wildlife haven like yours.Weed control seems to be my biggest problem.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Great thread by the way.
Thanks! First, I have no experience with autumn olive. I would suggest that you contact a PA biologist for their feedback on it, and then let us know please.
I guess I'm different than most about the weeds. Deer, and even turkey needs these. Forbs are one of a deer's preferred food sources, and the seeds from weeds really help the turks, and if you have quail in PA?
I think a lot of folks I have worked with want a nice, neat looking farm. The truth of the matter IMO, is an overgrown, weedy, brushy place is what works best. The TSI and eliminating the hickories is great. The water sources are wonderful also. Opening up the canopy will surprise you how quickly the native vegetation will fill in and provide cover once the sunlight reaches the ground. My cuttings from last winter were very productive in holding turkey and quail, and the deer bedded right up against the downed timber. You are on the right track and thanks for helping nature!
Use some protection with your new fruit trees. Contact plantra.com and set up an account to receive a code that allows you to have a 10% discount. It is worth it, good stuff.
I think you will be amazed at how much the deer will visit and even stay on your place if you make it so much more attractive than surrounding properties. Hunt with caution and try to set aside even a few acres in the center as a sanctuary. Good luck!
The native grasses will be planted with mixtures that will stair step the plants from shorter varieties near the fence to taller varieties along the food plot. The front 1/3 will have aldous little bluestem, el reno sideoats grama, bad river blue grama, and texoka buffalo grass. The back 1/3 will have kjjra kaw big bluestem and osage indian grass with some blackwell switchgrass on both the middle 1/3 and back 1/3. The entire area will be planted will canada wildrye and an assortment of wild flowers including purple prairie clover, illinois bundleflower, maximillian sunflower and partridge pea.
The corn variety is peaches and creame.
I can't wait to get this in the ground. Lord, please quit the rain for 1 week!
The area that will be planted in WSNG was sprayed with non-selective herbicide on Friday. I will drag this to scratch the surface. The soil crumbles so it does not need to be tilled again. I will cultipack, seed and cultipack once more. I hope to get both of these done this week, but we are expecting more rain.
The deer are really hitting the lick frequently, which is right off the tilled area along the creek. I need to get a camera up as there is a good size print there as well as several normal to small size ones.
At this point I have lost hope of planting corn in the nicely tilled area in the last picture. This soil is so wet it will not support the weight of a tractor with drill for at least a week to ten days, and we are expecting rain 2-3 times this week alone. I will probably go with beans or milo, I have not decided yet.
I'm in the same boat as you. Daily rain with standing water everwhere I couldn't get into a field if I had to.I plowed the one field but before I could get a disc in there it rained heavily & hasn't stopped.
I did however get my trees planted persimmon,apple & cherry. I've got a bag of switch grass that needs planted but may have missed that window & may have to plant in the fall.
The tree cutting I had done this winter has really increased deer activity with lots of tracks & frequent sightings. I feel like I made the right decisions removing as many trees as I did. I've found several beds near the brush piles I've created & they are really browsing the tops that were left.
I need to take pics & post here. I'm excited for the seasons to come and think it will only get better from here.
Post away please! I don't believe you missed the window for switch grass in PA. I will plant here up through the end of May for WSNG and have good luck. Maybe there is not enough time in PA before your first hard freezes? Ask your local game biologist.
Sounds like you are making great progress. It is amazing how quickly results are observed. Wildlife adapts fast, and makes you realize they know what is going on in their areas.
Even though the corn looks terrible because of all of the invasive plants, the entire plot is attracting wildlife like crazy. Tons of rabbits and song birds with a lot of deer tracks. I will mow the corn down after picking anything that might be worthy, and then spray non-select herbicide sometime at the end of August. I will soil test, work the ground and plant a combination of clover/oats with a hint of chicory. This should be pretty good for next year if the WSNG keeps coming on. I'll keep praying and try to keep you updated with anything noticeable.
Last week we had a very windy thunderstorm, and it up-rooted a 30' tall Wild Cherry tree. I took this opportunity to cut it down and 4 other trees leaving only oaks and 2 Redbuds in the WSNG area. I will trim the oaks up this fall after the nutrients have moved back into their root systems. I must make sure I allow enough sunlight to penetrate for the WSNG. BTW, all of the oaks in the plot have tiny acorns on them!
I had tried 2 previous years by conventional methods with poor stands.
Where I got good soil contact the clover (ladino) is exceptional.
I mowed at 10 inches this week and put out 0-20-20 as the clover had inoculate when I broadcasted it.
Thanks for the inspiration
The oats/wheat combination is for a cover crop to get the clover started and I want to see what effect each has on the density of the clover next summer.
Bowfreak,
Frost seeding only works with smaller seed like clovers/chicory, at least in my area. Smaller seed does not need to be covered but more than 1/8-1/4", and the freezing/thawing action of early spring/late winter will usually accomplish this.
Corn size seed needs to be covered 1-1.5". I would think throwing corn seed on the ground would attract not only turkeys, but deer, coons, skunks etc.
I have never had turkey completely destroy a field; however, last year as I was planting milo, I had turkey in the field eating the grain I just planted. They did not seem to get enough to reduce the crop, so you must have a serious amount of turks!
Clover/chicory seed is probably too small for turkeys; however, smaller songbirds and dove for example seem to work the fields I just planted and also pull some shoots just coming up. But, in a recently turned field, they may also be feeding on worms, grubs etc that get worked to the surface and may not be after our seed at all. At least so far I have not had a problem with any birds reducing the seed or shoots enough to cause a noticeable reduction.
On corn fields, as with any crop, if they are too small in size then my experience has been coons, skunks etc. will destroy them-either eating all of the grain before you can get to it, or eating the shoots as they start coming up.
I'm not sure what is more fun the habitat development or the hunting...
I just saw this when I tried to find the thread. Yes, I will update it, thanks for asking. Robin and I just burned the NG last evening and had a good hot fire as the second year growth provided lots of fuel.
I'll pull some pictures over the weekend. Thanks.
Speaking of neighbors, one had me plant a patch for him last year and my immediate neighbor removed some cedar trees so his family could observe the sanctuary while sitting in their enclosed porch. The wildlife is really using the place!
I am convinced habitat management works, even on small properties. The number of deer using the plot behind our home is unreal, and we saw that big buck above and one bigger during daylight hours in the rut. Draw the does, and you'll draw the bucks. The picture above is from our farm this year, that I was blessed to have harvested. The picture below is from a buck in KS on another property we apply QDM principles to. I know most of this is luck, but to have harvested such a unique, once in a lifetime trophy on my farm, please don't laugh, but the Good Lord allowed it to happen. I give Him full credit. This is MO, and we all know you can not keep a buck on that small of a piece of land; however, we found his normal side shed in February on a late season food plot. I am convinced that by keeping your property just a little more attractive to wildlife than surrounding properties you will keep nice bucks using your land as part of their core area.
Thanks again!
The oaks all appear, so far, to be unharmed from the fire. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
The redbuds are popping and you just have to love spring. We could hear a turkey gobbling over by the lake. It doesn't get any better than that IMO.
The clover is looking better, but lots of weeds in it.
NG management philosophies vary; however, I am inclined to burn this NG every year for the first 10 years as some suggest. I may burn every year just because it cleans up the area and makes it more presentable to our neighbors. Repeated burns may have some detrimental effect on the trees and I'll keep you posted. We'll learn together!
Here's a couple of pictures. The deer are still only using the plot at night, due probably to my dogs being out late with me, but also after the burn it must look less secure to them. Notice the one picture has 5 does in it. The other is a picture of the buck we have had for a few years with the weird rack, at least I believe. Look at his left rear leg, it looks like an old injury.
Here is a picture of the NG today. It is really doing well, and coming in nicely for the third growing season. I do not see as many forbs as in the past, so it may not be as colorful this year, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. I can always disk some strips in the fall and frost seed some flowers if I need to.
Deer activity is awesome right now, the does are mostly pregnant with no fawns showing up yet. Several bucks though:)
Here are some pics from the last 3 days. I have six different pictures of a coyote on the same day at different times in broad daylight. They are definitely searching for the fawns. Look at the different health of the does, one is really filled out. And, these are two new bucks making 7 different bucks within the last 2 weeks. This stuff really works!
The NG is starting to go dormant and is changing colors. The turnips/rye are doing fine for not having had rain for 30 days! At this point this project will just need annual maintenance of burning and so there will not be anything worth sharing going forward.
It is fitting that the last picture includes our two labs-Buddy and Reagan:)
Thanks for all of the words of encouragement and also to those who contributed additional knowledge on this thread. Private conservation projects IMO will continue to gain in popularity and importance in maintaining our wildlife resources. It is my sincere hope that sharing this project helped all of us in at least a couple of ways-first, that NG takes at least 3 years in most cases to develop a good stand so patience is the key. And second, that small projects which take into account other natural habitat in close proximity can be very productive in terms of attracting wildlife and can also help reduce a property owner's upkeep costs.
Thanks again for allowing me to share this and good luck on all of your personal conservation efforts!
Pat's plot threads got me excited. Since I am in my first week of recovery from back surgery I am bored. I was reviewing old stuff and this could use an update.
The original planting of WSNG (warm season native grass, or just NG) has been burned every year. The fuel load was unbelievable this year. I waited until conditions were proper; however, because of moisture content from recent rains this 1.5 acres let off a lot of smoke. The fire department was called by a neighbor who does not like conservation projects. By the time they arrived the fire was completed and they just laughed.
The taller varieties make a great back drop for Robin's flower gardens adjacent to the NG.
In 2012 I planted the food plot portion in NG for several reasons. I noticed a significant increase in row crop production on land directly adjacent to our development (no doubt encouraged by higher crop prices), too many deer were coming to our yard and destroying Robin's flowers, and with our small farm I have all of the regular work I needed. Besides, I concluded cover was more of a limiting factor in this area.
2012 was the worst drought in our area in decades. Though I planted the same mix as in the NG area, I added some eastern gamma grass which I planted at our farm for bedding cover near a woods/plot edge. The deer really seemed to like it. And since this area is lower and usually a little more moist, I am hoping conditions will be perfect.
Other than some gamma grass coming in the other NG seed did not seem to germinate due to lack of water. I did not see much new growth in 2013 either, another drier year than normal.
I was able to get a partial burn of this area when I burned the NG mentioned and pictured above. I did this in early March. I then broadcast some more bluestem and Indian grass and cultipacked it in. We had several nights of freeze afterwards. I also tried to pre-stratify the seed by leaving it in our pole barn that is not heated for several months before planting.
We did get more NG plants this year besides the gamma. I don't know if it is the seed from 2012 that remained dormant until conditions were right, or the new seed that might have given more than normal first year growth due to great (wet) conditions and the prep work, or a combination?
Just as every year since we first planted this, a doe has birthed and kept one of her fawns in the tall thick stuff right next to the creek running along this area. We get to see her about every evening.
Told you I was bored:) Hopefully though this will help anyone else contemplating planting WSNG and also realize that the grass composition itself will continue to change over at least a ten year period, if not more from what I have learned from others..
Pat, I know you said only to get the two boxes on that drill, but I would rather skip the small seed box and go with the chaffy seed box and crop seed box if I had to stay with two. If I had your equipment, I could plant scores of acres of this stuff for the hobbiest.
