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Improving browse and habitat on pasture
Oklahoma
Contributors to this thread:
arbe25 11-Jul-17
EmbryO-klahoma 12-Jul-17
arbe25 12-Jul-17
Popbow 12-Jul-17
arbe25 12-Jul-17
From: arbe25
11-Jul-17
Hey guys, i'm looking for some advice. I live in Louisiana but I hunt my buddies 240-acres near Atoka. He has about 30 head of cattle on it. It's mostly pasture, but does have a creek bottom that runs the length of it. It has a pretty good population of deer and I've seen some nice bucks. Anyway, he doesn't really hunt and doesn't want me to take up good grazing for a food plot. I thought about a putting a feeder or two, but i'd have to fence them off and i'm 6 hours away. Plus i'm not much of a feeder hunter.

I'm just looking for some ideas on improving the habitat/browse while not impacting his cattle operation too much. Any advice would be appreciated.

12-Jul-17
If it has a creek bottom, find the red oaks and white oaks. I assume you won't hunt it much since you live in Louisiana? If that's the case then that's actually a plus. Find the does and the acorns and that's all you really need. Don't run the does out by over hunting. Deer prefer the acorns over almost any crop. I hunt North of you and have had good success minus feeders and plots. Best of luck!

From: arbe25
12-Jul-17

arbe25's embedded Photo
arbe25's embedded Photo
Appreciate the info. I usually hang 3-4 stands in August and don't go back until the second week of Nov. and hunt for about a week. The only oaks are on the south part of the property by a pond where the two fingers of the creek and fenceline meet. Most of the bottom is hackberry, bodark, elm. I have a hard time not bumping deer when I go to my stand. They seem to bed wherever they want.

From: Popbow
12-Jul-17
arbe25 What I'm about to say is something that I do and in a few years you will have a sanctuary.

Since you have the bottom land assuming it is timber get his permission to hinge cut some trees. This will allow the tree to survive and create browse actually year round as the tree top will now be on the ground but still alive.

If the bottom floods that will just help create browse as this will work as a catch all and can also have as many negatives as possitive.

Good luck and get busy building that honey hole.

From: arbe25
12-Jul-17
That's a really good idea and I'm pretty sure my buddy wouldn't care. I assume that's done after the season in the middle of the winter? Thanks.

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