Bowsite.com

Habitat management

When some people hear QDMA all they think of is big racked bucks. It’s a shame that some people are so closed minded that they put blinders on and don’t look at the whole picture. One of the main cornerstones of QDMA is habitat management. That doesn’t mean just food plots , it’s looking at the habitat as a whole. Food plots is just a small piece of the puzzle. What’s missing in most people habitat plan is early successional habitat. This habitat type provides high quality natural nutrition for deer. It provides cover and perfect fawning habitat. It also provides prime turkey habitat, later on it provides grouse habitat. It provides habitat for multiple songbirds and other non-game wildlife. While it may not look “pretty” when it starts it but within a year starts providing the highest quality habitat available that can provide food and cover 365 days a year.

Sorry for sideway pictures. We’re social distancing at farm and for some reason my iPhone won’t let me rotate images like my iPad . Anyway, u get the message. Cut some timber!! It adds diversified habitat, provides habitat for those species that require early successional habitat, and is a natural way to increase the carrying capacity of deer on your property

Lots of hard work. It will pay off.

I been hinge cutting for a few years on my small piece of property. It opened up the canopy along all the old roads and planted into grass Also the Emerald ash borer has opened up the canopy in a lot of places. The turkeys like to nest in the thicker stuff along the edge I created by hinge cutting. I'm in the managed timberlands program through the state, with the help of a forester at the cost of a phone call. Good post Greg!

Great thread.

Register here to reply to this topic