badger
Predator Hunter
Posts: 66
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Post by badger on Mar 22, 2008 7:09:17 GMT -5
I love to hunt but perhaps equal to that is preparing our land for good hunts Being a firm believer in planning ahead...for me thats old age...I started planting many differant fruit and nut trees.......Hazels..chestnut...wht walnut...gobbler oak...and maintaining the close to 200 red oak we have....then there are the wild apples ...plum...mulberry...persimmon...pear...quince...cherry...peach...chinese dogwood and pines I've put in...we also have elderberry ...aronia...seabuckhorn....grapes...goose and current...cherry bushes dogwood brush...ect... To this I've added many small food plots...logging roads and watering areas near plots.....this I did by collecting old bath tubs....scooping out the ground with the back hole and sinking the tub too ground level and filling.....all critters use them and most have frogs in them during the summer that eat the skeeter larvy... What set ups do you have....I've been working this plan for 10 yrs now....deer are bigger turkey and pheasant more common rabbits and grouse are in a slump but yotes are a problem here.
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Post by bouttimeiv on Mar 22, 2008 17:20:23 GMT -5
How many acres are you talking there?
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badger
Predator Hunter
Posts: 66
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Post by badger on Mar 22, 2008 17:34:14 GMT -5
just about 50acres at home.....anther 21 adjacent ...then 68+acres in the southerntier....How much do you have?
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badger
Predator Hunter
Posts: 66
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Post by badger on Apr 11, 2008 5:29:01 GMT -5
No one does any planting?.....Found that the braccs. in one plot made it through winter.....not sure if I want to go ahead and plant the perenials I planned this spring or fert. ...lime...and top seed few appin/pasja turnips....then pant perenials in fall....an yideas?
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badger
Predator Hunter
Posts: 66
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Post by badger on Apr 11, 2008 5:29:42 GMT -5
lol..thats a ideas?
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Post by PA Hillbilly on Apr 11, 2008 17:41:54 GMT -5
Sorry badger, the only thing I plant is a couple of tomato plants & a few hot pepper plants.
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badger
Predator Hunter
Posts: 66
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Post by badger on Apr 11, 2008 18:20:51 GMT -5
PA.....I plant those too....5 doz.....tomatos......5 doz peppers....4doz...brocolli....4doz cabbage...3doz...brussels....5 doz califlower......corn...melons..cukes...greens...summer and winter squash....onions...garlic....peas...beans.....my veggie garden is 80' x 180'.....
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Post by tntsd on Apr 11, 2008 19:00:44 GMT -5
We do mostly sunflowers, corn, and milo in our food plots. every once in a while some turnips or carrots. Surprising what criters will root up them turnips.
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Post by mtwolfsbane on Apr 11, 2008 22:21:10 GMT -5
Have to be careful here, state law prohibits using baits for game animals, and that includes food plots. You even have to be careful putting out salt licks for the livestock as that can be considered baiting.
One thing we can do is improve the land with good management. The timber on our main place is lodgepole pine. Grows really fast, and really thick. By thining it opens up the forest canopy so grass and other forbs can grow underneath. The shelter allows huckleberrrys, raspberrys and elderberrys to grow. This calls in Elk, Deer, Black Bear, Blue Grouse and Frankolin Grouse.
As the pine forest ages, Douglas Fir and Blue Spruce grow in the shade and will provide shelter for animals in the winter. You can get under the branches of a spruce and be completely dry in a rainstorm, or in winter, the snow will build up around the limbs and you can get under them and have a (relatively) warm, dry shelter ready made for you.
The spruce and fir forests are what we refer to as black forest as very little light hits the ground and elk will hide in it when there is any hunting pressure or for protection from the storms.
By thinning the Aspens after the freeze, new shoots come up in the spring so you have new growth. Elk deer and Moose love Quaking Aspen forests as do Ruffled Grouse. The eat the bark and shoots, and the ruffled grouse will eat the buds.
By developing springs and damming runoff, you get more water in an area and the animals will use the area, but you need to have water sources spread out as the animals will congregate close to the water supply, use all the feed close by, and then migrate to the next spot. If you have several sources, the consentrations are less, the feed can continue to grow through the season, and the game is in better shape. Bear, moose and elk will wallow in mud around water, and can really screw up a small pond, but if there are several sources, it isn't as bad.
We control the growth of buckbrush,(Mountain Sumac), as it will cover grazing areas, but we leave good plots as it provides shelter for fawns and calves, plus moose use it as a main food source in the winter as it is tall enough to be above the snow. Grouse eat the berrys too.
Mountain ash is also a good feed source and will grow if there is water.
By maintaining good feed and water sources, we get a lot of animals utilizing the land, this calls in predators like Mountain Lions, coyotes and wolves. Those also provide hunting opportunities. ( The wolves have been delisted but the Fish and Game is waiting for the greenies lawsuits to be settled before issuing licenses, But we live in hope we will be shooting this pest soon).
The ecosystem out here is a lot different than the eastern states. We don't get as much rain so there isn't the grass and forb growth later in the summer. Snow is the biggest factor and for that reason most of our game either migrate or hibernate. The rush of growth in the spring has to hold us through the later summer, but as it cures it becomes really dry and that is why we have the big fires.
The fires have a good side as next spring there are lots of morel mushrooms in the ashes, and the aspen starts growing again starting the cycle over in areas that can't be managed like national forests.
Boy, I am loooooong winded tonight. I'll sign off now.
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