Habitat improvements do you do it?

[horsemen61]

Well I went and ordered 5 apple trees from Stark Bro’s nursery and I picked one up local so that makes a round 6 plan is to plant them in spots that are conducive for deer to enjoy from September through November into December if possible I do have some late dropping trees in the mix so I gotta ask do you improve where you hunt habitat wise? Also this is mainly in regards to Whitetail deer but any species you make the land better for is more than welcome to chime in please just state the game animal

 

[nettlle]

I have a small piece of land on our property that I nuked with Round Up, had the PH of the soil tested, fertilized accordingly, and planted in Ladino Clover. I also put out shelled corn on another piece of our property. Both plots had game cameras over them. It was remarkable how many more deer came to the Ladino Clover vs the corn.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Burn burn burn.

Try to kill as many coyotes and hogs as possible.

 

[Armored farmer]

I logged 60 choice white oaks from my property. It's not as open and park-like as it was....but the deer bed there more now.
Persimmon sprouts planted around the edges.

 

[nettlle]

Do you think the persimmon will attract the deer better than the acorns?

 

[Fyrstyk]

I did a selective timber harvest on my property to improve the under story to support more game like turkeys, deer, rabbits and others. With more light reaching the ground there is more sprout growth, and the remaining trees are producing more mast than was done before the cut.

 

[Armored farmer]

Do you think the persimmon will attract the deer better than the acorns?

No.
They like them, but the fruit only lasts for a limited time. Everything else devours it too.
We happen to have a nice persimmon tree in the barnlot, and can pull seedlings in the spring.

 

[Chuck R.]

The whole habitat improvement thing can quickly turn into another hobby!

When we first bought our place it was oak "poor". Lots of walnuts and hickories, just not many oaks at all, so that's been a focus. On my 80, in my back 40 deer engagement area I've planted:

Oaks; Sawtooth, Burr, Chinkapin, Nuttall, and I've cleaned up every natural growing oak I could find.
Dunstan chestnuts
Common Persimmons
Arkansas Black Apple trees with a bunch of Dolgo crab apples to pollinate.
Pear trees (2)
Paw Paws, just started this last year cause my wife wants them..

I also plant 2 food plots and have a mineral site.

IMHO Common Persimmons are one of the best, IF you're a rifle hunter. I've always had a bunch of them, but not where I needed them to hunt. So I started planting them further back in order to hunt near them. The commons hold their fruit longer and will drop slowly pretty much from late OCT through DEC here in KS. Turkey's, deer, and coyotes love them. have to be careful with them as they have two sexes and you need both to pollinate. Once they get going, holy cow due they produce fruit!

As far as trees go, it's a long term project, some oaks won't even start producing for 10+ years (bur Oak 30+ years!!). I've tried to get a mix of red/white and space out their drop times. For instance, Sawtooths drop early around Sept, so may not be of much help for rifle season. White oaks get gobbled 1st, so you need some reds to get through the winter. My Chestnuts 3 year olds when I planted them are now going on 10 years and a couple are just starting to produce.

For a couple years I even stratified acorns and persimmons in my fridge during the winter, then planted them in pots through the spring/summer, and transplanted in the fall. In one year I put down close to 70 seedlings and started trees. Now I'll catch the fall sales and just grab a couple oaks and plant them where I've got a gap.

Arkansas black are a late ripening apple, so they'll be dropping in late OCT/NOV. Pears are cool because they produce a lot and are pretty low maintenance.

Oaks in tree tubes:

My 1st Chestnut:

older persimmons:

 

[buck460XVR]

It's called "Land Stewardship", and it comprises of the careful and responsible management of land and natural resources to ensure their health, quality, and abundance for both present and future generations. It is something not only done by sportsmen, with the hopes of creating better wildlife habitat, but also by farmers to enrich soils and prevent erosion. Over my 71 trips around the sun, I have had the privilege to hunt many private properties that were not mine. It was readily evident which ones were owned by folks that were responsible stewards. It was also readily evident which ones were owned by folks with no look to the future, but only interested with what they could get out of their property today. As a kid, I was enamored by those folks that took great pride in the property and told myself if I ever had the opportunity, that I too would be a steward. For many years it was on public lands, where I would plant apple trees, not only for the wildlife, but for hunters and other folks that might like an apple when passing by. Later on in life, when my oldest son acquired a nice piece of property, I began doing all I could to improve on it, especially since the previous owner had pretty much raped it, and then ignored it in his old age. Almost twenty years of work and it's still on ongoing project. But what once held few deer, now holds many. Where once you hardly ever heard a Turkey gobble in the Spring, you now hear them regularly. This is not just from my work, but from the work of many other, responsible neighbors around us. Like everything else, it takes a village. Like many other things in life, many little things add up to bigger things. Picking up trash when hunting public land or informing the landowner of a tree down across the fence, or a spot where erosion is stating to make a rut. Making anywhere you go, better, even by a little bit, is stewardship, and on those days when you go home empty handed, makes the day a success.

 

[Armored farmer]

Alternative use for persimmons...
I put about a dozen ripe 'simmons in a cardboard box and stomp my feet in them for scent control, before heading into the deer woods

 

[Chuck R.]

Alternative use for persimmons...
I put about a dozen ripe 'simmons in a cardboard box and stomp my feet in them for scent control, before heading into the deer woods

Now that's funny..

Our alternative use for them is jelly..

 

[PapaG]

My own land. Constantly improving, planting, chopping and killing invasives.

 

[jmorris]

Seems like all I do this time of year. We have to for some of our property. "To qualify for a Texas wildlife tax exemption, landowners must be actively using the land to propagate a sustaining breeding, migrating, or wintering population of indigenous wildlife animals for human use."

 

[Patocazador]

Alternative use for persimmons...
I put about a dozen ripe 'simmons in a cardboard box and stomp my feet in them for scent control, before heading into the deer woods

There were many persimmons on a 6000 acre lease I used to hunt. One year I found a persimmon tree that had a branch that was broken but still attached to the tree. It had about 60 persimmons on it that had fermented. I put a climbing stand on a nearby oak and hunted it the next morning. I was in the stand at daybreak and 20 minutes later a doe came to eat the fermented persimmons. I put an arrow into her neck at 13 yards. It was the easiest bowhunt I could remember.

 

[Patocazador]

I have a 150 acre pine farm in north Florida. There is not much you can do to "improve" a newish pine plantation that will help the wildlife. However, I have about one acre where all the seedlings died during a flood. I cleared it and planted millet and milo for the few quail that are left. The deer left it alone but the bears (#!%^&} didn't. The next year I planted oats and the bears left it alone. It attracted quail, doves, and an occasional deer. I have 2 more very small food plots that only attract deer at night.

The one acre food plot eventually attracted quite a few deer and I kill one or two off of it every year. I don't shoot the quail since wild quail are almost extinct in Florida.

 

[JmacD]

Does helping the Farmer plant corn and alfalfa count? I also help thin the coyotes.

 

[rdnktrkr]

I put about a dozen ripe 'simmons in a cardboard box and stomp my feet in them for scent control, before heading into the deer woods

Years ago I started buying apple juice and spraying it on the legs of my hunting clothes and boots, multiple times I've had a deer follow my trail with their head down sniffing my scent.

 

[horsemen61]

Well I got 4 of the 6 planted and I’m going to plant the other 2 now!

 

[AWS]

I only hunt public land, I live in the middle of about 10,000 square miles of it, my habitat improvement is hauling a couple trash bags with me and cleaning up after slob hunters.

 

[caribou]

I hunt Bears and Wolfs for fun and profit, as well as keeping our Caribou and Moose populations expanding.

 

[jmorris]

Yeah, the more pigs you kill.



The more there is for other stuff to eat. Fresh blood and drag marks doesn't seem to bother them.



Once you get what you want, the scavengers get a fresh meal with the rest. I bet I've got some of the best fed in the State.

 

[Highland Lofts]

I am buyingtwo acres with two old singlewidemobhomesonit. There is over ac acre behind them I will do somethingwith. Not sure what to do yet.
It is so small compared to what others own, but a little help is better then no help.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

I've had apple trees here for over 20 years but the deer don't seem all that interested in them. My 10 acres is mostly brush, trees and prairie grass.
The neighbor's hay field has lots of clover in in so no need for me to plant any here.

 

[dh1633pm]

I plant many trees a year. Saturday I reintroduced the Chestnut to my property. Last few years I have been planting Oak, Hickory, Butternut, and River Birch. The Chestnut's are not immune, but come from a very old growth tree.

 

[tdbmd]

Well I went and ordered 5 apple trees from Stark Bro’s nursery and I picked one up local so that makes a round 6 plan is to plant them in spots that are conducive for deer to enjoy from September through November into December if possible I do have some late dropping trees in the mix so I gotta ask do you improve where you hunt habitat wise? Also this is mainly in regards to Whitetail deer but any species you make the land better for is more than welcome to chime in please just state the game animal

We plant food plots and do a lot of underbrush control. Our properties are mixed timber and farmland.