Lockdown wrote:DEERSLAYER wrote:I would contact someone from your local soil conservation service to see if they have someone that can come out there to look it over and tell you what will grow best in your particular soil. They usually have someone that dose this for free. If they don't then contact the Minnesota Natural Resources Conservation Service and they should be able to help you.
I would definitely be planting more of the dogwood if you have the ground for it (6'-8' spacing). You can make lots of them from cutting's cheap if money is tight and they are a lot better than the poplar trees your talking about. It's hard to tell the difference between Red Osier and Silky dogwood and if you can get the free consultant out there he or she should be able to tell you which will grow best. I would want some other plants here and there for a little bit of diversity, but mostly dogwoods for fast growing food and cover. I would also plant some mast producing trees or shrubs if you can. Just don't create too much shade for the sun loving plants like the dogwoods. I would probably use something like Norway Spruce for wind breaks/thermal cover if your soil isn't too heavy. Aside from that I would add food plots out in the CRP.
I do plan on putting in some dogwood cuttings along with the poplars. In the future I plan to be extremely diverse, but my main concern is getting whatever I plant to survive. Trees/shrubs that are highly resistant to browse are ideally what I'm looking for... Deerslayer I'm thinking dogwoods hold up to browsing as good as any... agreed??dan wrote:If you looking for trees to "hunt" out of, the hybrid populars grow amazingly fast... As far as deer cover, I agree with Deerslayer, dogwood is excellent for bedding cover, especially if done in small key spots that you can hunt, rather than random plantings... Also, some good food plots are probably the most important of all if your trying to keep deer on this pc.
Dan my main concern is bedding cover. Not only for blocking snow and wind, but also restricting their view. For the most part this piece is rectangular and bowl shaped. I do know their favored bedding, but they bed VERY randomly. We have issues with deer watching us approach due to how open the area is. It is 80 acres. I've had bedded deer bust out 600 yards away when I'm "sneaking" to my stand any movement is too much.BassBoysLLP wrote:To be honest, if the pieces sets up nice relative to other farms with food, I'd avoid food plots all together. Food plots can really complicate clean access.
If you own the bedding, you own the area. This may be the case for you.
It sounds like an exciting piece to work on. I'll be interested to hear the progress.
I know a food plot would be dynamite, and we'll definitely have a plot or two there some day. The problem is that its so open you'd never be able to get in and out near the plot. If the land was flat we could crouch and the grass would hide us. [glow=red]Planting a plot screen would work but I don't want to turn the landowner off tilling up all of his CRP (which there are tillage restrictions on) [/glow]
I've hunted all over western and central MN, and due to the surrounding habitat, believe me... this spot is a gem. I hunted this area 3 times this year with my family and saw 10+ deer each hunt, including two different bucks that were 130ish. It's so open and I'm so engrossed in killing a public land buck with my bow that I save this spot for for my dad and sister (check the killzone). I think we'll be able to hunt it for a long time to come I just want to do things right and not waste time.
You can establish giant miscantus without tillage in CRP with above average results.
Best first step is to get out an aerial photo and decide how you want to lay the property out now and in the future when food plots are in option.