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Post by Tooln on Aug 8, 2017 14:05:47 GMT -6
It took him about 4 hours. I was there to get him started digging the stumps. I was gone for a little 45 minutes or so, then came back and showed him where I wanted everything thrown/piled.
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Post by jbird on Aug 8, 2017 16:44:35 GMT -6
Sounds like your money and time ahead by hiring it done.
Having some NWSG on my place and see how my deer use it - I would be in there with a saw dropping the larger ones and leaving a stump to become a shrub and hinging the other stuff. It may not create as good of cover in the fall and winter - but with the snow you get I think the snow will beat the NWSG down and possibly keep it down anyway. I think hinging could produce some food for your deer in the process as well. You could still plant your spruce - I like that idea either way. On my place the deer like the edge the NWSG and the hardwoods create and then bed in downed tree tops along that edge. I don't get lots of snow so the NWSG creates a nice brown screen that stands all fall and winter. My NWSG areas are 120' wide and they still bed on the edge or in relation to some sort of object in the grass. Keep in mind if you create this great strip of cover without any real decent cover around it - it still may not hold many deer. 20 yards wide simply lacks the depth the deer may feel they need. If the other cover in the area is good - then having this great cover there will be awesome. Just my 2 cents worth.....that isn't even really worth 2 cents.
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Post by wildfire123 on Aug 8, 2017 17:36:07 GMT -6
I hinge cut about an acre of aspen, would cut on Tuesday, and again Saturday. When doing this when I would come back to work again, it looked like every deer in the county was there feeding on the tops.
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Post by Tooln on Aug 8, 2017 19:04:59 GMT -6
I hinge cut about an acre of aspen, would cut on Tuesday, and again Saturday. When doing this when I would come back to work again, it looked like every deer in the county was there feeding on the tops. A chain saw is like a dinner bell for deer.
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Post by sd51555 on Aug 8, 2017 20:49:43 GMT -6
This thread makes me sad about not having friends in real life. You guys would have been proud of my dirt saving tactics with the skid steer on Sunday. I had to rough up a few big stumps to keep from leaving a refrigerator sized hole in my plot. Nobody around to see it happen though.
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Post by coop on Aug 8, 2017 21:11:13 GMT -6
If you want bedding skip the native grasses and log the popple this winter. Years 2 through 13 will provide excellent bedding. From what I have gleaned native grasses can't hold a candle to popple regen or spruce in Minnesota. Maybe you are far enough south that grasses will have value but it goes against what I have been taught. ^^^^^ Batman's right. Popple will root sucker up to 30ft around the stump if winter harvested. Deer love it! I love Switchgrass but it's a lot of work to get it established. Diverse NWSG for whitetails... Meh
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Post by Foggy on Aug 8, 2017 21:59:23 GMT -6
Around here.....cut poppel is king. The deer and grouse love poppel stumps. The shoots created are loaded with buds that bring in deer, grouse and turkeys. I think this provides good bedding cover too. My forester was big on letting old popple stumps sprout to do the re-gen. Nothing wrong with birch either. Deer like birch. Hinge baby hinge.
Also pretty good market for popple or birch logs for fire. Good BTUs and a good flame for campfire wood.
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Post by smsmith on Aug 9, 2017 6:15:53 GMT -6
Neither aspen or birch hinge worth a shit in winter time. Not great in summer either. You don't need to hinge aspen though, just drop and run. The regrowth will be unreal as long as you cut in winter and open enough canopy so there's full sun.
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Post by badbrad on Aug 9, 2017 6:18:28 GMT -6
It took him about 4 hours. I was there to get him started digging the stumps. I was gone for a little 45 minutes or so, then came back and showed him where I wanted everything thrown/piled. Gotcha. That is one thing unless I take a week of vacation just to watch him I won't be there when he does it. I figure I will have about a weeks worth of work for the guy when he comes after getting logged.
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Post by nhmountains on Aug 9, 2017 6:47:47 GMT -6
Kaleb,
Do you have many conifers on your property? If not that'll be a big draw in 4-5 years if you plant them.
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Post by kl9 on Aug 9, 2017 7:06:20 GMT -6
Sounds like your money and time ahead by hiring it done. Having some NWSG on my place and see how my deer use it - I would be in there with a saw dropping the larger ones and leaving a stump to become a shrub and hinging the other stuff. It may not create as good of cover in the fall and winter - but with the snow you get I think the snow will beat the NWSG down and possibly keep it down anyway. I think hinging could produce some food for your deer in the process as well. You could still plant your spruce - I like that idea either way. On my place the deer like the edge the NWSG and the hardwoods create and then bed in downed tree tops along that edge. I don't get lots of snow so the NWSG creates a nice brown screen that stands all fall and winter. My NWSG areas are 120' wide and they still bed on the edge or in relation to some sort of object in the grass. Keep in mind if you create this great strip of cover without any real decent cover around it - it still may not hold many deer. 20 yards wide simply lacks the depth the deer may feel they need. If the other cover in the area is good - then having this great cover there will be awesome. Just my 2 cents worth.....that isn't even really worth 2 cents. This area abuts up to over 200 acres of woods so I'm thinking it would create the edge effect and depth of cover you're talking about
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Post by kl9 on Aug 9, 2017 7:11:36 GMT -6
Kaleb, Do you have many conifers on your property? If not that'll be a big draw in 4-5 years if you plant them. No I don't. In fact I have very few conifers on my place. That is one of the reasons I like the grass + conifer idea for this area. I'm also interested in the wintering cut idea for popple. I have another section I may try this on as well. Actually, it is basically a continuation of this (subject) area... just to the north more. Decisions, decisions...
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Post by batman on Aug 9, 2017 7:13:41 GMT -6
Log the aspen in the winter and add some conifer/grass outside of it. Aspen year 2 and conifer years later.
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Post by mnaaron on Aug 9, 2017 8:07:05 GMT -6
If you want bedding skip the native grasses and log the popple this winter. Years 2 through 13 will provide excellent bedding. From what I have gleaned native grasses can't hold a candle to popple regen or spruce in Minnesota. Maybe you are far enough south that grasses will have value but it goes against what I have been taught. We have some popple areas that were logged about 15 years ago and the deer bed like crazy in them. We are at the point now where I think this winter we will take the chain saws and give them a good old fashion hair cut. Total area is about 10 acres so we will basically clear cut half of it this year and then the rest a year or two later. The nicer bucks seem to like to bed where the popple and conifers meet...along that edge.
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Post by Tooln on Aug 9, 2017 13:24:05 GMT -6
I have 40 acres it had only 3 mature white pines growing it. I clear cut 2.5 acres and planted it in Norway spruce. It my sanctuary and has turned into a nice bedding area.
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