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Post by Sandbur on Nov 15, 2018 7:14:15 GMT -6
Things are always different when on the ground than when just looking at an aerial. Here is what I would consider. Get a bull dozer in there and push trees out for a V. The pushed up pines are a blockade. Put a stand at the point of the V. Plant the open area in the V to brome or quack grass or whatever would make it a dead zone for deer. Only hunt that stand with a northwest wind and during the rut. You would have to decide how far to extend that V and how much to try and pinch them down. Let the pinched down area be as thick as possible with a shooting lane over most of the cover and maybe one cut out, deer cross trail through that area. Crosstrail is preferably no more than 30 inches wide. When pushing those trees out with a cat, maybe you could even make berms. Dead pines will only last so long as a blockade.
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Post by Sandbur on Nov 15, 2018 7:16:09 GMT -6
Things are always different when on the ground than when just looking at an aerial. Here is what I would consider. Get a bull dozer in there and push trees out for a V. The pushed up pines are a blockade. Put a stand at the point of the V. Plant the open area in the V to brome or quack grass or whatever would make it a dead zone for deer. Only hunt that stand with a northwest wind and during the rut. You would have to decide how far to extend that V and how much to try and pinch them down. Let the pinched down area be as thick as possible with a shooting lane over most of the cover and maybe one cut out, deer cross trail through that area. Crosstrail is preferably no more than 30 inches wide. When pushing those trees out with a cat, maybe you could even make berms. Dead pines will only last so long as a blockade. Crosstrail added.
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Post by Freeborn on Nov 15, 2018 8:25:14 GMT -6
You have 4 foodplots, what do you plant in each one and are they all planted with a fall attraction?
What stands have been productive so far?
Are your new conifer plantings providing any cover or are they still immature?
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Post by mnaaron on Nov 15, 2018 19:54:00 GMT -6
You have 4 foodplots, what do you plant in each one and are they all planted with a fall attraction? What stands have been productive so far? Are your new conifer plantings providing any cover or are they still immature? The northern plots are simply clover the south east plots is rye and brassicas with corn screen the sw plot is corn brassicas rye and clover We have some many plots since family all rifle hunt so they are want chase to pull bucks from cover. I should add setting this up for rifle hunting. I am thinking about some shooting lanes into the spruce and barriers to make the bucks come closer to edges and hunt downwind of bedding areas. And then plant some additional areas of cover to the ne and se etc... Spruce and tamaracks plantings are all about 3 feet tall. I also think we are going to put a stand closer to the willows for all day sits.
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Post by Sandbur on Nov 16, 2018 5:41:46 GMT -6
You have 4 foodplots, what do you plant in each one and are they all planted with a fall attraction? What stands have been productive so far? Are your new conifer plantings providing any cover or are they still immature? The northern plots are simply clover the south east plots is rye and brassicas with corn screen the sw plot is corn brassicas rye and clover We have some many plots since family all rifle hunt so they are want chase to pull bucks from cover. I should add setting this up for rifle hunting. I am thinking about some shooting lanes into the spruce and barriers to make the bucks come closer to edges and hunt downwind of bedding areas. And then plant some additional areas of cover to the ne and se etc... Spruce and tamaracks plantings are all about 3 feet tall. I also think we are going to put a stand closer to the willows for all day sits. Are you missing a pinch point by the 2 X ‘s? Could you set up for an east wind and approach from the road on the northwest?
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Post by Sandbur on Nov 16, 2018 5:42:11 GMT -6
The northern plots are simply clover the south east plots is rye and brassicas with corn screen the sw plot is corn brassicas rye and clover We have some many plots since family all rifle hunt so they are want chase to pull bucks from cover. I should add setting this up for rifle hunting. I am thinking about some shooting lanes into the spruce and barriers to make the bucks come closer to edges and hunt downwind of bedding areas. And then plant some additional areas of cover to the ne and se etc... Spruce and tamaracks plantings are all about 3 feet tall. I also think we are going to put a stand closer to the willows for all day sits. Are you missing a pinch point by the 2 X ‘s? Could you set up for an east wind and approach from the road on the northwest?
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Post by Sandbur on Nov 16, 2018 5:44:49 GMT -6
Are you missing a pinch point by the 2 X ‘s? Could you set up for an east wind and approach from the road on the northwest? If you are unsure of the locations of barriers, five foot tall cement wire is a pretty fair barrier. 150 feet is not terribly expensive and it could be strung through those three foot high tree plantings for a one or two year trial.
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Post by benmnwi on Nov 16, 2018 8:37:29 GMT -6
Do you get pictures of good bucks?
How many people hunt this property during gun season?
If you are getting pictures of good bucks but don't see them during gun season the deer probably know they are being hunted and are staying in the thick stuff. If that's the case, I'd think about keeping the stands close to the roads and make long shooting lanes so you can pick them off in the plots or spruce bedding area without actually walking near there to educate them.
It sounds like you have a lot of deer which means there are a lot of bucks somewhere.
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Post by Freeborn on Nov 17, 2018 6:38:32 GMT -6
You have 4 foodplots, what do you plant in each one and are they all planted with a fall attraction? What stands have been productive so far? Are your new conifer plantings providing any cover or are they still immature? The northern plots are simply clover the south east plots is rye and brassicas with corn screen the sw plot is corn brassicas rye and clover We have some many plots since family all rifle hunt so they are want chase to pull bucks from cover. I should add setting this up for rifle hunting. I am thinking about some shooting lanes into the spruce and barriers to make the bucks come closer to edges and hunt downwind of bedding areas. And then plant some additional areas of cover to the ne and se etc... Spruce and tamaracks plantings are all about 3 feet tall. I also think we are going to put a stand closer to the willows for all day sits. I would experiment with different things before I would bulldoze any permanent conifers. Conifers take so long to grow I would try other things first. You have a fair amount of broken woods between heavy cover and food plots. I would try adding lengths of movement between the conifers and your food plots. I have a triple row of crabapple and plums that deer travel. The more rows the better. Keep the grass suppressed until the tree is a few years old and then plant prairie grass between the rows. You might add a staging kill plot along the route to get deer to socialize. Do your does go to your plots during the season? I know your deer prevent you from having beans but You might try one portion of a plot with fenced beans where you remove the fence just before season. Unfortunately everything takes time but i would experiment with a few things and see what works. If you need a drill for PG I have one you can use.
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Post by mnaaron on Nov 17, 2018 8:14:31 GMT -6
I am thinking we will cut some shooting lanes into the spruce and put up some barriers to move bucks to the edges when they are moving through them. I think we will plant some cover in the sw, se and ne to give more bedding and cause the bucks to search more.
I think our lower numbers of big bucks is because for two years the neighbors to the east mowed down all the nice 2.5-3.5 yr bucks and those age classes just weren’t in the area. Lucky most neighbors purposely didn’t shot any bucks this year. Neighbors to east did but can’t stop that
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Post by mnaaron on Nov 17, 2018 8:23:07 GMT -6
Do you get pictures of good bucks? How many people hunt this property during gun season? If you are getting pictures of good bucks but don't see them during gun season the deer probably know they are being hunted and are staying in the thick stuff. If that's the case, I'd think about keeping the stands close to the roads and make long shooting lanes so you can pick them off in the plots or spruce bedding area without actually walking near there to educate them. It sounds like you have a lot of deer which means there are a lot of bucks somewhere. Usually only 2 hunters at a time due to only certain stands open based on the winds. Sees very little pressure since we hunt other properties too. Most of our stands are on the edges probably doesn’t look like it based on aerials. SW stand usually has corn up to it to block access and sits on ridge looking down into willows. Only high impact stand is that nw/ central stand and we hunt by being dropped off with wood truck and only on certain winds. We will abandon it when trees get bigger.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Apr 9, 2022 15:45:47 GMT -6
I have enough ironwood to cut for weeks. They seem to mix in with mature ash & oak. Going after some tomorrow.
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Post by wklman on Apr 9, 2022 17:06:12 GMT -6
I have enough ironwood to cut for weeks. They seem to mix in with mature ash & oak. Going after some tomorrow. Good luck. Keep extra chains at the ready. That stuff dulls them pretty quick.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Apr 10, 2022 7:49:36 GMT -6
That stuff burns forever in a bonfire !
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Post by nhmountains on Apr 10, 2022 17:04:05 GMT -6
I have enough ironwood to cut for weeks. They seem to mix in with mature ash & oak. Going after some tomorrow. Good luck. Keep extra chains at the ready. That stuff dulls them pretty quick. Cut it to length when it’s green because the dry wood dulls them quicker then green. I let them grow on my land because they dull them quick.
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