So I do not currently have property but am looking at buying some in the near future. A lot of the parcels I am finding for the right price have decent sized fields (5-20 acres) on them and I was wondering what I could do with them? Yes, I could put in food but I don't have the equipment and Yes, I could lease a field but, what if I can't get a lease. Has anyone ever converted a field to a overgrown deer haven, or maybe a fruit tree Orchard, etc...?
Oh my word an open piece of ground has endless possibilities to create exactly what you want for the deer...granted some of it will take time but you have various options.... Lease a portion of it or plant a few food plots, utilize switchgrass for bedding...plant evergreens throughout it for long term bedding options...hybrid willows could surround it for quick cover edging.....utilize corn/egyptian wheat for sight blocking/food sources....plant a few long term oak stands, get small bundle of apple orchards going with food plots planted around them while they mature.... Honestly a field is a habitat guys blank canvas....too many options almost, and it will take time to get where you want it but worth it!
I hunt a small property (50 acres) and there is a nice 10 acre field that we have purposely grown up and in the past few years I have noticed a huge change in the numbers of deer the property is holding. Improving habitat is the way to go!
We have done both of the above. Tyler Rector and myself have planted some very large apple orchards on some of the deer hunting MECA farms that are around our area. We have also planted some large fields back into CRP and native Grasses. Both have there ups and downs. The apple trees can be very costly
Overgrown fields have a window for useful deer habitat without maintenance. Be careful in the line of thought that allowing fields to grow up is an easy management tool. Landowners need to think long term, eventually that overgrown field will be junk habitat for deer and the window of usefulness for deer will close. Just something to keep in mind.
I would put food plots in certain areas then lease out the rest to a farmer then that way its a little income off of the property. If you cant get a farmer to lease it then would plant a few plots and have crp for the remaining bit. I use to lease a property where the farmer enrolled his fields into the crp program and the amount of deer the property held was out of control. The only bad part I had was good entry and exit routes make sure you figure those out before you do anything.
It all depends on what springs up...as it grows up it's low density of cover may or may not exist anymore...but if you plant evergreens in spots...go in and hinge the trees that have come up...it will continue to have browse at the deer's level, sight density cover low and will continue to be utilized. I am not a fan of just letting the fields do there own thing because as Covey mentioned there is not telling if any of it will hold long term value....although letting a large field grow up is more value in my opinion than making it just one large wide open food plot due to around me atleast deer won't feel safe to utilize it, now breaking it up in small plots and connection them with trails throughout the grown up field could be part of a route we go.
Agree with plots kind of connection to each other by trails and having good cover where the deer feel safe is key especially with the pressure we get here in MI. TY I get what your saying theres a risk of there not being vegetation if you let the field do its own thing. With my past experince the deer loved the CRP year round for bedding and browsing then winter they seemed to use it as a main food resource. Think I was just getting lucky and it had good vegetation? I hunted the property for 3 years and winter time the field was loaded with deer from the ones that where bedded in it and the deer coming out of the woods to it.
Yep, there are plenty of options as already mentioned. The great news (since you mentioned not necessarily having the resources to plant large chunks of ground), is that there often is plenty in the way of cost share programs through local, state, and federal agencies for doing things like this. Our hunting cabin (which has a VERY active farming program, equipment, etc.,), is in the process of reclaiming a well pad that was drilled in 2008. The NG company is coming in to remove the wellhead, remove gravel, and push back and bring in top soil. After that, we are planning to restore the field with an interspersed mix of evergreen trees for screening, shrubs, a small food plot, and NWSG's. We had a NWTF biologist come speak to us about not only that restoration effort, but doing exclusion habitat work (10-20 acre caged improvement...very modified TSI). The more acreage involved, the higher the reimbursement. He said to expect our out of pocket costs not to exceed 10% of the overall plan (and often it's less or close to 0%). Just something to think about.
The possibilities are endless!! It all depends on the amount of land you have to work with as well... Once you decide on a piece of property it will be much easier for us to help out.
I personally don't think you would have a hard time finding a lease with today's price for land Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
A lot of the times I do think it plays out like you have seen...however enhancement with plantings ensure no matter what it yields the results you've witnessed. MGH brings up a great point as well...depending what in the ways of re-sale and such certain programs require LOOK INTO THEM! Some people apply for like Classified DNR ground trying to avoid property taxes (if your state has them) but the headache of removal and sale and paying back taxes isn't worth it. Programs mentioned are awesome way to go as well as look into if there is any kind of stewardship forestry programs which deserve different assessments in your state as long as you operate in the parameters of the plan....lowers your taxes if property taxes are an issue like here in IN.
Check out your local habitat/ NRCS office to get some information about programs you could do Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I would plant a couple plots, and the rest CRP/Grass Screens for bedding. My buddy and I were thinking about doing that to his field here. http://forums.bowhunting.com/food-p...-advice-creating-new-transitions-bedding.html How big are these fields you speak of? How big of a total parcel are you looking at?
The minimum acerage we are looking at is around 50 max 80 to 100. My main concern is the aggro fields that are 20 to 30 acres. I know I can get some one to come in and farm but, having a big crop field can be a disadvantage if I cant get to a secluded spot to hunt them.
Over time, without management (ie. letting a field do it's own thing) a field will degrade into invasive species (in most parts of the country) Cedar invasion, fescue, etc, etc. Without a doubt sooner or later it will be reclaimed by timber growth just like the surrounding area. I've owned land (in the family) since 1988 and managed it and some was let go some in CRP. I'm talking years here but it doesn't take as long as a person would think for fields to outgrow their ideal deer habitat window. Once they go without any management for a number of years then they are a hell of a job to begin management on and it takes a great deal of time for management to have an impact to get them back to ideal. This is good input (as always) but it's all a form of management, what I was raising awareness of was simply letting fields go and go and go. As stated before, sooner or later without any management the window of usefulness will pass and then it's a mess. Yeah I was talking long term, longer than three years...like a 5-20 year period. CRP is a different matter, most contracts require a minimum amount of maintenance like burning, mowing, zero sprout tolerance of woody growth....which is all management practices. I'm in a part of the country where woody invasion occurs very quickly though too so that's where I'm coming from POV wise. If I let fields go untouched for 10-15 years here they are totally reclaimed by timber, cedar and/or serecia lespedeeza. Sure 15 years seems like a long time but it comes around faster than one would think and a person will be better off with some management along the way than to have a few years of good habitat that degrades into a mess that's similar to everything else around the area.
On that particular farm I hunt, the only place that holds deer after gun season starts is standing corn or Russian olives (thick bedding). After the corn is cut, it's only the bedding. If it were me, I would rather have a large CRP bed than a large ag field as the CRP will hold deer year round. Plus in the cold months the deer can bed out in the CRP and sun themselves for warmth. Once the ag field is cut or gone it's much more useless.
Plus you have the best chance of killing a mature buck near his bed in daylight hours (outside the rut) here in MI.
Yeah I get what your saying now. Watched it happen acroos the street from my house. Before it was just a grass field and now it is solid russian olives that you cant even see two feet into.
