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Small Improvements #2762262
03/14/19 11:39 PM
03/14/19 11:39 PM
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 512
Alabama
blahblahblah Offline OP
4 point
blahblahblah  Offline OP
4 point
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 512
Alabama
What are small improvements that you guys believe help make big differences on properties? Example: trails, new food plots, hinge cutting, funneling etc.


You can take a man's life, but you can't take his freedom.
Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2762280
03/15/19 05:01 AM
03/15/19 05:01 AM
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,631
Orange Beach, AL
J
JohnG Offline
8 point
JohnG  Offline
8 point
J
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,631
Orange Beach, AL
Good roads. Even if it's something as simple as using a shovel to help drain standing water in mud holes to help dry them out. I have Marengo Co. Prairie soil and once you bust through the surface and it turns to gray sludge, your screwed.

Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2762287
03/15/19 05:25 AM
03/15/19 05:25 AM
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 2,615
Alabama
D
dirkdaddy Offline
10 point
dirkdaddy  Offline
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D
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 2,615
Alabama
A 50 to 60 hp tractor and a heavy duty bush hog go a LONG way to improving planted pine property. Deer, turkey, everything seems to love when I go in and clear out weedy BS like sweet gum, privet, etc. At the very least you are initiating fresh growth on those plants wildlife can snack on, and often times they will use these areas to travel.

Combine some strip discing (ie run your disc over the areas that are fresh mowed) with this bush hogging and you are basically creating mini food plots for wildlife by encouraging natural weeds to sprout, many of which deer and turkey use as a vital food source. Right now when everything is starting to green up and sprout is the perfect time to mow and strip disc.

If you own the property and have money to spare then hiring a dozer to put in fire lanes and burning is also great, but that's not a "small" improvement.

Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2762616
03/15/19 01:06 PM
03/15/19 01:06 PM
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 6,615
Lake View, AL
Joe4majors Online content
14 point
Joe4majors  Online Content
14 point
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 6,615
Lake View, AL
I'm in the process of hinge cutting. I don't know if I would consider it a small improvement. That chainsaw work will wear you out.

Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2762857
03/15/19 06:43 PM
03/15/19 06:43 PM
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 1,386
South Alabama
B
bambam32 Online content
8 point
bambam32  Online Content
8 point
B
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 1,386
South Alabama
Moving shooting houses off the fields has made a difference for us.

Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2763818
03/16/19 08:57 PM
03/16/19 08:57 PM
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,076
the Flatwoods
F
Fldoghunter Offline
6 point
Fldoghunter  Offline
6 point
F
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,076
the Flatwoods
I have quite a few white oaks on the ridge at the back of my place. Thought about doing some hack and squirt to there competition hoping they'll spread out and produce more. Not sure how much difference it will make, but it would be cheap and pretty easy if you could do something like that.


May the sound of hounds never die!
Re: Small Improvements [Re: Fldoghunter] #2763854
03/16/19 09:35 PM
03/16/19 09:35 PM
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 21,781
USA
R
Remington270 Offline
Freak of Nature
Remington270  Offline
Freak of Nature
R
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 21,781
USA
Originally Posted by Fldoghunter
I have quite a few white oaks on the ridge at the back of my place. Thought about doing some hack and squirt to there competition hoping they'll spread out and produce more. Not sure how much difference it will make, but it would be cheap and pretty easy if you could do something like that.


I’m going to do that around persimmons this year.

Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2764020
03/17/19 08:09 AM
03/17/19 08:09 AM
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 9,519
Trussville
T
toothdoc Offline
14 point
toothdoc  Offline
14 point
T
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 9,519
Trussville
If there is any way you can make a few small kill plots either by hiring a dozer for a couple days or old school with chainsaw and manual labor, to me that's one of the best things you can do to a property. It makes hunting with kids a little easier. It gives the local does something to eat on and keep them nearby and therefore the bucks will be there too. Turkeys will hang around.

Trails or roads are also huge. It allows you to more easily access parts of your property, they can be planted, deer will use the roads also. My favorite places to hunt on our place when the kids are not with me is sitting on some of the smaller 4 wheeler roads on the back side of my property. Deer make scrapes all down the roads.

Last edited by toothdoc; 03/17/19 08:11 AM.
Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2764073
03/17/19 09:25 AM
03/17/19 09:25 AM
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 512
Alabama
blahblahblah Offline OP
4 point
blahblahblah  Offline OP
4 point
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 512
Alabama
I am opening up a small food plot on 30 acres of land. Then I am opening some small areas on the east side of it to let sunlight hit the ground hoping some native vegetation grows making for browse and potentially some doe beds. Then on the west side of the food plot further away I am doing some hinge cutting and placing logs on the side of a slope. I am connecting and blocking off trails deer already use coming from the west to east letting the trail circle downwind of the food plot and potential doe beds. My stand is about 25 yards downwind of the trail with brush in front of it so the deer won't turn toward the stand.

Last edited by blahblahblah; 03/17/19 09:26 AM.

You can take a man's life, but you can't take his freedom.
Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2764923
03/18/19 12:26 PM
03/18/19 12:26 PM
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 652
SW Alabama
A
ALFisher Offline
4 point
ALFisher  Offline
4 point
A
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 652
SW Alabama
Roads, lime, expanding the patches you can, and moving shooting stands/houses off fields if your fields are not large. Probably in that order.

Re: Small Improvements [Re: Remington270] #2767866
03/21/19 05:40 PM
03/21/19 05:40 PM
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 2,783
Owens Xrds
AUwrestler Offline
10 point
AUwrestler  Offline
10 point
Joined: Feb 2014
Posts: 2,783
Owens Xrds
Originally Posted by Remington270
Originally Posted by Fldoghunter
I have quite a few white oaks on the ridge at the back of my place. Thought about doing some hack and squirt to there competition hoping they'll spread out and produce more. Not sure how much difference it will make, but it would be cheap and pretty easy if you could do something like that.


I’m going to do that around persimmons this year.

Spring is not a good time to hack and squirt btw. Sap is traveling up the leaves and don't get a good kill. Also some entangled root systems could kill good trees you are keeping. Great idea, but heads up about some of the trouble.


I believe that this is a practical world and that I can count only on what I earn. Therefore I believe in work, hard work. -George Petrie (1945)
Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2768084
03/21/19 10:25 PM
03/21/19 10:25 PM
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 21,781
USA
R
Remington270 Offline
Freak of Nature
Remington270  Offline
Freak of Nature
R
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 21,781
USA
I guess I glossed over his details. I planned on good old fashioned chainsawing the competition trees. I figure that’s effective any time of year!

Re: Small Improvements [Re: AUwrestler] #2769664
03/24/19 03:12 PM
03/24/19 03:12 PM
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,076
the Flatwoods
F
Fldoghunter Offline
6 point
Fldoghunter  Offline
6 point
F
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,076
the Flatwoods
Originally Posted by AUwrestler
Originally Posted by Remington270
Originally Posted by Fldoghunter
I have quite a few white oaks on the ridge at the back of my place. Thought about doing some hack and squirt to there competition hoping they'll spread out and produce more. Not sure how much difference it will make, but it would be cheap and pretty easy if you could do something like that.


I’m going to do that around persimmons this year.

Spring is not a good time to hack and squirt btw. Sap is traveling up the leaves and don't get a good kill. Also some entangled root systems could kill good trees you are keeping. Great idea, but heads up about some of the trouble.

Thanks for the info. I wouldn't get back up there till June probably anyway. Also, thanks for the caution about it killing other nearby trees.


May the sound of hounds never die!
Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2769666
03/24/19 03:16 PM
03/24/19 03:16 PM
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 14,299
ArmPit of the south
D
DeerNutz0U812_ Offline
Booner
DeerNutz0U812_  Offline
Booner
D
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 14,299
ArmPit of the south
Docks will play if its a largemouth deal cause even if it's cloudy you still want to be able to plant your peanuts....Docks is the deal ...


Did you know that Beer Nutz are over a Dollar...and Deer Nutz are under a Buck...


Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2778014
04/05/19 07:00 AM
04/05/19 07:00 AM
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 249
Decatur, AL
C
Chris4x4Gill2 Offline
4 point
Chris4x4Gill2  Offline
4 point
C
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 249
Decatur, AL
Opening up plots and desirable forage to sunlight as much as possible. I try to expand mine at least some every year.

Fertilizing and protecting preferred native browse. Greenbrier is eaten back to nubs around my place in the winter. I stack limbs and brush on top of it to help keep the deer off of it some and hit it with fertilizer.

Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2778527
04/05/19 10:21 PM
04/05/19 10:21 PM
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 383
Arab
S
Sdyar Offline
4 point
Sdyar  Offline
4 point
S
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 383
Arab
Hinge cutting, thinning poplar stands, planting 50 pear trees and chestnut trees, dicalcuim mineral
licks, addtional acreage of tenant farmed soy beans, mulching shooting lanes.

Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2778536
04/05/19 10:45 PM
04/05/19 10:45 PM
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 512
Alabama
blahblahblah Offline OP
4 point
blahblahblah  Offline OP
4 point
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 512
Alabama
I don't normally feed, but this year I am mixing co-op protein pellets with corn and roasted soy beans. This is on top of the other stuff I mentioned earlier.


You can take a man's life, but you can't take his freedom.
Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2806181
05/12/19 09:46 PM
05/12/19 09:46 PM
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 49
marshall illinois
N
noble Offline
spike
noble  Offline
spike
N
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 49
marshall illinois
Predator control kill all the coyote you can.

Re: Small Improvements [Re: blahblahblah] #2806291
05/13/19 06:55 AM
05/13/19 06:55 AM
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 4,619
Alabama
R
Rmart30 Offline
10 point
Rmart30  Offline
10 point
R
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 4,619
Alabama
I like to bush hog trails off of the green fields back into the thick stuff. Deer will start using them. Ive had cams on old logging roads that got very little travel down them. Bush hog it and almost the first day will get some deer using it.


Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching - even when doing the wrong thing is legal. Aldo Leopold .. (except when it comes to trailer tags)
Re: Small Improvements [Re: Rmart30] #2806302
05/13/19 07:12 AM
05/13/19 07:12 AM
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 2,615
Alabama
D
dirkdaddy Offline
10 point
dirkdaddy  Offline
10 point
D
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 2,615
Alabama
Originally Posted by Rmart30
I like to bush hog trails off of the green fields back into the thick stuff. Deer will start using them. Ive had cams on old logging roads that got very little travel down them. Bush hog it and almost the first day will get some deer using it.

Yep. I've seen the same. They'll often bed right off of these little trails in the thick stuff, too. Gives them a combo escape route/cover for rest. I've probably done more "improvements" to my property by slowly going in reverse with my bush hog into the "thick stuff" than anything else I've done.


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