My wife and I are planning on moving back to Alabama in approx 4 year and build on her parents property at I-20 and 431 intersection. House will be overlooking the lake located in the mountain at the back of the land. His property backs up to the Talladega national forest. He owns 199 acres but it is all steep ridges. We have talked and he is ok with me doing anything I want concerning the deer hunting. My thought are getting someone with the right equipment to clear off some of the ridge tops so I can plant some plots to attract the deer. Have any of you had any experience in planting on the side of a ridge. The space is limited on top so I was wandering if clearing some of the sides of ridges would even be viable or if if it would just erode.

No til or throw and mow would help prevent erosion. Make some terrace or water breaks to help run off. Do the least amount of tillage as possible.

Personally, i would want to be on top looking down, maybe near a drainage to carry my wind down the mountain in the evenings. Erosion will be a problem so i would go with a clover that would grow year around. If you could get a really good stand of clover going, maybe you could topseed some elbon rye or something like that in the fall, just for a little variety.

My land is pretty hilly. I took a dozer and shoved the flattest parts and made them not hilly but you better shoot to kill because if one runs off down in those bottoms your gonna need a helicopter or a chit pile of rope to get it out

Thats my thinking to clear off the tops to make and make the most room possible for bigger plots. Thanks for the replies We will see what happens.

Just a thought...clear the tops and let the hillside grow some sage grass or bedding grass that's not super tall that would act as a feathering for the field that you can shoot...I am not near as knowledgeable as others on here though.

This is what I would do. The hill top will dry out faster than a bottom. Just make sure it is clear from the south, so it gets enough sun light. WTI clover or fusion would be awesome.

You can put these new micro corn fields almost anywhere. I've even got one in small (and quickly disappearing) pond right now.