Originally Posted by CNC
Here’s a pic I found from this time last year that helps show a little bit of what I’m talking about from an understory production potential…..Most of that is over your head…..Its producing more than your typical pine stand burn area that I see….It’s dense and its diverse…..Give me this understory on a landscape scale and lets see what kind of deer herd it produces.....You cant tell me that burning all of this up with fire doesnt have a different impact than if I recycle the carbon back to the soil....


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Talking about the area around your food plot in pic... I wonder what the tonnage of "palatable" (key word) production of deer browse is from January-December in situ. To further clarify, this area has been left to develop naturally for a few years. OK... now, let's say you prescribed burned it in February... now, measure the same data in the same timeframe. How would they compare in palatable browse for deer? IDK. Conventional wisdom would suggest that you'd have more tonnage of palatable browse production AFTER the burn. But if there IS more palatable browse production after the burn, is this production limited in time after X # of years burning it and such will decrease as OM decreases?

Also, fire and heat rises so what is the soil temp .5", 1", 1.5", etc... deep in the soil during a burn? And, what is the amount of time under heat/temp such can sustain its positive qualities? Does soil offer substantial protection from heat and how much OM in the soil would you lose because of heat?

So many questions to answer and I'm not schooled in ag or soil. I just like habitat mgm, food plots and managing for deer and try to learn as much as I can from ppl like you.

BTW, I did a Throw-N-Mow in IL this early fall in a VERY grown-up old field area between two very tall ridges that the other guys I was hunting with didn't want to plant. I asked them if I could plant it but I only was going to bushhog it. They said yes and that they didn't see bucks in that areas anyway. LOL! I did and I put a Spartan Cell Cam on the plot and oh my!!!!! When I started, herbaceous growth up to my neck... so, I walked fertilizer, seed and Glyphosate it and gave it three days (I had to lv on 3rd day) and then I bushhogged it. The plot received a good rain on the 4th day and wow... talk about a production growth within a few days!! I planted BuckBusters seed and Berseem Clover and it exploded. I had pix of four different shooter bucks visiting everyday and lots of does and man-alive did that little 1/4 acre honey hole produce some browse and bucks!!!!! Of course, I got the idea from you, so thanks!! My son killed a 5 yr old 11 pt off this little hiddy-hole food plot - a great buck.

Last edited by Antlerfluke; 12/09/20 12:07 PM.