Originally Posted by CNC
Originally Posted by poorcountrypreacher
I have wondered about the "historical" burning season in Alabama, and especially in the great long leaf forest. I don't think there could be much doubt that in my area the Creeks were burning in February to March. I've read many of the books written in their late period by the old traders and government agents, and most of them wrote about this.

What I have no idea about is what was happening 1000 years ago and longer. Did the previous Indians create the forest by constant burning, or did they just maintain what was already here? I don't know, but don't think it really matters; we know how they maintained it.


In order to have natural fire started by lightning strikes then you need lightning……which is very rare in Feb

Aside from when it might have occurred back in the day it doesn’t change what we’re currently doing and when flushes of rodents are “pulsing” and being made available to predators from drip torches…….That concept was the main idea of the podcast episode…….Anyone looking at it objectively would for sure ask the question of how the timing of us flushing rodents with fire impacts things like coyote litter size and predation rates on turkeys, etc…….

Well, you know beyond a doubt that having turkeys is important to me, but it's still secondary to the timber management. I want my place to look like it did in 1800. If I could live another 100 years I think I could accomplish that. smile My experience is very limited compared to someone like gobbler, but I have found that a growing season burn can help it transition to that type of forest, but once it looks that way the late winter burn maintains it. That's the way the Creeks maintained it, and from my experience it still works today. It's also my experience that the turkeys do very well in this sort of habitat.

I don't know much about managing anything in the SE corner of the state. Around central AL, if you don't burn your forest is going to be taken over by a sweetgum understory, and that doesn't help anything. A growing season burn gets rid of them faster, but over 20 years of late winter burns on a 3 year cycle has eliminated most of them for me.

All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.