Posted: 10/19/2024 10:55:18 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Towely][Edited]
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We have ten acres behind our house that we hunt. It connects to a few hundred acres of public on the N. edge. Property is long and narrow, running N to S. House is on the S. edge. In the middle of the N. portion we have a food plot with a tower stand. Land is all clearcut, so just an open field at the moment. We plant mostly clover and winter rye in the plot, and it's pretty small (just a little 1/4 acre kill plot), with fruit and nut trees planted all over around it, but they aren't producing yet. The neighbors to the east have a lot of land and keep clear of our area, as they have plenty of other areas to hunt, but the neighbors to the west come up every year with a large hunting party. Their property is another long/thin stretch and they walk the length of it to access the public land. 5-10 people at a time. Once they start coming up it really kills movement on our land. Seems like they do their best to limit their impact on our hunting, but with that many people needing to use such a confined area to access the public land, there's only so much they can do. I'm looking for something that will give a lot of cover to make our property feel more isolated than it is. I was looking at planting a bunch of white pine and norway spruce in the corners and along the edges. I figure the white pine will offer cover faster, but it loses branches low once it matures, which is where the norway spruce comes in, which should hold branches to ground level even when mature. Was also looking into hybrid willow. Downside is I know they suck up a ton of water and lose their leaves come november. Any other suggestions? 
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Current wisdom, although they can be hard to establish is switchgrass plots on the edges for screening. That will not improve things from a scent perspective of course. There are species specific to your area. As far as screening with conifers, consider adding white spruce as a third layer - very slow growing compared to your other species, and will help you maintain the lack of site line longer. |
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I'm no wildlife property expert, but I don't know that a screen is going to help. Just based on that picture you have tons of screen in the form of forest on at least 3 sides, likely all 4. That's such a tiny plot of land, I don't see some switchgrass helping you out at all, and I don't see how more trees is going to help either. I don't know what a long term solution would be, maybe buying the neighboring property. In the short term I would be working on a much bigger food plot. A small kill plot can be ok when you are already where the deer want to be and want an easier shot, but it's not much a draw to get them out into the open in daylight. I would be shooting for a 1+ acre food plot, basically as much as you can handle. I would also be looking at some different crops. It would be stupid of me to plant corn where I am, being as there's tens of thousands of acres of it in every direction. Based on that picture, there's no corn in sight. I would be planting some corn, and that alone makes a decent screen. I have never had much luck with any kind of grass, wheat, rye, or oats. They eat it, but it seems as a last resort to things like various brassicas, or covers, chicory, etc. Leafy stuff. |
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Originally Posted By fgshoot: I'm no wildlife property expert, but I don't know that a screen is going to help. Just based on that picture you have tons of screen in the form of forest on at least 3 sides, likely all 4. That's such a tiny plot of land, I don't see some switchgrass helping you out at all, and I don't see how more trees is going to help either. I don't know what a long term solution would be, maybe buying the neighboring property. In the short term I would be working on a much bigger food plot. A small kill plot can be ok when you are already where the deer want to be and want an easier shot, but it's not much a draw to get them out into the open in daylight. I would be shooting for a 1+ acre food plot, basically as much as you can handle. I would also be looking at some different crops. It would be stupid of me to plant corn where I am, being as there's tens of thousands of acres of it in every direction. Based on that picture, there's no corn in sight. I would be planting some corn, and that alone makes a decent screen. I have never had much luck with any kind of grass, wheat, rye, or oats. They eat it, but it seems as a last resort to things like various brassicas, or covers, chicory, etc. Leafy stuff.  Across the road from us is about 100 acres of planted corn. Our property splits the ag fields and the wood bluffs/marsh. Behind us(north), there are bluffs on the west side and the east side slowly transitions into marsh. We have a herd of 5 doe that hit the plot almost every night, sometimes spending the entire night laying around in it, so time will tell what that does for buck activity into the rut. I'm hoping the clover and winter rye will help hold them around into the winter. With 10 acres, there's only so much we can do, but we are in a decent spot between the ag and woods. Our primary focus is making our property look like an attractive option to walk through on their way in and out of the fields, but with the house right between the two, that isn't helping our cause. Also, with the limited property size, I don't want to dedicate too much to a food plot, which is where fruit and nut trees come in. Trying to get a healthy mix of trees that will drop something from mid aug through dec, but I don't think our property will ever be anything more than waystation on their way to the real food (aside from those nights they decide to, for whatever reason, just hang out all night long, but that's an exception). Depending on how well the food plots hold up through the season, we may look at connecting the two small plots into one bigger plot. |
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If you want a screen right away I had great luck with Egyptian Wheat. Do that in the late Spring, obviously. It does no grow year after year so it can get expensive to plow under and re-plant every year. It's also about as bad as corn at being a N thief so there's that added cost as well. Get a soil test done 1st. I side dressed it with liquid N because it was right next to my cornfield. That stuff got over 13' tall in sunny areas. Get switch grass established (3 years before it really starts to shine -- depending on soils) and then plan staggered conifer and bushy trees. I bought all my trees and bushes from Coldstream in Western MI. |
Somewhere in the United States is a little girl…whose mother is a stripper, her father is a crack head, and her grandfather is President of the United States.
| Miscanthus is what you seek awesome stuff I'll add a picture tomorrow when I'm up at the farm |
Originally Posted By nickforney
This subforum has filled up with a bunch of worthless fudds and I feel less and less that this is any kind of community I want to be a part of.
This subforum has filled up with a bunch of worthless fudds and I feel less and less that this is any kind of community I want to be a part of.
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Originally Posted By leadispenser: How close/far is the nearest water source? Perhaps establishing some drinking troughs might encourage the deer to hang out or stop & use those watering holes while traveling to/from bedding & feeding areas. Water all over around here. I may drive a sand point back by the food plot for watering during droughts. If I do, I may throw a watering hole out there with a heater for late season, but I need to research how effective some of the solar options are. |
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| That picture helps a lot. I can see some cover against the road in houses helping a little. I still think you would have even better results with a bigger food plot. If you don't want to cut into room for trees, that's understandable, but If you could double or triple that food plot size, I think you would be giving deer a lot more reason to come out during daylight. I only base that on my own experiences. I have a 1/4 acre plot, and it doesn't really draw anything. It just gives them a better place to come through and offers easy shots. I also have a 1/2 acre plot which mildly draws deer, but it still doesn't help much with pressure. Once you hunt it a few days and they smell you, the daylight sightings drop off like a rock. |
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Originally Posted By Iowaredneck: https://i.imgur.com/cLatILc.jpeg Tell me more about this please if you wouldn't mind. Where to buy how much planting prep how long to get that tall etc. Thanks |
Somewhere in the United States is a little girl…whose mother is a stripper, her father is a crack head, and her grandfather is President of the United States.
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This tells a little about it idk where it would be the cheapest to buy its planted from rhizomes I think it's about that tall the second year lot of people use it to screen their food plots from the road(poachers) wild life love this stuff ours is plots and gets chopped to the ground every year very late winter/early spring https://www.realworldwildlifeproducts.com/product/real-world-giant-miscanthus/ |
Originally Posted By nickforney
This subforum has filled up with a bunch of worthless fudds and I feel less and less that this is any kind of community I want to be a part of.
This subforum has filled up with a bunch of worthless fudds and I feel less and less that this is any kind of community I want to be a part of.
| Honestly, just don’t do anything in that cutover for a few seasons. Nature will fill it in with all kinds of nastiness that’s great bedding and escape cover, not to mention succulent browse. |
GD is like putting on crampons and walking through a room full of puppies.
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I planted this for the first time this summer and I’m extremely impressed. Food Plot Screen: Heavy Duty Variety |
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