[QDMAMAN]

Cool stuff Paul. If mold does ocurr what do you recommend?

 

[QDMAMAN]

 

[QDMAMAN]

One thing I have noticed in dbltree's photos is the relative openess of the bedding areas.

Those are pics taken BEFORE any TSI when Paul was marking trees.

the following are beds I stumble upon while marking crop trees.

Paul points out a couple of key things deer look for when bedding, things that can be duplicated in specific places if you pay attention to the details.
Another noteworthy thing to consider is that Paul's pics are winter pics in big timber. Deer will seek out spots of relative safety where they can lay in the sun during the day.
Given the option deer will seek bedding that provides EVERYTHING they desire. If a property hasn't had any TSI or hinging done I don't find it remarkable that they aren't bedding under overhanging trees, JMO.
I was on a property yesterday helping a fellow MSer with some cutting. Most of the timber was red maple (hint) and there were several beds present at the BASE of a hill NORTH of the beds.

Big T

 

[QDMAMAN]

This pic of several beds is less than 10 yards off the edge of an alfalfa field (visible on the right) and they're on the south edge of the timber edge. It was a very CONVENIENT spot for a doe group to bed between feeding sessions on the alfalfa field. Not much over hanging cover but several beds were under a small branch if one was available. Remember...once the alpha doe lays down the rest of the family will as well close enough so they can watch and cue off the alpha.

Big T

 

[QDMAMAN]

A very timely post from you Paul concerning the red cedars.
We have a lot of "volunteer" red cedar growing in our ditches along the sides of our roads in my area, most vary in size (the visible ones) from 8" to 10'. They're also common in feral fields.
My question is, how well do they transplant and what size is to big to transplant?
My thought is that I will dig them in the spring after frost out, place them in buckets until I have prepared a spot for them with herbicide and our mowing.
The deer don't appear to be browsing them or rubbing them in my area and they seem to be growing everywhere, so they should do well in my well drained soil.
Your thoughts?

Big T

 

[QDMAMAN]

Thanks Nate! I have a gravely/sandy soil where I want to establish theses so maybe I can skip the step that includes adding sand to the soil.
Naturally I would be predisposed to transplant bigger trees because of my microwave mentality but 1'-3' trees are probably going to be a hand full with a 2' root ball.:yikes:

 

[QDMAMAN]

With the title of this thread being NATURAL forage and COVER, I thought I'd share a few pics I took on a property in Southern Michigan on Saturday.
These are in a naturally secure area of this particular property. These beds were fairly fresh having been made since the snow storm the previous Wednesday.
The largest beds were under overhanging cover and any that were not under cover were smaller and on the perimeter of the group of beds (I assume subordinates).

Big T

 

[QDMAMAN]

..if there's anybody who hasn't figures out how to properly make a bed by reading the forums I don't know if the 800 dollar fee for the bullcamp is gonna help anyways..

​

It's amazing but true. Not EVERYTHING can be learned by reading on the internet...even when there's pretty pictures and detailed instructions included.
I've been reading up on heart surgery so I figure by the end of February I'll be ready to hang my shingle and start cutting.


​

 

[QDMAMAN]

This is a picture of some hinge cutting I did about 5-6 years ago with information I got from an uninformed source and from information I got off the internet. The results speak for themselves and haven't been duplicated since I learned the proper way to do it from a pro.
This is mostly ironwood, elm, and hackberry, all species that typically hinge quite nicely when done properly. The first couple of winters after this cut I had some of the best rabbit hunting of my life so it wasn't a total waste.
Big T

 

[QDMAMAN]

The title of this thread is not Creating Natural Forage and Cover for Micro Managers. If you want to cover that aspect then start a thread on the topic. Personally, I don't care anymore what direction or where the deer lay in the bedding area. I don't care if they lay under an overhanging branch or hinge, I don't care if they lay beside a stump or log. I do care if they have cover to lay in and feel safe without human intrusion and natural forage to eat. Hence the title of the thread: "Natural Forage and Cover".

This thread is for people that for whatever reason don't buy into the TL micro manager way to do things. If you want to do things the TL way, knock yourself out. There are plenty of threads explaining the techniques...or lack thereof. Why are some people constantly trying to push TL concepts onto these threads. There are other widely accepted ways to build bedding and cover for those that don't want to spend money to learn how. We are not micro managing in this thread. We are creating hinge cut areas for "cover and natural forage".

Cool!

 

[QDMAMAN]

I don't want to assume everyone knows what it was I was offering in the pics I posted earlier in this thread, so here is some clarification.
Big T