Cody from Michigan asks,
Bill, Thanks for taking the time to read these Q&A's. I watched your recent episode about your new farm and you mentioned not wanting to let parts of the farm go into cedar patches. Can you explain your thought process on this a little more? I've hunted a few places over the years that were essentially old pastures that had overgrown into cedar thickets and I usually had good luck. I've also seen Owen do segments on his cedar patches and he seems to love them. Just looking to broaden my knowledge base here. As always, love the content. Cody
Bill responds,
Topic: Cedar Thickets for Whitetail Deer:
In this photo you will see cedar thickets on the ends of all five ridges on the right side of the valley. I like the composition of the first three but not the farthest two. Those farther ridges are overrun with cedar trees. This is what I am trying to avoid on my farm.
Cody,
I suppose to some degree it to each his own. I don’t mind having some cedars and a few limited cedar thickets, but I don’t want large areas of cedars. once they mature they completely take over the habitat and nothing grows under them. Yes, maybe deer will bed in these places, especially in the winter when the dark colored cedars hold heat better than more open woods.
That’s why I don’t mind a few patches. However, cedar trees don’t provide food (except as a last resort) and the cover is above the heads of bedded deer once the trees mature enough to block out all the sunlight to the ground (which happens pretty fast).
I personally would rather have browse plants and oak trees as my primary habitat type. Again, some cedars are great, but not individual patches that exceed about a quarter to a half acre in size. As I said, to each his own. I love oak forests with a few cedars mixed in, not cedar forests with a few oaks mixed in. Good luck. (8/5/22)
