Creating Permanent Whitetail Habitat

Cody from MN asks,



I have intermittent cottonwood trees growing in a fairly sparse prairie area on my land. Deer don't bed there currently much, because there just isn't enough cover. I'm biting off chunks of habitat improvement with planting trees this coming spring and planting about 10 acres of switchgrass. My goal is to boost deer cover/browse but also habitat for pheasants. I've seen hawks and owls in these cottonwoods (about 20-35' high) so that can't be good for pheasants. The pheasants don't seem to live in that area too, at least in the fall/winter. Probably due to cover and trees. I'm considering hinge cutting about half the cottonwoods to create some low cover for both deer and pheasants. My plan is to do this in summer, hoping the trees keep some leaves for added cover for the fall. Deer do not winter here though. Considering the above, what would you do? My 3-5 year goal is eventually to burn and get rid of the cottonwoods and get more trees and switchgrass in here, but it just isn't possible for the next couple years. Thanks for your time, Bill!




Bill responds,


Topic: Creating Permanent Whitetail Habitat:

Whitetail Habitat

I love to plant acorns when I am trying to establish permanent habitat in larger open areas.

Cody,

I am a fan of direct nut seeding in that type of open setting to establish long-term permanent habitat. I would start that as soon as you can even if only on a small scale. 

Hinging the cottonwoods will produce some cover and likely will save a few pheasants and offer bedding options for a few deer, but that is a small scale solution to a big scale problem. I would go ahead with that as planned.

I would not wait any longer than necessary to get the permanent habitat started (tree planting). It takes a long time for trees to grow.

Switchgrass is OK, and will probably help the pheasants more than the deer.  Personally, I have not had much success with switchgrass as permanent deer habitat. It seems to play out quicker than I would like (some lasted only five years despite regular burning) and the deer don’t seem to use it as much as they do the trees and brush nearby.

I would plant variety of tree and shrub species.  Again, I like direct seeding with acorns but you can also plant using bare root stock trees and a tree planter.  That works too as long as the deer density is not too high.  Otherwise, they will just walk down the rows and eat the trees like they are candy.  Only option then is to cage the trees – lots of work.

I would plant shrub trees such as crabapple and wild plum.  I would plant the shrubs in pockets, the switchgrass in pockets and the trees in pockets so you have a lot of edge (lines between various habitat types) and lots of diversity.  I would also plant a few dozen apple trees in groups of about 10 each in various areas. Deer love apples.  Of course, I would also want to keep out some of the better soils for food plots. That will also be critical long-term. A fun project for sure. Good luck. (2/23/22)

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