Doing the Groundwork

Diverse features are essential to making game at home on your range

BY KEN PERROTTE

o you bought a piece

Sof land that you want to transform into a hunting paradise, the type of property to which deer and other species gravitate. For many hunters, the simple solution is creating a food plot: disk up some ground, plant clover and start reaping deer.

If only it was that simple. >

Native vegetation suitable for deer to browse should be a core element of any year-round hunting habitat.

Assuming you are in it for the long haul and not just a deer or two over a single food plot, it’s best to tailor your property so deer see it as a home for all seasons. Diverse habitat management that considers the essentials — food, water, cover — is the key. Even better, habitat improvements rarely bene t just a single species. And nongame species such as songbirds and pollinators also can bene t from work that improves deer hunting.

Matt Ross, director of conservation for the National Deer Association, says landowners can systematically establish a management plan.

“First, sit down and develop a list of wildlife species you are managing for and measurable goals related to those species,” Ross says. “These need to be realistic and have a metric associated with them so you can tell if you achieved it or not. Then, outline how you best plan to accomplish each goal. Finally, give yourself a timeline.”

Management planning is important whether you own 50, 150 or 500 acres.

Travis Sumner, hunting heritage and habitat manager for the National Wild Turkey Federation, offers land-management advice related to a multitude of wildlife species.

“When it comes to properties for deer management, no matter the size, you still conduct the same habitat management practices. The key is creating some diversity with the property and keeping hunting pressure low,” Sumner says.

A HEALTHY DIET

Hopefully, your property has a ready water source, whether it is a perennial stream, creek or pond. Availability of water is a key consideration in any property where wildlife management is the rst objective. >

Native grasses abutting a food plot and transitional habitat make deer feel welcome.

» Planting

supplemental food plots, such as clover and wheat, gives wildlife a nutritional boost.

» Something

every deer hunter likes to see is a big scrape near an acorn-producing oak tree.

Next comes food sources, both natural and created. Food plots have a role in providing nutritional diversity. Sumner advises planting brassicas, clovers, wheat and oats for the fall, and a mix of sorghum, peas, corn and forage soybeans in the spring if you want to attract deer throughout the year.

“A rule of thumb is that at least 10 percent of the entire acreage should be in some type of food plot or wildlife opening,” Sumner says, with “locations spread out across the property while avoiding plots near property lines.”

Wildlife openings, essential to a variety of animals, should be one-half acre to 1 acre in size, Sumner says. Irregularshaped food plots can help create pinch points that facilitate better hunting.

Any wildlife habitat must include “edge” habitat, places where different types of vegetation come together. Sumner says edges along wildlife openings can be created by planting native grasses or summer annuals like sorghum or Egyptian wheat. He also recommends fallow disking these areas in the winter — a form of land disturbance that promotes growth of native vegetation that will be used as a food source and cover.

Transitional edges, such as Sumner describes, often ow into a wooded environment. Here, sound timber management practices help create woods that are useful to deer and other wildlife year-round at all stages of the animal’s life cycle.

“Having uneven age-class timber areas will create and provide cover and shelter areas through thinning and clearcut areas,” Sumner says. New-growth timber also creates healthy browsing areas for deer.

Native vegetation suitable for deer to browse also merits consideration, especially on properties too small for a network of food plots. Sumner cites honeysuckle as a prime example.

“There may be areas that have an abundance of honeysuckle that could be fertilized and provide native plants that deer would use as a food source,” he says.

Adding small fruit tree orchards or hard mast crop trees such as sawtooth oaks is also bene cial. Sumner says planting ve to 10 trees in key spots around a property offers additional nutrition, giving deer one more reason to hang around.

Ross agrees that food plots have a place in a comprehensive wildlife habitat management scheme. “They can elevate the nutrition, attractiveness and harvest success of a hunting property — that is, if they are managed correctly, evenly distributed and the person managing them considers variation in seasonality, wildlife needs and how those t into their management goals,” he says.

Beyond that, though, Ross says he is “a big fan” of prioritizing work on the forested and other early successional vegetation areas of a property.

“There is often more of it in volume compared to areas you may put into food plots, and by managing them rst you can have a greater in uence (on) changing the dynamics of entire wildlife populations,” Ross says. “These places can also sometimes help generate revenue from the natural resources found on the property, instead of being a cost.” >

Managing for desirable plant species that bene t wildlife also involves removing or controlling undesirable vegetation, including invasive species that compete with desirable native vegetation. Identify plants that your target species prefer, Ross says, and manage for that species.

UNDER PRESSURE

Deer need a sense of security and sanctuary, and edge habitat helps create that sense for deer entering wildlife openings, Sumner says. Cover for bedding areas can be enhanced by controlled burning at prescribed times of the year, planting native grasses, fallow disking and hingecutting in timber stands. Hinge-cutting involves felling trees without cutting completely through them. The treetops, now resting on the ground, retain some vegetation, giving deer a safe hiding and bedding place. Sumner advises locating these areas within the center of the property.

Ross and Sumner agree that creating and nurturing key habitat elements for deer and regulating hunting pressure will keep deer predisposed to remaining on or near a tract of land, even if it is a smaller parcel. Still, hunting pressure affects deer movement, and Ross says some researchers have tried to measure it.

At a rate of roughly one hunter per 75 to 100 acres, “hunting pressure can negatively in uence deer movement and vulnerability,” and it can take “about three or more days for deer to return to what they were doing previously,” Ross says. “In terms of practical advice regarding managing hunting pressure, hunt smart, spacing out your visits and hunts as best as you can.”

SCALE

Ross suggests speci c actions landowners should consider based on the size of their properties.

For properties 40 acres and smaller, offer deer something that is more limited on the broader landscape — perhaps young, regenerating forest, quality mast crops or superior cover.

If your property is 40 acres to 150 acres, target connecting travel corridors and complement the habitat around you. For tracts larger than 150 acres, aim for diversity and work on providing everything deer need related to habitat (food, cover, water) within blocks of 40 to 60 acres.

Regardless of the size of the property, Ross recommends working with neighbors. Most movement studies show that, even on large tracts, deer will use adjoining properties during most of the year.

“At virtually any scale of land ownership, working with — or against — your neighbors can also in uence the management outcome,” Ross says. “However, if you cannot or do not (work with the neighbors), all you need to do is be exible and realistic with your expectations. It’s that simple.”

Deer are wide-ranging animals. Providing everything they need on a single property can be a challenge, but by developing and executing a plan, landowner efforts will be rewarded. l

Planning Resources

Planning and professional help can improve any habitat project.

LANDOWNERS DO NOT have to go it alone when it comes to developing and implementing habitat management plans.

State agencies (forestry, natural resources departments, extension agents, etc.) can provide technical assistance on habitat management. Local biologists and foresters can provide step-by-step instruction for creating wildlife management plans. Beyond governmental agencies, groups such as the National Deer Association and National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) can also provide technical assistance. For example, NWTF employs regional biologists and foresters who are specifically chartered to work with private landowners.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, can offer landowners costshare funds for certain habitat management practices. Landowners usually apply through a local office. Such programs include the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program.

Private consultants, ranging from foresters and timber management professionals to wildlife managers, will work (for a fee) with landowners. Make sure any forester understands your aim is to manage for deer or other wildlife.

For effective management planning, a quality mapping tool can help you assess the topography of your land, identifying where to focus habitat improvements.