Advice on removing thorns

[Jeremy K]

Hey people , before next season , we want to put in a small plot (hopefully a staging area). The area in question is overgrown with them damn thorn bushes (not sure what they are really called) , you know the ones , the kind that swallow you up if you even consider trying to walk through them . We have a tractor with a tow behind brush hog , is there a permanent way to knock these bad boys down and keep them down ? I would also be interested to hear if its possible to plant different kinds of crops that will come in before hunting season and some that will come in during late season as well. I hope i explained it all properly. Thanks !

[PREDATE]

Brush hog now. Plow when the ground thaws in the spring, then disc and drag it in late spring.

Edited December 3, 2013 by PREDATE

[cdmckane]

I knocked mine down with a brush hog, then mowed it. Now I have a local farmer cut it for hay at the end of July. I mow it twice and let it go until he comes again next year.

You'll have to knock it down, then rough up the soil and put in grasses to keep the briars from coming back if you want to do anything with it other than hay it off.

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[growalot]

Bush hog...then when weather is right in the  Spring spray....disc wait a couple of weeks...spray again...disc and plant...don't forget the soil test and lime before first discing

[wooly]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the layout of your land.

The cover you're trying to rid the area of sounds like it would make a great staging area by itself already...... not to mention the benefits that stuff provides naturally through the four seasons by itself.

Getting rid the nasty stuff might be counter productive to any plot you want to open up. Any other options for a plot location nearbye that wouldn't destroy the thicket?

I'm not a plotter, but I have seen a few pop up here in recent years that actually made the habitat worse simply due to being very poorly thought out.

 

[verminater71]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the layout of your land.

The cover you're trying to rid the area of sounds like it would make a great staging area by itself already...... not to mention the benefits that stuff provides naturally through the four seasons by itself.

Getting rid the nasty stuff might be counter productive to any plot you want to open up. Any other options for a plot location nearbye that wouldn't destroy the thicket?

I'm not a plotter, but I have seen a few pop up here in recent years that actually made the habitat worse simply due to being very poorly thought out.

 

agree 100%

 

multifloral roses?  could be one of the best bedding areas you have 

[growalot]

Wooly is correct...so planning is important...as I 've shown in many pics something as simple as mowing trails through such areas to make moving through them can be great....deer will feed and bed in and near the area and you can move through when needed quietly.....think about clover covered trails that lead to a small opening in the brush for clover...tunips and rye

Or....kill brush and put in a good tall grass and red&WTH clover mix...perennial....they will have cover and food

[Jeremy K]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the layout of your land.

The cover you're trying to rid the area of sounds like it would make a great staging area by itself already...... not to mention the benefits that stuff provides naturally through the four seasons by itself.

Getting rid the nasty stuff might be counter productive to any plot you want to open up. Any other options for a plot location nearbye that wouldn't destroy the thicket?

I'm not a plotter, but I have seen a few pop up here in recent years that actually made the habitat worse simply due to being very poorly thought out.

 

Basically the area  i want to plant is the outside edge of a large thorn field (about 3 acres) right before it meets up with a thin piece of woods , on the other side of the thin piece of woods will be a corn field , the farmer is putting in corn next year about 100 yards away from this thorn field , my thought was , they sleep in the thorns (and they do already). I figured a small plot would give them a place to mill around and allow me to get a shot before they make it into the corn field to feed after bedding.

 

[Hunter1]

Like was said brush hog an disc  then plant check soil .

[Jeremy K]

I talked to the guy with the tractor and implements today who also hunts with me, I relayed the info so far and he psyched also to do some work.

[WNYBuckHunter]

If you can push the brush out, do that. It will rip most of the roots out. If you brush hog it, it will come back faster, and you will have large, clumpy stumps in the ground that will need to be taken out with a larger disc or plow. A small disc will just bounce off of them. We tried it last year with both a tow behind ATV disc and a 6 foot 3 point disc on a 75hp tractor. Neither did well at all. The plot that we pushed out first turned out far better, plus we were able to strategically place the brush piles to start forming funnels for the deer to enter and exit the plot.

[growalot]

WNYBH...makes a good point and here's a warning to remember...when brush hogging you end up producing 3-6" little spikes ...be it woody brush or even golden rod......they are tractor tire poppers in some instances...

[WNYBuckHunter]

Yep.