Habitat Improvement Started - on my NEW ground

[Geno C]

Hello Everyone!

Its been a long time coming but less than 2 weeks ago I closed on my own 90 Acre Farm. To say I am extremely pumped, is an understatement. I have laid out my final draft on the property for this years improvements including 3 hinge cut bedding areas totaling roughly 3 acres along with 4.5 acres of foot plots (took 20 renditions lol). My many years of habitat improvement researching will be put to good work. I have some great points that are being used by some good bucks with a thermal hub on the adjacent property less than 100 yards from my property line, naturally, there is a lot of bedding going on there. My property has been timbered over the years from the previous owners, which Im happy about as the new growth is coming up real nice and has thickened the woods up with some real nice Re-gen. There has been many 130s shot on the land over the years and a 140 during bow season last season. It has some great bones to work with and has the makings to be some some great ground. Access is real good and its easy to walk. looking fwd to enjoying this for many many years to come. Also looking fwd to getting back into some LI hunting these year also lol.

Ive only just started this week and after each bedding area is complete, I have to go back in and clean trails and beds. Hinge cutting can be an instant gratification but it is a long term plan that will require me to go on there during shed season/early spring and re clean trails and check beds.

 

Food plots will be all Biologic: I have all the seed

Non typical Clover

Spring Protein Peas

Deer Radish

Winter Bulbs / Sugar Beets 

Sweet Corn ( biologic)

[E J]

Looks nice! Congrats.

[wolc123]

You may need some coon control on the sweetcorn or they will wipe you out.  Fortunately they are about the easiest furbearer that there is to trap and NY state laws are very lenient towards landowners and "damaging" coons.   As long as you bury or burn the carcasses prior to the opening of regular trapping season (in mid October), they may be trapped and killed without restriction.   

The dog-proof style traps, baited with cat food, work very well, as do box-type live traps, baited with marshmellos coated with peanut butter.  I always use field corn for my deer plots, which the coons also hit, but not quite as hard.   This year I am going to put in a few rows of sweetcorn on each plot for my own family's consumption and to draw out the coons for early eradication. 

Coons will always hit the corn before it is fully mature.  They are also terribly inefficient in their usage of corn.  They knock the stalks down, and then other species (like doves and wild turkeys) finish off the ears which they have brought down onto the ground.    Deer, by contrast, are very efficient users of corn.  They eat the entire ears directly off the standing stalks, consuming only what they need.   

When it comes to coon control, there is a tradeoff regarding deer hunting.   Deer (and any species) will always expend as little energy as possible to get the food they need.   That means they prefer to feed on corn down on the ground.  For that reason, if you can get in enough acreage to last thru late ML season, it may be best to not remove the coons.   That might mean plots of 10-20 acres in size compared to 1-2 acres if you have a large coon population.(as we have had nearly every year since furt prices tanked and trapping basically stopped).   

Rabbies or distemper will sometimes wipe out most of the coons in an area.  If that happens, you don't need to worry about trapping.   Keep an eye on your corn after it starts to tassle, and watch for coon damage, soon after the ears begin to form.  That "damage" gives you the green light from NY state DEC to start trapping.  I am going to try burning the coon carcasses instead of burying them this year.  Burying requires more effort, and the coyotes usually dig them up anyhow.  With all the fat on them, I imagine they would burn fairly easy.     

[bugsNbows]

Most excellent! Is this in Chemung?

[moog5050]

Enjoy Geno.  Nice to have your own place. 

[BizCT]

Welcome back! And congrats! What unit?


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[Geno C]

6 hours ago, bugsNbows said:

Most excellent! Is this in Chemung?

Yes, chemung county

6 hours ago, moog5050 said:

Enjoy Geno.  Nice to have your own place. 

excited man, been a long time coming!

4 hours ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

Welcome back! And congrats! What unit?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

8w in chemung and thanks!

[Judoka95]

Looks good Geno. I purchased my property about a year & 1/2 ago (50 acres). The property was tore up by loggers previously, huge slash piles choking off travel, disrupted the drainage so there is standing water everywhere. It seemed grim at first but in just a year or so we have made significant improvements. It's amazing what you can accomplish with some hand tools, a chainsaw and a lot of sweat. some of the work will require heavy equipment (which I don't own) but I have about 8-10 acres of field that I am looking at leasing to a local farmer for corn and soybeans (alternating years). It's a win/win/win. They will basically be putting in a food plot, I won't have to maintain the field and I can use the money (which I also don't have a lot of) from the lease to rent the equipment I need to perform some of the work.

This is all part of the enjoyment of having good hunting grounds. Plenty to do in the off season builds the excitement for the fall. It has also helped keep me occupied during this unique time.