Screen property lines where needed to prevent or reduce poaching.
Most landowners or hunting clubs that are aggressively managing their property for high quality or high-end wildlife have many resources invested into developing, managing, and/or maintaining their property. Regardless of where your property is, efforts should be made to reduce or eliminate poaching. This includes properly posting your property, having secure gates, and fencing if needed. These activities relay the message that you are serious about trespassing. Something that many landowners or hunting clubs often overlook is using crops, shrubs, or other plants to provide natural barriers or screens to keep people from seeing into your property. Obstructing the view of your property from adjacent landowners, hunting clubs, or along highways or roads may not eliminate poaching, but will reduce the temptation. Most properties only have a few key areas along their border that need to be screened. Some of my favorite “natural screens” include evergreen trees such as Leland cypress, cedars, or pines. These species grow well in many soils and climates and because they are evergreen they provide good screen during the winter months. Unless you are planting containerized trees, such as 25 gallon potted trees, most trees should be planted in the winter. An alternative, and something I often do, is to plant spring/summer crops or permanent grass strips that will grow tall enough to do the job. Many of these crops or grasses can be planted in April and May depending on your location. Corn, Egyptian wheat, sorghum Sudan, switchgrass, or some of the taller native warm season grasses not only make good screens, but add wildlife value to your property. This leads me to the second item on our April/May management calendar (see #2 below).
Identify hunting stands or hunter travel areas that need to be screened to reduce hunting pressure next fall.
Hunting pressure plays a significant role in the hunting quality (number and quality of deer seen while hunting) of your property. Hunting pressure does not necessarily mean a lot of shooting that is spooking deer. The most hunting pressure is often applied when hunters do not shoot at all. Examples of this include making full-scale scouting trips through a property during the season, spooking deer while entering or exiting a hunting stand, and hunting stands during unfavorable wind conditions. Most Westervelt hunting clubs and clients collect hunter observation data where they record the number and quality of deer they see while hunting. This helps us assess hunting quality which plays a role in our deer harvest decisions and hunting strategy recommendations. Years of hunter observation data from our clients shows that hunting quality, particularly mature buck sightings, decrease as hunting pressure increases. Therefore, you should make efforts to keep hunting pressure to a minimum. One way to decrease hunting pressure is to screen hunting stands and hunter access areas with evergreen trees or other plantings to allow hunters to enter or exit the stand without impacting deer in the area. While evergreen trees work well for this application, we often plant tall standing crops such as corn or Egyptian wheat where needed to hide hunters. Because these are spring/summer plantings, you need to think ahead. That is, identify hunting stands now that need screening next fall. Strips of corn or Egyptian wheat need to be at least 10 yards wide to be effective since some of the crop plants will fall over after heavy frosts. Obviously wider strips will better conceal hunters. Another trick is to cut/create access trails for hunters to get to the stands quietly and undetected. Although you will need to recheck trails in early fall, cutting/creating them in spring will be easier than waiting until late summer or early fall after vegetation has had a full summer of growth. Lastly, determine the best wind directions for each of your stands. Do NOT hunt the stand unless the wind is right. We keep a stand/wind list at our hunting camp. It is against our rules to hunting the stand under unfavorable winds. You will be quite surprised at how many more deer, particularly bucks, you will see by managing your hunting pressure.
Fertilize and control weeds in perennial clover food plots
Perennial clover plots will start growing rapidly once daily temperatures exceed 65 degrees. Apply a fertilizer that does not contain nitrogen, such as 0-20-20, during early-mid spring to provide adequate nutrients for clover growth. Clover produces its own nitrogen. If you add nitrogen, you are simply feeding competing grasses. A standard fertilizer application rate for clover in the spring is 200 lbs./acre. Once the growing season begins, monitor the plot for weeds and grass. Mowing will help reduce undesirable weeds. Do not mow too low. Your mower should be set to cut just over the clover leaves. However, if weeds and grasses persist, apply selective herbicides for control. I often use Poast Plus for grasses and 2-4-DB for broadleaf weeds (which can be tank-mixed and sprayed in one application). Although herbicides are more expensive than mowing, they are often the most effective. Mowing is used to give the clover a better chance to out-compete the weeds while herbicide kills the weeds.
Collect shed deer antlers.
Collecting antler sheds can be a fun spring activity for the whole family. Shed collecting not only provides a great opportunity to spend time with your family, but also provides some insight to the quality of your deer herd. After a few seasons, compare the quality of sheds found from different years. If your program is moving in a positive direction, you will notice that the pile of found sheds is getting bigger and antler quality is getting better each year. Key areas to concentrate your searches include food plots, fields, around feeders, and along trails where deer must jump (over fences, ditches, etc). The ultimate testament that your program is working is when you have to plug tractor tires each year from running over sheds.
Lime and fertilize roadsides.
Roadsides can account for a great deal of acreage on your property. Liming and fertilizing natural areas along roads during spring will enhance the attraction and nutrition of these areas for wildlife. These areas not only provide quality browse for deer, but create ideal nesting and escape cover for turkeys and quail. Many landowners concentrate their efforts in the woods or food plots but overlook roadsides when managing the property. Liming and fertilizing roadsides not only enhances the wildlife habitat, but because wildlife is attracted to these areas it also increases wildlife viewing opportunities while riding around the property. If you have undesirable vegetation or exotic plants along roadsides such as sweetgum trees, privet, cogon grass, etc., consult a biologist or forester to determine the appropriate selective herbicide needed to promote wildlife friendly plants. If undesirable plants are present and you plan to spray, wait until after you spray to apply fertilizer and lime. If you apply it well before you spray, much of the fertilizer will be taken up by the undesirable plants you will be killing later.
Allow fall annual clovers to seed out.
If you included fall annual clovers such as crimson, arrowleaf or other red clovers in your fall food plots, you will notice a strong burst of growth during spring. These clovers will provide excellent wildlife value through early summer. Deer, turkeys, and other wildlife will eat the nutritious foliage of these clovers until the clovers die in early summer. Another benefit of annual clovers is that insects are attracted to the flowers produced as the clover produces seed. Insects are an important source of protein for turkey poults and quail chicks. If properly managed, these clovers will produce seed that will germinate next fall and produce another good stand of clover. To ensure this happens, do NOT mow your food plots before the clover produces seed. We generally leave these fields alone and let them go fallow through late summer. After the clovers die, many weeds will begin to take their place. On many properties, these weeds provide some wildlife value. The next management we apply is early fall when we mow the plots as low as possible, allowing the existing weeds a week or so to start growing again, then apply a glyphosate herbicide to prepare the ground for fall. When fall planting time arrives, apply needed fertilizer, lightly disk, then broadcast or drill cereal grains such as winter wheat and/or oats. So, if you want to regenerate annual clovers and take advantage of the free seed produced by the crop you planted last fall, do not mow your food plots before the clover seeds out.
Keep feeding troughs full for deer.
For those of you who implement a supplemental feeding program for deer, you have probably noticed a significant decrease in feed consumption during the spring green-up period. As this new vegetation begins to mature or “harden up” it will be less attractive to deer and feed consumption will increase. Although supplemental feed should be provided throughout the year (or at least when it is legal), May through September is the most critical period to ensure deer have a quality diet. Supplemental feeding is particularly beneficial to a deer herd that is in poor quality habitats such as coastal areas or areas with deep sandy soils. Many biological processes such as antler growth, fawning, and milk production occur in deer during this period. Late summer is also the period in which quality natural food sources are often at their lowest. I recommend providing a quality nutrient rich feed that contains protein, calcium, phosphorus, fiber, etc. Whole corn should be avoided when possible unless you are “training” deer to use new feeding stations or your goal is purely to attract deer.
Collect soil samples and apply lime if needed to adjust soil pH in food plots.
Spring is a good time to check soil pH and lime food plots if needed. To check the soil pH, simply collect soil samples and send them to a soil laboratory. For more information about how to properly collect soil samples, refer to a previous Wildlife Trends article. Your local farmers cooperative will often have soil collection bags and will also know where you can send the soil to be tested. Although there are exceptions, most crops grow best in a relatively neutral soil pH of 6.5 – 7.0. Thus, lime is often needed to enhance the soil (this is particularly true in sandy soils). Because it can take several months for lime to effectively change the soil pH, checking the soil in the spring will give you ample time to enhance the soil before the fall planting period. Remember, ensuring proper soil pH is often more important than what you plant or how much you fertilize. In fact, proper soil pH is essential for fertilizer to be available to the plants. Although lime can be spread anytime of year, applying it at least 6 months before planting will allow time for it to enhance the soil.
Plant summer food plot crops for wildlife
Throughout most of the Southeast, April and May are the desired planting dates for many summer crops such as millets, sorghum, peas, corn, soybeans, etc. Because many of the seed producing grass type crops that benefit birds are summer crops, wingshooters devote a lot of energy and effort into planting during this time of year. Deer hunters are well aware of fall food plots because they are so attractive to deer during hunting season, which helps hunters see deer, but often overlook the benefits of summer crops for deer. If you are not fortunate enough to have commercial agriculture on your property or nearby, planting summer crops will benefit your deer herd if adequate acreage is planted. Many biological processes such as fawning, milk production, and antler development are taking place. Most summer plantings for deer are very nutritious and high in much needed protein. Commonly planted summer crops for deer include many varieties of peas, soybeans, corn, lab lab, vetch, and clovers. Regardless of whether you are planting for birds or deer, a successful planting starts with testing the soil and applying required fertilizers and lime to ensure good soil quality. Create a clean, smooth seed bed and plant under favorable conditions. Favorable conditions mean adequate soil moisture and a good chance of rain after planting takes place.