BSK
Well-Known Member
Looking for advice and experiences others have had with somewhat large-scale aerial spraying and/or burning.
To set the stage: we have gone through several periods of cutting small amounts of hardwood timber on my place over the years. Each of the cuts were a patchwork of small cuts, usually 2-5 acres each spread around the property, and no total cut exceeded more than 25 total acres across the property. Trail-camera data shows that each time we've cut timber, the deer population surges, peaking about three years after the timber removal was concluded (and the magnitude of the population surge is closely tied the number of acres of hardwood cut). At three years of regrowth is the point when weed/brier growth (summer food sources) in the cut areas are at peak. All of these cuts have been left to regrow naturally, and they have all returned to hardwood timber. And once these patches of timber have enough sapling regrowth to block sunlight from the ground, the deer population has fallen back to where it started (no more summer forbs or blackberries), usually about 5-6 years after timber removal. In the winter of 2020, we had a very large-scale timber cut conducted. We had 110 acres (a little more than 1/5th of the property) cut down to 10" DBH, which removed a large percentage of the trees in each cut area (110-acres were scattered across 6 patches, with the largest being 25 acres). The deer population response has been astounding. Prior to this large cut, we would average around 35 unique bucks using the property during the fall months, with 16 being older age (target) bucks. In the four years since the cut, we are averaging 53 total bucks per year, with 24 being older-age target bucks.
Now the problem. We are year 4 since the timber removal. These cut areas are already filling with 10-foot-tall saplings which will soon block all sunlight from the ground, and this population surge we are very happy with is going to disappear over the next few years. Instead of cutting more timber to recreate the early-stage regrowth, I would like to return several of these timber cuts back to year zero or one of regrowth, recreating the habitat that was so beneficial. The question is, what is the most effective way to do this? On clients' properties, we've used aerial spraying alone, spraying followed by fire, and fire alone. In my opinion, spraying followed by fire is the most beneficial from a wildlife perspective. However, the way we cut timber makes that a bit of a problem, as we left the timber standing on all of the ridge-tops and bottoms of valleys and cut the timber off the steep hillside. I'm not sure how effective aerial spraying would be on steep hillsides. In addition, fire on steep hillsides can get more than a little dicey. In addition, cutting firebreaks around some of these steep hillsides would be a major equipment challenge. Loggers have rolled both bulldozers and skidders working on these hillsides. I would not be spraying/burning all of the cuts, just about 25 acres spread in three patches.
Anyone had experience with any of these methods in very difficult terrain? Results?
To set the stage: we have gone through several periods of cutting small amounts of hardwood timber on my place over the years. Each of the cuts were a patchwork of small cuts, usually 2-5 acres each spread around the property, and no total cut exceeded more than 25 total acres across the property. Trail-camera data shows that each time we've cut timber, the deer population surges, peaking about three years after the timber removal was concluded (and the magnitude of the population surge is closely tied the number of acres of hardwood cut). At three years of regrowth is the point when weed/brier growth (summer food sources) in the cut areas are at peak. All of these cuts have been left to regrow naturally, and they have all returned to hardwood timber. And once these patches of timber have enough sapling regrowth to block sunlight from the ground, the deer population has fallen back to where it started (no more summer forbs or blackberries), usually about 5-6 years after timber removal. In the winter of 2020, we had a very large-scale timber cut conducted. We had 110 acres (a little more than 1/5th of the property) cut down to 10" DBH, which removed a large percentage of the trees in each cut area (110-acres were scattered across 6 patches, with the largest being 25 acres). The deer population response has been astounding. Prior to this large cut, we would average around 35 unique bucks using the property during the fall months, with 16 being older age (target) bucks. In the four years since the cut, we are averaging 53 total bucks per year, with 24 being older-age target bucks.
Now the problem. We are year 4 since the timber removal. These cut areas are already filling with 10-foot-tall saplings which will soon block all sunlight from the ground, and this population surge we are very happy with is going to disappear over the next few years. Instead of cutting more timber to recreate the early-stage regrowth, I would like to return several of these timber cuts back to year zero or one of regrowth, recreating the habitat that was so beneficial. The question is, what is the most effective way to do this? On clients' properties, we've used aerial spraying alone, spraying followed by fire, and fire alone. In my opinion, spraying followed by fire is the most beneficial from a wildlife perspective. However, the way we cut timber makes that a bit of a problem, as we left the timber standing on all of the ridge-tops and bottoms of valleys and cut the timber off the steep hillside. I'm not sure how effective aerial spraying would be on steep hillsides. In addition, fire on steep hillsides can get more than a little dicey. In addition, cutting firebreaks around some of these steep hillsides would be a major equipment challenge. Loggers have rolled both bulldozers and skidders working on these hillsides. I would not be spraying/burning all of the cuts, just about 25 acres spread in three patches.
Anyone had experience with any of these methods in very difficult terrain? Results?
