When is it safe to bushhog?

[FTG-05]

Time to start bushhogging my lower and Pole Barn fields. When will it be safe i.e. when will all the eggs/poults be done hatching? The last thing I want to do is run over an active nest. Did that the first year I lived here. Never again.

Thanks,

 

[megalomaniac]

Not safe until July 4th. Even then there may be a handful of hens renesting. The majority will be hatched by July 4 tho.

 

[Spurhunter]

Great question. I've got a lot of tractor work I need to do as well, but I can't risk it.

 

[Flint]

One year I waited until polts had hatched. Killed one fawn and nearly got two more. As bad as i hate it, I'd rather take a chance on nests rather than fawns.

 

[woodsman04]

Or folks could just wait until September like it's supposed to be done.
Or you could keep maintained beforehand so that hens won't nest and does want fawn in it.
Pretty simple solution.

 

[deerfever]

Or folks could just wait until September like it's supposed to be done.
Or you could keep maintained beforehand so that hens won't nest and does want fawn in it.
Pretty simple solution.

That's what I do, I maintain constant since I am not doing hay , so they will not nest in my fields. I have areas that were select cut that are great nesting sites in places if a hen chooses to do so.

 

[Spurhunter]

Or folks could just wait until September like it's supposed to be done.

Where can I find this "Rules of Bushhogging" book? It's amazing that the author was able to come up with a rule that fits every circumstance on every farm no matter the size or terrain or intended goals.

 

[megalomaniac]

Actually, the very best time to bushhog for the entire state of TN is mid Aug... in dry years, you still get enough regrowth for deer browse by November. In the wet years, it's a lot thicker by Nov, but deer can still move through it and it's still huntable.

If you bushhog in the late spring, you will have to bushhog again late summer. Bushhog too late in Sept in a drought year, and there is zero browse regrowth.

We've gone to spraying our rough fescue pastures in late spring with 24d plus triclorpyr, then bushhogging just before the broomsedge goes to seed in the late summer. Hardly any broadleaf weeds in the pastures after doing that 2 years... just have to deal with the problem grasses (broomsedge, Johnson grass, etc)

 

[rem270]

We bush hog our fields in mid August every year.

 

[jmf]

I bushogged one of our farms on May 2nd last year. The wing of the bushog got a hen that was sitting on 15 eggs. Will wait until June this year. We ended up taking 14 of the eggs home and hatched 11 of them about 2 weeks later.

 

[Gravey]

I was cutting a field on our lease May 25th last year and saw some small poults. Actually caught one and put it back in a thick area and got out of there.

 

[megalomaniac]

I was cutting a field on our lease May 25th last year and saw some small poults. Actually caught one and put it back in a thick area and got out of there.

The very peak of hatching is usually the very end of May and first week of June. But there are a handful of early birds hatching out May 1st (or very rarely end of April), and several that don't hatch until late June.

One other thing to consider is timing of incubation when bushhogging. Hens that have just started their 28 days of incubation will readily abandon their nest as the tractor approaches, and often renest if it's destroyed. Hens closer to hatch date are not going to abandon their nest for anything and get chopped up. Because of this, if you must bushhog in the spring, do it early May rather than late May. You will chop up nests, but usually not the hen herself in early May.

 

[Specializedjon]

I don't bush hog my back 15, horses keep it down (sort a), the deer and turkeys seem to like the "untouched" fields. Gonna let'r ride. 15+ does out every afternoon/evening. Not gonna disturb it.

Disclaimer: Due to the absence of a bush hog (i.e. I don't own one yet), I took my mower back there and scalped about an acre and threw down several bags of "throw & grow" just for giggles. We'll see.

 

[FTG-05]

Gonna wait until mid-July. Not gonna risk the little ones.

 

[Gravey]

The very peak of hatching is usually the very end of May and first week of June. But there are a handful of early birds hatching out May 1st (or very rarely end of April), and several that don't hatch until late June.

One other thing to consider is timing of incubation when bushhogging. Hens that have just started their 28 days of incubation will readily abandon their nest as the tractor approaches, and often renest if it's destroyed. Hens closer to hatch date are not going to abandon their nest for anything and get chopped up. Because of this, if you must bushhog in the spring, do it early May rather than late May. You will chop up nests, but usually not the hen herself in early May.

Here's the May 25th poult.

 

[megalomaniac]

Here's the May 25th poult.
View attachment 136432

Just starting to get first wing pinfeathers... about 2 or 3d old in that pic. Another week and you prob would not have been able to catch it!