Hey all,
This post-season, I have gotten serious about scouting and doing little things to improve the habitat on the land that I hunt (opening up natural springs to allow for small pools, reintroducing locally native grasses and wildflowers, trying to tackle invasive wineberry, creating tiny clover/oat plots for post-winter supplemental deer feeding). For the past several years, the landowners have been tossing around the idea of doing a select-cut logging, as the land hasn't been cut in a couple decades and could really use some opening up for new growth. This year they are actually going to do it. I am looking forward to the positive benefits, but I am also a bit concerned about how this is going to impact my upcoming hunting season. They will be logging this summer, so I would hope that deer will be moving back into the area by this fall.
A little info on the land:
It's about 120 acres on the slope of a steep ridgeline that's covered in mature hardwood (tons of poplar, seconded by red and white oak), and it's contiguous with upwards of 1000 acres of neighboring forested properties
Here are some of my concerns, and I'd love to hear any insight you might have from those who have experience with post-logging hunting/land-management:
-disruption of travel corridors for deer...will they establish new (permanent) patterns of travel and throw a wrench in all my scouting efforts?
-how do I control the comeback of invasives? Is it feasible to do so? I have been trying to get after the extremely aggressive wineberry growth and replace it with native grasses/wildflowers, and I'm worried that they're now going to explode even more so
-what can I do now and immediately post logging to improve habitat and hunting for the next several years?
I have been hunting this land since I was a little kid and care for it immensely. I'd like to do what I can to make this a positive experience for years to come.
Thanks in advance!