Photo courtesy of: Edgar Reinhardt

Now I have had the chance to spend time with my dad in the past planting some trees on our property. At this time and moment these trees that we had planted are now 5 and 6 years old. Most of these trees are southern crab apple and saw-tooth oak trees. Both of these trees have had fruit on them the past two years during hunting season. By me taking time and cleaning up an area around my food plots I now can admire the beauty of having trees that produce nuts and fruit such as apples for my deer.

Getting your tools ready for this is simple. Most of the time a little potting soil, a pale of water, and a shovel is all you need when planting fruit trees. Maybe a little fertilizer to get it jump started! By getting your children out of the house and into the woods is a start at also planting these trees for them to view at a later time. Getting your kids involved in planting trees will also teach them the true value of land management, how to grow something, and producing food source for wildlife. Of course there are many other things you can do with them.

Lets get started here and see how we can place out our fruit tree food plots! Start by having the rite tools and of course the trees you are planning own planting. Things such as southern crab apple can be planted around the edge of food plots or the edge of fence rows but make sure they have plenty of sun light. Edge of pine stands work well with trees such as these also. Try and mix up your fruit trees when planting them. Try and plant crab apple with other trees such as Chickasaw plum trees, pear trees, and peach trees. Anyone that tells you that deer want eat peaches are telling you a wrong. I know this from experience from the peach trees in my own back yard.

I am going to give you a mental note of somewhat of a picture or what I call my style of map to look at and see how one of my own fruit tree food plots look like here in Alabama. Below is my map or should I say picture I have tried to draw. Feel free to laugh if you like but I am by no means an artist. The green lines are stands of pine trees.The red lines are crab apple trees and the yellow lines are peach and pear trees. As for example a pear tree is planted and then a peach tree and so on. The blue lines are where deer enter and exit the food plot. Black lines are road ways and food plot edges. There is 10 to 15 feet empty space between fruit trees and pine stands. This is still allowing plenty of sun light to reach my food plot and trees. The silver dot at the tip of the (V) spot is where the stand is placed.

Planting a food source around another food source helps increase the sign and action of the wildlife you may see. So the next time you want to add to the value of your property and make your hunting grounds better just add another family tree to the category and let your kids help.

I have planted in the past corn fields as much as six acres and left the whole field standing except for just a small portion. Corn fields can draw deer in the early season but is more beneficial to deer in the late winter months. Deer take in the carbohydrates of the corn and add needed weight for the extreme cold months to come. Placing too much pressure on these fields will hurt you from seeing that big buck in the late season. The deer get to understand the hunters behavior and change their daily routs into night routs. This is how the old bucks that you may get on your trail camera get old. You may see them and think you have them mapped out and they change their moves on you in a heart beat.

If you are hunting small acreage the older bucks are more likely to stay if you put less pressure and watch your doe herd that you may have. I see no harm in harvesting a mature doe in the early season such as bow season. Allow them to walk when gun season comes in. Where the does are the bucks want be far behind when the rut kicks into full swing. I have learned this the hard way on my own and by watching others mess their hunting locations up as I have done in the past. My favorite stand is a shooting house that sits square dead in the middle of an old pasture field that once held cows. It is standing underneath and beside a large pine tree all alone. Forty yards out in front of the stand is six rows of seven-year old sawtooth oak, live oaks, and Chinese chestnut trees that are all bearing nuts this season.

The trees are planted every twenty feet apart so that they can be kept clean through the summer months and fertilized twice a year. Once in the spring and once again in the fall when the small food plots are planted around them. In between each row and all around these trees there is some sort of winter food source there for my deer. There are five rows all together that get planted. Each row has something different except the two outside rows. These rows are planted in Brassica plants Georgia collard. Each row between the trees is roughly about 75 yards long and 20 yards wide. Inside the Brassica plants you have crimson, arrow leaf, and yuchi clovers planted. The last row left is planted in chicory.

By planting the clover it also acts as a food source in the spring time for my turkeys. So I am killing two birds with one stone. When planting different types of plants for wildlife it gives them a choice to eat something over the other. On small properties the more you plant the better the odds move into your favor. Even though your neighbor next door may have 200 to 300 acres more. You still have a chance at drawing some good deer onto your property and the odds increase into your favor. Do not ever give up on your dream of harvesting a great deer. You and I as outdoors-men stand the chance of taking a trophy in our own back yard just as much as the next hunter. We as hunters manage our money as we do our land and deer herd. What I mean by this, is if we are tight wads with what kind of deer we shoot then we are just as tight with our money. And I understand that in today’s economy everything sucks and we as citizens of the United States have to deal with it.

It is a time as we grow with what Mother Nature has given us. We take things for granite and with a grain of sand can ruin whatever it is we have of had. Our land lies before us as our grandparents, fathers, and mothers have left behind for us. Young people today do not realize what they have and are sometimes not happy with what has been given to them. Land is getting hard to come by and only seems to be there for the rich. We no longer work hard to have what we could have but work hard for what we do have. The things we want most seem to be getting harder to come by.

Farm land is being turned into a pine forest and I can say I have never seen a deer or a turkey eat a pine comb. The value of timber go’s up and go’s down and timber companies take advantage of these things. I am not saying that a timber company is a bad thing. You don’t see hard wood timber like you use to see it. Even though there still is some farm land left in parts of Alabama and Mississippi. The black-belt area of Alabama is being turned into forest’s as it use to be nothing but farm land and hard wood bottoms.

West Alabama still hold some very great farm land but most of this land is owned by a single family or a company that no longer holds interest in farming for wildlife but farming for tree’s. There is nothing wrong with this if it’s done the rite way. Most of us dose not even know what the rite way is but we still believe we do in our own terms.

There are timber companies that work hard to produce great timber value and still produce great things in the forest for wildlife. Managing your timber and land the correct way will provide great rewards for wildlife today. Rayonier Timber company is a very good company that still helps hunter’s by allowing them to lease lands and manage wildlife in a firmly fashion. There are timber companies that work with companies like Biologic to produce and manage deer and turkey on their lands to make the hunting opportunity better for today’s hunter’s. Let’s take a look at a video on Timber management and see how you can market your timber.

Part: 1

Part: 2

Wild hogs have known to become a problem in Alabama. They are fun to hunt but be careful because if you think you have killed one just when you walk up on a downed hog they jump and attack if they are not down completely. A hog or feral hog as we see most often will grow to be very large animals. They have a shield as to say on their shoulders that act as a steal plate of Armour. This is to protect them.

A hog can be a good thing or a bad thing. They will destroy any crops that can be found but also will eat snakes as a meal. They use their snouts more ways than we think. A hog can smell very well and sense things you may not think. Alabama’s wild hog population has grown tremendously over the past few years.

The Upper Delta (WMA) and Lowndes (WMA) hold quit a few wild hogs on their lands. There are hogs taken every year that weigh in at 150 lbs and larger. Lowndes (WMA) holds most of it’s hogs on the south road hunting area. I have hunted here for hogs, deer, and turkey in this area many times before. I can’t say that I have hunted the Upper Delta before but have talked to many hunters who have taken many hogs off this tract of land.

Hogs also carry diseases that can make you sick. Take extra care when cleaning these animals. As a hunter, you can protect yourself and your family from diseases commonly found in wild hogs. Use safe field dressing techniques when handling a hog. Wear latex gloves and wash your hands as much as possible when done. Also make sure to follow food safety tips when preparing the meat. Wash and clean the meat thoroughly and soak the meat in salt water to take out the wild taste and draw out any unwanted blood. If you get sick with a flu-like illness, tell your doctor that you hunt wild hogs.

To contact your state wildlife agency for information about wild hogs, visit: State Fish and Wildlife Agencies and for more information about wild hog damage management, visit: USDA Wildlife Services or call toll free at 1-866-4-USDA-WS.

Stay Healthy on Your Hunt!
And Good Luck!

When someone ask you how high the PH level in your soil is what can you tell them? If someone asked you how high their PH level needs to be for certain plants could you give them the rite answer? If I told you I’m gonna plant clover in my field what would I need?

In this article I will talk about how your PH level in your soil can help produce more tonnage of food for you deer and turkey herd on your property. If you wanted to plant clover I would suggest that the first steps in doing this it to take a soil sample. Your local extension office should be able to help you on this. People sometimes will not use their local extension office cause they think it may cost them money. People that why you pay taxes and your local extension office is your tax money at work. They can provide you with a soil bag and all you have to do from here is put some dirt into it and send it off. Now the sending off part may cost a little but it will be worth every dime you spend.

Now back to the PH thing. So you plant some clover and you didn’t take that soil test what happened. It might have come up but it’s not gonna produce what you expect. Your PH level should be between 6.5 and higher. My soil on my land is roughly 6.0 and I get a very good stand of clover every year and mainly it is because of the red clay soil that is here.

Chicory is another big seed that has come to our attention that we see that deer love it also needs a PH level of about 6.5 to 7.5 in most places to have a great stand and to produce what it should produce. I have sent soil samples on many occasions to Auburn University to have them checked. I may send a many as 5 to 10 samples off at a time. Marking each bag as a field name or field 1 or 2 even. When marking your bags make sure they have a field name on them in case you forget what field needs what when your test come back.

The way you bring your PH level up is to get you test back and add the recommended lime needed to bring it up. I will say you can never have to much lime when it comes to putting it out. If you don’t have time to take a soil test then place 500 lbs to 1,000 lbs of lime to the acre along with the rite fertilizer. For clovers put about 400 lbs of 0-20-20 to the acre and add about 500 lbs of lime in with it until you can get a test done. Chicory is pretty much the same way it could take a little more fertilizer though. Just make sure that your first number in your fertilizer is as low as a number can get. If you use a 13-13-13 you may not have to use as much but still add a lot more lime to the mix. So make sure you do a soil sample and watch your food source take off.

I have come to find that planting the rite kind of tree can make your hunting land better and valuable. On forty plus acres located in south central Alabama is where I started a small project on managing for my deer herd and turkey population.

I have come to understand that there is more to managing for trophy deer and turkey than just feeding or planting a food plot. The food plot industry has shot way up in the last ten years. Have you ever thoght of planting a food plot that will last longer than the average three to five year plot? How about a tree food plot that could last you a lifetime and probably your kids also.

I started with forty plus acres and planted trees twenty feet apart in rows. Why twenty feet apart you may ask? Well this gives me plenty of space to bush hogg and plow between them to plant other things like clovers, chicory, and even a bean type plant in the summer if I choose to do so.

I wanted to find a tree that would grow fast and produce a fruit within a short period of time. The one tree that I went with was the sawtooth oak. If taken properly care of the tree can produce nuts or fruits in three to five years based on how much tender love and care you give it. By fertilizing the trees the proper time of the year will also help speed up the process of the fruit there is to bare.

In the sawtooth oak you have two types of trees. One is the regular sawtooth and it’s acorns are 3/4″ – 1 1/2″ long, egg-shaped; about 1/4 enclosed by shallow cup with hairy scales. The second sawtooth oak looks the same but the acorns are smaller in size and can also grow very fast. I have trees on my property that are almost ten to twelve feet tall and are only four years old.

The live oak is another fast growing tree that you can plant and can produce nuts in a few years after planting. The live oak is a medium-sized evergreen tree with short, broad trunk buttressed at the base forking into a few nearly horizontal, long branches, and very broad, spreading, dense crown. These trees are high in value in the south mainly being used for land scapeing for lawns in the city area. It’s fruit is acorns 5/8″ – 1″ long, narrow and oblong, ¼ – ½ enclosed by deep cup; green becoming brown; maturing first year.

Keep in mind that when you pick and plant your wildlife trees to make sure that you plant them far enough apart so you can also palnt other things like clovers and chicory around them. Having a tree type food plot and the extra foods around them can pay off big. Remember that this is only a small thing that you can do to harvest a trophy animal on your property. Also remember that if it’s trophy deer your after that buck has to reach the rite age before he’s going look great on the wall. If you plant trees for yourself today then your kids will have them for tomorrow.