Fallow ground to hallowed ground
 |
Photo by John Howle
Lex Brown in a field allowed to go fallow with native growth |
If the economy has your wallet in a vise and you are considering cutting back or eliminating food plots this year, you might not have to wait to enhance the wildlife holding potential of your land. According to NWTF Biologist Lynn Lewis-Weis, wildlife openings, prescribed burning and timber management are three top choices for holding wildlife in native vegetation, even without food plots.
Open for business
Forest openings serve as important food sources and brood rearing habitat even if left fallow or planted in native warm season grasses or forbs.
"Many folks are feeling the economic squeeze right now, and planting food plots takes a lot of money in gas, equipment, fertilizer, lime and seed, and you often have to plant the plots twice a year," said Lewis-Weis.
Lex Brown has been a member of the NWTF Turkey Heaven Mountain Chapter in Cleburne County, Ala., for 10 years.
"I manage 1,450 acres for wildlife, and when I let fields go fallow, I make sure to have back-up food sources," said Brown. "I plant a few sawtooth oaks and persimmons around the field edges as an added draw to wildlife."
Sometimes food plots can simply go fallow and end up growing good stands of native forage that are just as nutritious as agricultural crops and much more diverse.
"Wildlife openings are still good if they're just left to go fallow or planted in native warm season grasses/forbs, which are perennial and don't need replanting," said Lewis-Weis. "Both methods need little maintenance other than some winter disking, fire every two to three years, and some mowing. And they are low cost."
Then you can redirect the money you saved on creating more openings by widening roads and cleaning up logging decks. Wildlife professionals recommend that 5 to 20 percent of a property be in wildlife openings.
If you still want to plant food plots, Lewis-Weis recommends mixing the openings in thirds.
"You can have a third in food plots, a third in native warm season grasses and forbs and allow a third to go fallow," she said. "Learn plant identification to make sure the weeds in fallow fields are the ones you want and not agricultural or invasive weeds with little wildlife value."
See what pops up when land is allowed to go fallow first, then take action if needed. "You want to see ragweed, beggarlice, goldenrod and partridge pea," she said. If you don't, she recommends manipulating the soil by lightly disking during the dormant season (November to February) and see what surfaces, or speed up the process by planting natives.
If your land is dominated by agricultural operations like those in the Midwest, Lewis-Weis says a land manager can create soft edges, leaving field borders growing weeds, grasses and forbs, and/or leaving standing crops near the edges for cover and food, which are important, especially in winter.
"While the field is not planted in a commodity crop, you can plant wildlife-friendly plantings or let it go fallow by not tilling the field," she said. If the field is surrounded by woods, remove less desirable trees like red maple and winged elm 20 to 30 feet into the woods, so that sunlight can stimulated grass and forb growth along the edge.
Timber time
Wildlife can benefit if timber harvest is done right. Timber thinning and small clearcuts allow light to reach the forest floor and create herbaceous growth that provides food and cover. "Right after a clearcut, some wildlife may move out initially, but other species love a clearcut, because once it starts to grow back there's lots of cover for animals, such as quail and rabbits, and succulent new growth for deer to browse," said Lewis-Weis. "It's not as good for turkeys because it's too thick for them to see well and feel comfortable walking through, but they'll still use the edges, particularly for nesting."
When clearcutting timber, make sure the streamside management zones are wide enough for wildlife travel. Lewis-Weis says 100 feet on either side is ideal. If they are left too narrow, they can become a trap for some species because predators can quickly search these small areas.
Brown thins timber with wildlife in mind. "I can sell timber and keep many of the less desireable trees, such as sweetgum, from taking over," he said.
Burn for better habitat
Prescribed burning is an excellent way to stimulate the growth of native grasses and forbs. Removing leaf litter allows native seeds to germinate, recycles nutrients, reduces competition from fire intolerent plants and stimulates new plant growth.
Winter burns (November to February) are good for beginners because there is a lot of fuel on the ground. Once you've gained experience, conduct warm season burns to create more diversity. Lewis-Weis says don't worry about losing a few turkey nests; the good reaped by improving brood habitat far outweighs the bad. And those turkeys will renest.
The young growth that emerges after a burn provides deer browse and is an ideal insect holding area for young turkey poults. Since the understory is cleared of impenetrable brush, wildlife have better travel corridors.
Go nuts for wildlife
It's easier to find native food sources like fruit and nut trees than to wait 10 to 20 years for the fruit to start producing. Locate and enhance native natural food sources to ensure your property has diverse forage at all times. Look for soft mast producing persimmons, muscadines and plums, as well as hard mast producing trees like white oak, pignut hickory and beech.
If they aren't already there, you may have to plant them.
"I make sure we have plenty of sawtooth oaks and persimmon trees in addition to our native white oak and other hard mast producers," said Brown. "If we cut back on food plots or have a poor mast producing year, we have other food sources to rely on, especially when the red oaks only produce acorns every other year."
Many of the persimmon and sawtooth oaks Brown has planted have come from NWTF tree programs.
"I often spread 13-13-13 fertilizer on forbs and around white oak trees we might want to use for bow hunting," said Brown. "We usually fertilize around the drip lines of the oak trees that are good mast producers."
Brown says during spring rains is a great time to fertilize mast producing trees.
"Even if the white oaks fail, you still want to have water oaks, Southern red oaks, post oaks or chestnut oaks, beech and hickory available," said Lewis-Weis. "The key is diversity and providing everything your wildlife needs all year. Just having a few wheat food plots is not going to get the job done." — John Howle