I've been managing a 107 acre property in Sparta under a Forestry Stewardship Management Plan the past 4 1/2 years on a close friend's land. I've hunted this property for over 20 years and the biggest problem we had was a lack of being able to pattern the deer in what was a mature, single age stand of forest. This is an oak/hickory forest that is between 75 and 90 years old which lacks any other types of habitat or ages of trees. White oaks are not a major component of this particular high ground parcel and that species which is preferred by wildlife is a "do not cut" species for our plan. We also leave what is left of our native hemlocks after the woolly adelgids did their damage (and are now gone thanks to state released beetles which feed upon the adelgids).
This first shot is our first cut done 4 winters ago. It was a 5 acre irregular shaped cut near our property border with state lands on high ground with the lowest timber value. Not only are we now getting great stump regeneration (known as copus growth), but we're getting great acorn and hickory seed regeneration over the past few years.
![Image]()
This shot shows some of the new seedlings growing amongst the copus growth of our stumps. This is the 4th growing season for this cut.
![Image]()
We've been planting some white pines and white spruce to add a dark forest component and to add to our lost hemlocks as I'm not convinced our hemlocks will ever come back. Here's one of our transplants in its 2nd growing season.
![Image]()
We did a 2nd cut 3 years ago that was only about 1 acre in size where our deer often bed, and that site looks a bit different than this one as we did nothing to cover up our oak stumps to keep deer browse to a minimum and the trees are not growing back as quickly, but that was as planned. We don't hunt our refuge where the 2nd cut was performed, we let the deer bed up there and we hunt the lanes coming and going.
We just cut a 3rd clearing of about 3 acres on the opposite side of our property a few hundred yards below the deer bedding cut of 3 years ago. As you'll see from the pix, these always look a bit rough the first season with little growth and lots of stumps and tree tops. In a few years you'd never know it was cut over. We'll take some of the larger tree top piles and pull them over more of our oak stumps (hickories don't suffer much from the deer browse like the oaks do).
![Image]()
Here's what happens to our copus growth if we don't add some measure of protection like pulling tops over the stumps. This happens to be a maple stump and you can see the heavy deer browse.
![Image]()
A protected stump from this February's latest clear cut that will now sprout from the sugars built up in its root system and get up above the deer browse line successfully.
![Image]()
Since we don't have farm implements like tractors or otherwise cleared lands to add foodplots, clear cuts give us the benefit of mixed aged stands of forest, browse for deer, habitat for ruffed grouse, deer, turkey, bear, and other nesting ground birds to name a few. They allow us to better pattern our deer which are on the increase in this area of the Highlands so that we can control their numbers and hopefully grow larger bucks that will chase the numerous does that feed heavily in these newer clearings. Thought some of you might be interested in ways to better manage some of your forests for wildlife. It doesn't happen overnight, but it's worth the efforts. Big timber is sold to the mills while the smaller stuff is sold for firewood. My landowner buddy gets half the proceeds and gets his land farmland assessed which lowers his taxes. I and my buddies in the hunting club get better hunting, so it's a win-win.
This first shot is our first cut done 4 winters ago. It was a 5 acre irregular shaped cut near our property border with state lands on high ground with the lowest timber value. Not only are we now getting great stump regeneration (known as copus growth), but we're getting great acorn and hickory seed regeneration over the past few years.
This shot shows some of the new seedlings growing amongst the copus growth of our stumps. This is the 4th growing season for this cut.
We've been planting some white pines and white spruce to add a dark forest component and to add to our lost hemlocks as I'm not convinced our hemlocks will ever come back. Here's one of our transplants in its 2nd growing season.
We did a 2nd cut 3 years ago that was only about 1 acre in size where our deer often bed, and that site looks a bit different than this one as we did nothing to cover up our oak stumps to keep deer browse to a minimum and the trees are not growing back as quickly, but that was as planned. We don't hunt our refuge where the 2nd cut was performed, we let the deer bed up there and we hunt the lanes coming and going.
We just cut a 3rd clearing of about 3 acres on the opposite side of our property a few hundred yards below the deer bedding cut of 3 years ago. As you'll see from the pix, these always look a bit rough the first season with little growth and lots of stumps and tree tops. In a few years you'd never know it was cut over. We'll take some of the larger tree top piles and pull them over more of our oak stumps (hickories don't suffer much from the deer browse like the oaks do).
Here's what happens to our copus growth if we don't add some measure of protection like pulling tops over the stumps. This happens to be a maple stump and you can see the heavy deer browse.
A protected stump from this February's latest clear cut that will now sprout from the sugars built up in its root system and get up above the deer browse line successfully.
Since we don't have farm implements like tractors or otherwise cleared lands to add foodplots, clear cuts give us the benefit of mixed aged stands of forest, browse for deer, habitat for ruffed grouse, deer, turkey, bear, and other nesting ground birds to name a few. They allow us to better pattern our deer which are on the increase in this area of the Highlands so that we can control their numbers and hopefully grow larger bucks that will chase the numerous does that feed heavily in these newer clearings. Thought some of you might be interested in ways to better manage some of your forests for wildlife. It doesn't happen overnight, but it's worth the efforts. Big timber is sold to the mills while the smaller stuff is sold for firewood. My landowner buddy gets half the proceeds and gets his land farmland assessed which lowers his taxes. I and my buddies in the hunting club get better hunting, so it's a win-win.
