Habitat management

[Etxnoodler]

Similar to yours but EQIP program. Haven't planted the native grass yet but soon. Cleared several acres of cedars and burnt the piles but now left with black, cedar poles everywhere. This summer I will have to keep it knocked down with the disc and spray till I plant next fall/winter.
How did the native grass mix work for you? Hard to get started or did it take right off?

If everything goes perfect you will see them the first summer. Usually it will take 2 years, 3 before they take off. They are pretty particular as far as planting depth and timing.

[Etxnoodler]

I’d be curious to know if anyone here has been able to successfully re-establish quail as a part of your habitat efforts?

I doubt it, not near enough people doing habitat work on a large enough scale to be effective. It would take thousands of acres. Now if you are already close to native quail populations or low populations it would be possible.

[SNKETR]

I’d be curious to know if anyone here has been able to successfully re-establish quail as a part of your habitat efforts?

When i was talking with the guy that did my wildlife plan, he said he had one minimally successful attempt at it. Like noodler said, probably easier if you're already bordering a population.

[Darton]

I’d be curious to know if anyone here has been able to successfully re-establish quail as a part of your habitat efforts?

I have made an order every year for 50, out of OKC, and turned them loose on my place for the last three years. Currently I am confident that I have 4 coveys maybe 5 that seem to be doing very well. My predator control, trapping, efforts were initially put into practice to bring up my fawn recruitment numbers, but I think is also aids the quail in establishing themselves. This will be my first year in not stocking to see if my numbers remain stable! The first quarter of the year usually yields 20-40 bobcats and coyotes through trapping so only time will tell if this venture will prove to be successful, but so far it appears to be working.

My place is broken up into four management areas that have been put on annual rotations for various habitat improvement practices. Currently the state forestry service is about to burn management area 2. Other TSI techniques I employ are timber crushing with my dozer, hack/squirt, and hinge cutting. Here in Oklahoma fellow TBHer Booner Sooner, turned me onto using a hatchet to pierce the cambium on the 12/3/6/9 o'clock positions instead of doing a full 360 cut with a saw when employing the girdling technique. Keep in mind this is effective because of the size of most of our trees, so it may be different in your area! It also allows you to move quicker as a one man crew. My go-to mixture for my squirt applications are as follows:

50% Garlon 3A
40% Water
10% Arsenal AC

My go-to place for herbicides is a company called Keystone Pest Solutions and they will ship it straight to your door!

https://www.keystonepestsolutions.com/

I employ these techniques to maintain a basal area of 40-50 leaving plenty of open canopy to foster new growth. Tree planting is not something I do to a great extent because of the time it takes to produce a product.

For my old field management I practice fire and use of a heavy disc to invigorate the natural seed bed to maintain the early succession needed for browse and fawning cover. Proper old field management will yield 3000-3500lbs of forage per acre while the bare under story of closed canopy woodlands will only produce 500lbs. When you take into account that a 150lb deer will eat 8k lbs of food a year it is easy to see how employing habitat management techniques to your place will increase your carrying capacity

Great thread! Nothing like working your own place

[ThisLadyHunts]

I have made an order every year for 50, out of OKC, and turned them loose on my place for the last three years. Currently I am confident that I have 4 coveys maybe 5 that seem to be doing very well. My predator control, trapping, efforts were initially put into practice to bring up my fawn recruitment numbers, but I think is also aids the quail in establishing themselves. This will be my first year in not stocking to see if my numbers remain stable! The first quarter of the year usually yields 20-40 bobcats and coyotes through trapping so only time will tell if this venture will prove to be successful, but so far it appears to be working.

My place is broken up into four management areas that have been put on annual rotations for various habitat improvement practices. Currently the state forestry service is about to burn management area 2. Other TSI techniques I employ are timber crushing with my dozer, hack/squirt, and hinge cutting. Here in Oklahoma fellow TBHer Booner Sooner, turned me onto using a hatchet to pierce the cambium on the 12/3/6/9 o'clock positions instead of doing a full 360 cut with a saw when employing the girdling technique. Keep in mind this is effective because of the size of most of our trees, so it may be different in your area! It also allows you to move quicker as a one man crew. My go-to mixture for my squirt applications are as follows:

50% Garlon 3A
40% Water
10% Arsenal AC

My go-to place for herbicides is a company called Keystone Pest Solutions and they will ship it straight to your door!

https://www.keystonepestsolutions.com/

I employ these techniques to maintain a basal area of 40-50 leaving plenty of open canopy to foster new growth. Tree planting is not something I do to a great extent because of the time it takes to produce a product.

For my old field management I practice fire and use of a heavy disc to invigorate the natural seed bed to maintain the early succession needed for browse and fawning cover. Proper old field management will yield 3000-3500lbs of forage per acre while the bare under story of closed canopy woodlands will only produce 500lbs. When you take into account that a 150lb deer will eat 8k lbs of food a year it is easy to see how employing habitat management techniques to your place will increase your carrying capacity

Great thread! Nothing like working your own place

Wow! Thanks for the detailed information! You’ve practically handed me a primer on habitat improvement.

We tried the reintroduction of quail on our place, but only once. We purchased either 25 or 50 pair from someone out of San Saba who raises game birds for stocking local hunting preserves. However, due to their lack of instinct development, we knew it would be a crap shoot as to whether or not they survived. Most all of them became fodder for predators within 24 hours. Merde!

We’ve considered trying it again but weren’t sure if we’d be throwing good money after bad, and then, as it usually goes in life, we became overtaken by events...yada, yada.

Thank you for taking the time to write a detailed response. If you ever find yourself in Central Texas, I’d love to show you our place.

[Darton]

Wow! Thanks for the detailed information! You’ve practically handed me a primer on habitat improvement.

We tried the reintroduction of quail on our place, but only once. We purchased either 25 or 50 pair from someone out of San Saba who raises game birds for stocking local hunting preserves. However, due to their lack of instinct development, we knew it would be a crap shoot as to whether or not they survived. Most all of them became fodder for predators within 24 hours. Merde!

We’ve considered trying it again but weren’t sure if we’d be throwing good money after bad, and then, as it usually goes in life, we became overtaken by events...yada, yada.

Thank you for taking the time to write a detailed response. If you ever find yourself in Central Texas, I’d love to show you our place.

Absolutely, I have enjoyed reading everyone's experiences and how they apply certain aspects of habitat management to their own places! Will definitely take you up on that offer if I ever find myself down that way! Love riding different places and seeing different techniques in action

I have 20 acres on one end of my place that is 100% untouched by humans. Its not enough but the deer pile up in it. The rest of the place we keep cactus free, we leave mesquites though. Deer seem to mostly want a safe place to bed and browse.

I am in total agreement with you on this! I have 90 acres in the middle of my place that I use as a sanctuary. Hunting the perimeter and performing TSI projects within have proven it is worth its weight in gold to me

[Etxnoodler]

Wow! Thanks for the detailed information! You’ve practically handed me a primer on habitat improvement.

We tried the reintroduction of quail on our place, but only once. We purchased either 25 or 50 pair from someone out of San Saba who raises game birds for stocking local hunting preserves. However, due to their lack of instinct development, we knew it would be a crap shoot as to whether or not they survived. Most all of them became fodder for predators within 24 hours. Merde!

We’ve considered trying it again but weren’t sure if we’d be throwing good money after bad, and then, as it usually goes in life, we became overtaken by events...yada, yada.

Thank you for taking the time to write a detailed response. If you ever find yourself in Central Texas, I’d love to show you our place.

Turning out tame quail for restocking purposes is proven not to work. As you said, their survival instincts aren’t up to par. And the very few that do survive don’t successfully reproduce.

[armadillophil]

Hired a skid steer with a tree saw to clear about 3 acres. Making a 1 acre plot and rest will burn next couple years for native grass/ forb




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[Darton]

Hired a skid steer with a tree saw to clear about 3 acres. Making a 1 acre plot and rest will burn next couple years for native grass/ forb


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Looks great Phil! Is the lone big tree in picture 2 the proposed ambush site

[armadillophil]

Looks great Phil! Is the lone big tree in picture 2 the proposed ambush site

I wish that tree was on the SE corner of the field!

[armadillophil]

Update on the livestakes I planted about 6 weeks ago.



Rye / clover



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[Darton]

Looks great Phil!


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[bowhuntertx]

Looks good. Where did you rent the machine from? I was thinking about getting the SS with a set tree shears on the front to do the same thing.



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[stx]

Hill country we cut about 2/3 of the cedar off the place. Left some on the hills for cover but really helped the oak trees and grasses.

South Texas we use a roller chopper with a seed box in areas with good deer brush. In areas with just mesquite or poor brush we go thru with a root plow on a dozer. Also with a seed box. Also dig a lot of tanks close to protein pens. Use a stacker on a dozer to clean up areas around big bull mesquites. I think habitat management is a lost art in south Texas. Everyone just leaves the brush and all the Forbes and grasses are a thing of the past. Their habitat management consists of protein feeders and more protein feeders.

[joeyd05]

What tools/implements are y'all using to cut the cedar? I've got a bunch of cedar in Schleicher still dead from 2011.