Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

Hedge

JakeHofer

JakeHofer

Member
I'm located in North Central IL and have started some 'off season' projects. Currently I'm killing all of the honey suckle on the farm. While working through the parcel I wanted to get some insight on what I should do with the mulberry trees along the old pasture fences and ditches.

Most of these ditches consist of:
- Bush Honey Suckle (Kill)
- Black Locust (Kill)
- Honey Locust (Leaving Some and killing some younger ones)
- Younger and older Hedge (advice to cut/girdle?)
- Mulberry (should I hinge, kill them all, kill 1 out of 3?)

Essentially a lot of it is junk habitat and I plan to plant new trees and shrubs to replace these areas.

I saw on an old thread that someone said they'd kill all the mulberry, but with the lack of general browse on the farm I'm apprehensive to take them all out while they produce berries in the summer.

Thanks!
Jake
 
My 2 cents. I would do a section of your farm with your plan . I would not kill all those "cover" species with out seeing how you new trees and schrubs take off! Would not want to eliminate cover only to have new plantings browsed heavily and end up with less cover than you started with ! Bush honey suckle and other "bad" species are 10x better than no cover in a few years! My thoughts.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk
 
My farm is nearly all 'junk'. Hedge, cedar, locust, elm, honey suckle multi flora etc. I'm working on just a 5 acre section of it now. Even though its all 'junk' I have lots of deer, turkey, and pheasant. It sort of feels like I shouldnt do anything with how much wildlife is already on it. It has me a little leery messing with it honestly because its is holding wildlife really well already.
 
sep0667 said:
My farm is nearly all 'junk'. Hedge, cedar, locust, elm, honey suckle multi flora etc. I'm working on just a 5 acre section of it now. Even though its all 'junk' I have lots of deer, turkey, and pheasant. It sort of feels like I shouldnt do anything with how much wildlife is already on it. It has me a little leery messing with it honestly because its is holding wildlife really well already.
Click to expand...
That "Junk" will hold deer better than 90% of other habitat types. Maybe even higher!
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
That "Junk" will hold deer better than 90% of other habitat types. Maybe even higher!
Click to expand...
I was in Cainsville,Missouri this weekend and walked around a bit on my farm. The heaviest sign and most of the rubs were in the junk tree areas—hedge, cedar, locust, hackberry, hickory. Pulled a camera chip. The deer love that 3-4 acre spot !!
903578FD-D427-4DDE-B36C-CE0097B8BCDB.jpeg
 
  • Deleted by Hardwood11
  • Reason: D
Show…
  • Deleted by Hardwood11
  • Reason: D
Show…
I am in E/NE IL probably not too far from you and a vast majority of the cover around me is exactly what you listed. From my experience, its a case by case thing depending on your cover situation. The mulberry trees are pretty worthless, but if that's all you have on your fence lines for a boarder, they probably won't hurt to have until your replacement screen can get some legs under it.

Pods or not, I'd kill every single locust I could find, but would have a hard time killing a reasonably placed old hedge apple tree. They grow so slow and just can't be replaced, not to mention make KILLER stand trees.

Would love to hear more on what species you are planting and how you're going about it! I'm going into spring #3 on my 52ac ag field/hedgerow conversion in Will Co, IL.
 
Hardwood11 said:
I was in Cainsville,Missouri this weekend and walked around a bit on my farm. The heaviest sign and most of the rubs were in the junk tree areas—hedge, cedar, locust, hackberry, hickory. Pulled a camera chip. The deer love that 3-4 acre spot !!View attachment 126743
Click to expand...

Cedar is entirely a different story. Young to mid sized cedars intermixed within grown up old field habitat are among the best deer holding areas you can find!
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
That "Junk" will hold deer better than 90% of other habitat types. Maybe even higher!
Click to expand...
Not to hijack this thread, but I have to ask. Especially to someone like you that knows and does so much with habitat.

Should I really mess with trying to do much to change things on my property? For hunting purposes it seems pretty darn good already. I have a flock of probably 50 turkeys living on it currently. Lots of deer. Its just 80 acres. Pheasants too along the creek. I have lots of buck brush/coral berry in the timber, which I understand is good. Trees are all cedar, locust, some shingle oak, walnut, hedge, elm, and hackberrys. Some scattered cherry and maple. There isn't much honey suckle, but a lot of multi-flora. I really do want to get a hold of the multiflora as its a real pain to try and move through the timber in some areas.

I've heard from some people that 'junk' type properties in regards to wildlife 'junk' properties are actually really good. And I would have to agree with what I have seen on mine. From a humans eyes for aesthetics and timber value its not a nice property to go on a hike thorough the timber, but it holds game, and that is what I want.
 
sep0667 said:
Not to hijack this thread, but I have to ask. Especially to someone like you that knows and does so much with habitat.

Should I really mess with trying to do much to change things on my property? For hunting purposes it seems pretty darn good already. I have a flock of probably 50 turkeys living on it currently. Lots of deer. Its just 80 acres. Pheasants too along the creek. I have lots of buck brush/coral berry in the timber, which I understand is good. Trees are all cedar, locust, some shingle oak, walnut, hedge, elm, and hackberrys. Some scattered cherry and maple. There isn't much honey suckle, but a lot of multi-flora. I really do want to get a hold of the multiflora as its a real pain to try and move through the timber in some areas.

I've heard from some people that 'junk' type properties in regards to wildlife 'junk' properties are actually really good. And I would have to agree with what I have seen on mine. From a humans eyes for aesthetics and timber value its not a nice property to go on a hike thorough the timber, but it holds game, and that is what I want.
Click to expand...
I'd probably leave all or most of it and just eradicate MFR. A map would be helpful if you're comfortable posting one. And a topo.
 
sep0667 said:
Not sure how to get a topo
View attachment 126756
Click to expand...
Yeah id leave it all alone for most part. Maybe some sensible TSI if it makes sense around any good trees but I would not start clearing areas because the trees in that area are "junk" . Kill your MFR of course. If you can get south or east access from a neighbor maybe clear out a plot area in SE corner if that has trees. Sweet looking piece!
 
IowaBowHunter1983 said:
Yeah id leave it all alone for most part. Maybe some sensible TSI if it makes sense around any good trees but I would not start clearing areas because the trees in that area are "junk" . Kill your MFR of course. If you can get south or east access from a neighbor maybe clear out a plot area in SE corner if that has trees. Sweet looking piece!
Click to expand...
Sounds good. I want to get that MFR knocked back. And I think some edge feathering along the edges. Want to get a couple clover plots going too
 
Agree on all of above!!! Keep mulberry unless so thick needed to thin some
Hedge- I thin hedge like I do cedars…. “Too think” needs thinned out. I will never eradicate either. Want both!!!!!!!
BHS- kill it and make a mess & let “good stuff” take its place.
Agree on black locust kill
I keep pod producing honey locust.
I’ll spray MFR when it gets “too thick”. Some MFR doesn’t bug me. Yes- it is cover & they do eat leaves. Manage it- don’t let out of control but MFR is not near the devil that BHS is!!
& agree to add cedars if lacking. No cedars: add em!!!!! Needed!!!!!! Too many Cedars: thin em- not good. So- cedars is a BALANCE for sure!!! Takes 10-15 years for the bell curve to go down hard if someone has a massive cluster of cedars. Just keep em thinned and be just fine!!!
 
Mulberry - A lot of these trees (in Illinois) are nonnative white mulberries as opposed to our native red mulberries. They also readily hybridize so its difficult to discern between the two. I'm as anti-invasive/non-native as they come, but mulberry gets a free pass from me. I promote it whenever I can. It grows fast, super high preference for browse. It is promoted by a lot of habitat managers/deer biologists that know more than I ever will. Also produces berries that many species seek out.
My approach, if you want to go to extremes, is to flag the berry producing trees (females) when they fruit. Leave the fruit producing trees standing and hinge the males so they can be browsed more readily. You can also flush cut them and they will produce great shrub like browse.
Hedge - Hedge/Osage Orange is heavily browsed on my farm. I like to hinge it or cut some branches enough where I can pull them to the ground to provide overhead cover (for bedding) and browse. These also produce good stump sprouts and you can use them (once cut) as browse protection for your shrub/tree planting. Hedge can overwhelm areas occasionally, but is manageable.
Honeylocust - I actually kill all of these as I do not see anything but squirrels eating the pods. I should probably leave a few for diversity.
Black Locust and BH - Eliminate them. BH will take over an Illinois farm in a few years.
 
BearCreek said:
Mulberry - A lot of these trees (in Illinois) are nonnative white mulberries as opposed to our native red mulberries. They also readily hybridize so its difficult to discern between the two. I'm as anti-invasive/non-native as they come, but mulberry gets a free pass from me. I promote it whenever I can. It grows fast, super high preference for browse. It is promoted by a lot of habitat managers/deer biologists that know more than I ever will. Also produces berries that many species seek out.
My approach, if you want to go to extremes, is to flag the berry producing trees (females) when they fruit. Leave the fruit producing trees standing and hinge the males so they can be browsed more readily. You can also flush cut them and they will produce great shrub like browse.
Hedge - Hedge/Osage Orange is heavily browsed on my farm. I like to hinge it or cut some branches enough where I can pull them to the ground to provide overhead cover (for bedding) and browse. These also produce good stump sprouts and you can use them (once cut) as browse protection for your shrub/tree planting. Hedge can overwhelm areas occasionally, but is manageable.
Honeylocust - I actually kill all of these as I do not see anything but squirrels eating the pods. I should probably leave a few for diversity.
Black Locust and BH - Eliminate them. BH will take over an Illinois farm in a few years.
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing! You're right bush honey suckle is a battle in itself.

Good luck this last week of season in IL!
 
Hedge/Osage orange trees are highly desired by those who want to carve their own bows from the wood.

I've got trailcam pics of deer eating black locust pods, but usually it's late winter with snow on the ground and brutal cold. Maybe a last resort type of forage.

Mulberry really draws in the raccoons..... but deer eat them as well.
 
I’ve found hedge to be a great winter project and money maker for my older kids. They learn chainsaw skills and value of hard work. We sell as posts and traditional bow staves logs.

Leave the stumps. MSU deer lab had a podcast where they said hedge mineral stumps were some of the highest nutrients. Deer hammer them.

Love your podcast, Jake. Good luck with your project!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom