Once a warm season grass field is established, it will last forever as long as it is maintained properly. The very best way to maintain these plantings is by burning the field every couple of years in early spring. Burning a warm-season grass field will not only stimulate these grasses, it will also burn weed seeds and woody sprouts that are competing with the grasses.

When planting these fields, keep in mind that they will need to be burned. Plant firebreaks of clover around any edges that may cause problems when the field is burned.

As much as I enjoy the warm season grass fields on my property, I also like diversity in bedding cover, just as I like diversity among my food plots. Thick woody vegetation makes a tremendous bedding area, and I try to have plenty of it on my property. If not present, I always suggest creating it when offering advice to others. Most wooded cover can be made thicker, and usually this can be accomplished with little expense. I start by evaluating the timber value in the chosen location and determining if it is worth having a logger come in and harvest saleable timber. If so, I let the loggers do their work before I begin mine.

Logging alone will sometimes create the desired results, but I like to go in after the loggers have gone and open things up even more by cutting undesirable species. Simply taking a chainsaw into an area and randomly dropping trees will instantly let sunlight in and cause a host of weeds and woody vegetation to start growing. This is a natural cycle in which the new trees will eventually grow tall enough to take over by shading out the sunlight, thus preventing weeds and grasses as well as younger trees from growing.

Whenever using the "chainsaw approach" to creating bedding areas, I always use some timber stand improvement philosophy by properly spacing the remaining desirable species and leaving those with the best shape and trunk development to mature. On rare occasions, I'll work in an area with few or no desirable species. In these areas, I level almost every tree and then come back in the spring and plant seedlings of more desirable species.

Once a wooded area has been cut or timbered and the canopy opened up to let sunlight in, the location will get better and better for a number of years as the vegetation matures and gets thicker. Eventually, of course, the area will again be taken over by mature trees. By slowly working your way through the timber on a property, you can create a situation in which various parts of the timber are at different stages of development and you always have prime bedding areas. Depending on the property, I would suggest planning a new cut every five to 10 years.

Over the past decade, I've found that I get as much enjoyment from the habitat improvement work I do on my land as I do from hunting on it. Nothing compares to seeing deer or other wildlife "take to" a project that you've implemented, whether it's feeding in a food plot or using a bedding area that you've created. As you work on your own property, keep in mind that there are several pieces to the habitat puzzle. Put them all together and manage things right and you will have a complete picture of whitetail utopia. Leave out the most important piece, and you'll never reap the rewards that are possible.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION
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