Clean up after logging or not?

[lildorris00]

Iv got 95 acres that we bought two years ago. It was timberland and there was about 15 acres across the 95 that was still marketable timber. I had the remaining acres logged. There was about 4 sections that were logged to make up the 15 acres. Once the loggers were done, it looked like a bomb went off.

My question is would you waste your time trying to clean up the mess or just let nature do its thing? I’m not talking about my roads and food plots, this is the other areas that are hunted. I hate how it looks but I know the wildlife like the cover. What say you?

 

[antharper]

I think if it was mine and I didn’t have plans on replanting I’d let nature take care of it . Especially if my main goal was deer

 

[georgia_home]

I’ve seen places where they pushed the scraps into rows, creating funnels; a gap in the row every so often. and replanting the open areas. The rows provided habitat for small animals and birds.

these were tree farms rented/leased by the state for WMA type places

having the stuff plowed up/ raked out, helped eliminate the ankle buster holes

 

[basshappy]

@lildorris00 I would clean it up at least to some degree. You never know one day where that 15 might be needed or if improved what it could be.

Cleaning up could mean move timber, rocks, grade, then plant what you want. Or it could mean rearrange the leave behinds so that it has some sort of rhyme - depending on what else you have going on there.

 

[Deerhead]

Let it lay for a year then burn and replant

 

[Long Cut]

Burn it this Spring or early Summer. Don’t waste the time, money and diesel on “free” nutrients that can be put back into your soil.

 

[James12]

Lotta folks would give a lotta money to have a bedding sanctuary on their otherwise beautiful places. If that’s only 15 acres of the 95, I’d let it lay a couple years and burn it off like mentioned above.

 

[buckmanmike]

Should of had it in the harvest contract to leave the land as wanted. We are in the same situation as you, or maybe worse.
Good luck.

 

[Triple C]

If you are going to let it naturally regen then leave it. Mother Nature will decompose for you.

Otherwise, Run a backing fire thru it every couple of years to keep it in early successional status for cover, food and bedding.

 

[treadwell]

Price the work, you'll most likely have your answer. A friend of mine does this for a living., Dozer /skid steer work is running on an average of $3,800 / acre, depending on the terrain to completely clean it up, so rough clean will be less.
Your cheapest bet is to have the forestry dept. cut a fire break and burn it.

 

[transfixer]

I would say it depends on how you want to use the areas, if you want to hunt over them for a few years then clean and burn the remaining leftovers, if you leave it as is then you'll only get to hunt over it for a couple years, maybe 3 at the most, past then it will be too overgrown to see anything in, and at some point will become to thick to even walk through, would be great cover for deer and everything else at that point though.

I hate the way timber companies do land now when they clearcut, just letting everything lay and decompose on its own, they don't do it because its beneficial for the soil, they do it because its cheaper, bottom line ! they'll let it lay for 6 months after clearing, then they spray the whole thing with herbicide, so nothing can grow until they're ready to plant again, which is usually around 6 or 8 months later, in the meantime no animals will use the areas because there is nothing for them to eat out there ,

the old way was much better, pushing everything up into piles, burning it down to nothing, and then planting, I swear the trees looked healthier the first few years back then, than the way they do it now

 

[joejoe47]

My family owns a few hundred acres of timber land. About 10 years ago we went from the old shear-rake-burn-bed method to spot rake-spray-plant. The tract we are working on now will cost between 350 to 450 per acre. The old method would cost 700 plus per acre. The math simply will not work. Additionally, the tracts that we have spot raked- sprayed and planted are very good looking.

 

[transfixer]

My family owns a few hundred acres of timber land. About 10 years ago we went from the old shear-rake-burn-bed method to spot rake-spray-plant. The tract we are working on now will cost between 350 to 450 per acre. The old method would cost 700 plus per acre. The math simply will not work. Additionally, the tracts that we have spot raked- sprayed and planted are very good looking.

I was on the same tract for over 40yrs, seen it cleared and cut more than once in various places, as they were different age trees in blocks within the tract, there is more inconsistency in growth the way they do it now, than there was the old way, you'll have spots / sections where the trees grow much slower than others, some spots they're really stunted,

We didn't have such areas the way they used to do it , I realize its about money, and not what is best for the soil, or the growth of the trees , but there is no way the way they now do it is better, other than the cost savings

 

[Jim Boyd]

Either way it is win / win! You have 95 acres!

Personally, the only places I would clean would be the areas I wanted as food plots or roads.

Nature is wonderfully fast!

 

[elfiii]

Nature is wonderfully fast!

Too fast in some cases.

 

[sleepr71]

I would just clean up a road into it,and clear a hidden food plot in the center. Doesn’t have to be a big one. 1/2 acre or so. Then let the rest of it regenerate naturally. Should make a nice,hidden,honey hole

 

[lildorris00]

Good thoughts all around. Just to clarify, the 15 acres is not all together. It may have been an acre or two here, then 3 acres over there for a total of 15 acres. So what I am looking at are several smaller areas. I think my goal is to keep them as thick as can be but I also want to be able to burn/cut every few years. Im not sure if 1-2 acre sections of thick regrowth is enough to be a viable sustainable bedding area (a full 15 would be).

 

[elfiii]

What say you?

For me it would be a matter of money. If you got the money, go for it. Otherwise let nature take it's course.

 

[Jim Boyd]

Too fast in some cases.

Yessir, I have seen some cut downs become near impassable in as little as 3 years.

Great habitat.

If you can throw a yellow tennis ball about 50 feet and you can no longer see it, you have good cover.

 

[JB0704]

My question is would you waste your time trying to clean up the mess or just let nature do its thing? I’m not talking about my roads and food plots, this is the other areas that are hunted. I hate how it looks but I know the wildlife like the cover. What say you?

Id clean it up, personally. I had about 4 acres cleared at my place. I am DIY'n the cleanup and those giant excavators are a blast to operate. Make a big pile of stumps n burn em. In the end you have pasture / foodplot / dove field, whatever you want and it won't look so awful. It's expensive but worth it. And I think pasture / tillable land is worth more the stripped down old clearcut. But, for me, it was worth the cost just to drive the big diggin' machines.