Aerial spray for cactus and mesquite- repel deer??

We've had some slow hunts the last few weeks, and I was informed that our place had recently been aerial sprayed to kill/reduce the cactus and mesquite growth. I have no idea what chemicals are used in this process. Would this effect the attractiveness of our property to deer and other animals? Or effect the growth of other vegetation?

I don't know, but if you find out what they were spraying with, let me know....we need to 'carpet bomb' our place with that stuff!!

My landowner did a test plot of 200 acres, his theory is to kill and defoliate the mesquite to allow grass to grow for the cattle. He is hoping that the dead standing mesquite will still bring some habitat value (no nutritional value) as opposed to root plow.

I would imagine that the deer wouldn't find browse with chemical on it very appealing nor would they be attracted to dead or dying browse if more desirable is nearby.

My landowner is not going to blanket the whole place, he plans on rotating sections of pastures just as if he were root plowing and if he achieves the desired results. As of now, aerial spraying is cheaper than root plow.

Chad,

I do not know the short term affects of that. My LO and I have discussed this. I do know that cattle have to come off the property for at least a year. Long term, the results will be great. I have a friend who did this on his 400 acre ranch and the ground cover, forbes and native browse are much better for both wildlife habitat and cattle.

I hope my LO decides to do it cause I have too many pears.

4W

I can't imagine it's cost effective to aerial spray for cactus. $$$$$

Most of those chemicals are mixed with diesel fuel, so I'd suspect that it's left a bad taste on everything.

I hunted a place out of Eden that did this. It was very effective in ridding the ranch of both mesquite and cactus. It was also effective in ridding the place of deer for a while.

LO on my lease uses it for cactus and mesquite as well. Can't remember what it's called. We have seen plenty of deer the last two years and this year as well. It just keeps the cactus and Mesquite in check to some degree. With the draught there are some areas on the lease that look like a moon scape below the treeline. Some pastures more than others. Near Breckenridge.

it kills the small weeds and winter grasses that deer like to eat. once these come back the deer will be back. doesnt take long for these to regrow

They sprayed the week after opening weekend. So, the timing kind of sucks! No one is seeing much activity right now. I'm not too happy about it. I can't imagine it be an attractant.

Yeah Chad, I have heard that needs to be sprayed in March or April. Timing of that sucks number 1 and may be ill timed for it to really work by my understanding.

Are the deer safe to eat?? Like 4Weight stated " I do know that cattle have to come off the property for at least a year"

check this article.

http://www.hpj.com/archives/2007/jun07/jun18/Tipsforsprayingforcactus.cfm

Here is another.

http://www.gosanangelo.com/business/steve-sturtz-how-to-control-prickly-pear-and

Many parts of west Texas didn't have white tails till mexican cattle were grazed up here and transplanted mesquites. The area around big lake didn't have mesquites (and almost no whitetail deer) until mesquites took hold.

The most important thing mesquite provide is cover and shade. There are more deer and quail now than ever in many regions thanks to mesquites.

Roller chopping strips is a much better option.

'
The OP is talking about Cactus not spraying mesquites. Trust me, my place is 98% mesquite and I mean heavy cover so I like mesquites. Its the cactus that don't allow native grasses to take hold.

The cows never came off. They were on there, and have not been been taken off. The land is sectioned into about 3 large areas. They could have moved them and treated the other areas where the cows weren't.

The cows don't come off because of the chemical. The reason the cows are removed is that the land owner has a contract with NRCS that says the section of land that is to be sparayed has to be defered for a period of time before and after the spraying is to be done in order to let the pasture rest. NRCS shares in the cost of the spraying in exchange for cooperation from the land owner in making range improvements. I think it would be highly unlikely for the application of herbicides to have much of an effect on the deer hunting. Shouldn't be much different than doing an aeirial survey. Cactus can be sprayed any time of year, and it is very cost effective to aerial spray prickly pare costs around $25/acre. We have aerial sprayed a couple thousand acres at this point and have not seen any negative impact on our deer heard. We hand spray for mesquite during the summer and we burn a few hundred acres every year. Our pastures are basically mesquite and pare free and our deer hunting is excellent. Aerial spraying is a very effective tool for ranchers to control cactus and it is marginal for mesquite. In the long run you will be glad your rancher is managing the prickly pare.

Great info and thanks for the info. I really want my landowner to do this after the season.

They spray 2000 acres at a time on our place and yes you can tell a difference in deer activity. It does help kill or slow down mesquite and cactus growth. They did ours about three months ago and that area don't hold has many deer as areas that haven't been sprayed. Thankfully our ranch is big enough to still have good areas to hunt.

Yes, I talked to the guy again last night, and he said they received a grant for the spraying. The cows are "supposed" to be off this area, and they are not. Thank you for your feedback!

The OP said cactus and mesquites. I was just responding to that. Agreed, mesquite is a deer hunters friend.

Do you have other cover brush? I can assure you that grasslands won't support the deer that a bunch of brush will.

There is a direct conflict in managing for cattle vs deer if your management means controlling all brush.

We have mostly Live Oak/ Shin Oak/ Algerita.

Wrong!!! There is no application by air that uses diesel fuel.

True statement.

Diesel is used as a penetrating oil in some instances. If you are using low volume stump treatment,or a cut stump method, but never used in a foliage treatment. A lot of application use grazing P+D, surmount-fluroxypyr and picloram-or Tordon 22K. The picloram is an excellent compound for cacti. Triclorpyr (Remedy) with clorpiralid (Reclaim)is used in a lot of on foliage applications. Some guys may even "kick" there mix with Metsulfuron Methyl to help control broom-weed, and other broad leafs that will compete with pasture grasses in the spring.

What you are probably seeing is decreased plateabilty of the cacti, and the drying of the mesquite leaves...just my guess. I have been selling pesticides for the last 16 years, I have written a few brush management guides.

Ed

Z
Z


My bad rancher, sorry about that

Ah, then you're not in country where mesquite is the only cover brush. I can see your point then. I was speaking specifically of areas where mesquite is the only real cover brush. It can ruin it for deer if you eradicate it.

Oh trust me you don't have to apologize to me for missing something... I'm guilty of it as well.