We are preparing to do some land improvements on our place in Frankston and I'm seeking as much advice as I can from those of you who have done habitat enhancement on your place.

A friend of mine in Smiley hunts about 30 acres each year and always kills several nice bucks each year. On our small 40 ares we've always seen a few deer and plenty of tracks, but this year i've seen more animals and sign than ever. After seeing the 4 bucks bedding, feeding and hanging around over the past couple of months we decided that we want to make the place a magnet to attract more of the game in the area.

There are some short leaf pines growing of various ages, but I want to fill in some of the open pasture areas with loblolly. Throughout those areas I want to let the sweet gums and oaks grow up with the pines to have a small forested area that's a pine hardwood mix.

There are already some large oaks, black walnuts, sycamore and river birch in the creek bottoms, but I also want to plant other native things that the deer love like shumard, water oaks, and hickories to extend the width of the bottom land forest. On the land just above the creek bottom and hardwoods I want to plant Allegany chinakpin and hybrid American chestnuts. There is already native ground cover plants like beauty berries in and near the forested areas, but I'm also considering a native blueberry as well. I know it sounds like a lot for such a small area but I want to make it both a beautiful and productive area that we can hunt for years to come.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to prepare the ground for this. We don't have a tractor and right now the grasses and goat weed is waist high so I'm considering burning in the fall (mid December)after the grasses are dry. Hopefully by then we've taken our 2 or 3 deer/hogs off the place as I want the pines planted by late December.

I talked to called TCEQ and they said they didn't have any regulations about us burning grasses on the property but that I may want to talk to the fire marshal to see if they need to issue a permit. I've always thought that doing a controlled burn was more complicated than that. Do any of you guys know more about this?

Anyway, here is a google picture of the place. The pasture southwest of 175 is what i'm wanting to plant with pine. The eastern corner north of 175 i'm considering more hardwoods. Trying to get most of the timber from the super tree nursery in Bullard, but I will also try planting some of the hardwoods from cuttings i'm growing. There are regular photos of the place under my previous posting about the gates.

can't tell where exactly that is,
but i believe anderson or cherokee
either one is still under burn ban.
i've tried planting acorns a while
back, and after last year, i only
had two left. the pines i put out
5 years ago are 10-14 ft high now.
i'm gonna try this year for some
catalpa trees, and see what gives.
i have one pecan, and have planted
several at great expense just to have
them flop after 2 years or so. fyi
there is a place close to lovelady
that sell young pecans i'm gonna
try next year. if you can get some
decent grass going, that'll get
deer in as much as anything.
good luck again.

(and check w/ the f.d. or v.f.d about burning)

To maintain that much and have it huntable every year you'll probably end up needing a tractor or tractor work done. There's also the chance we go back into drought or severe flood (fingers crossed) and nothing really takes hold.

If it were my place, I'd look to make a thicker road buffer with pines and native brush and plot the pastures in oaks..maybe on a 20'x20' plot in rows to still be able to mow and get sunlight to the ground as they mature for some big food plots "in the woods" coupled with acorns.

Don't know much about East Texas but if I am planting something it would be browse to serve as food, attractant and cover.

Well I plan on making a thick road buffer with pines and sweet gum and other brush. On some of the fence lines withing the place I may plant native plum and persimmon in some areas..there are already persimmon trees popping up all over the place.

There will still be plenty of openings on the southeast side where we have the feeder set up and we are thinking about planting a large plot along the power cut on the norther Portion of the place since the power company only comes and cut once a year when the grass is high.

As small as the creek is it never completely dried out during the last drought. I want to plant in December in hopes that roots get establish and while there is still a good possibility of rain over the winter. If it's try in spring and summer we will water from the creek.

Yes Anderson Just went under burn ban last week. Hopefully it will be lifted by the winter. There are actually a few native pecans growing down in the creek bottom as well. I want to try the chinkapin chestnut because the deer and other animals are crazy about it and it's also native to the southeast including east Texas.

The tall grass that's already growing there seems to be attracting both deer and hogs since it offers so much cover, but if I can plant something else better in the spring I will...

For the prescribed burning, all you need to do is make sure you are not in a burn ban. There are no permit requirements. But, it is usually a good idea to let surrounding properties know what you are doing and maybe give the local volunteer fire department and sheriff's department a heads up. Burning is without a doubt the best habitat management practice available to a landowner/manager. It will help you control the plants that you don't want and encourage the beneficial plants that should occur there. Also, you want to control sweetgum as much as possible. It is very invasive and not desirable for much of anything (especially as fgorage and there are many other beneficial native species to provide cover). Given that the goatweeds are already so high, it is a good indication of some sort of ground disturbance, most likely livestock grazing. But, it could also be related to last year's drought. Many of the native bunchgrasses died from lack of moisture, clearing the way for many invasive plants, like goatweed, ragweed, and sunflower. Be careful of any type of 'soil preparation' east of I35. If reseeding native vegetation, it is best to use a seed drill with no tilling. Do not use herbicides and most native herbaceous plants (grasses and forbs) should be planted at around 1/4 inch (a few species such as eastern gammagrass should be planted at 1"). High mowing can be used to control invasives if they become such a problem that they discourage the naive from coming on. Whatever you do, do not fertilize as this only encourages things you do not want, like bermuda and bahia.

Thanks....good info. What type of grasses would you suggest that are native to the area?

That one largely depends on the soils available on the property, but as a general statement, little bluestem, swithgrass (in moderation and definitely don't plant alamo swithgrass), indiangrass, big bluestem (not sure on this one being that far east), sideoats grama, etc. The best resource I can give you is the NRCS web soil survey (http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/). Using this application, you can draw a boundary around your property and generate free reports regarding the soil types, native vegetation types, site suitabilities (for things liek building structures, septic tanks, crops, etc.). It is a fantastic reference for landowners/mangers. Even though there is a tab that says 'shopping cart', don't let that throw you, it's all free. Also, remember that you don't want to plant a monoculture of anything, even something that is viewed as a beneficial plant. Always plant a mixture of as many species as you can afford to maximize diversity. And, while grass species are important for cover and in some cases food, forbs are gerally what drives wildife populations, especially deer.

I know you are wanting to make improvements but with 4 Big bucks hanging around now you might consider less is more for now, on making habit changes before this season. Lay the plans now but hold off on changes other than a small food plot or two for this season. They are there because they like something currently there and part of that could be they are not being disturbed.

For long term, places in East Texas that have switched back to native grasses a bilolgist recently told us the fawn survival rate to a year old nearly doubled on range that that has been done. The native grasses provide better fawning survival cover.

Call the biologist for your area and talk to them, they do not mind providing useful information. Link below will help find the contact information

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/landwater/land/technical_guidance/biologists/

Kmon1

I don't plan to start this until nearly the end of season like late December or early January. That gives us bow season and the first month and a half of gun season to to try and pick off a few deer and hogs. If we haven't dropped anything by then then it will be worth the work to enhance the place and attract more animals for the next season. I was told by a forester to get the trees in the ground by January 31st or don't plant.

I know others may say it's okay to plant in the spring but planting in the winter give the trees more time to establish strong roots, and if we happen to have another dry spring or summer there will be a better chance of precipitation in the winter months.

I agree with timing in Etx bc our weather can be the same in Dec as parts of march/apriIso might as well plant for moisture; the issue in planting stuff boils down to cover or seasonal attractants?

Wow..that's pretty neat! Found our place and it shows all soil types in all the different areas....

Looks like your set up pretty well as far as cover...id spend the money on those pastures being food plots...

Pines arnt gona do anything for you as far as drawing deer in...except for bucks loving to rub their fresh antlers on pine sapplings. the sap keeps alot of bugs and whatnot off their head

I would recommend talking to your local TP&W biologist. They can be very helpful. As stated previously, probably need a tractor and a few implements.

I'm curious why you said not to use Alamo Switchgrass? I am considering it for a 5 acre meadow on my property in Southern Oklahoma. Any info would be appreciated.I was thinking it would be great for bedding cover for deer.

I was wondering the same thing.
OP, I would definitely talk to your area biologist to get the correct advice for your particular location. They will come out to your property and help you with a plan. Good luck with your property. Once you get involved in working the land and managing for wildlife, you might start to enjoy that more than the actual hunting.

Of all the varieties of switchgrass, alamo is the most 'invasive' and grows much taller than is valuable (gets as high as 10 feet). Other varieties, such as blackwell switchgrass, will give you the exact same benefits, but not as tall (4-6 feet) and tends not to completely take over an area. Remember that diversity is key in a native prairie (when considering wildlife benefits), but alamo tends to dominate and take over.

But, I should also say that the goal is to find the variety that most closely mimics historical species and varieties. I'm not sure about Oklahoma, if alamo is a better match up that way, go with it. Not in east or east-central Texas though.

Ok, thanks for the info.

that's usually the goal.

Bypass tpwd and try to get ahold of Dr. Billy Higgenbothem at ATM ag extention in overton.

Can you get rid of the road through the middle of it?

But deer like roads