Our dream is to turn our 300 acre farm into a wildlife paradise so that deer, turkeys, ducks, etc. will not want to leave. We have made great strives at this in the past four years. Read the blog below to learn more about removing unwanted trees on our Mississippi wildlife farm.
For starters, the canopy in our woods are very dense. This prevents sunlight and sunlight is needed for photosynthesis. Not having native grasses, flowers, and other types of ground level shrubs, reduces the population of a vast number of wildlife species. It does not promote pollinators and other bugs that plants and animals need to complete the food chain.
Our woods are highly populated with sweet gums, maples, ash, and other types of trees that we do not desire. Our desired trees are mainly oak trees because they produce acorns. This provides essential carbohydrates for a variety of animals. We like to leave pines because turkeys roost in them and we also cut this wood on our sawmill. Cedar because they provide great areas for a deer to lay low in a storm.
We used methods such as hack/squirt, mulching, tree shearing, and hinge cutting to remove unwanted trees in the forest canopy.
Hack/Squirt
Hack and squirt is a method of removing trees by cutting through the bark, either with a hatchet, axe, or saw, and reaching the cambium layer where nutrients flows. We use a hatchet. Then an exact amount of selective herbicide is shot in the cut to kill the tree. We use a camelback with a cow injector to get precise measurements of herbicide. We have a video covering the process. Link.
This method has worked for us so far. We injected hundreds of undesirable trees in October 2022. Side note: It is essential to inject the trees during October because you can still see the leaves to identify the species and also the nutrients are about to get pulled to the trunk to prepare for winter.
As of February 2024, I have noticed almost 95% of those trees dead. Some just started to fall due to high winds. We have definitely noticed a difference in ground growth because of this method. We plan on doing more in 2024.
Mulching
Mulching may be expensive but dang it is so awesome. We had a couple guys with a designated drum mulcher come out and cut approximately 20-30 acres. They were very precise and efficient. While this did remove a lot of undesired trees very fast, it leaves behind a lot of debris on the ground. We planned a burn the following February to eliminate the left over debris. To us, mulching helped us out tremendously. While our food plots have gotten bigger and better, we have had the most turkeys and deer numbers ever.
We picked up a Diamond Disc mower for our Kubota 95 Skid Steer. We have cut a lot of things with it but it is very rough on the machine, so we limit the use of it. Mulching is a very productive method for removing trees but just take into account the cost and debris it leaves behind.
Tree Shearing
Hinge cutting isn't really removing trees as much as is cover for deer. We cut trees 3/4 of the way through and pushed them over in the direction we wanted them to go. They are cut 3/4 so that nutrients can still flow through the remaining 1/4, this produces leaves so wildlife can still benefit from a fallen tree. Doing this method on edges of a plot creates corridors for entrance. Doing this in the middle of the woods creates extra cover in the heart of your bedding areas and in the long run removes unwanted trees.