Hey Foresters

[hammerlogging]

not lopping up tops, big bushy tops can protect regen growing up through those tops- the deer will go for the regen in less brushy spots.

Stump sprouts provide vigorous regen too and then, in the summer, there is so much other browse

 

[hammerlogging]

I don't even know what tulip poplar looks like.

Sort of like a biscuit with gravy on it.

 

[treeslayer2003]

Treeslayer,
You're right, the deer have definitely changed the ecology of the stand, as they have in many eastern forests. Although yellow poplar is not a preferred browse species, they will eat it if their population is high enough and food is short. They will browse the buds in winter more than the leaves in summer.
They will definitely impact regeneration in hardwood stands which is something I deal with a lot. The effect can be somewhat limited if the stand is large enough to overwhelm the deer. One thing poplar has going for it is fast growth. Tubes or fencing are marginally effective on a small tract and not cost effective at all on a large tract.
The booming deer population is a result of several factors, and it is a reality that we as forest managers and practitioners have to deal with.
Good luck and keep hunting. Fortunately for me I like to hunt and love venison.

Twindad

I was hopeing you'd show up. good to hear they don't care for the poplar, I know they will chew the oak but on this particular tract I really think the poplar will fill in the holes. it is the right ground and I left plenty of 16-20" oak any way.
i'm gonna put a dent in um, but I have never seen so many in one place.....it was almost weird.

 

[treeslayer2003]

Sort of like a biscuit with gravy on it.

amen, usualy know what your gonna wind up with as opposed to wondering what an oak gonna look like after ya cut it.

 

[lmbrman]

In WI it is a problem, especially in smaller tracts. As the predator population increases it seems to improve, but the state gives out deer tags for tree damage, and if that cannot solve the problem electric fence is available. Materials were free last I checked, maintenance and installation was the landowner responsibility. Once the fence is installed any deer not respecting the fence can be shot and consumed.

 

[madhatte]

There's almost always a bit of trouble getting regen established. If it's not the critters eating them, it's competing vegetation overtopping them, and if it's not that, it's a bad frost or a dry summer that does them in. If you go the herbicide route, you have to decide: broadcast spray, or spot spray, and how much drift can you tolerate? Seems so simple, really -- plug the seedlings in and they should grow... but they often won't. The key here is patience. Your trees WILL establish, given time... like 10, 20, maybe 50 years? You can help them along some, but they are the ones who end up doing the growing. There are really two major milestones. The first is "free to grow" -- that is, the seedling is established and will outcompete brush. It'll usually be about 4 feet tall when this happens, and further herbicide treatments or other brush control will have no effect. After that, it's on auto-pilot for awhile. You might think about a pre-commercial thin in the next few years. The second is a height of about 30 feet; this is where the tree has grown past silvicultural treatments and is subject solely to microsite factors. At that point, thinning will primarily affect volume growth rather than height growth.

 

[exSW]

Would species specific thins help this?We have mixed woodlots here,RedOak,White Oak,Cherry,Poplar,Hard Maple and so on.Seems like as one species becomes dominate or at least mature and is taken it leaves room for other naturally established species to flourish in turn.

 

[madhatte]

Would species specific thins help this?

That must be determined on a stand-by-stand basis. Don't forget to consider costs versus profits in those plans; it is often better to sit on a stand awhile in order to lump a couple of areas together later rather than losing money on a poorly-planned sale today, especially in commercial thins.

 

[treeslayer2003]

I probably am just over thinking this. we only took 30% of the stand, 30"+ of every spieces. oak red and white, poplar, pine, beech, hickory. my father cut it the same way 27 years ago. when I see a sapling chewed off it bugs me but there are prolly plenty more. time will tell.

 

[treeslayer2003]

Would species specific thins help this?We have mixed woodlots here,RedOak,White Oak,Cherry,Poplar,Hard Maple and so on.Seems like as one species becomes dominate or at least mature and is taken it leaves room for other naturally established species to flourish in turn.

seems like this should work well but there always seems to be one that doesn't do as well or trash trees like beech that I would cut more heavy. this only my opinion and surely it depends on region.