Most of my property is in MFL so I'm pretty much expected to follow Best Mgt Practice for Forestry.

Most of my property is in MFL too. Removing buckthorn is recommended, not required practice.

Took a little work before they would allow me to clear cut some pines, but they allowed me to change some stuff.. We walked the property and I showed them what I wanted to do and what I was trying to get rid of. They worked it into my next harvest schedule.

You do have more flexibility than you think. You will just have to push harder for the things you want.

We have been managing our lands since 1985. We need to burn areas to which is a natural part of nature and it open up, thus opening up the seeds underneath that are buried. We have a pretty large amount of land. We also have read, met with so many, studied, and learned, how to develop land, never paid anyone. Ill put our knowledge against the Wi Dept of Nazi R...... (wdnr) any day.

wouldnt it be cheaper to just buy some antlers?

Lots of ways to spend money Danny. Fish dinner at the local tavern is under 20 bucks but you should see the fishing equipment that fills my garage.

Bear Tracker, I love the benefits of fire but I don’t trust most with it;). Especially if my house or property is on the line. I wonder if that thought process is what causes so many gov officials to avoid it at all costs. I can tell you have the experience that is really helpful to have around when doing habitat work. It’s too bad they don’t take that into account!

My father worked for the wdnr, I have had many dealings with them. I know how corrupt the organization is. Our entire property has it's road system designed as fire breaks and access. We have worked fire control, controlled burns all our life. Advice from the wdnr we have found to be a total waste of time.
As per cost, it is one of our passions, we benefit all wildlife, grow fruit for us and wildlife, and enjoy. We have choose to spend our money on land, hunting, and our families.

1 thing I've noticed is that when 1 owns property, there is always something to do. That said, I don't want to be trouncing all around the woods like an elephant during deer season.

Sorry, I apologize didn't mean it want to hijack this thread. Feel pretty strongly about some things. You can do a lot with our paying a ton of money to someone. Lots of people willing to help. The dnr had an agenda and it is not to fit yours. I do not want them on our property for any reason.

AJE, access is the biggest thing folks overlook and poor access is what kills really good food plots. If you can’t get on and off without spooking deer feeding in plots, you wreck your hunting quick.

Bear tracker, that’s too bad u have only had bad experiences. I agree that you can get a ton of help without paying someone money and it doesn’t have to be from DNR personnel. That said, we are blessed to have some decent DNR folks here that I have no problem coming out and bouncing ideas off.

Bear tracker, you sure you ain’t from the South, lol? Yeah, the places I trap and hunt all do that as well. It’s amazing what a fire and even thick cover in areas can do for wildlife. And thick cover is just overgrown fields plowed up every year and allowed to grow back. Every few years we have to deep plow them to give more room for the roots so the cover grows taller and thicker. The idea is to give back more to the land than you take.

I also get fantastic FREE help from WDNR staff.

Yeah, that's tough to enter/exit without spooking deer.

A few of these properties in discussion are fairly close in proximity- it would be great to tour them over the spring or summer to share Best Practices... I'd be happy to host a day... we'll have a lot of projects going on this year.

Eagleye, hopefully you set one up. I would try my best to make the trip. Sounds like you guys have lots figured out and it would be a slam dunk opportunity to learn a few things.

Being able to see things in person allow you to apply so much easier to your own situation versus reading or hearing about it.

I burn my woods (about 20 acres) and the prairies (about 5-6 acres).
I don't need any approval, I do call the sheriff and let them know.
None of my neighbors have ever said anything.

Burning will kill some of the invasives or it top kills them and they will re-sprout but after a couple of years they get weakened and die.
It depends upon the size of the invasive, the smaller the more likely it'll kill them.
I have pretty much gotten the buckthorn and honeysuckle under control.
Yes, you'll occasionally find one here and there but for the most part they have been controlled.

Along with the burning I am thinning out my woods in most of it by taking out pretty much all the maples and Ironwood.
To get a hot enough burn in the woods it has to be very dry or you have to have enough grasses and sedges.
In the more open areas of the woods I am seeding various grasses, sedges and forbs to establish a thick herbaceous ground layer.
It takes about 2 years to get a growth going, 4-6 years before all the plants are flowering.

I'd like to have less deer, they are very destructive. I am going to have to fence off certain plants to keep the deer from eliminating them from the landscape.
Unfortunately most of what I do attracts deer, I wish it didn't but it is what it is.

Good idea. I've been looking for a good perennial(s). What is recommended?

Has anyone planted Lablab?
It seems like it would be a good legume for the dog days of summer.

Only having 50 acre parcel I realize I’m not trying to do the same thing most of you guys are, that being said after last hunting season, which was better than the previous, I decided to do all we could to enhance our property. We started about 2 months ago just opening paths through downed trees and briars, not roads but pathways where we wanted wildlife. The property looks like prime habitat as it was select cut 8 years ago and has mature white and red oak as well as thick undergrowth. Anyhow, we started prep for a small food plot, the lime goes on next weekend and put in a small pond or wallow. The little bit we have done already seems to have opened travel up better than it has been the last 5 years. While up working last weekend I found 2 scrapes that just appeared within 2 weeks, never remember a fresh scrape this time of year, a lot activity at both. Thanks for the ideas and resources.

I have planted the tecomate lab lab plus - which contains lab lab, ebony pea, sunflower, milo, and a little browntop millet. The lab lab - and especially ebony pea, smothered everything else. Big leaf in pic below is lab lab - smaller leaves ebony pea

One of the most noted habitat consultants once wrote an article recommending to NOT create what he called a “doe factory” - in his estimation - a lot of does would tend to displace bucks. I did exactly the opposite of what he recommended - I concentrated my habitat improvement activity to increase my fawning success in an effort to increase my doe numbers. I now have more does than I ever had - and more bucks. Best hunting we have ever had. These habitat consultants are for the most part very knowledgeable. What they dont know is what is going down on the neighboring properties, hunter pressure, predator loads, fawn recruitment numbers, local deer preferences, etc.

personally I'd stay away from non native plants, your opening a can of worms when you do.
You might be planting the next garlic mustard or buckthorn.