Site Prep Burn

Yesterday, we did a site prep burn.  Click on the tab"Timber Management" for more information about this management practice.

Transmission Powerlines

As a landowner you are lucky/unlucky if you have transmission power lines on your property; they are there and you have to make the best of them.  We use them as wildlife openings that can be managed to benefit wildlife.  We plant summer and winter food plots here.  We also help the power company by keeping the right-of-ways open for access by plowing or bush hogging.  This year (in the foreground) we bush hogged strips on part of the opening to allow for quail to come out and feed and then have access back into cover.  While I was working here I saw a hen quail and some of her young that was about 3/4 grown.

Part of the right-of-way openings were bush hogged completely for winter food plots such as the part you see here and on top of the hill. Turkeys will use these openings to catch insects and the deer will come in to eat the tender shoots after bush hogging.  There is a strip of chufa planted just past the tower that will be enjoyed by the turkeys this winter.  

Fawns

These two fawns have survived the coyotes and if they can survive the automobiles they will have a good life.  I made pictures of these two in our yard this morning.  See the tab "Wildlife Management" for more information.

WildlifeManagement Post

A post has been added to the tab "Wildlife Management" on fall food plots.

Alabama Champion Tree

We have a large Mountain Chestnut Oak on our property that was recently certified an Alabama Champion Tree.  I think there are others out there somewhere that may be larger but at this time it is certified as the largest mountain chestnut oak on record in Alabama.

Anyone may contact the Alabama Forestry Commission in their county about a tree of any species that they feel is the largest of its kind and have it checked.  You may look at http://www.forestry.alabama.gov/PDFs/ChampionTrees.pdf  to see the trees that are now on record as being a champion tree and what measurements made it the champion.  The Alabama Forestry Commission website has more information about this program.

Fall Road Maintanence

This has been my view for several of the last few days.  Each fall I bush-hog all the roads and most of the firebreaks to keep it where access to the property is available for fire protection and travel to hunting stands.  It is important that these roads are trimmed annually because after two years of neglect the roads will become impossible to travel.  I use a 4-wheeler with a sprayer sometimes in areas that need the competition taken out.

What Are You Doing About It?

How many times do I hear older adults saying something about all these electronics?  Others say children depend too much on video toys.  Well, what are you doing about it?  That is the question I am about to address.  I will try to give you one suggestion for "Doing something about it."

There are numerous ways for building interest for your children or grandchildren in getting outdoors while learning and enjoying the forest. 

One project my wife and I just completed with our grandchildren was naming a road, trail or other place on our property after them.  We not only called this special spot with their name but we purchased a sign for each one of them with their name on it and took a day with them to place the sign on the property.

They loved doing this.  They have their own piece of the property that they can claim ownership of.

This project has been great for us in helping them appreciate the property GOD has blessed us to own.  Our oldest grandson, who likes electronics too and lives in our instant world of entertainment, said "Grandmother I am sure glad we have this land!"

That makes it all worth while.

So if the younger children you are with are not interested in the forest, shame on you! 

What are you going to do about it?
Oh, by the way, the parents of these children were also out on the property that day making photographs of wildflowers and repairing treestands.