After the burn

[Cut N Run]

A couple of years ago, the landowner at the lease where I hunt burned off the underbrush among some planted Loblolly pines on the property.  I had high hopes of hunting those areas when things started growing back.  Unfortunately, he has also started bush hogging & spraying the new growth making those pines about the only vegetation standing  in those groves.  It is like having trees on a moon-scape. 
 
The turkeys pretty much avoid the area and spend more time in the woods & cutovers. It may actually be a good thing by forcing the turkeys to use less land than they used to. They could also just as easily go onto a neighboring property, I suppose...
 
Jim

[Turkeybuster]

Jim it is hard to say the lease I have it is 800 acres and the land owner timbered it last summer and then had chippers come in and they took everything on the ground tree tops saplings from 2" up to remaining trees 12" across the stump. It looks like a bomb was dropped. It was the prettyiest property I had ever seen now I don't know if there will be any birds this year and if they do come back how do you hunt them?
You can see 400 yds. or more in any direction what a mess. It is hard to beleive anybody would desecrate the land to this extent.
Jon

[Fan Club]

ORIGINAL: Cut N Run

The turkeys pretty much avoid the area and spend more time in the woods & cutovers. It may actually be a good thing by forcing the turkeys to use less land than they used to. They could also just as easily go onto a neighboring property, I suppose...

I don't see how providing less habitat that the turkeys prefer is a good thing no matter how you slice it. As I recall the landowner has hunted there occasionally in seasons past, no? Did he provide an explanation for his actions? Did he ask for your input or let you voice your concerns? I realize landowner/hunter relations can be touchy and sometimes you just gotta bite your lip.

Some people just have too much nervous energy. I have a friend that has only a handful of acres but they border a sizeable swamp. It used to be a real sanctuary and haven for wildlife but my buddy has changed that and not for the better. Over the years he has cut and burned, cut and burned and did I mention cut and burned? He has removed every fencerow, brushy area and piece of cover on the property leaving only the 70 foot tall trees and an aboretum underneath. Now he wonders why he doesn't see the wildlife he used to. Putz.

I sympathize with you too, Jon. It's heartbreaking to lose a great piece of property. The Rebel's Cove WMA in Missouri was just such a place. 3,500 acres of beautiful wooded ridges and hardwood flats. A camp of hunters from my hometown went there every year from 1987 through 2007. Then the state sold the logging rights to the area and it was logged over a two year period, totally unsupervised. A selective logging operation is one thing, but those bastards took 8 out of every 10 trees. Even the trees near the car parks where the sportsmen camped. Just totally demolished the place...you can see for thousands of yards in every direction from any ridgetop. Needless to say there isn't much turkey hunting going on there these days.

[Cut N Run]

Jon, If they let that land go back to woods, it will become prime turkey habitat pretty quick.  It may get too thick after a few years, but it should offer good cover & perhaps nesting areas and then improve after that. Pay attention to the roads & logging decks for turkey activity. I have been hunting that kind of land in various stages for some time and tactics are a bit different compared to hunting mature timber & fields. The fact that they got the chipper in there should help too.  There should be all kinds of bugs, worms, & grubs that like that chipped up wood. Turkeys will be drawn to it at some point.
 
Jeff,  You pretty much nailed it about the landowner having nervous energy.  On days when the hunting is slow, he would rather be working (at about anything) that will pay & is not above jumping up and dashing off to work.  Turkey hunting is not much more than a way to get a few fine meals to him. Once the hunting gets tougher & hot temperatures take over, he gives up.  I also think he would rather hear the bush hog running than his Ol' lady's mouth. Just sayin'
He'll be p!$$ed if & when he reads this, but it is the truth. He is a real good guy, but the business he owns has dropped off some thanks to the economy, leaving him more time to putter around with the trees. His efforts will pay off financially for him, I just hope not at the sake of damaging a great place to hunt.
 
First and foremost though, that property is a tree farm.  The better the trees grow, the more profit is in it for him & his family.  The less competition there is from other tree species, the better his pines will do.  The bottom line IS the bottom line on that deal. All that activity is just squeezing the turkeys closer to the back of the property where I like to hunt anyway.*fingers crossed for good luck*
 
You know, It never hurts to have good luck.
 
Jim

[Fan Club]

> You pretty much nailed it about the landowner having nervous energy. <

That's funny. Sounds like these two guys should be related. All the years I've watched my buddy "groom" his land, I was thinking the same thing...He's not doing this because it necessarily needs to be done, he'd just rather be out doin' anything than be inside dealin' with his Ol' lady. She's a piece of work as well. And likewise, my name will be mud if he reads this, but he's already ruined that place for hunting so I won't be out much!

[;)]

[swpatrkyhunter]

I feel your pain Jim!  My parents neighbor has land we hunt on that has always held good turkey hunting. A couple years ago he had some trees taken down to be sold. I found this out one morning while sitting with my back against a big oak and just starting a verble assult with a big ole tom, when suddenly the roar of a chainsaw echoed through the vally. Needless to say the bird was in the next county by the time the cutting started. But. The birds still to this day roost right above where the cutting was going on. Only problem with hunting there is now the birds have a good veiw of anyone trying to sneak in close to the roost.
                Since then the neighbor has gotten a grand interest in turkey hunting and shakes his head everytime he spooks a bird from the roost.LOL! But the hunting is still good. After a change like that happens in an area where turkeys frequent most of the time they will return depending on how severe the change. Turkeys seem to stick to their home ranges finding places close to their usual haunts. At least that is what I have seen.