Do you have any suggestions about planting apple trees near the Iowa/Illinois border?
Filed under: Habitat Management, Tree Plots
The Lord has blessed myself and a friend with the opportunity to develop a 50-60 acre section of old CRP land and cropland in the bottoms near the Illinois/Iowa border.
We know there are alot of deer around and that they’ve never really been hunted. They bed on and/or near the property, so that’s a huge plus. However, there is a good sized coyote and coon population along the creek/river that borders our property.
We are trying to come up with a game plan on how to make the most of our time and money. We were thinking we could start planting some apple trees in the spring and try to lower the number of predators asap.
Do you have any good bits of advice to help us in the right direction? We are both experienced hunters and plan to only bowhunt unless serious deer population control is required, then shotguns/muzzleloaders.
Best Regards,
Nate
Nate,
I really like Tree Plots as a tool to attract deer. Tree plots take time to develop but can be the only source of fruit around and deer love most varieties of fruit! Check out the tips for establishing and maintaining a tree plot at FlatwoodNatives.
I also believe it’s good management to work toward balancing the predator and prey relationships! Trapping is a great tool to accomplish that. There are many techniques about trapping coyotes on GrowingDeer. Go to the Videos tab at the top of the page and then the trapping tab on the left.
Sounds like you have a good plan. Be patient with the trees and take care of them. Tree plots are a great tool!
Enjoy creation,
grant
January 6, 2016
