This spring I am going to hinge cut and/or cut down all the locust trees through out the property where I hunt to provide more cover and encourage more ground vegetation to grow. The locust trees are junk anyways and there are way to many. It should in some areas, create some really nasty thick spots. Has anybody on here ever done anything like this and seen any improvements? Any tips or other ideas to provide better habitat besides simply just putting in a food plot?
Ive done this with christmas trees and locust trees in several draws at my place, THE DEER LOVE THEM!!!!The only time ill go anywhere around them is looking for sheds!!!
We have 20 acres on our lease that was girdled last summer when put in a forestry program..It has definatly changed the pattern of the deer for sure…Not sure if it will improve the woods for the better or not..I guess time will tell…
What kind of locust are you talking about? Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) aren’t usually as “thorny” as honey locust but they are hard to completely eradicate. They can be clonal and spread by underground rhizomes which makes it nearly impossible to completely get rid of a stand of black locust (believe me, I have some in my back yard and it’s an annual battle for me). Of course, if you’re only concerned about the tall ones (>5 ft or whatever), then you can probably go a couple years in between cuts. Personally, I hate anything invasive or non-native (even though locust are “native” they can be a nuissance). This goes for locust, honeysuckle, autumn olive, etc… However, the deer seem to love ‘em so it’s sometimes a tradeoff…
how many acres of timber are you talking about? If it is more than 10 acres of contiguous timber you may be eligible for assistance under USDA NRCS’ s EQIP program. EQIP provides a financial incentive to have a forest management plan written by a consulting forester you hire after your application becomes a contract. Then you can come back and apply for cost share to implement improvement practices like this.
FREAK, I’m woried that if I kill all my Honey Locusts I won’t have ANY trees left. Yahoo before me let hogs run all over the place and they ate every tree worth having, leaving mostly Hedge and Locust.
EQIP can cost share on not only the plan being written for timber management but also Timber stand improvement, heavy site preparation, and tree planting.
It does not all have to be done all in one year. I am working on some EQIP contracts with timber landowners and they started doing work in 2010, 2011 and will do more in 2012.
Those Locusts trees are real good for firewood. If you ring them real good the bark will fall off in several years (this also softens the needles) and either cut to sell or I am sure somebody that burns wood will come and cut them for you. You try and cut them trees while they are still alive you are in for a very bad day. If you have ever stepped on one of those thorns and stuck it in your foot you’ll understand, I have. Let alone handling them all day. Even taking a chainsaw to cut the needles off is a big pain to where you can handle them, stuff just goes everywhere.
I have cut one down and when I accidentally got poked by the large thorns I get a immediate swelling on the skin. Girdling twice in a ring with a chainsaw past the bark and injecting with a chemical to kill them works good. That is a practice we cost share on. Yes they make good firewood.
