Pheasant plot on new land

DaleL

DaleL

New member
Hello all,
Long time lurker and first time posting. I bought a 3 acre piece last year in west central MN. I mainly use it for recreation and thought I would plant about two acres of it in a pheasant/turkey mix I bought from the county. I also planted 25 juneberry trees and 25 nannyberry trees along with 50 pine and spruce. Pheasants were already using the wetland in the front part. Good news is the planting is coming along nicely and just this past weekend I saw a hen pheasant with about 7 chicks coming out of it going into an adjacent alfalfa field. At the same time a hen turkey with about the same number of poults worked their way in and out of the sunflower/sorghum mix. Thought I would share with like minded individuals. I keep my lab close when I'm out there. So awesome to see.View attachment 1638View attachment 1639thumbnail_64520814475__C71FAB4D-BC47-46A6-B311-C6EAA4439296.jpg
 

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Lol I passed on a rooster last year a couple of times out there and will probably do so again :). Just a little place near Alec for the chicks to go and maybe some food into fall. The farmer to the north just cut his alfalfa field so i think the turkey moved in or were passing through but they have been hanging around as there probably is 20 acres or so of woods marsh etc.
 
Looks great Dale! You will have birds with that habitat. If you have deer (guessing you do), you might consider protecting the trees, especially the pines (deer might rake the spruce also). Maybe look for rolls of field fence where farmers have removed fence lines from their land...likely free for asking when you tell them what the use will be. I make a 5-6 feet diameter hoops, and just use 2 of the "electric fence posts" weaved through to keep them where I want them. Once they grow out to the wire, they should be big enough to remove it. I have struggled with juneberries, hope yours do better than mine. Looks like there is grass available for nesting cover. Large enough to attract birds, small enough to easily manage. Nice work!
 
Had a burn get away a couple years ago, took out my apple, cherry and peach trees I had started. I replaced a few early this spring with some peach trees I grew from peach pits last year. I bought 2 apple trees and one I didn't get the wire closed after I planted it. That night the deer ate most of the leaves and branches off it. I have a couple apple trees that have been planted for 10 years...left the wire cages on them to this day.

Can't go wrong with some fruit trees!! Do you have water available or do you have to bring it in?

Had to google "bud capping" to see what that was.
 
Remy fortunately I have a creek and small pond. The pond is getting low though. I think I got the new plantings over the hump by watering them once a week. I would say I lost about 10% of the 130 trees I planted this Spring. I may plant another six apple trees (Liberty this time) this Fall or for sure next Spring and replace any lost white pines.

Yep deer show no mercy :sneaky: Too bad on the loss of trees.
 
I only walked it once just to see if any birds were hanging in there. I didn't flush any but I
saw some using it. I've been hunting mainly public and some private include my 40.
 
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