BSmaster

Nittanyfisher makes a good argument against white pine but I think I would still plant them for speed but longevity maybe mix in some sort of spruce. If it takes an average of 8 years for a Christmas grower to grow a Christmas tree under optimum conditions than I do not know that there will be a perfect short term solution. My brother has a similar issue. His property had jack pines along the road for visual security and then the line company lopped the trees pretty low and they got diseased and died and he is trying to figure out what trees to plant to replace them. It is important to him because you can see the food plots from the road. My brother planted some white pine on the farm and our cousin didn't know it and brush hogged 1/2 of them down. That is frustrating...

Yes where possible, do this 1st. It is quicker, easier, and much cheaper. Save your plantings for future strategy. I planted some norway spruce last spring where there were little to no trees not expecting them to be worth anything for 10 years or more. But I thought they might be helpful for when I need to use a blind strategy. Last year after Christmas I took down groves of poplar and some red maple. I had deer using the poplars as wind breaks and were feeding aggressively on the red maple. This literally happened over night. Trim your deer pathways not for an atv but for a deer's natural security and plan them for your stand. I almost always look for the perfect trees to set up in and then look to make the deer travel the way I want. You can overtrim the first season and use those trees and branches from lanes you clear out to make obstacles to steer the deer. It may not be good the first year but as things grow back in and look more natural, they will come. Remember, a deer can jump a 6ft fence but it will also cross a 3 ft fence where a tree has knocked it down - over and over again instead of jumping it. By perfect tree, I am referring to a tree or set of trees where you will not be silhouetted. The same with your blind, if it stands out like a sore thumb they will not come. If you go out in March and April after the snow has melted you can see pretty clearly the routes the deer take and use this to your advantage when setting up ground cover and kill areas. I like to plan my seasons ahead. Unfortunately, what I have learned is that not every generation of bucks acts the same. this means I have stands all over the property and do not hunt most of them some years... I have yet to do a food plot but will start hopefully this year. I think with a preferred food source and good cover, I will be able to improve hunting seasons. Sorry for carrying on, X2 for what Gill-T wrote.

Deer season makes this relevant. How many times have you wished you had something ANYTHING when on a sit especially with dry leaves.

You can look into honeysuckle for cover - it is native. Autumn olive is not but also very hardy and quick growing. I have both. When I hitch trees on edges they take over and fill in. I didn't have to plant either. The rabbits and grouse love the habitat. For evergreens, I love white pine. They are less disease susceptible and if they do get disease it is a natural way of stopping the upper growth so they just fill in anyways.

I am guessing the deer was laying down and a hunter walked up on it and hurriedly shot at it thinking it was a true wild deer that was not accustomed to eating out of human hands. The deer probably didn't know what the h e l l was going on. I know everyone sees something different when watching the video but my intent was to show the deers natural healing power and perhaps help alleviate some concerns about wounding deer. It is one of the worst feelings to know you hit a deer, potentially killing it, and can not harvest it. I acknowledge the fact that there were no predators in the video so it is not an accurate presentation of real life but it is because of that detail that she could document so accurately. Yes, it was a terrible shot - 100% agree on that. I have butchered deer that had completely healed over wounds where the hide showed no evidence of a previous puncture and there was scar tissue encapsulating a big tube of white blood cells. I just butchered one last night where the fixed broadhead went down thru the tender loin and into the meaty part of the scapula region. There was still a hole in the hide which showed the shap of the broad head and the scarring was intense. The only active white blood cells oozing was around a matte of hair lodged in its tenderloin. No gang green and no foul smell. Depending on the winter, the deer probably would have survived.

YES! The best holiday stress reliever (besides booze).

Very inspiring video... I find a lot of the videos in this series entertaining and informative.

For all of you young fellas out there... I wish my wife had some of my interests in the outdoors but if she did it would look something like this...

$50 is good. I have heard up to $200. I just did mine. I haven't sealed it yet. I am letting it slow dry. As is with everything, you can learn how to DIY on youtube.