Whitetail Habitat Development

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Dimitri

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Has anyone used any screening blends/Egyptian Wheat for property boundaries? Where did you get them? What products would you recommend?

I'm considering planting a 150-300 yard strip of cover along the property line to keep deer movements a little bit more secluded from our inconsiderate neighbor.

We have an area that the deer love to move from that is right along the property line, and last season the neighbor ended up sitting (facing me) about 25 yards on their side (leased). We hadn't hunted the property in five years, and this guy literally built a stand facing this slough that we saw 20-30 move through on opening day. The main reason a few of our tags weren't filled during the first two hours of opening day, was the neighbor literally being in the line of fire- granted, wheat isn't going to make it safe to shoot that way, but hopefully it will create a natural boundary that we can use to funnel the herd towards our food and kill plots 2-300 yards away. Thoughts?
 
Anything to widen that travel corridor will help: brush, tall grass, uncut corn, briers, or cedars. What may help more is giving the deer an alternative travel route away from the fence. Allowing large gaps in cover to become small gaps make deer less apprehensive to cross them.
 
You may want to check in with what Mark Kenyon has on wired2hunt. I know he uses Egyptian Wheat for screening cover on food plots. Another option might be to do some hinge cuts on some trees.
 
IlliniFIre said:
You may want to check in with what Mark Kenyon has on wired2hunt. I know he uses Egyptian Wheat for screening cover on food plots. Another option might be to do some hinge cuts on some trees.
Click to expand...

Thanks- I will check out what he has to say on the matter.
 
Just curious is it legal for his bullets to cross over into your property, most states it is not.
Put up some kind of blind, even if you don't hunt it right across from his, facing away from the other property. If he shoots it call the GW.

I'm not sure of your native plants for deer but make sure whatever you plant it is not favored deer browse.
Good luck, that's a hard problem to deal with , inconsiderate neighbors. The thicker the better for cover. Perhaps some fast growing, short stout trees or hedgerow.
 
You hadn't hunted it in five years. How long did you expect the neighbor to wait before he hunted the land he leased? First, go talk to them. There's a good chance he is reasonable and the two of you could work together. Second, plant cedars. They'll grow quickly and provide a good barrier. Third, get a bow or crossbow and tag out before shotgun season. Good luck.
 
If it were me I would plant a plot screen about 10 feet on your side of the property line. Then on your side of the plot screen I would plant 2 rows of maple trees or hybrid willows, the maples will grow around 3-5 feet depending upon the variety you go with. The hybrid willows will grow around 6-12 feet per year, so in a couple of years you'll be able to use the trees as a backdrop for your stands and block out his view on to your property.
 
I use a mix of Egyptian wheat and sorghum for a screen. It's very small and just to help the deer not see/be seen from the county road. It works great and is pretty easy to grow, but that said, it's an annual.
Untitled by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/805c8f_78904ff45d9d45aaaf3de40d8087e51c.pdf

In your shoes, I'd be looking at something more permanent. Miscanthus would fit that and not take to long to be effective. You could plant it and then fill in front or behind with the annuals until the miscanthus is doing what you need it to do. Here's a source a lot of folks use. I'm thinking of adding some of it to my place next year as well.

http://www.mapleriverfarms.com/
 
wytex said:
Just curious is it legal for his bullets to cross over into your property, most states it is not.
Put up some kind of blind, even if you don't hunt it right across from his, facing away from the other property. If he shoots it call the GW.

I'm not sure of your native plants for deer but make sure whatever you plant it is not favored deer browse.
Good luck, that's a hard problem to deal with , inconsiderate neighbors. The thicker the better for cover. Perhaps some fast growing, short stout trees or hedgerow.
Click to expand...

It's totally against the law for him to shoot a deer on our property, however I can assume he's done it in the past without hesitation- its a safe bet the only reason he didn't take a crack at the 12 point that walked between us last year, was because I was staring right back at him!
 
I've got the same issue you do, I can count about a dozen blinds up against our fences, one neighbor was particularly egregious and word went around that he was bragging about shooting deer on our side of the fence. We actually put up a tower blind that we never hunted up next to his. You could literally reach out and shake hands with him. I now have a line of spruce growing, and this year I planted Northwoods whitetail screen until the spruce eventually grows up, which may take a while. I have friends who have had really good luck with their screening, even planted in mid july will get pretty tall.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned here is Miscantus. It was originally used as an ornamental grass, non invasive and is a perennial. Too late this year but you plant the rhizomes in the spring and by the 2nd year you'll have a wall that will regenerate for a number of years.
 
MiStickSlinger said:
I've got the same issue you do, I can count about a dozen blinds up against our fences, one neighbor was particularly egregious and word went around that he was bragging about shooting deer on our side of the fence. We actually put up a tower blind that we never hunted up next to his. You could literally reach out and shake hands with him. I now have a line of spruce growing, and this year I planted Northwoods whitetail screen until the spruce eventually grows up, which may take a while. I have friends who have had really good luck with their screening, even planted in mid july will get pretty tall.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned here is Miscantus. It was originally used as an ornamental grass, non invasive and is a perennial. Too late this year but you plant the rhizomes in the spring and by the 2nd year you'll have a wall that will regenerate for a number of years.
Click to expand...
Miscanthus has been mentioned... ;) :D Even a source provided.
 
3855WIN said:
You hadn't hunted it in five years. How long did you expect the neighbor to wait before he hunted the land he leased? First, go talk to them. There's a good chance he is reasonable and the two of you could work together. Second, plant cedars. They'll grow quickly and provide a good barrier. Third, get a bow or crossbow and tag out before shotgun season. Good luck.
Click to expand...

I agree. Try to talk to the person. I've seen lots of good people hate each other over whitetail hunting and it's not worth ruining a relationship with another person. If you talk to him and he's a prick, then by all means, take farther steps. I recommend talking to him outside of season of course.
 
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