To bushhog or not to bushhog

[svendawg]

I just purchased 60 acres in the Ozark foothills about 3 months ago of the 60 acres about 40 acres in back is half wooded and half cleared and pretty isolated from out house. It has not been maintained for the past 4years and the weeds are chest high to over my head is places. I知 inclined to bushhog the weed after deer season closes because they are so high they are choking out the grass.
I致e only hunted on public land in the past so I have no experience with managing hunting property
My dilemma is should I bushhog the weeds or should I leave it growing wild. My only plan for these 40 acres at this time is for hunting

 

[MF283]

It would be easier to mow this time of year, grass will draw wildlife better than weeds, plus you could put a food plot in to help enhance wildlife activity.

Ronnie

 

[newbury]

Since "Deer Season" doesn't end until March for Archery and about January for "modern gun" I'd mow it as time and conditions permit.

 

[airbiscuit]

Not sure what the weeds are. If they aren't noxious, I might leave a few patches here and there. Wildlife likes diversity (open, wooded, brushy ...)

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Deer are browsers, not grazers, so if you want to make them happy manage the land for low growing brush with sweet leaves. I find the most effective deer attracting browse is roses, the more expensive the better. If you need something a little more rugged, try apple trees.

 

[coobie]

Mow it and plant some clover and you might see a few like these.They were in my back field hogging down clover.

 

[TripleR]

Check with the extension service or other entity on land wildlife management and go from there. As mentioned, some "weeds" are beneficial to some wildlife and others not. We use chemicals and rotary cutters to manage Multiflora Rose, Autumn Olive, thistle, Johnson Grass, Sericia Lespedeza etc.

In some fields, frequent cutting without chemicals has eliminate weeds and grass has recovered very well. In some, we have just tilled a whole field and planted grass.

We make sure to leave areas of brush for shelter.

 

[motownbrowne]

One thing to note about bush hogging this time of year, is that there's lots of weeds and grasses with mature seeds still hanging on the stalk. They easily shake loose when you hit them with the grill guard and then get vacuumed into the radiator and screen by the cooling fan. The screen and the radiator always need periodic maintenance when mowing, but much more frequent cleaning is needed when there's mature seeds around. So, keep an eye on the temp gauge, keep the radiator cleaned out and go to town.

 

[svendawg]

One thing to note about bush hogging this time of year, is that there's lots of weeds and grasses with mature seeds still hanging on the stalk. They easily shake loose when you hit them with the grill guard and then get vacuumed into the radiator and screen by the cooling fan. The screen and the radiator always need periodic maintenance when mowing, but much more frequent cleaning is needed when there's mature seeds around. So, keep an eye on the temp gauge, keep the radiator cleaned out and go to town.

I know what your talking about. When I mowed the front 10 acres I had to stop every couple hours and blow the stuff off the front of the radiator. At first I couldn't figure out why my temp was going up, so I stopped, checked the radiator and found a heavy layer of debris on the front of the radiator. Great tip for other "new to tractoring" members.

Thanks to all that gave me input on my dilemma. You gave me some direction on what I need to do.

 

[TripleR]

I carry a brush in my tractor as well as a leaf blower in my truck if I'm too far from the shop.