Land Management

Creating Mother Nature’s Food Plot

By: Dr. Chris Moorman

Question: I don’t really have the time or the money to spend intensively managing food plots on my land. Is there anything that I can do on my property to benefit deer without spending so much time and money?

Prescribed burning, especially when conducted in areas that receive sunlight, is a very cost-efficient wildlife management tool, and fire can help enhance food and cover for white-tailed deer. With proper planning, fire can be used to improve large expanses of deer habitat at a relatively low cost, and many government agencies offer cost-share programs to reduce the cost to private landowners.

Today, wildlife biologists emphasize the value of prescribed fire to improve habitat for wildlife, largely because of the prominent role fire has played in shaping the plant and animal communities across the country. In the past, much of North America burned regularly, either at the hands of man or from natural lightning ignitions. Native American Indians used fire as a tool to improve habitat for bison, elk and white-tailed deer. Some specific examples of fire's value to deer are: • Many desirable legumes, other forbs, and woody species germinate following a fire and provide excellent forage for white-tailed deer, especially during spring and summer. • The herbaceous plants and woody sprouts that come back after a fire typically are higher in crude protein and phosphorus during the growing season following the burn than in unburned areas.
• Fresh, young browse that sprouts after a fire is more palatable to deer. Burns during the winter months generally are best for encouraging re-sprouting of hardwoods. • Shrubs and small trees that have grown taller than 5 feet often are top-killed by fire and sprout from their base, again allowing access to browsing deer. • Many shrubs produce more fruit 2-5 years after a fire than they would if an area hadn't been burned. This soft mast makes up a significant portion of white-tailed deer diets during summer and early fall. • Prescribed fire improves habitat across an extensive area rather than in a concentrated location as with a single food plot.

Unfortunately, many people are led to believe fire permanently destroys wildlife habitat and kills animals. These misconceptions have been fostered by decades of Smokey Bear's fire prevention messages emphasizing the destructiveness of wildfire. However, well-planned prescribed burns are not destructive, and deer and other animals rarely are killed by fire.

Generally, burning forest stands is not begun until the dominant trees reach 15 to 20 ft. in height, but longleaf pine stands in the southeastern U.S. can be burned as early as 2-3 years following establishment. alt text Beneficial wildlife plants like partridge pea, ragweed, pokeweed, old-field aster, beggarlice, and native warm-season grasses cannot grow unless sufficient sunlight reaches the ground. Therefore, prescribed burning provides the greatest benefit to deer when conducted in recently thinned timber stands or in openings, such as old fields, native warm-season grass plantings or recent timber harvests. Once a prescribed burning program is initiated, the stand should be burned repeatedly (e.g., every 2-5 years in the pine forests of the South) depending on how quickly the understory grows back following fire and the natural fire history of the region or native plant community. Within about 5-8 years after a prescribed winter burn in most eastern forests, hardwood sprouts or saplings become too tall to practically control with fire alone. Before burning, firebreaks must be created around the proposed burn area. Firebreaks can be created by pulling a plow, disk, or rake behind a tractor or ATV. A firebreak can be turned into a linear food plot by sowing it to warm-season or cool-season plantings.

Fire is likely to affect deer habitat differently across the specific regions or forest types of the US, and conducting a prescribed burn requires expertise. Therefore, assistance from experienced professionals in your local area always is recommended. Contact a consulting forester, a local agency forester or a state or federal agency biologist to seek help in planning or implementing a prescribed burn for improvement of white-tailed deer habitat on your property. Or try contacting your County Extension Agent to find out where to get prescribed burning help in your area.

About the Author: Chris Moorman is an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Program at North Carolina State University. He is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and an avid hunter.

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