Top_Heavy's World

Big whitetails seem to like areas with big grass. I find more big deer in areas that have a fairly high number of acres of CRP, switchgrass or native grass plantings, than in timbered areas alone. I believe the deer like this area for protection from coyotes and other predators, as they seem to work the edges and avoid the really thick or dense areas while hunting. They use the seeds and dry leaves for late season food, and the forbes for early food as the flush of green starts at the first days after the frost leaves the soil. I also believe that the deer use these areas as a thermal break in the coldest weather. Big deer can work into the thickest parts of the switch grass fields, lay up and be very sheltered. More than one time I have bumped a monster buck while pheasant hunting with my pointer. I would have walked right past the buck, but my german shorthair points deer too! Big grass requires some work to get it really thick and healthy. Proper planting, weed control, fertilizer, seed blending, and thatch removal, all have a place in the management of thick grass stands. We burned 4 fields and thick water ways on Saturday. Burning removes the thick shadowing stems and leaves of the past couple of years growth, it puts the nutrients into an easily reused form in the form of ash, and it actually stimulates germination of some prairie plants. Mowing is much more popular in Iowa where I hunt, but in the west burning is the method most preferred. We burned all day and one of the burns lasted into the night, this picture was too awsome to pass up, our burn was about "burned out" for the night.

We operated in a team of 3, one man in a 4 wheel drive truck with a 125 gallon water tank, gas powered pump and attached garden hose. One man running the spray nozzel on the hose to put out the back burn fires, and one man with the torch lighting the fire of the back burns and then the main part of the fields. Burning is dangerous and the utmost care must be taken to insure no injury or loss of control occurs. We evaluated our fields in relation to the wind. We always started on the down wind side of the field. The torch was lit and was walked along the outer most edge of the desired burn area. We lit about 25 feet at a time, the flare up was very hot, but quickly was bearable. The waterman sprayed the outermost edge with the hose, extinguishing the flames, to create a 5 to 10 foot wide area with no fuel remaining. The fire burns into the field, very slowly, as it is moving into the wind. Our group worked across the wind to create an edge around the entire field, the most downwind sides first, ending at the upwind corner. Our fields were big enough that about half of the grass was already consumed before we lit the upwind side, which burns extremely fast and hot with the wind to fan the flames. Water or a mechanical method of fire control is a must. I have used a disc, a harrow and a 5 bottom plow to put out the edges, but there are times the fire will be too hot to drive through, so the edges should be tilled before any fire is lit, if this is the control method of choice. Very little water is needed if the fire is kept small, and we didn't have a tractor at this farm yet, we were able to complete 3 of the burns on one tank full. The 4th burn used about 50 gallons, but the dew was on the grass, and it didn't burn as well as the fields in the warmest part of the day. Be sure to get your burning permit before you strike the match!
Extreme effort was put into the quality of the grass, but for the desires of the landower, this is just another step in the total improvement of a piece of ground. Next time you can't find a big buck, walk through some of the thickest grass cover you can find, I will bet one will come busting out as you walk by. It will take a lot more effort to work through chest high grass, but extreme desires require extreme effort!