Nice...that is great to hear! I love hearing when the videos hit home for folks ..good luck with the land!

Thanks a lot Marcus that is great to hear! I figure if I show enough of these setups someone will be able to relate to each one of them ☺️ Although the concepts are still the same...

Same here. I just bought a 45 acre tract, same size. Working to figure it out and improve

Phil he posted the old field conversion a few days ago. It's worth going back and watching!

Thanks Phil...and I sure did Jared ☺️ Here you go Phil...hope you like it! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rLN1lJuT2s7Moac.html

Thanks Alexander...really hope that they hit home! At least you can apply the same concepts 👍 I like long parcels a lot more than square, typically.

So similar to my property running north to south with food on Northside state land on Southside and heavy hunting pressure on East and West sides of hardwood

Any advice

Thank you very much 👍

That's great to hear...you are very welcome! Really hope it helps you out ☺️

Thanks Mark and great question! Definately bif s shrub like red Osier...but really only for 2-3 years. After they establish successful growth and root structure, they can really take a beating.

I second that... one with two base cover types in different corners would be interesting to see.

Did you plant anything? I would start by looking up what's native to your area and going from there. If not your area, there is some native to Michigan

That's perfect Paul! May just have to cut down a few trails to insure enough sunlight to get to the switch. And definite hidden from your approach is by far the most important

Thanks D! It is if it fits...no need to wait decades for trees or shrubs, when switch can accomplish the same goals and often better...in 2 growing seasons or less. Just depends on the conditions...but never any other grass than switch. Ideally someone would already have a field of Autumn olive, red cedar, mixed upland, etc.

Mark Meyer he usually recommends Cave in Rock which you can buy a lot of places - preferably near you to cut on shipping. Northwoods whitetails that sells his brassica seed to him sells 50 # for about 12$/# but no idea on their shipping fee for that. Try local first is my suggestion. The best variety is the one that will stand tallest and strongest in your area - CIR is that in upland settings for top half of Midwest.

Thanks James! I touch on that with my video this Sunday about improving monoculture deer habitat. Think of those lines as one big field of Switchgrass...

It really depends on the habitat. If good habitat front to back...they will self align. There is nothing you can do to the actual bedding area to determine buck or doe, other than proximity to food and stress. Does will take any adequate bedding over close to food and can tolerate stress. Bucks behind them...so you have to have enough depth of cover

Whitetail Habitat Solutions thank you! That’s what I figured. You see a lot of videos out there about building the beds specifically and it sure seems like our time is better spent on the habitat as a whole so that they can make their beds in the locations we are planning for them.

It really depends Patrick...some areas are too thick for sure. Incredible screening tho and in some locations Dee have a network of trails and bedding pockets within. Also, some is invasive...some native.

Just small, pass thru plots that were existing, for buck hunting plots..."kill plots". Low use, but very effective for defining that long, north/south movement

What do you suggest planting in them? Im assuming the greens/brassica split in your west main 2 plots but the trail plot and the back (east) 2 don’t look big enough to split effectively

You can throw right on the snow. Less snow is better for sure ..no snow even better. You should be OK. You just don't want frozen ground and s lot of rain that pushes seed into small ponds or puddles with spring melt. Your plots is fairly level so should be ok. And a lot better to see where the seed is spread!

Hi Jared... definately need to make sure they can move around and through them...without a doubt. Try to have zero dead ends of movement... Good question! Very important not to block...

Brendan Fergus local seed sellers or coops/grain mills should be able to get it. Also will know your area better than you (most likely) so they will know the best variety for your area. If you just want Cave in Rock and don’t care about cost: Northwoods Whitetails will ship you seed anywhere.

Hi Steve...that's definitely the celebration time ☺️ I mostly go after dark and leave the machine running. If the temps are decent. The deer herd shouldn't be on a small parcel too much after dark anyways...so really good timing if you can swing it. Again...I just drive right in. Mostly with the truck. I also only shoot does early...and then mostly late in the season.

Do you wait for dark on a good shot, morning buck then?

Hi Sam! I would guess fully including food plot area, diversity pockets and switch...roughly 20 acres total

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 Thank you!

I have the same issue. I put my food plot right up front on my land. I used conifers to screen it. With the east end really thick with conifers. I then used conifers and a chain saw on my east line to make a walking path all the way to the back. I made bedding on the back side of the food plot and all along my west line. With the back of the property few being really great bedding (wet land marsh/ shrubs). I then access along the east line along the conifers and slip to the west 30 40 yards to mock scrapes, water holes, and travel corridors going back into the buck bedding. It has worked great for killing deer. Still working on trying to improve the age structure in the area. Property isn't big enough to hold bucks all hunting season. And neighbors loving killing 2 year olds over bait piles (illegally)😢.

Often the only thing that will grow? BUT, by dragging trees into it with branches, the Reed canary grass will grow within and stand most of the winter. This is a common practice anywhere with RCG...of dry you can replace it!

No cover...no wildlife. Your "method", is what keeps me in business as the #1 wildlife and whitetail consultant in the country. I suggest you hang out on the channel and learn...better yourself for both wildlife and for your own knowledge.

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 i have planted switchgrass before was in crp program deer wouldnt bed in it soon as i turned it into an early sucession growth cutover type habitat with native grasses and forbs the deer that stay on my property now probably tripled the same thing doesnt work on every property in every area good luck with that people that dont know anything keep you in business strictly switchgrass doesnt serve much of a purpose the deer down here in the south i have noticed over the years would bed and feed in the fresh cutovers and only move through the switchgrass to get to other places nothing in there for them when there is a fresh cutover with so much fresh green up in so many different species of native forbs amd grasses deer would much prefer variety over a monoculture of switchgrass which is basically useless to them yea maybe in wide open country it can serve a purpose where there isnt much cover but not down here in the south where cover is everywhere

Trey, go back and watch the video, and comprehend the concept before going off on a tangent. Yes everyone is entitled to an opinion, but those opinions should be formulated after the concept is fully understood, not beforehand. Concept cliff notes. Switchgrass is the base cover, not the base bedding. Base cover + diversity pockets + adjacent food = preferred doe bedding. Adjacent food + doe bedding close by =available space, once occupied by does, for buck bedding. Base cover - diversity pockets = Spook free access for hunters. And off these added together equals the knowledge of where deer are and where deer aren't. It's understood that deer don't eat nor bed in pure switchgrass

@@SuperWhitetail1 doesnt make sense to even waste time and money on any kind of switchgrass when you can promote the growth of native grasses and forbs for free which will do the exact same thing and you can use for the exact same concept and will be more benificial it will provide cover and more tons of forage on your property the more tons you can get the more deer you can hold to each his own but i know what works down south on my property and every other property i have been on i wont be wasting any land on somthing that will only provide cover when i can have somthi g that provides cover bedding nesting and forage which you can then make pockets in that if thats what you want im all about getting the most i can out of a property and holding as many deer as i can and manage the herd for what i want maybe its a northern thing with the harsh winters and the switchgrass will stay standing when other things wont but down south we dont have that issue our native grasses and forbs will stand all wimter for the most part while still providing good food

@@thesouthernlife4061 Once again, noone is disputing the need and benefits of briers, forbs, early successional growth, hardwood regeneration, ect. Nor the fact that southern properties aren't affected by snowfall and maintain much of their height all year, depending on moisture content. Now... Tell me where the deer are and where they aren't??? In a pure reclaim, as you're referring too, theirs no way of knowing if a deer is bedded 5 yards, 50 yards, or 500 yards away from your stand or access. That's what the switch does. Pure switch is a bedding free zone, therefore you know that access in and out can be performed without spooking deer, and let's face it, no amount of habitat manipulation can out weigh the negative effects of spooking deer. The diversity pockets establish, define, and compartmentalize doe bedding, allowing quick cover while the diversity grows and separates family groups for less social pressure. If do right, you can access stands and exit stands, using the wind, with confidence that you're not spooking deer because you have some certainty in knowing the general area of where the deer are, and where they are not.