by Austin Delano
Field edges are a common feature many wildlife managers are familiar with working around. Row crop fields, CRP, food plots, and pastures all have edges where they transition into timber, pine plantations, or thickets. Often times these edges serve as travel routes for people and wildlife and need some maintenance to allow farm machinery and vehicles access to areas without driving over crops, native grasses, food plots, etc. Overhanging branches and low growing brush can slowly crowd these edges and need to be trimmed back. This low growing brush on field edges is often made of undesirable species and non beneficial to wildlife. We have found Vail’s X Series Tree Saw to be a great tool for this application. This heavy duty attachment is ideal for skid steers and track loaders. Any limbs or debris left over after cutting can be removed with their Brush Grapple. One thing to keep in mind is to leave the occasional overhanging branch, these can be ideal for licking branches and scrape activity. Cleaning up field edges or other travel areas on farms, hunting clubs, and leases is also a great way to improve hunter/landowner relationships.
This tip is courtesy of the GameKeepers Field Notes, a weekly wildlife and land management email newsletter produced by the Mossy Oak GameKeepers.
A GameKeeper by definition is someone who truly loves AND lives the land, the critters and nature…not just during hunting season but all the time. A GameKeeper wants to be outdoors every day and work the dirt while living their personal “obsession”.
Find out more about what makes a GameKeeper by visiting our website.
