06-17-2022, 08:32 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-17-2022, 08:36 PM by Michigan Swamp Buck.
Edit Reason: For Clarity
)
Reply to Ninurta,
The family owned this property since around 1978, a few years after it was lumbered for elm. The trees there were fairly old by then and by the time I moved there it was a pretty mature forest. The strange thing is (maybe not so strange) that in the late 70s there was deer up the wazoo with hunting pressure like you wouldn't believe back then. I think it was in the late 80s the state of Michigan began giving out doe permits like they were free candy. I believe it was due to pressure from the insurance industry. After a few years the local herd was thinned down so badly, we never got the numbers of hunters up here like before. The pressure continues to this day and deer are not that plentiful plus they are much smaller in size at maturity.
I've had the property logged 3 times since I've lived here and with all those trees gone, the wildlife has exploded in diversity making it a far better property for small game and the predators that hunt them. Deer frolic with our pet animals in the yard, bear walk up the drive in broad daylight to gab a snack at the bird feeders, a sand hill crane of all animals was in the yard one year. The squirrels aren't as numerous now, but rabbits, ground hogs, and other wildlife are here and the wildflowers, forbs and berry bushes are all over the place as well. I still see sensitive species here with bugs and spiders of all kinds that I believe some have not even been identified yet. That reminds me, I need to evict that black widow from the garden before it lays eggs soon.
The family owned this property since around 1978, a few years after it was lumbered for elm. The trees there were fairly old by then and by the time I moved there it was a pretty mature forest. The strange thing is (maybe not so strange) that in the late 70s there was deer up the wazoo with hunting pressure like you wouldn't believe back then. I think it was in the late 80s the state of Michigan began giving out doe permits like they were free candy. I believe it was due to pressure from the insurance industry. After a few years the local herd was thinned down so badly, we never got the numbers of hunters up here like before. The pressure continues to this day and deer are not that plentiful plus they are much smaller in size at maturity.
I've had the property logged 3 times since I've lived here and with all those trees gone, the wildlife has exploded in diversity making it a far better property for small game and the predators that hunt them. Deer frolic with our pet animals in the yard, bear walk up the drive in broad daylight to gab a snack at the bird feeders, a sand hill crane of all animals was in the yard one year. The squirrels aren't as numerous now, but rabbits, ground hogs, and other wildlife are here and the wildflowers, forbs and berry bushes are all over the place as well. I still see sensitive species here with bugs and spiders of all kinds that I believe some have not even been identified yet. That reminds me, I need to evict that black widow from the garden before it lays eggs soon.