Hunting Washington Forum

Big Game Hunting => Deer Hunting => Topic started by: TriggerMike on August 09, 2016, 10:41:45 AM

Title: Forest/Reprod Aging for the purpose of hunting
Post by: TriggerMike on August 09, 2016, 10:41:45 AM: How does one accurately age reprod or other forests? There are times when people recommend hunting a certain age of reprod (say 5 year old reprod) but how do you tell how old it is? Anyone have pictures/info such as tree height in order to explain this. I'd really like to be able to accurately age stands of timber just by looking at them.
Title: Re: Forest/Reprod Aging for the purpose of hunting
Post by: elkboy on August 09, 2016, 11:02:40 AM: In conifers with pre-formed shoots (buds that form at end of growing season in preparation for next year's branch development), one can count "whorls" of branches. These are the strongly developed clusters of branches at regular intervals up the stem, forming what foresters call "nodes" (the clusters of branches, usually 3-4 radiating outward) and "internodes" (the branch-free sections of stem). Douglas-fir and most of the pines fall into this category. Since Douglas-fir is so common on both sides of the Cascades, it is a good one to become familiar with.

Simply count the nodes from the ground up, as each represents 1 year of growth. This works well until the trees have reached about 20-30 years of age, when most plantations will be in a "stem exclusion" or "dark understory" stage. At this point, no new trees are really establishing. Deer and elk have minimal nutritious understory forage at this point, as it has been "shaded out". They will, however, use this stage for hiding and resting cover, so keep a mental map of these areas as well.

What I personally look for are wetland openings and clearcuts in the 5-10 year age class. The 5-10 year old clearcut will have had time for lots of shrub and herb development, but the crop trees have not "closed crowns" yet to shade out these valuable plants. Look for ample space between trees, and lots of grasses, herbs, and shrubs. These are good feeding areas, and tree age is really only a surrogate measure for the abundance of these forage variables.

If you really, really want to go the extra step, pick up a copy of Pojar and MacKinnon's "Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast", and combine it with a reference on preferred forage plants for deer or elk. If you are an east side hunter, then Parish, Lloyd, and Coupe's "Plants of Southern Interior British Columbia" is a functional reference. It is worth knowing what your critters are eating!

Best of luck this fall!
Title: Re: Forest/Reprod Aging for the purpose of hunting
Post by: fishnfur on August 09, 2016, 01:56:05 PM: Textbook description. Nice!

The reprod "age" and quality for hunting is relative, based on the rapidity of growth of the planted trees(due to the quality of the soils and the amount of rain received). At 10-12 years, Doug Fir forests in SW WA will have crowded out essentially all the forage deer love to eat. They will still bed in that reprod, but find forage in unplanted pockets or other non-conifer reprod areas.

In Kitsap, a 10 - 12 year-old plantation is often still very huntable, if you can get through the brush surrounding the trees.

You'd like to find reprod big enough to provide cover to the deer so that they stay in there all day, but not so large that you can't occasionally see them bedded or moving around, or that it has crowed out all the food.
Title: Re: Forest/Reprod Aging for the purpose of hunting
Post by: cougforester on August 09, 2016, 02:08:39 PM: Now that you're an expert in judging stand ages, while you are scouting, find some young stands from 3-7 years of age (old enough to usually no longer be targeted for herbicide applications on tree farms) adjacent to mature timber with a stream/water source running through it and you will be able to find game activity of pretty much any kind in very close proximity. At least in Western WA.