WILDLIFE CLOSE TO HOME

Luke has left a strip of trees and brush along the perimeter of his property that provides both food and cover for birds and wildlife such as this hen turkey. Photo by Luke Clayton

For the past quarter-century we have lived on a few acres in an area comprised of 5 to 10 acre tracts. The perimeter of two sides of the property has a wooded strip about 40 yards wide adjacent  neighbor’s property that is also wooded that connects to much larger tracts and ultimately thousands of acres of ranchland. I remember when we purchased our little piece of ‘country’, the previous owner told me he had always planned to clear all the brush out all the way to the property lines, he just didn’t like that jungle of trees and brush. I didn’t commit because I could tell he considered this natural corridor for wildlife something less than a selling point for his property but even back then I could see the advantage this wooded strip would have for wildlife, especially with a little grooming.

My little strip of natural woodland not only provides a sanctuary for wildlife but also privacy. Years ago, a good friend and I constructed a little cabin that I have tucked away back in the ‘woods’. Although only 100 yards from our house, the place looks exactly like a deer camp on a remote ranch. I set my little camp back in the trees/brush so I wouldn’t get any flack from the wife! I do a lot of outdoor cooking there and I joke its there for myself and ‘visiting dignitaries’ (friends) to enjoy! Setting on the porch of the little cabin at daybreak drinking coffee, it’s common to see all sorts of wildlife including on occasion, wild hogs that make the trip up from the big ranches to dine on acorns supplied by the more than 60 oak trees on the property. It’s not legal to actually hunt on tracts of land less than ten acres in size but I do shoot big bore air rifles a lot and an occasional wild porker has ventured out of the brush in a safe direction for me to collect pork chops a couple of times. I have also on occasional collect some fresh squirrel meat for stews and dumplings.  Squirrels, raccoons, tree ducks, possums and all sorts of birds frequent this wooded belt.

We have lost a couple of big oaks during the past decade along this wooded strip and I’ve had neighbors offer to help me cut them down. When I told them I wanted them to remain standing as cover for tree ducks, woodpeckers and raccoons, an eyebrow or two raised. The wild hogs really do no harm on our property other than rooting a couple inches deep for soured acorns. I actually like having them around but here most neighbors draw the line. I know I am in the minority on this one but what can I say, I like wild hogs and they do no harm other than aerating the ground! Now, If I had a hay meadow this would be a totally different situation. I do help my farmer neighbors out by removing hogs on their land which, fortunately for me, is only a half mile from home!

I keep corn feeders and game cameras running to monitor deer and hogs. When I need fresh pork, it’s usually as easy as pulling the SD card on the camera to determine when the hogs are hitting my corn and then enjoying a really close to home hunt. It’s lots of fun to get my hunting and fishing gear ready at my little cabin and rather than drive a couple hours or more to a deer lease somewhere, simply load up the old GMC and drive a half mile to one of my hunting spots. I have a stainless steel sink set up outside my little cabin and a skinning rack behind it for butchering game and cleaning fish.  It’s nice to have access to some very good fishing for bass and crappie in some gravel pits/farm ponds and on several occasions when my supply of frozen fish is depleted, I load my little 10 foot jon boat in the truck and go catch a few fish for a very fresh fried fish lunch.   Deer are very plentiful and several years ago Rio Grande wild turkeys were stocked in the area. There is no open season yet but I thoroughly enjoy calling them up close for video and still photos. To be honest, I enjoyed this close to home turkey hunting for the camera so much this spring that I didn’t head out west for an actual hunt. I did call in close and photograph several long beard old gobblers.  During early spring, we occasionally have hen turkeys crossing our property, looking for good nesting sites. Although I haven’t seen a wild turkey hen nesting on my wooded belt, the thick cover would make a great nesting site and I expect it to happen.

An abundant supply of natural foods is another reason my little wildlife sanctuary is attractive to wildlife.  Persimmon and mulberry trees are hardy and easy to get established; both are excellent for wildlife during the summer and fall. We have a couple of pear trees that usually bear heavy crops that feed a smorgasbord of animals and birds.  Nuts from the oaks and several hickory trees keep squirrels well fed in the fall and during the cold weather months. Along the edge of my wildlife strip, dewberries grow in abundance and provide food during early spring. Berries from American Beauty Berry (French mulberry) ripen each fall and birds feed heavily on them in the fall and into winter. There is even a couple of Osage Orange (Bois D’Arc) trees that drop horse apples that are a great winter food for squirrels.   

I used to wish for more land but as I’ve grown older, I understand I might just have the perfect set up, a hunting cabin a few steps from the house, complete with porch and outdoor cooking gear and access to some fine fishing and hunting within ten minutes of home. I do enjoy watching wildlife close to home and plan to continue to supply cover and natural foods to keep them around as subjects for my cameras and possibly occasionally a little fresh pork for the barbeque!

Email outdoor writer Luke Clayton through his website www.catfishradio.org.  Luke and his friends Larry Weishuhn and Jeff Rice produce a weekly outdoor show, “A Sportsmans Life” that is on YouTube and Carbon TV.