Lanes cut and plots opened before the season, on ground that’s usually been left alone since last year. Book it in summer, everybody calls in October and by then it’s late.
Everyone calls in October. By October the ground work is late, the seed window for a fall plot has largely gone, and every machine in the county is booked. The right time to do this is July through September, and the right time to book it is before that.
If you’ve got a lease or a family tract you hunt every year, put it on a standing summer date and stop thinking about it.
Cut lanes give you a shot and a view without opening the whole stand up. What we need from you is where the stands are and which way you’re looking, walk it with us and point, or mark it, because a lane cut on a guess is worthless.
We do the ground work: clear the plot, mulch what’s on it, level it and leave it ready for a disc and a seeder. We’re not agronomists and we don’t plant, what goes in and when is a conversation for whoever supplies your seed, and Alabama Extension publishes good regional guidance on it.
Half an acre to two acres is the usual plot size around here.
Long and narrow with cover at both ends usually works better than a square in the open.
If you can’t reach the plot without walking across it, the plot is in the wrong place.
Get a soil test before you spend money on seed. Coastal plain soils here are typically acidic and lime is cheaper than a failed plot.
Most hunting land jobs are a combination, lanes, a plot or two, a firebreak, the camp road opened up, and a boundary line. Bundled into a single day or two-day visit it’s substantially cheaper than four separate call-outs, and the mobilisation only happens once.
July to September. October is too late for fall plot establishment and the schedule is full by then.
No. We do the ground work and leave it ready for a disc and a seeder. Seed selection, planting date, lime and fertiliser are a job for your seed supplier or Alabama Extension.
Six to eight feet for a bow lane; ten to fifteen for a rifle lane at distance. The real answer depends on your stand height and the shot you want, so walk it with us.
For a while, yes, a machine in the woods is not subtle. That’s another reason for summer work rather than October. By opening day it’s settled.
Call and you get John Williams, not an answering service and not a dispatcher. If it’s after hours or a Sunday, send the form and you’ll have a text back and a callback first thing.
