The American Beagler Forum

I am looking at buying an 80-acre parcel from one of my neighbors; the only thing is its farmland, with no cover! (Soybean was taken off it this past fall). It looks like a big parking lot with maybe 10 or 15 trees on the edge, I would like to turn this into a rabbit hunting ground starting this spring, has anyone taken on this kind of project, and what would you plant that would grown fast for cover. And how long does it take to turn into good rabbit habit.

Run over the property with a disc & plant all the strips of RED CLOVER you can afford. Cover will naturally occur after you disc open the ground & allow weed seed to get sunlight. I would cut off some of the lower branches of all the trees & make a brushpile or two & it also helps cut down on owls attacking. You should contact your wildlife or state organizations to see if there are any programs that will help furnish you some wildlife seed at no cost.
I had a place about like you described some years ago that I leased & it took about 3 yrs to get a good population of rabbits there. The main thing I learned is RED CLOVER is the absolute favorite food of a rabbit.

I agree on the clover, but get the ladino species of red clover it will last longer. Planting evergreens is another good thing, and pines or spruces you can get. Mugo pine is probally the best for rabbit cover the get about 15 to 20 ft. tall and 15 to 20 ft. wide. Good Luckwith the new ground!

While I have never did this myself I have seen many places where bare farm fields have been grown up for beaglers. One of our favorite trialing holes is a field that use to be beans and corn just a few years ago, the farmer let it grow up for my buddy to run dogs on and now it is PERFECT!

You have an ideal situation. You will be able to plant your own trees and food sources as well as provide cover and snow breaks. In Indiana we can go to the DNR and get trees, seed and other materials for planting for wildlife.....I would imagine Michigan is the same way.

Remember the simple things....like keeping cover close to food, this will keep the birds from feeding on the rabbits. Tall & tight grass(Sorghum,switchgrass,etc.) mixed with weeds will provide excellent cover that will allow a rabbit to outrun coyotes and hide from the birds. Christmas trees planted in straight rows spaced correctly with rows spaced 20-30' apart work as cover and snowbreaks......you can plant seedlings but it will take some years for these to grow unless you can get a hybrid that grows quicker. I would also suggest planting crab apples and pear trees. Then someday you can mow strips between trees when it is too overgrown for you.

Here is a link from the Wisconsin DNR that may help give you some ideas, probably similar to Mi.

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/wil ... plant1.pdf


Good luck!

what about Multi-flora rose as a fast cover.

i would stay away from the multi flora rose that stuff is hard on everything and it spreads fast i would plant clover paddocks with rasberry brush right along side of it withsome pine treesmake some brush piles xmas tress work good for that

I would think it would help to put in a couple of corn feeders for them as well.

The Dec. issue of Woods-N-Water News has a pretty good article, Managing for more rabbits by Tom Huggler, this is a Mich. pub, maybe you can catch an issue of it.

If I had 80 acres I was planning on using for habitat the first thing I would do would be visit with my NRSC office ,Wildlife resource office or soil conservation office there are a number of programs that will assist you. Some will pay large amounts on seed provide labor and expertise. There are several whip programs . There is an article I wrote on this in the July 2004 The American Beagler on page 46 , Buy a couple from Bev . If you sign up on one of these programs You can save lots of money and time but must sacrifice some land practicea for a few years but it makes the best hunting habitat.

serecia lespedsia If I spelled it right. It makes a tall weed for cover and rabbits eat it and love to run in it.
HH

HH Bayou Meto Beagles wrote:serecia lespedsia If I spelled it right. It makes a tall weed for cover and rabbits eat it and love to run in it.
HH

Sericea Lespedeza

Visit your county soil and water office, you should be able to get some cost share money to help out from various government programs. You can also buy different seed varieties from pheasants forever that are priced reasonable.

you shouldn't have to do much of anything or at least we don't here in georgia. disc the field and in no time at all weeds and briars will take over. the cover here in georgia will get nearly head high in one growing season. there will be plenty of natural food that comes up also. you will have to manage the field to keep out undesirable growth such as trees that will shade out undergrowth that the rabbits like. fertilize the whole field on occasion and burn off a small section at a time with a couple of years between each burning(rotate sections to be burned). this way you will always have cover for your rabbits and the burning will kill any small trees that will eventually grow large enough to block sunlight from the rabbit cover.

I would contact your local state small game biologist and invite him out for an onsite visit to your property for some advice. Additionally, your local NCRS representative should be a good source of information and maybe able to provide you with some financial assistance also.

Managing for rabbits is simple; here is what I recommend. Manage for natural habitats, i.e., avoid using exotics species such as multiflora rose, autumn olive, sericea lespedeza ect. It is likely not necessary to plant anything. Here in Tennessee the number one detriment to rabbits and quail is the use tall fescue that is commonly used in cattle pastures and hay land. Simply remove (i.e., chemically eradicate) tall fescue and let the area naturally reseed back to native species and you will have rabbits. Afterwards, to maintain areas for rabbits, simply burn idle areas on a 1-5 year rotation as necessary. The use of controlled burning keeps habitats in early successional stages (i.e., keeps areas from reverting into forest) and also creates diversity in a landscape among other things. Lastly, the more you can manage your land for rabbits with fire rather than use of a bush-hog mower the more successful you will be. Not only is the use of fire the most important element in managing for rabbits, it is the cheapest and most economically tool.

Kyker Bottoms Wildlife Management Area located in east Tennessee is a good example of the simple habitat management I mentioned above. This 300 acre area was once a fescue dominated cattle pasture with little wildlife that now through the eradication of fescue and controlled burning supports both a healthy quail and rabbit population along with a multitude of other wildlife species.

You have gotten a lot of good advise. Don't for get about winter habitat and cover. I have a farm about the same size. I added brush piles,planted crops, and didn't run my dogs through the early breeding season on this tract. Didn't help as much as I thought it would. I believe I figured it out. My field cover is not winter restant enough. Winter food with out winter cover is baiting the trap for the predators, so when its warm don't forget to put out some cover for when its cold. Good luck!