Paul Hinlicky of Roanoke County looks over a clover patch on his land, one of several improvements -- including mast tree management and cover improvement -- that benefit both deer and other wildlife species. Photo by Bruce Ingram.

Last September, I received phone calls from two Virginia deer hunters who both regaled me about their current efforts and future plans to improve deer and wildlife habitat on their respective properties. So, as a hardcore deer hunter and landowner myself, naturally I was interested.

In the not-too-distant past, deer hunting in the Commonwealth was mostly a fortnight affair with a frenzy of activity based around the two-week regular gun season. Now, however, not only do many state sportsmen hunt for three months, but also they avidly participate in habitat improvement projects much of the rest of the year. Here’s how these two men have worked to enhance their acreage.

PAUL’S PERSPECTIVE ON PROPERTY
Dr. Paul Hinlicky, a 54-year-old professor of religion at Roanoke College, owns 66 acres in the Catawba Valley of Roanoke County. In 2002, Hinlicky purchased the property, which is approximately 85 percent wooded and 15 percent in fields. Soon afterward, the sportsman began to actively manage the land, which had been a beef cattle farm for much of the past 150 years. The soil had been badly compacted and much of the understory eliminated, and a number of invasive species had taken hold, as well as trees that offered little benefit to wildlife.

With so much to accomplish, Hinlicky decided to divide his land into a number of microhabitats -- concentrating on improving one portion of the property at a time.

“One of my first steps was to clear the abundance of red cedars that had taken over the upper field,” the professor said. “My goal was to reopen the field and plant grasses and legumes more beneficial to deer and other wildlife. Red cedars have a tendency to take over an area. They are good vertical cover for wildlife when snow is on the ground, so I left some trees around the margins of the field.

“Early on, I also decided to remove stands of black locusts so that other trees would have more room to grow and produce mast. Locusts are my favorite tree for firewood and are great for fence posts, but they are fairly worthless for wildlife. At the same time, I decided to eliminate many of my sassafras trees. They produce a little more soft mast than black locusts, but still, they are of limited value and are just adequate for firewood.”

Hinlicky cut down and burned for firewood all the “middle age” sassafras trees he could find, but he decided to leave standing a number of 40- to 50-year-old trees that, for some reason, had survived the saw the last time the property had been timbered approximately 15 years ago. Those trees did not remain unscathed, though, because the good professor girdled their boles, effectively killing them.

His reasoning was that the sassafras was “hogging the sunlight” from more beneficial trees, but if left standing, as girdling allows, the former species could provide nesting cavities for squirrels, songbirds and pileated woodpeckers (among other species of woodpeckers).

Next, Hinlicky declared war on Virginia pines, but again, in a logical way. The soft, resinous wood of this native tree is very poor for burning in a stove, but the evergreen can provide cover for deer, rabbits and songbirds. Then Hinlicky made hinge cuts on these trees, causing them to tumble to the ground, yet remain attached to their boles, in effect, he says, “creating living brushpiles.” These downed trees now harbor bedded whitetails and are a real magnet for cottontails. The pines formerly grew on a very steep slope on the mountainous land, and they still serve to reduce erosion.

No mercy, however, was shown to the tree of heaven, also called paradise or ailanthus. This is an edge favoring species that can quickly crowd out native trees and offers little value to wildlife. The first few springs Hinlicky dwelled on the Roanoke County land, he cut the paradise trees and then sprayed Roundup on the stumps.

“Roundup is not 100 percent effective on paradise trees, but it is still very effective,” he said. “Be careful when you start looking for paradise trees to cut. They are similar to sumac, which produces soft mast and to black walnuts, which are an important hard-mast producer.”