Sugar, Red, Black, Silver, and Bow Elder Maples. There are 13 maple species found in North America, but I will focus on the more common ones in our area (Northeast Ohio). For this article, I'm going to explain why you might want to hold off on cutting down your maples this season. Maples are known to become monoculture forest and mingle very well with Beech trees which will overpower many oak and hickory species which are the favorite trees of most hunters. In general, people love their oaks and hickories, but those trees only produce “Hard Mast” during certain times of the year, if they produce at all. As a rule: too many of one species is always bad. The guys also explained that they spend a lot of time cutting down understory maples that are taking over a tract of land. Maples are also less popular as a lumber species. They also explained how maples don't offer as much food or cover as some of their competitor species would.

Maples can also take over a landscape and become a monoculture if left unchecked. Jared, Brian, and Jake explained how Maples can take over an understory and become invasive-like to the other trees in the environment. Now in everyone's defense, they also stated trees like Bradford pear, Autumn Olives (Shrub), and a few other species. behind young maple next to mullein stalks. Yet again, the most popular answer was the same species as the first question.įor my third and final question, “What trees do you think will pose a larger problem in the future?” Astoundingly, the most common answer was the same species mentioned in the previous two questions… Maples! My second Question I asked the group was “In your opinion, what is the biggest problem tree that is currently in our area”. But to my surprise, everyone gave me different answers but the most common species mentioned left me baffled. The first question was simple, “What types of trees do you not want on a hunting property?” Now from my forestry background and all my teaching from college, I felt that this was an easy question everyone would just start listing invasive species like Ailanthus, Bradford Pear, and the Olive shrubs. However, they still shared some answers that I didn't expect to hear. They are very knowledgeable and know what they are talking about. Jared and Brian from the Habitat Podcast as well as Jake Hofer from Exodus/The Land Podcast gave me much more in depth answers and explained their reasoning behind their choices, which was expected. To put it simply, I was shocked to hear the array of answers my fellow outdoor enthusiast gave me. WHAT TREES ARE AFFECTING YOUR HUNTĭuring the off season, I decided to write down some questions about basic forest/habitat management and, out of my own curiosity, I interviewed my fellow co-workers at Exodus, as well as Jared and Brian from the Habitat Podcast. As well as certifications and training in several related courses such as Prescribed fire, Nuisance Wildlife, Wildlife Rehab, Chainsaw Operator/Timber Harvesting, Tree Farm Inspection, Wilderness First Responder and a few others. I have associates degrees in both Wildlife Resource Management and Forest Management from Hocking College. My name is Jared McLellan and I am the newest Customer Service Rep for Exodus. Everyone talks about trees and forest types that are beneficial for deer hunting, but doesn't that mean that there are trees and forest types that disadvantage your hunting?įirst, I should take this moment to introduce myself, being that this is my first article. Most of us know about diversity being important in your forest and the impacts of monocultures. All of them have a unique place in the ecosystem. There is an age old saying that states “You cannot see the forest for the trees”, but what trees are we supposed to be looking at when it comes to deer hunting? There is no doubt that there are a lot of tree species out there.

Types maple tree