Aspen Trees

Hoyt....Do not judge the Aspen on it's timber value...The wildlife value potential far exceeds burning or
making boards. It is one of my favorite wildlife management tools. Most stands are a clone, all of the same age and origen.. And they are for the most part, all connected together in a sub-surface root system.To maximize a flush of regen growth, all of the clone must be cut.Otherwise the common root system feeds the ones left standing. We are all married to our food plots, time cost and effort make one wonder if it is worth it, You can put more tons of food per acre in the food zone by regenerating a clone. Whitetail Institute studies show deer will consume 1/3 of thier daily food intake on Aspen shoots if available. (For the record, Sassafrass works the same way, and can be managed for food also. Deer love it). In keeping deer on a property, it's hard to beat a pick-up stick pile... Especially if it covers a few acres. This winter when you have cabin fever, go out and cut down a few acres, make it a winter project. Purposefully drop trees over each other.Make it the biggest mess you can.If done correctly you will not be able to walk through it...Deer love this.They will bed here. When the shooting starts, they will head here.You should be waiting here.They will come. Over the next 5 years you will have produced a food and cover plot that money can't buy...Don't just try to get rid of them, use them to your advantage....Good luck, and keep your fingers.

Timber Pro is right on on the aspen having the interconnecting root systems. I think of Aspens as one large organism with many stems, which we call trees. Thats why you can get a situation where you treat stumps or stems of a aspen with herbicide, and then you (either intentionally or unintentionally) kill a bunch of other stems. Aspen clones are a very interesting tree. They believe the largest living organism on earth, in terms of biomass, is a aspen clone. The largest one that is known is in the Rockies. It is actually named (Pando), and covers 111 acres and has over 47,000 stems. A thought when you are cutting Aspen, if you are interested in ruffed grouse. The male flower buds are a important winter food for grouse. You have probably seen grouse in tree tops in the winter eating buds. The individual clones are either male or female. If grouse is a management objective, then cut the female and leave the males. (you can get pictures showing the difference on line)Doing mini clearcuts will produce dense stands that are great brood cover for grouse in addition to escape/core cover for deer.