One of the things that was suggested on a thread discussing a yaupon problem we have at a campground in Milam County was that clearing yaupon would make it easier for deer to access other problem plants an eat them. It seems reasonable that if this is the case, deer could help us maintain the property.

What are good ways to attract deer? Should we just throw some deer corn around, or will that attract animals we don't want? Also, if we attract deer, should we expect an increased presence of coyotes?

Hell if the corn doesn't attract deer it'll attract pigs and they'll essentially clear anything out.

Granted you may create a pig problem but the crap will get cleared in no time.

Buddy of mine got a couple of goats for a new property. He would tie them from tree to tree until all the problem plants were eaten. They had poison ivy everywhere and those damn goats at it up to the roots, along with everything else.

What problem plants are you talking? Yaupon is usually the biggest one.

It will take A LOT of deer before you're going to be able to see a difference in any brush. With the price of corn, Id ditch the idea and put your resources elsewhere.

Mostly yaupon, cat briar, and bamboo.

I'm going to be placed on the Land Management Committee at some point and will probably become chairman before too long due to my experience with infrastructure. The area where I'm deficient is rural land and agricultural management.

Right now I'm doing some testing with different herbicides on the Yaupon to see what will work best in our conditions. Before I looked at the yaupon thread on the OB, no one on the LM committee had considered any actual plan to reduce yaupon growth. The yaupon is choking out our native trees and I'm concerned the land is going to get too thin. I'm also looking at a tree replanting plan.

My go to method these last few years has been to plant a garden in my back yard.

I am with Bird Poo, get some goats. Then in the summer when y'all are busy, you can serve some cabrito or do goat yoga as an attraction.

Goats. Hate them but they will devour anything. Get them for a short time before the growing season. Rentagoat.

The problem with goats is that they require care and maintenance. Our land is not staffed 24/7. We do have a caretaker, but he's 83 and not really equipped to deal with livestock. Most of our land maintenance is performed once a month on what we call "activity weekends" when members are asked to volunteer their time to work on the property and its facilities. Occasionally some of us go out on non-activity weekends or during the week to do something, but it's not very common.

Anything I propose has to have the ability to be implemented within that maintenance model.

Ryan the Temp said:

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The problem with goats is that they require care and maintenance. Our land is not staffed 24/7. We do have a caretaker, but he's 83 and not really equipped to deal with livestock. Most of our land maintenance is performed once a month on what we call "activity weekends" when members are asked to volunteer their time to work on the property and its facilities. Occasionally some of us go out on non-activity weekends or during the week to do something, but it's not very common.

Anything I propose has to have the ability to be implemented within that maintenance model.

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The good thing about goats is that they are pretty self sufficient, and are also cheap. So if/when a few of them disappear, just go get some more.

S.A. Aggie said:

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Goats. Hate them but they will devour anything. Get them for a short time before the growing season. Rentagoat.

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Neighbors behind me did that for there property they bought.

The back yard was so overgrown not even a brush hog would do the trick. Few days later, my dogs are barking like crazy cause they see goats just walking around eating.

Now my neighbors back yard looks some what normal.

You sliding your trombone in the middle of the woods may be deterring them.

Share what you discover on the yaupon killing

Deer love pumpkin.

Food drink and women

Ragoo said:

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Food drink and women

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Sex, drugs, rock and roll !!



I am intrigued more and more by the goats, The part at the end where you can just eat them sounds the best.

Water.... simple answer....You provide water, they will come. I saw an explosion of quality deer after I made the effort to provide steady water. Full disclosure< I have water stations at my protein feeders and provide minerals as well. From year 1 to year 3, Ive seen a huge improvement. Water is what they need...Good luck!

Ryan the Temp said:

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The problem with goats is that they require care and maintenance.

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Bird Poo said:

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Buddy of mine got a couple of goats for a new property. He would tie them from tree to tree until all the problem plants were eaten. They had poison ivy everywhere and those damn goats at it up to the roots, along with everything else.

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Poison Ivy is the #1 deer browse.

Exactly.

Get some goats and a big water trough.

If the goats don't make it, they weren't very good goats.

Put up a deer crossing sign by your fenceline...

Context

Easiest way is to have Giddings hunt the neighboring properties. It'll push all of those deer onto your property.

Goats you say? Better make sure your fencing is in capable of holding them in. (Good luck)

Also Better get a Pyrenees to look after those goats because coyotes will get after them.
Also you are pretty close to East Texas, so there is no doubt a sizable population of Panthers roaming about.

Or you could cut down the yaupons & immediately treat the stumps with a herbicide, can't remember which one but someone will come on and post the correct mixture. (And then be corrected by a dozen or so other posters who know a better mix)

We're surrounded by private property we can't go onto. I suspect the presence of coyotes in the area isn't really helping us, either. If I had my way, I'd set coyote traps and dispatch as many as I can, but our governing board finds that distasteful.

I take it you're not familiar with Giddings' "Goin Live" threads

Diesel and Remedy

Though I've found its easier to basal spray the yaupon with the diesel / remedy mixture while it's still standing and let it die and start to break down. Then I'll push it over with a tractor and drag it to the burn pile

cryption said:

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Diesel and Remedy

Though I've found its easier to basal spray the yaupon with the diesel / remedy mixture while it's still standing and let it die and start to break down. Then I'll push it over with a tractor and drag it to the burn pile

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This is our solution of last resort because a significant number of members are averse to spraying a bunch of diesel everywhere. We're testing some herbicides that do not require an oil carrier, and if we can find one that is effective, we'll run with it. In the mean time, next time I go out there I'm going to use my truck to pull out any yaupon I can get close enough to or use a comealong and the nearest tree to do it.

This is 30 acres of land that has not been adequately managed and maintained for quite some time.

Man I've tried a bunch of different things on yaupon. That stuff is brutal. It's got a waxy leaf so something like glyphosate isn't going to work. I've gone down the road of trying to avoid using diesel and finally caved. Honestly, it's not bad. Use a pump sprayer with your mixture and just spray the bottom foot or so of the yaupon. The diesel smell goes away quickly, and if you're careful with your sprayer you shouldn't get much overspray and kill non-targeted plants. Be careful under trees - that's my big challenge. Oak roots can soak it up if it's on the soil and become problematic. Advantage of the diesel is it leaves a little oily residue on what you spray so you can visually identify what you've hit without some sort of dye in it. I noticed even that residue is gone in a couple weeks.

With that said, if you have luck with other things besides Remedy and diesel let me know! Remedy is getting expensive - I'd love to use something more economical

Another thing you could think about is a prescribed burn. Not sure what county you're in, but I'm a member of the South Central Texas Prescribed burn association - and we'll do burns to clear out yaupon. It will grow back over time, but makes chemical treatment much easier. TPWD will work with a lot of people on getting prescribed burns going, and you may have an association around you

I planted 100' of broccoli.

Brought the deer right in. They loved it. Ate every single plant.

cryption said:

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Another thing you could think about is a prescribed burn. Not sure what county you're in, but I'm a member of the South Central Texas Prescribed burn association - and we'll do burns to clear out yaupon. It will grow back over time, but makes chemical treatment much easier. TPWD will work with a lot of people on getting prescribed burns going, and you may have an association around you

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Milam County a few miles west of Cameron.

Dang I don't see one for Milam county, but that doesn't mean that there isn't a group that can help. Your TPWD Biologist for the area would probably be able to point you in the right direction if that's a route you want to go down. If there's a wildlife management association in your area, totally worth joining. I got into the prescribed burn group through my WMA. At the very least it's like minded people that may be willing to help

https://www.pbatexas.org/member-associations

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South Central Texas Prescribed burn association

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Our place is in Gonzales County, right next to your association.
Curious if y'all are taking new member counties?

Honestly I'm just a member and don't have a leadership role or anything so I'm not sure. But everyone I've talked to has been very helpful and friendly. Mark's contact is on the webpage - never hurts to ask! It's close enough that I bet people would help anyway. It's mostly a loose collection of people who like fire lol. Generally after you volunteer at a couple burns then you can request your own and people will come help you.