[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/fast-growing-screen-trees-for-deer-hunting-land\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/fast-growing-screen-trees-for-deer-hunting-land\/","headline":"Fast Growing Screen Trees for Deer Hunting Land","name":"Fast Growing Screen Trees for Deer Hunting Land","description":"Do you have an open area on your hunting property you wish you could screen off in order to get...","datePublished":"2017-05-25","dateModified":"2018-06-12","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/#Person","name":"Hector Agosto","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/author\/hagosto\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7bfedbdc5ef3ed8f8df91eb37e1ffbe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Legendary Whitetails","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","url":"http:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/logo-legendary-whitetails.png","width":522,"height":226}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/bucket-of-budding-willow-cuttings.jpg","url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/bucket-of-budding-willow-cuttings.jpg","height":600,"width":800},"url":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/fast-growing-screen-trees-for-deer-hunting-land\/","about":["News"],"wordCount":1434,"keywords":["Land & Habitat","Tips"],"articleBody":"Do you have an open area on your hunting property you wish you could screen off in order to get to or from your stand without bumping deer?\u00a0 Or maybe you\u2019ve got a crop field or food plot you wish you could block from the road or section off from a larger field.\u00a0 Or perhaps you just want to break up a monotonous landscape to make it hunt bigger.\u00a0 If any of these thoughts have crossed your mind, chances are you googled something like \u2018screen trees for hunting property\u2019 or \u2018best tree\/shrub\/plant to create a screen\u2019 or \u2018fast growing screen trees\u2019.That last one is especially relevant because in today\u2019s world, we want everything NOW!Well . . . not gonna lie, we are in the same boat for our hunting property.\u00a0 We have a low-lying swamp just off the road, which sits a good 4 feet higher than the swamp, so spotting deer from a vehicle is a breeze.\u00a0 Also, the swamp is not your typical cattail and dogwood type swamp, it\u2019s mostly medium height grasses with a few willow clumps scattered throughout \u2013 so you can see deer when they are up and walking.\u00a0 During hunting season, we\u2019d constantly see vehicles slowing and stopping to observe deer from the quiet country road, eventually they\u2019d run off and seek better cover \u2013 obviously, this wasn\u2019t a positive thing.\u00a0 Not to mention, the increased possibility of poaching, especially with us being absentee landowners. Thus, I began my search for a fast-growing screening tree or shrub that was water tolerant (because we\u2019d have to plant them along the edge of the swamp).A general planting map showing our line of trees to obstruct view into the swamp. \u00a0The separate clumps are to break up the openness and hopefully act as buck bedding areas.\u00a0I started to research screen tree varieties and species online.\u00a0 I came across several sites that offered what I was looking for, but ultimately the price was more than we were willing to pay.\u00a0 Keep in mind, we were looking to screen off approximately 425 yards of road frontage, which with one tree every five feet (1 tree\/5 ft.) we needed approximately 300 trees to create a thick enough screen to create a visual barrier into the swamp \u2013 multiply that by $6-$10 per tree and it adds up really quick.\u00a0 Nonetheless, most of these sites were offering similar varieties of trees, so I had a good starting point.\u00a0 Now it was time to search deeper into the interwebs to find a tree farm or nursery with an affordable price.Choosing the Right Type of Screen TreeIf you\u2019re after a fast-growing screen tree, you\u2019ll likely have two options to choose from –\u00a0a hybrid poplar or a hybrid willow of some sort.\u00a0 Long story short, we finally stumbled across Kelly Tree Farms, based out of Clarence, Iowa and they offered the details, photographs, pricing, and fast growing screen trees we were looking for.\u00a0 We opted for 300 of what they call the Austree Hybrid Willow.\u00a0 At a $1 per tree (or cutting) it seemed reasonable.Before showing you pictures of our plantings, I wanted to mention that we intend to plant another row of these Austree willows staggered behind the first row using clippings from this year\u2019s willows (free). Also, we plan on planting some type or variety of coniferous trees (likely spruce) behind the willows to provide a long-term, year-round screen for the deer in the swamp.How We Planted The Screen TreesWe will be updating this blog throughout the year to track the progress of the living and supposedly fast growing whitetail screen. But first, here are a few things I learned along the way when trying to purchase the perfect screen tree for deer online.It\u2019s hard to find a website with good images of what the screen tree will look like down the road (we plan on changing that with this blog). Kelly Tree farms showed nice examples as well.There\u2019s no \u201cperfect\u201d screen tree out there.Don\u2019t expect a screen the very first year.Think about future plantings and a more permanent screen.Get creative. Along with planting the line of screen trees we planted several clumps of seven willows to break up the openness and create more preferred bedding areas.The hybrid willow screen trees came packaged in bundles of 100 cuttings. After a week of soaking in a bucket of water, roots were nearly two inches long and buds were sprouting from the tops.We used an auger planting bit ($10 from hardware store) to drill the pilot holes for the cuttings.\u00a0 One thing to note, site preparation is key and they recommend a weed\/grass free planting environment.\u00a0\u00a0 A healthy dose of RoundUp (glyphosate) should take care of any competing vegetation.Planting instructions said to leave 2-5\u201d of the top unburied. Fill in around the roots to provide good soil contact.Just a stick in the mud\u2026 hopefully it\u2019s a couple feet tall the next time we see it. And that\u2019s it, with four guys we had 300 trees planted in 3 hours.Check back often as we will be updating the blog monthly with progress photos.**PHOTO UPDATES**\u00a0June 9th update. \u00a0Growth after 2 weeks.July 20th update. \u00a0About 3 feet tall.July 20th update. \u00a0Multiple stems about 3 feet tall.March 21, 2018 update: They survived the first WI winter and starting to bud. Most of them have multiple stems and stand about 4 feet tall.We planted the hybrid willows on the outer edge of the screen to create a fast and more immediate screen, while the spruce trees grow up and create an evergreen screen for the future.Tallest\u00a0tree is about 6 feet tall.NEXT UPDATE WILL BE IN MAY AFTER LEAFE OUT."},{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Legendary Whitetail's Blog"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https:\/\/community.legendarywhitetails.com\/blog\/fast-growing-screen-trees-for-deer-hunting-land\/#breadcrumbitem","name":"Fast Growing Screen Trees for Deer Hunting Land"}}]}]