Written by: Jennifer Miller
During the off-season, wingshooting guides work to create better bird habitat.
All photos courtesy Greystone Castle
At Greystone Castle, we are very committed to constantly improving our habitat. All summer, we burn, mulch, plow and plant, and generally improve our bird fields. Each field has a specific plan in order to encourage our wild coveys to reproduce, while enabling us to produce the safest hunting environment for our guests, guides, and dogs.
Our full-time guides cut limbs, clear brush, and spray invasive weeds in order to promote a healthy environment for native grasses and growth to benefit the nutrition and cover needed for all wildlife on the ranch. This also creates shooting lanes and windows and open walking lanes to allow our guests the safest opportunity for upland bird hunting.
Burning can open up large blocks of dense cover and create walking and shooting lanes.
We plant different types of sorghums, millet, and native grasses to create a natural bird habitat. This encourages our upland birds to live in a natural setting promoting them to nest and gather in large coveys, while offering them safety from predators.
As the Fall draws near, we will start mowing strips through our food plots. This knocks seed down for the birds to feed on as well as creating better walking terrain for our guests. Stay tuned for the next blog post from Greystone Castle on how our young dogs are coming along in their summer training!
Planting native grasses is an important part of the process.