Services

We're not just hunters... We're not just habitat managers...

We are land stewards.

Dogwood Land Management offers a broad range of skilled services that will take your hunting land to the next level. In short, we make premier properties and we don't cut corners. Because it's worth doing, we do it right! You'll be pleased with our results.

(ALT-"Containerized or Bare Root Trees")

TREE PLANTING

Choosing the species best suited for specific sites and finding the best quality nursery stock, as well as proper site prep and planting, are all critical steps to ensuring the success of our tree planting projects. We've planted tens of thousands of bare root saplings, and containerized trees of a wide variety of species, with high levels of success.

ROAD

CONSTRUCTION

Having a properly constructed all-weather road system throughout the interior, or around the perimeter, of your property allows for year-round access for hunting, logging, farming, food plotting, surveillance, as well as maintenance and improvement projects. Utilizing high quality geo-textile fabrics over well-prepared road beds, we ensure maximum longevity of your road system while minimizing future rock application costs. Good roads add value to your property, all the way around!

PREDATOR TRAPPING

Trapping coyotes has become almost a necessity in many parts of the Midwest. Between EHD die offs and liberal harvest limits, deer herds have taken some major blows. Fawn recruitment should be a major focus for deer managers, right now, because a significant portion of the fawn crop is lost, annually, to coyote predation. Mature deer fall victim, too, and coyotes are one of the biggest contributors to late season stress. Stress leads to weight loss; which leads to decreased body mass and increased recovery time, coming out of winter. That leads to bucks not achieving their full antler growth potential, and does rearing malnourished fawns. We enlist the services of C2 Predator Removal - which is the #1 predator removal contractor in the country - to solve your problem quickly and efficiently.

WILDLIFE ORCHARDS

You can have a good hunting property without an orchard, but having a productive orchard can set your property apart from anything else in the surrounding area. We use rootstocks and cultivars specifically chosen for their disease and drought resistance, pollination and fruit drop timing, their attractiveness and their high rate of production, and take the time to establish them correctly. The results are worth the effort! A productive orchard is a deer magnet, and the ultimate perennial food plot.

FOOD PLOTS

We produce a wide variety of highly palatable, nutritious forages on most of the properties we manage, for both year-round nutrition and hunting season attraction. We can generate a custom layout for your hunting property that takes all surrounding habitat features and food sources into consideration, and will optimize the hunting potential on your land. Often, we clear brush and timber to create new plot locations, or screen off sections of larger fields to dramatically increase daytime usage. Properties with the right combination of security cover and groceries have what we call "holding power". Those properties yield results!

HABITAT CONSULTATIONS

CABIN & BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

Before the work begins, you have to have the right plan! We listen carefully to your goals and spend a generous amount of time with you assessing the conditions on your property. When we're done, you'll have a basic "field education" on such things as ecology, species succession and identification, as well as deer biology and behavior. Consultations can, also, include some hands-on training of how to perform various habitat minipulation techniques, for clients who feel inclined to do work themselves. As a follow-up service, we often develop complete habitat management plans (including detailed maps and reports) for consultation clients, and prepare them to begin making their own premier property.

PRESCRIBED BURNS PRAIRIE GRASSES

Fire is an essential element in the maintenance and management of any healthy prairie grass stand. It stimulates germination of native warm season grass and forb seeds and clears away dead vegetation that would otherwise, eventually, choke out the stand. Developing a burn plan, gaining appropriate permits and giving required notifications, can be daunting. Let us help you through that process. We use fire effectively and safely, as one of the most powerful and cost effective tools in our arsenal.

PRESCRIBED BURNS HARDWOOD TIMBER

Our native oak/hickory forests were historically dependant upon the presence of fire, which cleansed the woods of less-desirable softwood trees. Fire is nature’s herbicide; combating invasive species and allowing native, mast-producing hardwoods to dominate the stand. And, it naturally fertilizes new growth, by releasing nutrients which are tied up in dead leaves, limbs and debris. Understanding the “when” and “how” of conducting a burn is critical, as timing is paramount in achieving the desired result. We use well-timed burns to restore oak regeneration and create a thick understory of lush new growth.

Our extensive background in construction and general contracting makes us uniquely qualified to help plan and oversee the construction of your cabin or lodge, and equipment storage buildings. We have local connections, throughout IL and eastern IA in all construction trades, and can ensure that you get exactly what you're wanting to have built. For most absentee landowners, living hours away from their land, there's an overwhelming fear that they won't find a trustworthy general contractor to see the project through the way they'd like. Not being able to get to the property to oversee the work is unnerving to say the least. We put our background in contruction management and quality control inspection to work; staying on top of the project from start to finish, inspecting and documenting work progress, and furnishing the landowner with reports and photos to keep them up to speed. Our clients rest easy, as we coordinate with various subs, supervise the work, and ensure that the contracted work is carried out on schedule, and meets quality standards.

FIREBREAK ESTABLISHMENT

Prescribed fire can be intimidating to some landowners and managers. But, with expertly installed firebreaks, fires can be safely contained. We use high quality mixes of clovers, chicory and other perennial forages to maximize 'bugging' habitat for turkey poults, and quail and pheasant chicks, while adding a bit more nutrition for whitetails to the property.

SITE PREPARATION

Custom herbicide application is an essential step in prepping sites for the establishment of native grasses, tree plantings, food plots, and many other land management projects. We have the tools and knowledge to make efficient work of prepping your small project sites, and we work with many local applicators to contract the herbicide application we prescribe, where the acreage is sufficient to warrant the use of agricultural equipment.

WATER HOLE CONSTRUCTION

Water - every living creature needs it, and so does every great hunting property. The importance of year-round water sources cannot be under stated, when it comes to managing for wildlife. Small, isolated waterholes, constructed in strategic locations, receive plenty of daytime wildlife use and more sizable ponds can provide fishing and waterfowl hunting opportunities, as well. Let us build water holes that will add to the holding power of your farm.

HEAVY EQUIPMENT

SITE PREP & CONSTRUCTION

Prepping sites for building construction, major road system construction, or pond/lake construction, takes skilled operators and heavy equipment. We have several contractors that do this type of work for us, regularly, on bigger jobs. We coordinate and supervise the execution of work, and carefully monitor and track progress to ensure projects get completed as planned, on budget, and on time. Whether you have zero experience in hiring this type of work done, or have dealt with an excavating contractor before, we can ensure that your experience is a positive one, the next time around. Leave it to us to make sure you get the results you want, without the stress and headaches of trying to manage the project yourself.

TRAIL & PLOT MOWING

There's nothing glamorous about mowing, and it's a dirty and time consuming job that many landowners just don't have the time for. We don't mind it a bit. Many of our best plans come to us while riding in the seat of a tractor! We mow to control weeds and woody invasion in food plots and on the access trails of many of the properties we manage.

BRUSH CLEARING

Overgrown fields, old logging decks and abandoned pastures have a way of growing up with thick undesirable trees, weeds and shrubs that need to be shredded before the next step of wildlife habitat enhancement can begin. We can turn that vegetation into mulch piles and make the site ready for planting or seeding in short order. Our machine, with wide rubber tracks, allows us to do the work of heavier machinery without the issues of soil compaction and disturbance that can result in unwanted erosion issues.