Written by: Chandler Strickland

Edits by: Pierce Young

Proper land management is essential when managing property for wildlife. Without a solid plan, good information, and clear priorities, landowners can waste valuable time and money on low-impact projects. Managing habitat for hunting doesn’t have to be expensive—especially when you understand which practices provide the greatest return on investment (ROI) and which tasks should come first.

Below are high-impact, cost-effective strategies organized by priority to help hunters focus their time and resources where they matter most.

Start With a Plan and Seek Professional Guidance

Before firing up the chainsaw or spreading seed, landowners should develop a clear habitat management plan. 

A well-designed plan:

  • Prevents wasted effort
  • Identifies realistic goals
  • Prioritizes the most impactful steps
  • Keeps work aligned with long-term objectives

Professional assistance—whether from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP), a consulting wildlife biologist, or a certified forester—provides expert insight on timber value, habitat limitations, soil fertility, and wildlife needs. Their guidance ensures each step contributes to long-term goals rather than becoming a low-impact, isolated project. MDWFP's Private Lands Program provides FREE assistance to landowners interested in wildlife management. Request a consultation at www.mdwfp.com/privatelands 

Good planning up front saves significant time and money down the road.

Prioritize Projects Based on Return on Investment (ROI)

Not all management practices deliver the same benefits for the same cost. Prioritizing high-ROI activities first allows landowners to make significant habitat improvements without overspending.

Highest ROI

  • Planning and consulting with professionals
  • Improving access
  • Commercial timber harvest
  • Conservation cost-share programs
  • Non-commercial timber stand improvements (TSI)
  • Prescribed fire (where applicable)
  • Population management through responsible deer harvest
  • Early detection and control of invasive species

Moderate ROI

  • Adding food plots and balancing them for year-round use
  • Soil testing and improving soil health in food plots
  • Strategic herbicide use
  • No-till planting (takes longer to see ROI with high up-front costs, especially in already productive soils)

Lower ROI / Optional Enhancements

  • Supplemental feeding
  • Large equipment-intensive projects (such as mulching)
  • Predator trapping (less effective if habitat cover limitations have not been addressed first)

Prioritizing high-ROI projects ensures that each dollar and hour of labor provides the greatest possible benefit to both habitat and hunting quality.

Improve Access Roads

Without good access it is much more difficult and less efficient to conduct other wildlife management projects. Good roads improve hunting, access, safety, and timber value.

Cost-Effective Strategies

  • Maintain proper drainage—water is the enemy of roads
  • Use water bars and turnouts to reduce road erosion.
  • Shallow grading rather than relying on expensive gravel
  • Gravel high-traffic or chronically wet areas
  • Use revenue from timber harvests to improve road infrastructure when possible

Commercial Timber Harvests

Timber harvests are one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways to improve wildlife habitat, and usually at a profit or no-cost to the landowner. 

By selectively removing trees and opening the forest canopy, a harvest can:

  • Increase sunlight and encourage new plant growth
  • Improve forage availability for deer, turkey, and other species
  • Create early-successional habitat that supports fawns, turkeys, and small mammals
  • Increase mast production by reducing competition among oak and fruiting trees
  • Improve visibility and access for wildlife monitoring and hunting
  • Encourage diverse plant communities without repeated mechanical or chemical treatments
  • Potentially improve access through the property, if worked out in the contract
  • Allow for creation of openings for bedding cover, food plots, or native fields.

Even small or partial harvests can create significant gains in habitat quality. Because much of the work is accomplished by the harvest itself, timber removal often provides large ecological benefits while making a profit or at no-cost, making it one of the most cost-effective tools for wildlife management.

Apply for Cost-Share Programs

Numerous programs are available to reduce out-of-pocket costs for habitat work, including:

  • Fire on the Forty Program (link to website)
  • EQIP
  • CSP
  • State wildlife grants
  • Reforestation tax credits
  • University/agency cooperative programs
  • State Forestry Commission assistance

These programs can help pay for thinning, burning, planting, invasive control, and more.

Non-commercial Timber Stand Improvements (TSI)

Forest management is one of the most impactful tools for improving wildlife habitat. Many southern forests are overly dense, limiting sunlight and reducing natural forage. While commercial thinning is ideal when markets allow, several cost-effective DIY TSI techniques exist.

Hack-and-Squirt
A simple, highly effective method using a hatchet and herbicide to selectively remove undesirable trees and allow sunlight to reach the forest floor.
MDWFP guidance: How to Kill Trees for Wildlife Habitat Using the Hack-and-Squirt Method

Chainsaw Work and Hinge Cutting
Chainsaws can be used to fell, girdle, or hinge-cut small trees to create cover and open the canopy. Always use proper PPE and follow safety guidelines.
MDWFP guidance: How to Safely Use a Chainsaw When Creating Wildlife Habitat

Prescribed Fire

Where appropriate, prescribed fire is one of the most effective and affordable wildlife habitat tools to continue to manage and reset habitats. However, there will not be vegetation responses and understory improvements for wildlife if light is not allowed to reach the forest floor first. 

Fire:

  • Resets plant communities
  • Stimulates fresh growth
  • Suppresses undesirable woody vegetation
  • Increases forage availability for deer, turkey, and other game

Hunters can obtain certification, write burn plans, and secure permits through the forestry commission (link to website). When done correctly, prescribed fire offers unmatched habitat improvement at minimal financial investment.

Population Management as Habitat Management

Balancing deer populations through responsible harvest is a necessary management tool. 

Overbrowsing from too many deer:

  • Degrades habitat
  • Reduces plant diversity
  • Stresses food resources

Harvesting adequate numbers of does and maintaining a balanced buck age structure helps ensure habitat remains productive and resilient.

To take advantage of the state's FREE Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) visit: www.mdwfp.com/dmap

Catching Problems Early: Invasive Species

Small problems become larger expensive problems if ignored. Early detection and rapid response prevent long-term damage and reduce future costs.

Treat invasive species such as Chinese privet, cogongrass, kudzu, tallow tree, sericea lespedeza, and autumn olive when they first appear—they are cheaper and easier to control when young.

Annual monitoring also helps landowners catch:

  • Browse pressure issues
  • Declining timber health
  • Erosion
  • Poor native vegetation regeneration
  • Water flow or drainage problems

Early action prevents these issues from escalating into costly repairs.

Strategically Adding Food Plots

Food plots can be a cost-effective way to improve deer hunting and herd health when planned strategically.

High Production per Acre
A well-managed acre can produce 1,000–10,000+ pounds of forage per month (depending on species, soil fertility, and rainfall).

Balancing Plots for Stress Periods
Deer have varying nutritional needs throughout the year. Especially late-winter and late-summer.

A balanced system includes:

  • Summer annuals (soybeans, cowpeas, American jointvetch, Alyceclover, lablab) – support antler growth, lactation, and fawn development
  • Perennials (white clover, chicory, red clover, chufa) – provide reliable spring and fall transitional nutrition for deer, reduce annual planting costs, provide attractive bugging areas for wild turkeys, and extend forage availability
  • Winter annuals (cereal grains, annual clovers, brassicas) – offer energy-rich forage during post-rut stress periods

Why This Saves Money
A balanced, year-round system reduces emergency plantings or supplemental feeding, while spreading work time across the year. Avoid expensive “all-in-one” blends that contain low-value species for a shorter period of time.  Invest once in planning, and plots deliver nutrition across all critical periods.

Soil Testing Food Plots

Get a Soil Test Every 3-5 Years to avoid:

  • Having an unbalanced pH (reducing uptake of nutrients by plants)
  • Over-fertilizing or under-fertilizing
  • Applying unnecessary products
  • Wasting seed on soils with poor pH

Choosing the Most Cost-Effective Lime

  • Bulk Ag Lime – cheapest per ton, lasts 3–5 years, best when trucks or buggies can access plots
  • Pelletized Lime – 4–6× more expensive than Ag lime, lasts <1 year, convenient for remote plots, relatively fast-acting
  • Liquid Lime – fastest-acting, short-lived (<1–3 months), most expensive per acre long-term

Choosing the Right Fertilizer

  • Match nutrients to soil test results (N, P, K)
  • Avoid unnecessary high-P fertilizers (most expensive nutrient)
  • Apply lime first to improve nutrient uptake and reduce fertilizer needs
  • Tailoring fertilizer can reduce costs by 30–70%

Matching Food Plot Seeds with the Site

Selecting the correct seed for soil type and site conditions is a highly cost-effective strategy:

  • Maximizes forage per acre
  • Reduces input costs (lime, fertilizer, replanting)
  • Improves wildlife health and habitat
  • Minimizes waste

Tips:

  • Look at a soil map to determine soil-type and drainage (and match plants accordingly - link to guide)
  • Conduct a soil test
  • Choose low-input, resilient species
  • Avoid expensive “all-in-one” blends that contain low-value species

Habitat Improvements Beyond Food Plots

Natural habitat improvements often provide greater benefits at lower cost. Labor-based practices can enhance cover, diversity, and foraging opportunities:

  • Feather field edges
  • Create small canopy gaps
  • Retain downed woody debris
  • Encourage native vegetation through periodic disturbance
  • Leave fallen trees to provide structure

Strategic Herbicide Use

Herbicides are effective when used carefully. Reduce costs and protect desirable plants by:

  • Calibrating your sprayer (link to video)
  • Following the per-acre guidelines
  • Spot-spraying instead of broadcasting
  • Identifying weeds before selecting herbicide
  • Using generic formulations when possible
  • Spraying when weeds are small for maximum effectiveness

Tracking What Works (and What Doesn’t)

One of the most overlooked cost-saving habits is keeping detailed records. Tracking results helps identify what’s worth repeating and what should be abandoned.

Track:

  • Burn dates and vegetation response
  • Deer harvest data
  • Timber harvests and regeneration
  • Food plot performance and browse pressure (use exclosure cages)
  • Weather impacts
  • Herbicide effectiveness
  • Trail camera observations

This information refines your management plan and directs future efforts to the most effective, cost-efficient strategies.

Final Thoughts

Land management can be expensive, but hunters who plan strategically, prioritize high-ROI actions, and focus on labor-based habitat practices can dramatically improve wildlife habitat without overspending.

Key strategies include:

  • Planning and consulting with professionals
  • Improving timber stands and applying prescribed fire
  • Maintaining balanced deer populations
  • Catching problems early (invasive species, habitat decline)
  • Tracking results to refine future actions

Together, these practices contribute to healthier land, more productive wildlife populations, and better hunting opportunities.

For more information on how to manage your land for wildlife visit 

www.mdwfp.com/wildlife-habitat-management