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Post by firstwd on Jul 8, 2017 16:55:30 GMT -5
I have a section of woods that goes from about 90 yards wide down to about 2 yards wide over about 200 yards. This area is extremely thick with briars and fallen trees. It is also the bottle neck of the property going from the big woods to the cedar thicket bedding area.
I have a stand on an oak flat about 60 yards into the 90 yard wide end. The biggest problem is just how thick this section is and that deer come through just about everywhere.
Now for the part that goes completely against the grain. I spent most of the holiday weekend with my ATV and chainsaw making a 4 wheeler trail through this thicket, 2 actually. (The Long trail goes the entire length and comes out into my food plot 20 yards from my tree stand.) Me, my neighbor, and about a dozen of their family spent about 6 hours riding the life out of that trail on Tuesday July 4th. Today, July 8th I took a ride down that trail. It is absolutely tore up with deer tracks.
While I would never advocate racing quads through your woods at hunting time, sometimes making things easier on the deer does work out in the hunters favor.
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Post by Woody Williams on Jul 8, 2017 18:33:45 GMT -5
I have a section of woods that goes from about 90 yards wide down to about 2 yards wide over about 200 yards. This area is extremely thick with briars and fallen trees. It is also the bottle neck of the property going from the big woods to the cedar thicket bedding area. I have a stand on an oak flat about 60 yards into the 90 yard wide end. The biggest problem is just how thick this section is and that deer come through just about everywhere. Now for the part that goes completely against the grain. I spent most of the holiday weekend with my ATV and chainsaw making a 4 wheeler trail through this thicket, 2 actually. (The Long trail goes the entire length and comes out into my food plot 20 yards from my tree stand.) Me, my neighbor, and about a dozen of their family spent about 6 hours riding the life out of that trail on Tuesday July 4th. Today, July 8th I took a ride down that trail. It is absolutely tore up with deer tracks. While I would never advocate racing quads through your woods at hunting time, sometimes making things easier on the deer does work out in the hunters favor. Deer, as a well as a lot of other critters, are like humans...basically lazy and will take the path of least resistance. To hunt my food plot I park on my neighbor's farm at their old barn and walk the edge of our properties. About 200 yards I have to cut into my property. This is an old AG field that is grown up with saplings and briers. A friend of mine that lives close up there bush hogs my plot and also cuts a path through these jungle back to the plot. That is where I walk in. Every year a buck will make scrapes along that path and I have had deer walk out into the plot from that path.. |
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Post by tynimiller on Aug 3, 2017 13:09:44 GMT -5
I spend time in springs clearing arteries through bedding areas, thickets and such...green up and yearly growth will close these up to a more "natural" style and the deer feel comfortable. I also brush hog trails through areas ever 2-4 years and just let nature regen...great for deer as well. Thick is the key....too thick for natural travel though can be a negative but easy to cure.
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Post by firstwd on Nov 25, 2018 13:17:22 GMT -5
I thought I'd dig this thread up and share some observations from this year.
25+ deer we're seen using this set of trails this year from stand and blind, 6 taken from the same blind.
There were 2 scrape lines on the farm this year. One down the "cattle path" trail that runs the entire low land of the woods and the other ran the length of my ATV trails minus about 100 yards on each end next to the road.
I hear and read all the time that human intrusion on a piece of property will ruin deer hunting, but we still have 2 bucks at 140+ calling the place home. Well, maybe only one now, I haven't had a chance to find out what the neighbor to the south shot the other day.
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