jps37033

I have 25 acres that I just started deer hunting this year. It is REAL thick woods with the longest shot possible being 25 yards at the most. It was logged about 10 years ago and the property is full of thumb to wrist sized trees. It makes it to where you cant see or shoot. I found, just this season, one scrape the size of 3 basketballs, 5 rubs on trees wrist size or smaller and 3 rubs on trees that are a lot bigger.

I have jumped up many does and one buck that was a small 6 pointer. I feel there is a larger buck running the thickest part of the property in the back of my property.

I have decided to set up my ladder stand near the scrapes and rubs (all within 40 yards) except the larger ones that are about 100 yards away. Tomorrow I am taking a chainsaw and clearing 4 shooting lanes from the stand that are 20 feet wide and 100 yards long. They will be north east south and west from the stand. They are all in line with the sign I have found.

Will this run the deer off? I also plan to plant the "no sew deer seed that has clover, corn, and feskew (also for turkey hunting), and some mature apple trees in these lanes I am clearing. This should help next fall.

Will it kill the rest of my deer season? I know most say do it in the spring, but I will not go out there this spring and do it because I have ran across copperheads 4 out of 4 times I have went out in warmer weather.

sconnyhunter

Get a good pair of Snake Boots and carry a shotgun.

Plant the trees in the spring, so they have a better chance of surviving till fall and producing for you. Cutting lanes now, will probably not give a great chance of shooting a big buck this year as you will have made him very nervous.

iSnipe

I say go for the cutting now. Since it's not my hunting spot, I have nothing to lose. LOL!

I've had does and young bucks go into an area I just cut the very next day. They are tolerable of some disturbances. The older more mature bucks are a different beast altogether and if there's going to be spooked deer, they may be the first ones to skirt that area during daylight... unless it's the rut and a doe of his interest goes there.

iSnipe

jps37033

I did read a lot online that guys would shoot the biggest buck ever from a skidder. Like the deer came there because of interest and/or didnt care. Said they would hang back in the clearcuts about 75 yards, eat, and watch.

Anyone had any luck on a new clearcut?

Will the bucks come back next year?

iSnipe

Bucks will be back next year. I don't think their memory is that good. LOL! But they do learn from individual experiences and when they hit their 4th year and more, they're about a genius IQ at times.

The word about seeing deer from skidders is correct, but NOT on the first or second day. Usually it's a few days, even a week and the deer start to get desensitized towards such activity. Nowadays a week a long time because of new equipment and methods, they can do things much faster than they could years ago. The days of cable chokers and one man skidder puller teams are the way of the Dodo. Now they have grapple skidders. I've known several people to have "seen" deer from their skidders in the middle of the day.

iSnipe

salukipv1

man, i read the post, i thought this was an invite to chainsaw some big trees down, was hoping you were in IL! oh well, good luck!

UPHunter08

One suggestion, since big bucks tend to hesitate more upon encountering openings such as the lanes you're about to open up. Instead of making the entire lane 20 feet wide, make the actual opening about half that wide, and then feather the edges (e.g. remove half the stems) 5 feet into each side of the lane. The net effect is that you can still see down the 20 foot lane, have a shot down the middle, and the lane doesn't feel as open to the deer walking down it or across it.

I also hunt a few aspen clearcuts and have used this tactic with some success.

Fire/hunting guy

The description you gave fits my hunting area EXACTLY! We live on 21 acres, had it logged about 13 years ago, so I know exactly what you are talking about. In my opinion (i'm a novice) but in my buddies opinion also, is that the deer like my land because of the cover that the saplings provide. On my land, if you've got a 50 yd shot, your doing good. My son harvested a nice buck this year, we've seen some others, so my plan is to not change much. What I am going to do is lightly thin some of the trees in the area that our stand is in, about a 100 yd radius, just cut about every 4th or 5th sapling or so. This was the advice that a buddy of mine gave me.

iSnipe

You'll soon find the saplings will grow fast after being thinned. They'll get more exposure to sunlight and grow horizontally faster. I've watched various sized clearcuts my whole hunting career and actually did many forms of cutting to accommodate my shooting needs and have seen just how much change a cut-over goes through in just one season.

So what am I saying? Maybe cut a little more. LOL!

iSnipe

Phil from Maine

Cutting shooting lanes now shouldn't bother the deer to bad at all.. At least not up in this area. The deer love to browse on the tops and have actually followed skidders while trying to eat off the trees. That is the way it is here anyways. I would also take a little time to trim a few deer trails to help get them to come out into your shooting lanes. Sometimes these small lanes with just enough room for the deer to sneak threw will become common trails.. For as far as planting trees and the like I would wait until spring like others have stated. I would also use some chicken wire or some thing simular to keep rabbits from eating the bark off your trees. By putting this wire around the butt of the tree. Good luck to you..