My land is REALLY REALLY thick where I have access to it, so my brother and I were going to attempt to make some trails using one of those troy bilt mowers. If I did it within the next month, would that drive all the deer away? The only reason we are doing it, is because when we walk to our stands, it is almost impossible not to sound like a herd of elephants coming through. The neighboring land is being clear cut as much as possible for farm fields, so would it be unwise to start making noise on our land? The Mississippi River borders their land, so our land is the deer's only real area to go to get away from that.
I have very very thick undergrowth on my prop...I made a loop trail around the property a week before the season started last year (signed the papers for the property the day before I cut) and the deer over took it in a week or two. deer are LAZY like humans and will take the easiest path possible. If you have a brush hog...make a few trails,i would make one straighish one for the deer to use, and a zig zag one for human traffic as deer don't like short sight distances. I read this somewhere, I cant remember where. I would definitely say do it now within the next week or two, or wait till next year if the deer aren't used to a lot of human scent. that's my advice for what its worth...im curious to see what others say on this topic!!
In my opinion, you should be fine. I have been doing this for many years. Since this is for you and not the deer, I don't think you would need a mower. We move tree limbs, cut limbs and use a weedeater. We try to leave as much cover as possible, but still make it quiet for walking.
I would work on the land up to 1 month prior to hunting. Let the property sit a few weeks to "cool off". You will be just fine. John
Awesome, thanks for the tips! I was worried, because it really doesn't get much foot traffic. It's swamp land bordered by the woods that the farmer is cutting for more fields. It gets a lot of movement during duck season, because a few people we know walk through it to get to a big pothole to duck hunt, but its only on the outer edge. I'll cut as soon as possible to let it cool down up until season starts.
I do my trail maintenance the first week of August every year, have pics of deer on them within hours, even mature bucks. I like to cut them later like that so the weeds don't grow back as bad for bow season.
