Hey all. My last season got cut short when the land owner decided to sell off a bunch of old oak trees in the forest I was hunting. They came in and did a bunch of logging, and I even had a run-in with some surveyors who were out there past 6 PM and walked away with their tail between their legs when they finally spotted me in a tree in the universal "WTF" pose. After it was all said and done, I didn't see any deer for weeks, and I eventually stopped going out for that season. I didn't capture any on my cameras either. So, a year later, the season is starting back up and the forest is just ravaged from big machines, trees being towed out, and just general wind damage. I can't tell what is a rub and what is just damage from the machines. All of my trails are either blocked by the tree tops that were left behind, or overgrown from new light reaching the forest floor. I've been told this is good for hunting, "in the long run." I can't seem to spot any scrapes, or any deer sign for that matter, and I don't see them crossing the fields like they used to. I haven't gotten any pictures on my cameras either. What would you guys do in a situation like this? I know their patterns are gonna be completely different, but are they even there at all? I've tried scouting around the downed tree tops looking for new trails, but I don't think they have had the time to establish any yet. I was thinking I might set up in a wide open area just to scout for how they moving about the forest, if at all, and then set up around there. Any thoughts?
I bet you're more upset over the ordeal than the deer are. We've had timber logged and it did nothing to the deer except make them more comfortable and plentiful. We just had timber thinned out though, if yours got clear cut I suppose it would be a different circumstance. My advice would be to set your frustrations aside, scout and hunt it like a new property. Scout the food and water sources and you'll figure it out. As long as the loggers weren't pot shooting deer the entire time they were there then the deer are still there somewhere.
The area that I hunt had a section cleared a few years ago. The first year after clearing I wouldn't expect much because it is probably to open. I'd watch the edges If there is more forest adjacent that hasn't been cut. They will cross, but not anywhere consistently. The good thing is as it grows back, you can control the land a lot easier. Let some areas grow wild, others keep cut and plant food sources blended in the natural growth. This was about 3 years post clearing.
In hardwoods like oak it can take a little longer but the deer will soon take advantage of the regen. Can you get equipment in like a truck or tractor to move the tops the loggers left? set up some travel paths to manipulate how the deer move thru? throw some clover down on any bare soil.
Thanks for the replies. I'll try to get out there and move some of the tree tops, and also plant some clover in the bare areas I would love to hunt. I know this is a net-positive for hunting, it just doesn't seem that way right now. Btw, it wasn't a clear-cut, I think I remember seeing like #134, #156, painted on the trees, so it's probably somewhere in the 200s range of oaks removed. Noticeably thinned out, but the trash left behind is much more so.
Definitely hunt it like a new property. I had our wood lots logged three years ago. Some were logged heavy and others just had Timber Stand Improvements done. The TSI areas have deer almost back to their old ways but the heavily logged areas are a new world to me and to the deer. This year the deer seem to have moved back in in larger numbers than before the cut but I don't completely know because it's new to me too. My new in the woods food plots are getting established and known/found by the deer and I hope to be able to hunt them successfully next year. Good luck and enjoy the new property you have to hunt.
Ill put it like this if it was me and i only had 4 days to hunt id use 3 days to scout and only hunt one day to figure out patterns and bedding and anyother info i could figure out
Half of the property I hunt on (about 150 acres) was completely clear cut about 3 years ago. With a little bit of round up and some decent work, I've been able to keep 3 trails about as wide as a road, and a food plot in the middle of it all (with a blind). I've never seen so many deer, it really helped the population and combined with good deer management, we now have the strongest herd we've ever had.
Hey guys, its been a couple days let me give an update. Well, well! So I was out there raking up some plots and planting clover around 2:30 pm. Figured I would check the camera, even though I didn't have a spare SD card on me. Got this picture, suited up and went out right then and there. I saw 3 turkeys and 3 does. The does came out at 5:15 pm, easily the earliest I've ever seen deer, and only hours had passed since I was standing right where they were, raking. They walked right along the downed tree tops, from a large pond out into what would have been a complete clearing last season. I didn't get a shot because I couldn't accurately gauge their distance with the tree between us, but I swear the biggest head doe stopped dead broadside to me, right in between two trees. What a beautiful sight! Watch me as I go out there and sit monkey man style on that downed tree and get me one LOL. Seems like its got good cover on it and it's still at least 20 foot off the ground at its highest point. I'm starting to like it.
