Loggers in the deer woods

[Brian P.]

Well, I knew it was coming. The loggers have started cutting the woods I hunt.
 I went out to set trail cams around a month ago and saw all the trees marked for cutting. I went to check cameras tonight after hearing the cutting had started. All my cameras survived, but I cant say the same for the woods. Looks like a bomb went off. Tree tops all over the place and stumps where the mature trees once stood. No idea how much more cutting will  be done but I am pretty bummed.
 Anyone have tips for hunting fresh cut wood lots? I had several pics on the cameras (even after the cutting began), but I have no idea where to start. Fortunately, there are plenty of ready made ground blinds all over the place.
 This is the first time I have had to deal with this twist.

[greg fields]

I feel for you and know what you are going through...Seems to happen to me every year.  Only one way to find out how if effected the deer.  Hunt it   It will eventually be better than it was before, but it may take a little time.   good luck..

[goobersan]

I had that happen many years ago on public land. opening morning and I saw nothing but the night sky. I abandoned that area and started leasing. You'll have to do some homework again to learn patterns and locate some blind areas. Best of luck

[mec lineman]

Unfortunately that is the story in southern Virginia.  90% of what I Hunt is cut or will be cut. Very few hardwood left. I will tell you though,the deer flourish when them cut overs get thick. It makes hard bow hunting.

[Mike Bolin]

Same thing happened to me a few years ago. I hunted as far away from the logging as I could, then moved to whatever area that they'd logged as far away from the area they were moving to that I could be. Deer started browsing the cut-over areas pretty hard in late season. The logging definitely had negative affects on my hunting for a couple of years.
The first year after logging, everything changed. Movement patterns that had been pretty consistent for a decade changed drastically. I spent whatever free time I had during the spring and summer cleaning up the skidder trails (rutted and muddy)and planting them in white clover and winter rye. The loggers took out a lot of the white and red oaks, which were the major draw on this property, so rather than wade the mud and trip around in the ruts I just tried to bring in some kind of food source. The woods really grew up and this has created a lot of understory/cover, which is what this property was lacking.
One of the staging/load out areas that I planted just this spring in clover came in really lush and thick. I set a camera on it and have had pictures every day since June. During a 6 day period last month, I got 153 pictures of deer. 61 of them in the daylight hours. Some nice bucks at night, but it is early yet for daytime buck movement in this area. Until I cleaned up and planted this area, I was getting maybe 30-40 pictures in a 2-3 week period.
A lot of work cleaning stuff up and it is a work in progress, but it looks like it may be worth the time I have spent. I just do a little bit at a time as I am old and broken down! LOL!! I am only good to be on my feet for 1-2 hours at a time so I just take my time and rest when I need to. I have free run of the property and a good bit of my clean up work I sold for firewood and kept some for myself to burn in my barn. The areas around this 72 acre property is mostly ag crops and what woods there is around is pretty heavily hunted so this property has become pretty attractive to the local whitetails. Hopefully you can do something like this too. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! Good luck! Mike

[ChuckC]

If you are committed to hunting that plot, you might take time to manicure it as it grows.  Clear some paths that work for your normal wind and going from one stand to another or to a feeding field.  As it grows in keep those trails open, then that's where you can hunt.  A couple years in the planning, but then it is as you wish.
ChuckC

[Orion]

I hunt mostly public ground, county forests that are logged quite heavily.  I usually lose a stand site or several every year to logging.  Fortunately, there's thousands of acres to hunt so I just scout and hunt different areas.  However, it is becoming difficult to find any mature trees to hang stands.

Later in the year, after there's a good snow cover, logging operations attract deer, and I often hunt their perimeters.  Early in the fall, I just look other places to hunt.

[Jwilliam]

I'm in the same boat as you. Had no clue that the farm I hunt was going to be logged until about 2 months ago. At first it looked as though it was going to be a select cut. But it's turning into pretty much a clear cut. Going to have to hunt exclusively from my climber this year, since most of my stand spots are gone. Gonna hunt what timber  hasn't been touched yet and see what happens.

[J. Cook]

It may seem lie a bummer right now, but in a couple short years that area will be great.  Tryly mature trees offer little to deer in terms of habitat as they discourage any browse and thermal cover.  Now if they were mast producing trees, then yes, they will be missed. However, The new growth there in that clear cut will be very beneficial to lots of wildlife including deer.  Don't give up on that area just yet...

Some great advice above on taking the opportunity to cut a few lanes as it grows back.

[Sam McMichael]

I have cut wood twice on my small place, and it really has not affected the deer all that much. Both times, it was a selective cut , so there were always most of the trees left, except in one small area. New travel paths were established by the deer, so stands had to be relocated. However, the deer never abandoned the place. Within in a few months, the new growth provided both food and cover abundantly. If the cutting is being done during the deer season, there may be some temporary problems until the new growth comes in. Also, if you are a tree stand hunter, you may need to establish some brush blinds. All is not lost.

[Red Beastmaster]

My main hunting woods was clear cut ten years ago and it is still a wasteland of briars, tree tops, stumps, and saplings. You can't walk 10' off the road til you hit a wall. The surrounding area is either posted or over hunted due to the loss.

Our hunting has been terrible ever since.

[Robyn Hode]

My old hunting area was clear cut in the state forest last year. It looks like a parking lot. They even brought in gravel and put down. I went to another area in the same forest to squirrel hunt this year and they were cutting there too.

[Vesty]

This is what drives us to private ownership which is more doable than many think. It will require incredible money management and discipline along with a healthy dose of patience. Money set aside over a period of time can make your own hunting property a reality. Then, the only logging that happens is by your hand.

[JazsDad]

Funny, it didn't bother the deer back home in NYS when we logged... actually saw more deer, think they were attracted to the cuttings.  Used to tease one of our members that his new deer call was the chainsaw.

[Ryman Cat]

Same thing on one of my lease propertys in NJ terrible thick down trees can't walk screwed our stands up. Logged and stole trees off property not supposed to cut and left debris. Tops are good for deer but when they leave debris and rape a property your stuck with mess. Property owner wasn't around to watch this guy either. Only good thing the logger did was cut in some roads we didn't have before the deer do use now.

Had loggers come in on me and disturb things this morning as well also and disrupt in Pa.Trees they are trimming won't benefit me where they are being trimmed.

[joe ashton]

My elk hunting area has been logged due to nettle kill... it sucks.  But the grass is coming up... so..

[mlsthmpsn]

Whitetail deer are not a mature forest or climax forest species. They can persist at low numbers in these habitat types, but not thrive.

Forest succession takes an ag field to climax forest in about 150-200 years. Without disturbance the deer habitat will be lost and deer abundance (and the biodiversity of a host of other plants an animals) will diminish.

Whitetail prefer and do best in the shrub and young forest stages of succession (4-30 years stage-wise). The only way to achieve that in the US now, where we stop most fires by 10am the next day, is through heavy logging.

Like it or not, whitetail have evolved to thrive in a naturally disturbed, gnarly, tangled mess of a habitat.

[Bow man]

Originally posted by mlsthmpsn:
Whitetail deer are not a mature forest or climax forest species. They can persist at low numbers in these habitat types, but not thrive.

Forest succession takes an ag field to climax forest in about 150-200 years. Without disturbance the deer habitat will be lost and deer abundance (and the biodiversity of a host of other plants an animals) will diminish.

Whitetail prefer and do best in the shrub and young forest stages of succession (4-30 years stage-wise). The only way to achieve that in the US now, where we stop most fires by 10am the next day, is through heavy logging.

Like it or not, whitetail have evolved to thrive in a naturally disturbed, gnarly, tangled mess of a habitat.

You are sitting on a gold Mine the animals all animals will love it and will draw deer as soon as they finish cutting an area, they have more cover and security. You are just going to have to do some work and learn the new travel patterns. If i bought a prop. The first thing I would do is do some timber management and log it.

[Brian P.]

I am hoping the deer don't leave the county, but only time will tell.

The woods being cut is surrounded on all but one side with crop fields. I am not certain I have ever seen an acorn in this woods, so the food source is not gone. There are still many choices for the deer.

It is just depressing to have had  a handle on travel patterns, on now be starting over. Not to mention, it was always enjoyable to sit on stand and look throuh  the woods for a distance. With all the tops and brush piles laying about, those scenic views are gone.

Not giving up, just bummed about the uncertainty of deer numbers and patterns.

[dnovo]

Property I've hunted for 25 years was logged heavily. The first year or two was tough. All my good stand trees were gone, deer patterns were changed and it was a jungle. After that the new trails were very evident and the hunting was good again. You'll have to be patient but also think about movement in ways you haven't before