Clear cuts/new cutovers?

[VA Elite]

what do you like about them for deer? Do you hunt them? Why or why not? I am talking about one that has been done from 8 months to 3 years ago.

[achigan]

Come gun season especially they are a refuge. Set up as close as you dare and hope one comes out early enough for a shot...

[bear bowman]

In my area, food is scarce this year. All the deer I've been seeing have been eating nothing but browse. If it's green, they're eating it.
If they leave the tops when they clear cut, the deer would be in there in a heart beat. In fact, this year in western Maryland, they were actively clear cutting sections of the state forest and each night, after the work was done, the deer were in it.

[Wheels2]

Several years ago they cut a bunch of trees, leaving only a few junk trees.
The cutters left all of the tops lay where they fell.  It was a magnet for the deer.
He actually allowed us to sit on the equipment when they were not working.
Hardest part is finding a good tree for a stand.  You can use the limbs to make a nice ground blind if you have cooperating wind.
Hunt it....

[VA Elite]

I may add, the stuff they cut was plantation pines. no hardwoods

[foxbo]

If there is a patch of hardwoods adjacent to the clear cut, that would be the place to hunt, especially if there was some corn/bean crop fields within a half mile of the thicket. The deer use such places for bedding areas. If the brush isn't too tall and you can still see a deer walking thru the brush, then it's also a hot spot during the rut to catch bucks cruising. I hunt such places quite a bit and it seems 10:00 am is a great time to spot one easing along.

I've got a four year old clear cut right behind my house. It's about too thick to spot deer now but I hunt the edges when the wind is right. I caught a nice six pointer last Monday looking for acorns on the edge of the thicket and he never knew what hit him.

[Duncan]

I hunted some that were in that age range and they can be a great place to stay all day if you can stand it. Deer were moving at all times especially during the rut. Quite a few were to far for the bow but when they are chasing you just never know when an opportunity can present itself.

[VA Elite]

no hardwoods at all. I hunt timber company land and they wiped out the oaks. I have killed deer from older cutover a many times but these new ones seem to be holding deer or least drawing them in to eat. I do have bean fields and winter wheat close by

[Cyclic-Rivers]

What do the clear cuts look like?  If they are growing up in brush and popular trees, HUNT IT!

Sit the edges, there will almost always be a good trail along the edge, maybe 5-15 yards out.  I used to set up about 15 yards off the edge.  Although a  tree stand in the pine plantation trees may stand out pretty bad.

I guess I would have to see it to have a better idea, but often when I hunted plantation woods, I would hunt the edges of those, or there were always spots that became thick with young oaks and such inside the pines. I would key in on those areas as well.

[Sam McMichael]

When an area is clear cut, the new growth usually comes in thick providing cover and food. When I had some wood cut on my place, I was afraid the deer would be driven away. Instead, we would often see deer tracks in areas that were just cleared the day before. By the way, if you have privet hedge growing on your place, you will have green goodies for the deer all year round.

[VA Elite]

well I am used to them cutting something every year. But i have always concentrated on the timber breaks between the 5-10 year old cutovers and the tall pines. but, there seems to be a lot of action  in these new cuts. I have trail cam pics and I see the tracks. some of this was clear cut in May and some of it was select cut in May. I am going to hunt it tomorrow.

[swamper]

Also if hunting them after freezing nights,the deer feed later in the  mornings after the sun starts to thall the tips and buds,