My favorite hunting area is gone ...

[Mr.Magoo]

I went out this morning to walk one of my favorite game land areas (I'd been here about 6-7 weeks ago).  It's an "archery only" area (only a couple hundred yards deep along a lake); one of only 2 such places within many miles.

I'd spent years in here figuring-out how the deer moved, which trees to hunt from, where bedding areas are.  I was greeted with a picture of devastation.  The area had just been logged!  All the trees I'd hunted from were gone.  In fact, almost all the hardwood trees were gone.  All that was left were scruffy pine trees.  There was so much debris on the ground, you could hardly walk.  Every trail destroyed.

The real kick in the head was I found-out our local DNR had a timber sale and did this only a couple of weeks ago.  Just a few weeks before deer season opens!

I called the DNR and spoke to the "State and Private lands manager" responsible for the timber sale.  I asked him what his thought process was in logging one of our only archery zones a few weeks before deer season opened.  I got a bunch of "um" "well" "um".  I asked if he'd been down and looked at the job he did.  No he hadn't. I asked if they notified the public or took comments before they did this; no they didn't.

He started to tell me how they managed for wildlife.  I asked him if they were managing for snakes, since the oak trees and acorns were gone.  I got some more "um" "well" "um".

Makes me sick.  You think someone who works at the DNR would know better.

This was a nice little bottom section that had some big feeder oaks.
 

This was a little meadow and bedding area where deer would also cross from one section to the next.
 

I still can't believe it.

[frassettor]

Thats to bad....Dont give up. The deer will still be there. There food source may have changed now that the oaks are gone..It area will "calm down" and the deer will find another pattern. You will pattern them again. I understand your frustration though. Good luck....You can do it!

[elk ninja]

Sorry to hear about that.  Absolutely sad.  There are times in life when you just have to scratch your head and wonder why....
Mike

[Panzer II]

I know your pain and it's awful, I had the same thing happen to me a couple years ago in southern Ohio. Sorry Bro

[Killdeer]

Many times I have thrown my heart into a patch of land like yours. When something like this happens, I feel all hollow inside. There are more trees there than I had envisioned, it sounded like they had all been taken.

I know that your heart must be shattered, but there is hope. The tangle of treetops are providing free food and cover for the local deer. Look for the tracks.
The openings will provide food once the brush starts growing. Don't give up! Oh, and yeah, you are exactly right...their timing sucks big time, the stupids.

Killdeer  

[Bill Carlsen]

I'de go out and buy some winter rye and spread it around where I would like to hunt. When it comes up the deer will be all over it....especially in the spot in the second picture. Winter rye is cheap and will germinate in about a week.

[Ray Hammond]

the place will be hotter than ever shortly.

Let others give up on it...it will be YOUR hot spot.

[JStark]

You know, I'd plant trees and forage that feed deer and won't have any timber value.  That rye comment sounds like a good start.  

Also, talk to a local nonprofit group about possibly suing for lack of an environmental impact report or any public notice.  If this is publicly accessible land, and they did that much work in it, then the public was at least in harm's way from the machinery.

And last, I understand your feelings.  Yesterday I was told by a warden that I could no longer hunt on a property I had hunted for twenty-five years, since I was eight, and I was just about the only person to ever hunt it.  I learned just about every game path on that land, even mapped it when I was twelve, but no more... at least it's not been destroyed...  

I'm so sorry for your loss.

[madness522]

That area will be hot again in a year or so.  Let the ground cover get up about waist high and the deer will be back.  It only takes a litte cover for them to feel safe and secure.

[Ron Goodrum]

Ray is right. The cleared area will result in more attractive forage for the deer and the tops left over will be an immediate food source with great attraction. Go out and check it again and I will bet you find heavy deer sign. Either find a usable tree on the fringe or construct a ground blind and hunt it. This is not the disaster you think it is.

[Ray Hammond]

J,

environmental impact suits and stuff of that ilk only works in California and NY, or for the antis..here in the South we recognize that clearing land through timber harvest promotes the growth of forage plants all wildlife benefits from and uses and consequently we don't see it as a reason to sue, but a reason to celebrate.

[BTH]

Ray, you are spot on with the comment about California and law suits of this type. I envy how other states manage their lands since California manages ours based on the politics of emotional arguement and not scientific data.
Mr. Magoo...the comments about that property are valid. Deer will be in there when the ground cover returns. Go back in and scout...set up some natural ground blinds on the new trails you find using the leftover tree tops and limbs the timber company left on the ground.

[ChristopherO]

At least it is public and it will regenerate.  My problem is about the time I latch on to a real hot spot is the time my client wants to sell.  Working for the dollar is tuff but the family needs fed.

[Dave Bulla]

I too figure it will be better than ever in a few years.  I love to hunt the thick places nobody else will dare and in two years you'll have such a thicket going that you will be amazed.  Probably briars and all sorts of nasty stuff that will tick you off but the deer will see it as a sanctuary and buffet in one.

Also, every oak and hardwood cut down is still alive under the ground.  It will be sending up shoots and suckers like crazy.  You could easily end up with more oaks than you had before.  Just give it time.

Ive had the same sort of clearing and worse done where I hunt.  It takes some adjustment but like others said, if everybody else gets disgusted and leaves, you'll have it to yourself.  And ya know what?  The deer are still there.....  They didn't leave on the back of a logging truck.

[ranger 3]

Well here in IL. our great governor shut down 11 parks and lay ed off 39 workers.

[Ray Hammond]

Do you hunt in parks in IL, Ranger? We don't get to do that here. Maybe your parks are the same as our WMA's (wildlife management areas)

Our WMA's are the whipping boys of our governors along with the DNR..every time there's a budget cut our stuff gets whacked...and there arent enough wardens now to handle what we have...and the poor guys who have to hunt on public ground are practically shoulder to shoulder here as it is.

[doeboy]

i had a similar experiance. I purchased 6 acres of land in New Jersey and was pleased to see plenty of large deer within a close distance to my house. All the land around me is private and i have permission to hunt it all!. well right before hunting season 8 large track hoes and front end loaders moved in and they were running 8 tri-axle loads of limestone rocks out of the 40 acre piece behind the house(like 600 feet away)for the next year and a half.well lets say we did not see any bucks for the next year and a half.they were done this past spring and we have bombers around now.Deer react to preasure but they come back justa s quick as they leave. all the added undergrowth will do wonders for food and trees will grow back. good luck this season!

[James Wrenn]

Could be worse.  I drew for a turkey tag on the same lake and had birds everywhere a couple weeks before the day of the hunt.Came over by boat in the dark that day and was surprised to see several campfires burning in the place I was to hunt.When I got to the bank and daylight broke I found they had burned the whole area 3 days before my hunt.The campfires were what was left of the stumps burning off.Birds were gobling all over the park land next to it but there was no way to get one to walk in fire to come to me.    Hunting public land has it's own challenges at times.  :(

[Widowbender]

Hey...That looks like one of my honey holes...I've been hunting on managed timberland tracts for twenty years...A lot of the logging is done DURING hunting season...I guess its weird but I hear loggers have to work during hunting season...It won't bother the deer one bit...it may change their pattern a little bit and the browse generated by the cut will feed more deer than a few oak trees and it will provide cover for years to come...rye is a good idea, too...deer love it...I'll be hunting an area on opening day, that was recently logged and I'll be thankful that I have a place to hunt. Land managers, foresters, loggers, etc. are people too, and they have a job to do. There is alot that goes into planning a harvest that the average person doesn't know about. Actually, if they can get a decent price for the product and quota at the mill, now is a good time to conduct that type of harvest because the  residual trees are less prone to damage because the bark is tighter now than in the spring and the ground is drier and less prone to compaction and rutting...
Just my two cents...

David

[Mr.Magoo]

I appreciate the comisseration and the comments.  It was too early to cry in my scotch.

Seriously frosts my calvinator though.

For a guy who didn't start bowhunting until his mid-30's, it's taken a lot of work to get a little bit of knowledge base and find a few productive spots.

Back to the drawing board.