Logging and it's effects

[20ftupatree]

I just learned the landowner of a nice piece of SZ land I have permission to hunt is going to start some selective harvesting Oct 1st. What is every ones experience with this? I have been told both #1 the hunting will suck and I've been told #2 It won't effect it at all may even get better. I was kinda upset when I was told I'm figuring it to suck but I don't know. What do you think?

[fasteddie]

If they are going to start Oct 1st I would think it would screw up the bow hunting for this year . But ...... taking trees out should help for next year as new growth will start up and be a food source for the deer . My son had his property logged and it improved the hunting .

[burmjohn]

Well if they leave the tree tops it could be good if the leaves are still palatable.

[bushnell]

I agree with fasteddie. It will most likely mess up this years hunting but like burmjohn said if they leave the tree tops it will help out in the years to come. I experienced this a couple of years ago where I hunt and you will be happy in about a year or two for they will use it as a bedding area.

[Fantail]

I'd say your screwed for this year but if it's not being logged again it'll improve. you'll have shooting lanes, possible plot areas, swampy areas could dry out, new growth seems to attract. But it depends on what you can do there and you need to look at it over the long term.

Thats about as positive as I can be about it.

Short term I've seen the mess some loggers can leave behind. You'll have ruts, piles of junk cuts, some trash, pollution - you think those trucks they use are oil tight? They're not going to care about scar damage to anything they need to cross to get to and drag out the trees. I remember when the DEC let parts of Tioughnioga get logged. Holy frackin disaster area left behind. They completely leveled area's you could fit stadiums into. Tore it up. That was a few years ago and nature is just now starting to recoup the area, a little. And all the scrap is still there.

[growalot]

Depends on how long they stay....if it's a weeks job or a 2 week job...if starting Oct 1 and if your season starts Oct 16 ...like mine...you really should be fine for most of the season...I'm saying this from experience...with our wood lot...they were here during the first 2 weeks and I had a great season that year...it turned right into a favorite bedding area....

[20ftupatree]

I went in yesterday to change my SD card and jumped 3 deer in the same spot they're logging, I knew from last year they use it to bed down during the day. It's a nice open ridge line that gets a lot of sun and is open enough they have a clear view of down below. The loggers have trees already marked looks like it's a short job. They have probably 20-30 trees marked all of them 8 inches or less, oaks. The landowner has done this selective harvest before and has made himself some incredible hardwood stands, nice old oaks left standing very little pines. The whole 45+ acres is mostly oaks, ash, and burch, He left one section maybe an acre or so of tall pines where they also like to bed. I did have a small 6pt. on camera and some nice does, I've put a lot of time in these woods, If I have to find different hunting land or should find different I'll be hunting blind or go back to land I haven't hunted in the last 5-6 years. I'd be starting all over again with not much time left for scouting, taking stands out off the one piece of land and finding new sites for tree stands on the new parcel. I'm just so disappointed with the thought all my work over the off season may be for nothing if this ruins my hunting there. I understand the long term benefits of it all but that doesn't do me any good for the season quickly approaching.

[Mr VJP]

I wouldn't make any changes until you see how this year goes.  My neighbor logged his land next to mine a few years back.  I have permission to hunt there.  I didn't notice any real change in the deer habits, other than they started using the new logging roads as trails.

I think deer take logging in stride.  Once the men leave and things quiet down for the day or the weekend, the deer move in to check things out.  They did find much better browse in those fallen tree tops left behind also.  They really seemed to like that.  The area did become harder to see into though, with all of those tree tops on the ground now.

Now, years later, I see more deer in that area than there were prior to the logging.

[Doc]

For deer hunting, a logging operation is the best thing that could happen. The new browse that will come up in future seasons will draw deer like a magnet. The tops (if left) will provide great cover and the benefits of the whole thing will be there for quite a few years.

The bad news is exactly what everybody else was saying. The same year as the logging, there may be a bit to much activity. Also, any patterning that you have done will be trashed as deer trails get diverted and covered with tops. Also food sources may change with a lot of new ones being opened up. The good news is that all these inconveniences are temporary.

Overall ......... it's a good thing.

[biggamefish]

    I agree with doc on screwing up the patterns you might have now.  Will the deer leave?Nope.  I have hunted areas where they are clear cutting some patches and left very small ones standing.  I took my biggest deer to date when they were still cutting. 

    I just set up on the edge of the property and the second weekend they where cutting in there and I got a nice 6 pointer.  I was in before light, just after light I heard the machines start up then some crashing through the brush.  Two bucks came in and a 6 was first in line and I got a good shot on him. They pushed the deer right to me.

    The point being if you can figure out where they come in and leave from the property you should still have a good shot a deer.  They should be in there eating the buds off the tree tops that were cut down in the days previous.

[erussell]

Down in Alabama  the state knows how to manage state land. Lumber companies come in and log off huge tracks of the land and replant trees. These cut overs are full of wildlife. Tons of deer, Quail, Pigs, coyotes and other things including some nasty snakes.  After they cut and before they plant they do a controlled burn on the area and the next spring its greener than ever. To bad NY doesn't doesn't manage this way, they could make some money and make the land better for wildlife. A mature forest is terrible for animals, no food. They also do a better job of controlling the amount of animals that are taken. Much of the deer season is bow only with gun hunts set up through out Nov through the end on January. You can pick a colored ball out of a bucket to get a doe tag and depending on how many  doe they want removed your chances of drawing a tag is pretty good. There are check stations at every area along with camping sites with facilities. Every deer shot need to be checked and if its a good one they put up a photo on the wall at the check station and there were a lot of them. Also they plant a lot of food plots for deer and turkey. Because of there efforts to  provide good game management, at the time I was hunting there you could kill 1  buck a day, though I think they have lowered that to 5 in a season or something like that now. Though it was a little annoying when you would scout an area all summer and think you had it in the bag only to come back in Oct an there wouldn't be a tree left standing in the area you scouted for 1/2 mile in every direction. Learned to check what areas were going to be logged real quick. 

[Doc]

Apparently some states do put their money where their mouth is when it comes to wildlife management. NY will never have that level of management because they are too busy giving away all the money to anyone who asks for it, and also supporting a bloated monstrous bureacracy. Too bad but that's the penalty for living in a pinko state.

Doc

[biggamefish]

Doc

  You also have to rember that thos western states propably get alot more money from hunters.  Those states are geared towards outdoors and hunting.  NewYork has too many far right wing and left wing people that don't want guns and could care less about hunting and a tradition like that.  We are a corupt state and that will never change.

[whitetail1]

I think you will be alright with the cutting but its really going to suck for you if your there when they are doing the cutting yo might as well stay home those days because its definately not quiet

[Doc]

Doc

  You also have to rember that thos western states propably get alot more money from hunters.  Those states are geared towards outdoors and hunting.  NewYork has too many far right wing and left wing people that don't want guns and could care less about hunting and a tradition like that.  We are a corupt state and that will never change.

No, I was replying to erussell's comment about Alabama, not western states. However your comments about NYS are on target .

Doc

[biggamefish]

  If you can deal with the noise the morning and night stands do work.  They have worked for me and the machines didn't bather the deer one bit.  They are noisy though.  If you are looking for peace and quite then don't hunt there.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Deepnding on their operations you may be able to use it to your advantage. That few trees someing out shouldn't take them very long. I am surprised they are taking oaks less 8". barely a marketable log.

Anyway. if they are logging in mainly one area hunt the other aras of the property. Might be worth a quick conversation with the logger to find out his duration and sequence. You might be able to use them as a funneling aid to put the deer in the area you are and the loggers aren't.

We use to cut logs growing up for firewood. I have had a lot of deer walk up on me while cutting. Curiousity, I think. Dad use to joke he was going to start a saw on opening day and sit it on a stump next to him to attract them..

[catskillkid]

Culvercreek is correct. I have my land in the Forestry Program and have been performing "TSI" Timber Stand Improvement for the last 6 years. The sound of a chainsaw is like a diner bell to deer. I have actually seen deer follow me and my tractor into the woods and wait until I fall a tree. They start feeding on the tops when I leave. A good idea is to thin an area of sapling soft maples after the leaves drop and new buds appear. Then set a stand nearby. This is just as good if not better than a food plot.

[biggamefish]

catskillkid I think that is considered baiting right?    j/k

[catskillkid]

I asked my forester about that. He told me it is not because timber thinning is part of my forest management plan. It may be a gray area though?

[biggamefish]

  Sounds like an excuse to get around it to me.  I am just busting on you anyway.  Trees are a natural ocurring thing in the wild and some fall down and some get cut. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I really think that since yiu are not introducing something that isn't already there, they wouldn't have an issue....kinda like shaking an apple tree

[WNYBuckHunter]

I have to agree, that isnt baiting. I have had deer walk up on me when Im running a chainsaw as well. I almost dropped my saw once when I looked up only to see a buck peeking through the hedgerow at me lol.

[catskillkid]

    I guess if the DEC calls it baiting, no one would be able to hunt within a couple of hundred yards of a completed logging operation and how long would a hunter have to wait before the tree tops are not considered bait any more. 6 months or a year?

    Also, I don't think that hunting an edge of a growing or cut corn field is considered baiting. Trees are a crop also and recognized as such by the NY Forestry Dept.

    Just my 2 cents  ;D

[NYBuckHunter87]

im really interested in getting my property logged, but i been searching and i can not find anyone in my area. the property is located in the middletown area. i want to create new trails and widen up old ones. im even thinking about clearing out and acre or so to put in a food plot. if anyone knows someone or has info on a few loggers i would really appreciate as much info as possible. more then one would be great would like to compare a few and see what they say. of course i would be doing this after the season. thanks once again