Things my Mother never told me about hunting

[sweet old bill]

Clearing shooting lanes

How many times you find that hot spot for a blind or tree stand and you do not take the time to make sure you have all the shooting lanes cleared. Then on the first morning you are hunting the new O'h so hot new place the buck walks past and you can not get a shot due to too much brush in the way.

[burmjohn]

Just don't clear to much unless you have yourself camo'd / covered up nice.

[fasteddie]

Just don't clear to much unless you have yourself camo'd / covered up nice.

All you need is a few lanes . You can just trim the tops rather than cut the whole tree down . I had cut some shooting lanes on my mother's property in Groveland and someone must have used the stand because small trees that I lad left standing for cover had been cut down . All that work for nothing !

[Doc]

Whenever possible, I like 3 lanes. The left and right lanes are for spotting deer coming down the trail. The center one is for shooting. Often, I will put just a drop or two of deer urine to stop the deer where I want them for shooting. It doesn't work every time, but nearly so.

Doc

[sweet old bill]

I am like you Doc and also I do not like to cut down the whole forrest.  That why on my blinds I use pine to break up the camo material. I can always shoot thru the open spot of the pine.

[Doc]

Some of my favorite spots are down in the valley thickets where if you didn't cut substantial shooting lanes, you wouldn't even see deer that are 15 to 20 yards away ..... lol. The problem is that these kinds of hack-jobs do cause noticeable disturbance. The only way that I can get away with that is to do the damage one year and then hunt it the next when it only needs light trimming. However I can't ignore these spots because what I have found is that these are the kinds of places that heavily pressured deer go to, and also the movement in these kinds of tight areas start during more daylight conditions.

Doc

[fasteddie]

You have to be careful woth any trimming . What you see in August / September as blocking a shot might be bare in mid October when a lot of the leaves have fallen . If you trim too much , you lose cover .

[Doc]

Another little thing that can fool you is the way the weight of the leaves will make branches sag down into shooting lanes when actually in the fall without leaves they will spring back up out of the way.

There is also something that works just the other way. Those stinking multi-flora rose bushes can grow a couple of feet in one summer. So if you try to do your trimming in the spring or early summer, the day of the hunt, you may find it necessary to walk out into an area you really didn't want to stink-up, just to snip one of those rose branches that you thought you had taken care of earlier.

Doc

[gundeck]

Rose bushes??  Get out of the yard, Doc!  LOL

[Doc]

Multi-flora rose ........ The latest scourge of vacant land in western NY. I don't know where it came from, I don't remember it back when I was a kid. But that stuff is a man-trap, The thorns turn backward so that once you're hung into it, there is no getting out without something ripping (usually skin). Anyone who has encountered it is not likely to ever forget it. The only good thing about that crap is that it makes great deer sanctuary because the deer can somehow get past it but hunters cannot.

Believe me, it's not something you would ever try growing in your yard unless you've got some kids you want to get rid of ..... lol.

Doc

[bushnell]

I always try to find my spots with natural openings or old logging roads. I do some clearing but it is minimal. If I do cut down a sapling I will take dirt and rub the edge that I cut so it is not as noticeable. I don't know what it really does but that is what I was shown a couple of years ago.

[fasteddie]

Those Multi-flora roses have some real nasy thorns . I got tore up bad a couple weeks ago checking a neighbor's property . He used to have some moto-cross trails but let them grow over . It would take something big to cut that crap down now !

[nyslowhand]

Multi flora roses and poison ivy are the curse of my abandoned farm property.

If I'm not itching, I'm all scratches up.

BTW - I read somewhere that the runners on those roses can go 200-300yds from the original root.

This is the machine to conquer the multi flora roses.

[growalot]

I luv them....they help with the trespasser...can be trimmed back in to manageable paths the turkey grouse and deer feed and bed in them...if it's in an area that I want to manage for wildlife sanctuary...our swamp... they are a bonus...this is where ..for the next couple of years I have carved out a well hidden bath to nail the trespassing problem I'm having ...Oooh won't they be surprised!!..

wild grape..timber > and buck thorn...3 in spikes and multiply worse than autumn olive! ...which I see has taken over our state

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I usually trim my shooting lanes in pairs. it depends on the set up but 2 lanes at noon...2 lanes at 3...2 at 6...and 2 at 9....I hunt very thick cover so it is usual to have one make it through the first of the pair....but i am ready when they get to the second.

[Nomad]

Hum the farmer bush hogs 14 foot wide lanes through the thick brush for me as well as a 4 footer that brings them out by my shooting house.

The deer are walking 'em a day later.

I'm thinking of building a bridge across the drainage ditch so they cross it at one spot .Maybe even give 'em Easy Passes !!

[Fletch]

I also try to cut minimal so I have good cover. Once the leaves are down I do not want to be standing out like a sore thumb.

I have also noticed if you cut a nice trail the deer will use it because it is easier. But do not count on the big bruiser doing that unless he is on an interesting doe.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

saw a great idea on a web site the other day. I hate using camo fabric on my stands. When it is tight enough so it doesn't flap it is a ball buster to get into...loose enough for access and it flapps like a flag. The guy picked up an artificial Christmas tree at a garage sale and took the limbs off.....used them on his stands and you can arrange and bend them as needed. I thought it would be a great idea. Could even drill a small hole in teh tree you are mounted to to get the cover right where you want it. Would work great for built in lumber stands too...

"Hey honey I think we should get a real tree from now on"....lol...so my artifical can go in the woods with me

[growalot]

I nail waterpipe brackets to my wooden stands and when the leaves dry on the beech ..I cut branches and put them in the brackets

[crappyice]

I too am skeptical about clearing too much but would be crushed if the one opportunity I had was blocked by a sapling I left for cover. Like many of you, I too hunt over some tight cover and really dont have any natural shooting lanes. I just hope the early work I did is still the RIGHT work when the leaves are gone.

[sweet old bill]

I like the idea of the xmas tree. to break up the blind.

Oh I will also be looking for a red nosed deer to lead the way past the stand...

[nyslowhand]

I'm thinking of building a bridge across the drainage ditch so they cross it at one spot .Maybe even give 'em Easy Passes !!

Manmade funnels over creeks/ditches are a tough one, can be done with some success and a little creativity.

My neighbor put plastic drainage pipe with old wooden doors over a couple of wet spots along his trail.

The deer have trails around and avoid these.

I've put in large corrugated pipes and filled over them with gravel to forge a seasonal run-off with an ATV.

The deer use these.

I've also have been semi-successful with creating paths for them over stone fences.

Move what boulders you can aside and fill-in the remainder with dirt/gravel.

Deer are basically lazy. If you make a trail, path, forging, etc near where they normally travel - they'll use it if they feel save & secure.

You generally can not make them go where you want them to go!

But you can make their normal travel routes easier & take advantage of that!

If you come up with a way to get Easy Passes for your deer, let me know.

I'm thinking about getting them SSNs and claiming them on my taxes. Not cheap to maintain!! LOL :

[Cabin Fever]

My name is Cabin Fever and I'm a "Trim-oholic"...

Yes, it's true. I am one of those, "If I don't trim this, the deer will probably come in this way, and I'll kick myself for not cutting this out of the way." I know I shouldn't, but I just can't help myself!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

LOL@ Cabin...my father is the same way. I always ask him why we just don't move his stands to the clearing to save me the work....He'd have it look like a field if I didn't stop him

[nyslowhand]

My name is Cabin Fever and I'm a "Trim-oholic"...

A little OCD with your trimming?