clear cuts

[bigwoodshuntn]

So I watched part of the new marsh bedding video and it really got the wheels turning. There isn't the big marshes around me like I see in the video as I mostly hunt northern wisconsin. What really got me thinking though is I have clear cuts all over and from watching the video see a lot of similarities between how deer use the cattail marshes and how they use the thicker clear cuts. For instance a lone big tree in the marsh likely has bedding, often times I find beds under lone big trees in clear cuts as well and same with "islands". So my question to you guys is this, do you all see many or any similarities between the marshes and clear cuts? What is your strategy to go about hunting clear cuts vs marshes?

Hunter

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[Bonecrusher101]

The public swamps we have here can be difficult to hunt. I've gone for miles with everything looking the same and not seeing enough concentrated deer sign to even get excited about it. Some areas I hunt don't have many funnels, or variations in terrain. Those places can be tough. For me, I have found cutovers easier to hunt. I like them thick, full of briars, and a nightmare to access.

It's much easier if you can find an area with 3 different heights of vegetation. Deer are gonna want to browse in the waist high fresh green stuff. They want to hide in the 12ft- 20ft tall thick impenetrable stuff, and I think they enjoy the ease of travel, acorns, and longer view for predators they get from being under larger/mature trees. Find the little niches where all three vegetations come together. Watch for oaks when the acorns are dropping. If the deer can show up outta nowhere then easily disappear, it's probably a good place to try.

Then your next move is figuring out how to hunt it!

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[headgear]

You will always find some bedding similarities across different terrains. In general I would say you won't find as many good buck bedding areas in clearcuts vs cattails because the water keeps a lot of the humans and predators back. That high ground can just bee too easy of travel and the pressure will be there. I still have several good beds I hunt in and around clearcuts, what you want to look for is other terrain feature in and around the clearcuts that make them even bedding bedding areas. In general a good hillcountry bed, clearcuts near swamps or beaver dams, points or any other transitions or terrain features that not only use the nice thick cover of the clearcuts but other means of safe beddings. Generally speaking a buck will want more than 1 reason to bed in that location.

[Ack]

I would classify clear cuts, in their early years at least, as more of a food source area, especially during the summer months. Once leaves come done though they are wide open and typically don't offer enough security for an older buck during the daylight hours.

Also, different age clear cuts have varying amounts of deer traffic. I've found there's a sweet spot in the age of the cut when deer will really use it for both feeding and travel. Hard to explain it, but I can tell one when I see it.....usually when the saplings are from 2" to 4" in diameter you will see a lot of activity throughout the season in the cut. Earlier than that there is not enough cover, and after that the trees are maturing and things start to open up.

As far as beds, I can't say as I've seen the lone tree bed in cuts around my area......but that's because there is usually a stand in trees like that around here.

[Redman232]

I would classify clear cuts, in their early years at least, as more of a food source area, especially during the summer months. Once leaves come done though they are wide open and typically don't offer enough security for an older buck during the daylight hours.

Also, different age clear cuts have varying amounts of deer traffic. I've found there's a sweet spot in the age of the cut when deer will really use it for both feeding and travel. Hard to explain it, but I can tell one when I see it.....usually when the saplings are from 2" to 4" in diameter you will see a lot of activity throughout the season in the cut. Earlier than that there is not enough cover, and after that the trees are maturing and things start to open up.

As far as beds, I can't say as I've seen the lone tree bed in cuts around my area......but that's because there is usually a stand in trees like that around here.

I have similar observations. Around hear I would say years 1-3 clear cuts are almost solely food, 4-7 or 8 are dynamite hunting. 1-3 are improved if tree tops are left behind. Years 8 and beyond can be improved very quickly by hinge cutting and small clear cuts. If grasses or weeds are able to choke out woody material, and contain the bushes an trees to only certain areas, resulting in islands of trees or bushes, then it does hunt almost exactly like marshes. CRP is the same, if locust or sumac groves pop up or lone mature trees are left standing, it also hunts very similar to marshes. I hunt marshes and CRP habitat essentially the same and have success in each.

[SEMObowhunter]

I like clear cuts from year 2 to year 10. They are thick enough by then for dear to bed in year round, they have good browse and some have trees that were left that will be mature enough to drop acorns. These will be scattered around no doubt but they are there. I love them and they are dynamite in my area. I just happen to have one 250 acres in size that joins my 45 acres. Looking forward to hunting it this fall as I bought the place at the end of hunting season last year. It's going into it's fourth year and is thick and nasty but has some skid paths and little grassy openings. It's in it's prime as far as I'm concerned and it's is all hills so it will hunt bigger than it's actual size and has plenty of bedding points.

[dan]

Yep. Pressure will have a lot to do with it, but in isolated clear cuts with low pressure they do bed like marshes, with the exception of elevation beds within the clear cuts.

[bigwoodshuntn]

Cool to read what others are seeing as well. I agree with you guys on the first couple years for sure being a food source more than a bedding area, we always used to joke and call fresh clear cuts county land "soybean fields" since it was a preferred food source.

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[dirt nap giver]

I'm with Ack on the age classification of the cuts.
Much like swamps, terrain within and adjacent to the cut combined with cover dictates how much activity it receives.
Much like a marsh set up, the staging areas are great spots to set up.

Setting an observation stand 30' up starting from the down wind side often reveals travel and bedding Intel for further advancement into the cut. But I typically only do this if I have found mature buck sign during spring scouting.

Down wind edge containing faint trails are used by mature bucks to scent check during the rut.

Having multiple cuts within a reasonable distance from each other and terrain connecting them will have all day activity as well.

When going in blind, I try not to penetrate the interior of the cut, but focus on the convergence of terrain. Transition of the cut to mature woods combined with other transition(swamp) in close proximity to the cut and elevation coming out of and connecting the cut is where I like to set up.

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[strutnrut716]

Outstanding post !

Hunter: Don't know where exactly in Northern Wis you are but some of the county forestry departments (online) in Wis have very good maps on their clearcuts and ages of clear cuts. Dan shows us how to use Google earth to see when clearcuts are made but sometimes its hard to narrow in when cuts were made because photos aren't taken every year. Here is one example that shows the different cuts/ages (all on public county forest land) and also shows tag alder swamps.

http://www.co.oneida.wi.gov/docview.asp ... &locid=135

You can also find up coming scheduled cuts , sometimes with detailed maps.

[bigwoodshuntn]

Strutnrut that is a really interesting map in the link. The majority of my "up north" hunting is Rusk county so I will have to see if I can find a map for up there and also a couple counties I hunt around home. Thanks for the info!

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[bigwoodshuntn]

Strutnrut that is a really interesting map in the link. The majority of my "up north" hunting is Rusk county so I will have to see if I can find a map for up there and also a couple counties I hunt around home. Thanks for the info!

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[Divergent]

I've seen deer use these isolated trees for what I believe is almost like navigation. Most trails will come to these trees and then they will go to the next mature tree along their paths. It's almost like a connect the dots game.

I agree with the observation stand comment on the cutover. Everything looks different when you're 30ft up a tree. Those 6ft tall barriers turn into blades of grass when you're up high. Cutovers+terrain funnels= SUCCESS.

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[stash59]

I've seen deer use these isolated trees for what I believe is almost like navigation. Most trails will come to these trees and then they will go to the next mature tree along their paths. It's almost like a connect the dots game.

I've seen this also. Sometimes even with telephone and power poles and towers.

Alot of the input on clearcut age and deer use mentioned above. Is covered in detail in Greg Miller's books. Especially "Proven Whitetail Tactics".

I'm planning on rereading his books again soon,but if anyone is interested. I can borrow them to you in the future.

[Zona]

I agree with what has already been said although around here does and young bucks seem to populate the cuts more than mature bucks in years 3-8. They are dynamite during the rut though.

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