Old logging roads in big woods

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mheichelbech
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Re: Old logging roads in big woods

Unread postby mheichelbech » Fri Oct 23, 2020 1:50 pm

KLEMZ wrote:Interesting topic. From the great posts made in this thread by beasts from all over the country, I think we all have a unique concept of "old logging road" depending on the logging history of the area we hunt. If I am interpreting things right, it sounds like in some areas of the country, a 20--30 year old cutting (that had roads cut in) is considered an old logging road. Hunting in northern Wisconsin national forest land, "old logging roads" means... roads cut 120--140 years ago.

I don't think it matters how long ago the road was made as long as the access to them by humans is restricted....Logging roads are irresistible to bucks! The proof of that is seen by rubs and scrapes on these roads at a much higher percentage then any other location, even when made at night when there is no fear of humans.

I believe that younger, more recent logging roads, have an increased possibility of human intrusion, but as long as there is some factor that keeps people from using them, they are just as important to deer as the 100 year old hidden trails.

If I were hunting the rut in a big woods situation (which I do), I would first walk likely areas of deer bedding/feeding and find where they are currently active. Next, I would consider the wind direction... Next I would consider terrain/vegetation edges... Next I would consider any old logging roads in the immediate area. If there is an old, undisturbed logging road in the immediate area, or better yet, a junction of two logging roads, that is the highest odds edge to be able to shoot to, as long as the wind cooperates. This is based on personal experience. A logging road in the right spot is 5X's more important than an edge between pines and hardwoods. There is something about undisturbed logging roads that bucks can't resist.

Klemz, how do you determine an area is active when there hasn’t been rain and the ground is really hard and dry?

One thing I have found as relates to bedding are little spots where the leaves are depressed. Especially of leaves are falling and there aren’t any new leaves over the depressed leaves you know it’s fresh. The hard part is not seeing any tracks when it’s dry. However one thing I noticed last weekend was a thin line of leaves disturbed. I take this to be a buck walking and dragging their hooves in the same way they do in the snow.


"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
KLEMZ
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Re: Old logging roads in big woods

Unread postby KLEMZ » Fri Oct 23, 2020 3:16 pm

mheichelbech wrote:lemz, how do you determine an area is active when there hasn’t been rain and the ground is really hard and dry?


That is a great question! One of the most difficult to answer in a big woods setting. Those are real tough conditions to find any hint of deer activity. I recently spent 4 days (October 7--10) hunting up north under very dry,warm, fluffy leaves, leaves currently dropping conditions. I walked most of every day searching for an active area. Truth be told, I only found two spots I was thinking had deer activity, and I walked a lot! One area was immediately adjacent to suspected bedding cover. No tracks, droppings, or even trails were evident. I did see a few short scrub maples with leaves chewed off, all within 50 yards of the thicker bedding type cover. Further away, the maples were all 6--8 feet tall. I surmised that the close maples were shorter because of historic browsing . I did not hunt there because I was not completely sure that was enough sign. I ended up hunting a spot I found based on spring scouting....didn't see a deer. Probably should have set up on the browsed maples, even though the sign was EXTREMELY subtle. I'm quite sure I was walking over fresh sign but not realizing it.

On the last day I was trying to navigate back to an odd grassy meadow thinking they might be feeding there. I discovered that the whole area was flooded, my meadow was under waste deep water....probably the work of beavers? Anyways, as I skirted the edge of the wet area I found huge fresh droppings, beds, tracks and rubs. Unfortunately I had been walking all over the place so I thought I had burned the bridge and ended up not hunting there. Probably a mistake. I chose to hunt a known historic bedding area without any real fresh sign and saw nothing.

I guess I'm trying to point out that in big woods, low deer density areas, A hunter should learn to trust the subtlest fresh sign. This is not an easy thing to learn. I'm still working on it.

By the way, the tracks, droppings,beds etc were easy to read in the bedding area that I found near the wet stuff. This is because it was not out in the open, fluffy leaved forest area. It was more of a grassy, brushy zone. Without the fluffy leaves the sign was easier to see for sure.

It is a huge advantage to know the current feeding pattern and where those areas are. It is just so much easier to be confident in the subtle clues when you know where to look. I put a lot of stock in scrape areas that aren't perrenial to show me where they are currently feeding. Scrapes are easy to see even in dry years. Unfortunately they really don't show up till pre-rut time.

Come rut time I like to hike transition zones in the first 3 hours of daylight during the rut time in tough dry conditions. Does will be heading into bedding 8:30--9:00. Any tails you see bounding are gonna be does close to bedding. (this is big woods). That is a huge first step to getting on them.


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