Clearcuts altering buck travel patterns.

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Tennhunter3
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Clearcuts altering buck travel patterns.

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:10 am

I was wondering what do you guys notice about new cuts changing buck travel behavior.

The first year of a new cut I've never really seen or gotten buck trail cam pics along the new cut . At some point bucks tend to began a new travel route along the cut pretty often by year 3-4

As more and more land is turned into cuts mainly in square or rectangle form. How are you noticing buck travel change.

Then comes into question follow the thick edge or follow the elevation trail that has been used all that bucks life. Most clearcuts are cut all the way to the creek as a boundary at least where I hunt. But I rarely see buck trails down low along that creek edge.

In most cases that 1 3rd from the top trail becomes a bunch of saplings or thick pines. The big headgear can no longer travel easily in it. And it is no longer along any type of transition.


As a example this bedding area i missed a bowshot on a 140 or so 8 point a few years back.
I've seen oaks near a popular mature buck bedding area be logged and once that September food source was gone the bedding area dried up and to this day is no longer used. The beds can still be seen and weren't effected by the logging.

Anyone else have to constantly be changing how you hunt because of cuts? I feel like I flip properties like a model changing clothes im in a constant battle to just keep up with whats going on.


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perchsoup
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Re: Clearcuts altering buck travel patterns.

Unread postby perchsoup » Thu Jul 08, 2021 4:16 pm

One of my best spots was on the edge of a cut. It was also where a few other edges met. The first year I found it, there was worn to the ground buck bedding in a perfect spot near the edge of the cut. Three years into hunting it I figured out how to actually hunt it but buck bedding became less as the cut aged and I messed up on the one chance I had. It was still a dynamite rut spot because it still held a lot of food and a lot of does for bedding. By the time I figured out how to rut hunt it, it was a few more years and it aged out of being the really good rut spot, where I also messed up on a good buck chasing a doe. I may give it one rut hunt this year just because of history with it. But I’ve learned, at least in this spot that a cut will definitely change buck bedding and travel. But it continues to change each year and I have to be on top of it.

Last year I found a fairly similar spot. Lots of old rubs along the cruising trail. But nothing fresh from that year. The cut was still thick relatively. But much less food and no bedding in there. I think that spot had aged out and I was looking at old sign that likely wouldn’t be refreshed.
Evanszach7
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Re: Clearcuts altering buck travel patterns.

Unread postby Evanszach7 » Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:36 pm

I don't hunt big woods and cuts much until mid October. In the first 1-5 years of a cut I've seen does move they're bedding to within a couple hundred yards of it, depending on the terrain and if the cut is up high or low. The best mature buck bedding I find is usually in or around 10+ year old cuts, and a lot of times on Eastern or Southern facing slopes.

Haven't seen a lot of does or bucks bedding in the cuts. Buck travel is usually in relation to scent checking does coming into or out of the cuts, or their bedding. How the bucks travels is dependent on the terrain, cover, and where the pressure is coming from.

My area is pretty heavy pressure for big woods. Most guys know cuts are basically food plots. If I find one that's not on OnX yet, I'll hunt closer to it until the pressure moves in. If it's pressured, I'll hunt terrain features closer to the buck bedding that leads to the cuts and Doe bedding. The Buck bedding might be 1/4- 1 mile from the new cut.
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PK_
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Re: Clearcuts altering buck travel patterns.

Unread postby PK_ » Fri Jul 09, 2021 10:28 am

I have noticed they travel the same exact trails when ‘covering ground’.

Bedding/feeding obviously changes.
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hounddog409
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Re: Clearcuts altering buck travel patterns.

Unread postby hounddog409 » Fri Jul 09, 2021 1:01 pm

Tennhunter3 wrote:I was wondering what do you guys notice about new cuts changing buck travel behavior.

The first year of a new cut I've never really seen or gotten buck trail cam pics along the new cut . At some point bucks tend to began a new travel route along the cut pretty often by year 3-4

As more and more land is turned into cuts mainly in square or rectangle form. How are you noticing buck travel change.

Then comes into question follow the thick edge or follow the elevation trail that has been used all that bucks life. Most clearcuts are cut all the way to the creek as a boundary at least where I hunt. But I rarely see buck trails down low along that creek edge.

In most cases that 1 3rd from the top trail becomes a bunch of saplings or thick pines. The big headgear can no longer travel easily in it. And it is no longer along any type of transition.


As a example this bedding area i missed a bowshot on a 140 or so 8 point a few years back.
I've seen oaks near a popular mature buck bedding area be logged and once that September food source was gone the bedding area dried up and to this day is no longer used. The beds can still be seen and weren't effected by the logging.

Anyone else have to constantly be changing how you hunt because of cuts? I feel like I flip properties like a model changing clothes im in a constant battle to just keep up with whats going on.


Of course they do, especially in big woods.

Food is king. Food is #1 to deer. They go where they food is. You get the point
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Huntress13
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Re: Clearcuts altering buck travel patterns.

Unread postby Huntress13 » Sat Jul 10, 2021 1:47 am

I just watched this video last week on this subject:

https://youtu.be/j_IEeszZur8
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