creek trail

[bueller]

I have a creek which essentially marks the west border of my property. It's a smaller parcel so the length of my west border is only 300 yards or so. This was my first full year with the property and I have been "learning" it before making any major changes. There is a good trail paralleling the creek on top of the bank on my side. I ran a camera here most of the year and had good daytime activity. During the rut I had some nice bucks walking this trail all times of day. In a couple spots large trees have fallen and are blocking the trail. I'm pondering the following 3 options. What do you guys think?

1. Clear up the trail and encourage the deer to run parallel to the creek for the length of my land. I'd have to find a place for a stand/blind to cover the trail.

2. Enhance the blockage(s) created by the down trees by dropping a couple more in an effort to "direct" the deer further into my land and past a stand/blind that I would have to put in place.

3. Do nothing and try to find a spot to place a stand/blind. I don't have any good spots in mind at this time.

 

[John-W-WI]

I would start with a potential stand location and work from there....

Don't try to move them too much, they will just ignore your efforts and go where they want to go anyway.

I'm no expert, but I've found 'suggesting' a line of travel is better than demanding one.

-John

 

[ruskbucks]

I would do a combo of 2 and 3. I definitely wouldn't clear it up. The large fallen trees along with the creek are most likely the reason the deer are using the area. If the deer are going around some of the trees to the neighbors, I would cut just enough that they deer can get through (3-4 ft wide). If it is that good now I would leave it alone,if there are some open spots that could benefit from some hinge cutting I would think it would only help. The thicker the better.

 

[bueller]

Part of my fear of cleaning up the trail paralleling the creek is that the bucks cruising during the rut could cross the creek onto my side, trot along the creek, and then cross right back without stepping more than 10 feet into my land. The area with the fallen trees just happens to be a preferred creek crossing for the deer because of the gentle slope of the bank at that spot, the rest is pretty steep. Thankfully it's also near the center line of my property. There really isn't any good trees to setup directly on this spot without being directly on the trail and the property line.

 

[wiscwhip]

Is this a meandering creek or one of the drainage ditches up there? If it meanders, there should be good ambush points along the bends in some places. Drainage ditch, not so much, a bit harder to set up on in that case.

 

[bueller]

Is this a meandering creek or one of the drainage ditches up there? If it meanders, there should be good ambush points along the bends in some places. Drainage ditch, not so much, a bit harder to set up on in that case.

More of a drainage ditch, and you are correct it is not so easy to setup on, especially at the crossing spot where multiple trails intersect. All this is why I'm leaning towards possibly lengthening the blockage a bit further into my property to a spot where I can get a stand or blind up. The blockage is stopping deer traffic 100% on the trail that parallels the creek but it only runs maybe 20 feet into my property. The deer go around it.

 

[wiscwhip]

Get a couple thick lines of spruce going in that crossing area to act as a travel lane. Start at the creek and run it towards the center of your place. String it along an area where you would have trees to drop along side the plantings to further direct their movement away from the top of the bank. Start slow and don't overdo any cutting at first, the deer will let you know how much "suggesting" you can do to their travel pattern without disrupting the usage you see now.

 

[bueller]

Get a couple thick lines of spruce going in that crossing area to act as a travel lane. Start at the creek and run it towards the center of your place. String it along an area where you would have trees to drop along side the plantings to further direct their movement away from the top of the bank. Start slow and don't overdo any cutting at first, the deer will let you know how much "suggesting" you can do to their travel pattern without disrupting the usage you see now.

I like the idea but I don't think I could get anything to grow in there without opening it up a ton by cutting the scrubby jack pine and oak which I don't want to do. I may continue with the slow approach and see if I can't get a stand setup to watch how the deer use the area even if they are out of bow range or in stuff too thick to shoot through.

 

[wiscwhip]

Could you put some temporary "piles" of slash and downed branches on the end of the existing 20' blockade, maybe 5' or 10' at a time, to see how they adjust to the changes? Maybe even a short length of snow fence? A guy could always use the snow blade on an ATV to push them out of the way later or just remove the fence sections?

 

[wiscwhip]

Dang it...I was trying to remember the name of that stuff, I even looked back at some old threads to see if I could find the name! LOL

 

[bueller]

Could you put some temporary "piles" of slash and downed branches on the end of the existing 20' blockade, maybe 5' or 10' at a time, to see how they adjust to the changes? Maybe even a short length of snow fence? A guy could always use the snow blade on an ATV to push them out of the way later or just remove the fence sections?

Sure could. I just happen to happen some 12-15 foot tall red pines in a different area that I plan to remove to release some of the better looking oaks growing in them.

 

[Tree Spud]

I ran a camera here most of the year and had good daytime activity. During the rut I had some nice bucks walking this trail all times of day. In a couple spots large trees have fallen and are blocking the trail. I'm pondering the following 3 options. What do you guys think?

I have a similar area like you have with the drainage dike that bucks traveled regularly. There were a few spots that deer crossed. I set-up a bow hang on stand which allowed me to play the wind. This was great early morning stand as when duck hunters came in to the marsh in the east, or bow on the neighboring property came in, they always pushed deer my direction and the dike was the funnel.

On one wind storm, a large tree fell and blocked the trail along the dike. I thought this was great as the deer would just walk around and give me a known area I could set another stand.

The exact opposite happened and deer would either cross the dike before they got to the tree, or stopped using the trail and wander more through the woods.

I wouldn't do anything. I would set up a couple of hang on bow stands parallel to the creek and hunt with minimal intrusion until you can observe their behavior. Finding a known funnel that "nice bucks" use is 80% of the equation, anything that impacts the trail or locating a box blind close could alter the pattern you have identified indefinitely.

You can always do something later, you may not be able to undo whatever you change though.

 

[bueller]

I have a similar area like you have with the drainage dike that bucks traveled regularly. There were a few spots that deer crossed. I set-up a bow hang on stand which allowed me to play the wind. This was great early morning stand as when duck hunters came in to the marsh in the east, or bow on the neighboring property came in, they always pushed deer my direction and the dike was the funnel.

On one wind storm, a large tree fell and blocked the trail along the dike. I thought this was great as the deer would just walk around and give me a known area I could set another stand.

The exact opposite happened and deer would either cross the dike before they got to the tree, or stopped using the trail and wander more through the woods.

I wouldn't do anything. I would set up a couple of hang on bow stands parallel to the creek and hunt with minimal intrusion until you can observe their behavior. Finding a known funnel that "nice bucks" use is 80% of the equation, anything that impacts the trail or locating a box blind close could alter the pattern you have identified indefinitely.

You can always do something later, you may not be able to undo whatever you change though.

Have you since opened that trail back up? They clearly like to travel parallel to the creek so that's why I've thought about option #1, clearing a SMALL opening through the blockage to allow the trail to continue north/south through it instead of around.

 

[wiscwhip]

You could have the perfect opportunity to monitor this area in the coming months. Once the snow flies, see how they are using that trail, then pile some slash at the end of the blockade to extend it and see how they react. If they react negatively, it could be gone by spring.;) It should be real easy to see the travel patterns in the snow.

 

[bueller]

You could have the perfect opportunity to monitor this area in the coming months. Once the snow flies, see how they are using that trail, then pile some slash at the end of the blockade to extend it and see how they react. If they react negatively, it could be gone by spring.;) It should be real easy to see the travel patterns in the snow.

Funny thing is last winter (my first on the place) this crossing and trail went quiet. A crossing about 100 yards north was HOT during the winter with snow on the ground. Come early spring and the north crossing dwindled to almost nothing and has remained quiet since. It will be interesting to see how the deer use it this winter, if they change their patterns again....

 

[wiscwhip]

If you block the north crossing would they continue to use the one in the center of your property?:eek: That might be a bit much, ;)but the differing use pattern is very interesting.

 

[bueller]

If you block the north crossing would they continue to use the one in the center of your property?:eek: That might be a bit much, ;)but the differing use pattern is very interesting.

Being a smaller property I don't want to block any crossings, I only have 3 that I've identified. The north crossing is much more open which may be the reason it sees winter use and not much use any other time of the year. Its also closer to the corner of a farm field on the other side.

 

[wiscwhip]

I was just saying it from a strictly hypothetical standpoint, but all very interesting.

 

[bueller]

If the winter pattern on that north crossing holds true again this year I may have myself a nice late season spot in the coming years. But that central crossing during the rut is what I really want to focus on.

 

[Tree Spud]

Have you since opened that trail back up? They clearly like to travel parallel to the creek so that's why I've thought about option #1, clearing a SMALL opening through the blockage to allow the trail to continue north/south through it instead of around.

Bueller ... I did try and manipulate the trail with chainsaw, ground work, etc. ... the deer did not return to use the trail the way they had previously done ...