Help with travel corridors

[Scott S]

Hello wise people of habitat-talk. Do you guys recommend planting anything in travel corridors, or just hitting it with ground clear, or something else all together? I bought land that had been logged hard, and they left a ton of slash on the ground. It's nearly impassable in a lot of places due to the slash and new growth coming up through and around the slash. I've cut a travel corridor through it, but I'm concerned it will be completely overgrown in short order. My pH is lousy at about 4.5. Any and all wisdom is appreciated. Thank you!

 

[seadonist]

I don’t plant travel corridors because I figure they’re either headed to or coming from a food source. The most I do is put in a watering hole and a mineral lick and I try to stay away as much as possible.


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[Scott S]

Thank you seadonist. I appreciate you taking the time to give me some wisdom.

 

[seadonist]

Thanks but I wouldn’t call it wisdom, just trial and error (mostly errors)


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[Scott S]

Thanks but I wouldn’t call it wisdom, just trial and error (mostly errors)


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Hah. You still have me beat. I'm just praying every day that I'm not making my already less than ideal situation worse. I've been studying every single thread on here that seems even half relevant to my property for well over a year, and I still feel like I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing. I get how to make successful food plots, bedding, etc, but I'm completely lost how to apply those things to my land.

How do you keep your travel corridors from becoming completely overgrown? I can go through and brush saw down the growth as needed, but i feel like that's not ideal for avoiding stinking up the place.
Thanks again.

 

[seadonist]

I don’t alter corridors in any way, other than what I stated previously. The trick is finding the right places to hunt a corridor (not too thick, good entry/ exit routes, terrain and weather favor you and not the deer, etc.)


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[Scott S]

Ahhhh I get what you're saying. Ok. Thanks again.

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[Livesintrees]

Id ground clear it and set up some mock scrapes all along it

 

[Scott S]

Id ground clear it and set up some mock scrapes all along it

I can't believe how great this collection of strangers on the internet is. I posted this question no more than a half hour ago and I'm already getting awesome information. Thanks Livesintrees.

 

[Boll Weevil]

Look at it is paths of least resistance and poke holes where you want them to go...what you want them to use. Piles can be just as reliable as a fence in channeling movement. Cut a gap and they likely find and use it within days.

 

[Scott S]

Look at it is paths of least resistance and poke holes where you want them to go...what you want them to use. Piles can be just as reliable as a fence in channeling movement. Cut a gap and they likely find and use it within days.

Hey Boll,

That's kind of what I've started to do. I went through with my brush saw and cut out a path through the new growth from one edge of my property down to where I plan on planting a small amount of winter rye on September 1st. . Now I need to go back and clean up the slash to make it more pleasant for them to walk through. Even with the new growth out of the way it's tough walking in some spots. If i can get out of work at a reasonable time some day this week I'll go back up with my chainsaw and cut and pile up the slash that's in the path I cut. Thank you for taking the time to help out a stranger on the internet!

 

[Bill]

Also poke holes in your corridor. If they feel trapped on a path they won't use it. The holes don't have to go anywhere just so there's an off ramp. Not to say you can't build a small wall of Debris to keep them on track for the perfect shot. Just saying they won't walk long cattle shoots.

 

[Scott S]

Good call Bill. I hadn't considered that the travel corridor could be a coyote death trap. How long should the off ramps be in your opinion? Does it have to be a 100 yards of off ramp, or say like 20 yards?

Also, are you in agreement with Livesintrees on using ground clear on it? It sure makes sense to me, but I'd love your input on that too.

 

[Bill]

Just a hole to get off the highway. They can get through some thick stuff. I wouldn't cut them 100 yard trails to nowhere. But you can't trap them in maze.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

This might be a dumb question but....

What is ground clear?


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[Scott S]

ST,
I'm by no means an expert as you can tell by reading above, but it's an Ortho product for killing vegetation and preventing growth for a year after application. At least that's my understanding. Truthfully, I've bought some thinking that was the route I was going to take, but I have yet to use it, so I can't give you much input on how well it works.

Thank you Bill. Very helpful.

 

[cavey]

There is an art to good property planning - and a lot of just plain guess work and even a large amount of luck... Your going to find a wealth of info here and a ton of differing opinions... in the end your going to have to try and create a vision/plan of how you want to see your property - it needs to be realistic/obtainable/maintainable and one that is dynamic - your property is ever changing. Most everything you will do will have some form of a positive impact - really the only thing people really screw upon is cutting down 50 year old trees then regretting it (you cant undo something like that so plan carefully about those types of moves (sounds like a lot of cutting has been done so that may never be an issue)) everything else regenerates quickly so dont be afraid to experiment... Practices will have to be repeated and plans altered as things evolve. Deer are lazy and travel corridors when done well can really work... you'll have to balance how much intrusion you want on your property - its impossible to make and maintain improvements without having some impact (pressuring the deer). There are a million questions to be asked like what type of equipment do you have - atv or a tractor or none... how wide of a corridor are we talking, a path through the slashing or are you looking at a more open corridor where they may have some light browsing as they move to more established feeding areas... its really all about time, money and effort. Dont forget too that mother nature has gotten by without our help, forever in fact ... sometimes nothing is the best option and to let the deer tell you where and when to do things - its all really a big dice roll. There are some pretty deep habitat concepts and many people out there have very in depth management goals and plans just be careful of biting into some ideas that may be more fantasy than reality. You have time to make good decisions but, lol you need to get going now!

Even in the thickest crap out there deer do tend to figure out where they can move, saplings grow up fast and in a handful years its a completely different piece of property so if your just creating corridors for the deer to move in without integrating a bigger plan into the works rethink your goals... Im guessing now is going to be a good time for you to create some huntable paths of movement and access routes.

Im in the process of having my property logged so I will have areas that are slashed pretty hard and I will most definitely be attempting to manipulate movement through my property by use of travel corridors some will be nothing more than trails others will be opened up and seeded and wide enough for me to run my four wheeler through and one area im going to clear into a long narrow hourglass shape and keep clipped - with the perimeter opened up for sun light ( a larger travel corridor/ transitional feeding area with a pinch point kill area), Those wider areas will be seeded and clipped to keep the briars controlled otherwise your weed control is a good option and they will run dirt just as good as grass. There is a difference between access trails and travel corridors (not sure the deer always know that) but I want to use some of the areas as a blank slate and see what I can do to create predictable paths of movement for hunting and access to those areas. That is a weak point on my property - I do not have too many spots that I can guarantee day time movement of bucks during the fall and stands inserted into these travel paths - so that is a goal and through use of funneling and corridor creation during the logging process I hope to achieve some better stand sites than I have now. Corridors need to go places too - so fixed destination food plots, transitional food plots, waters sources, social areas, bedding cover should be mappable spots which you can interconnect and that will often dictate how much effort and maintainability you want to plan into your corridors . I dont think with narrow corridors it makes any difference if you kill it to the bare ground or seed it other than it would be a more natural corridor if there were some browse opportunities.

Have fun with it and...... Plant some apple trees on that logged off land of yours :-)

 

[Scott S]

cavey,
You aren't kidding about the wealth of knowledge around here.

Here's a little rundown of what I'm working with, maybe it will help you guys give me a more informed opinion.

My property is really small. Just a little more than 20 acres including where my house is, and the space between my deck and a river. The property runs from just below the top of a hill down to the river. There are a ton of ridges that run down the hillside, so I think access will be somewhat easy to hide, but I am restricted to accessing it from only two sides, I think. The very vast majority is as I described in my above posts. Mostly logged, with what appears to be all of the slash left behind, and EXTREMELY rocky. I've spent most of my life in the Granite State, and my land is rockier than just about any other property I've seen.

I have several chainsaws, a pole saw, a brush saw, backpack sprayer, shoulder seed spreader, and rakes basically. I have an ATV, but it's a 2wd 250 that I got for free because it wasn't running, and I have yet to successfully get it running. If/when I do get it running I'm hoping to use it to carry equipment, lime, seed, etc. I can't imagine it's a big enough to do much beyond that. I'm also essentially working alone. I occasionally get some help from my Dad or a friend, but for the most part it's all on me. My wife is dying to help, but we have an 18 month old, so if I'm in the woods, she has to be back at the house with the little man.


I've seen and (in one instance shot) deer that were working the edge of my property right were the tree line borders the logged area. My plan was to get a small area of winter rye near the middle of my property, so when it gets cold and everything else is dead I have the best food around, and they have to use the path I cut, or the area below the food plot that wasn't logged that makes somewhat of a pinch point between the logged area and the old railroad bed that runs about 80 yards down hill from the logged area. I'm hoping that creates some consistent day time travel. The new growth that I cut the path through is very thick, about neck height on me, and has a ton of raspberry bushes mixed in. I have to figure that makes for good browse and security while they're theoretically walking the path I cut. It sounds from what you and Livesintrees have said that just cleaning up and spraying the ground clear will be more than sufficient for my path's purposes.

I like to think my plans are realistic and obtainable. The area I'm planning on planting is riddled with stumps and rocks, so I'll likely never have the sexy food plots I see on here all of the time, but everything I read seems to suggest that winter rye wont mind growing in my acidic soil that I can't get any real equipment to. I'm figuring on rotating winter rye and buckwheat because my soil is so acidic and my resources are so limited. I'm going to throw some ladino and red clover in with the winter rye, but I don't expect much out of the clover with exactly zero soil amendments yet. The space is so small that the cost is insignificant, so i figured it wouldn't hurt to try. If the clover does well, I guess I would rethink the buckwheat in the spring. Also I'm planning on using my brush saw to "mow" around the stumps and rocks as needed. Certainly not ideal, but i figure I can ballpark the 6-8" height I would have to cut the winter rye back to in the spring.

If you're feeling generous with your time please feel free to pick apart my plan and give me feedback. If something I said above doesn't sound logical or wise I'm all ears. I grew up hunting like a hack, and I have this website and Steve B's youtube videos to thank for making me at least realize how little I know and how much I was doing wrong. I don't expect to be shooting Booners, but I'd be thrilled to fill my freezer most years, and have a decent place to get my son into hunting when he is older. Hell, I'd be happy consistently seeing deer, shooting one or two a year would only be a bonus.

Thanks again to all of you for taking the time out of your day to give me some much needed advice.

edited to add: apple and pear trees are in my 5-10 year plan. I'm not ready for them yet.

 

[Livesintrees]

You know the property better then anyone of us do. When I suggested the scrapes or actually more so licking branches that is me assuming that it sets up and makes sense in relation to the rest of your plan. Basically if the route you clear is heading from point A to point B and you have bullet proof access then I like the idea of “making” bucks that use the property feel like they “need” to take that path. You can do the same thing with a planted trail depending on the property lay out. However I have reservations about that sometimes. On a 20 acre piece your biggest hurdle in my opinion (take it as a grain of salt) is getting in and getting out of your stands. So if you have this trail as a big time attractant and deer stay to long rather then nibble as they go, you run the risk of bumping them. I think that using it a travel corridor and keeping the food limited on it makes sense. And here’s why. If laid out so that they leave Bedding, work that corridor through the property, and then end up in feeding, you SHOULD be able to get in and out with a carefully planned route and hunt the property more often dependent on wind. They will already have quite if bit of natural browse growing along this corridor as sunlight gets in and gets down to the dirt. You may even have a situation of is it “too thick”. And al that means to me is do the deer now want to be in and around this corridor instead of in your desired bedding location. Remember that does will typically bed for food and bucks will most times bed for security. One more reason I think the food is best kept Separate.

The good news is that the members on this site still have the best intentions regardless of method. I’d say read it all, then actually think about which stick out to you and why. You know the property. We don’t. So I’m sure that you know which suggestions make sense. Plan it and think about it. Bc a chainsaw is the best tool we have. It’s also the most permanent

 

[cavey]

Im probably the last guy to take advise from here - I've gotten into planting and habitat more than hunting - the more you do the less you have time to hunt. In an ideal world you would have an area as a destination food plot, maybe nearby doe bedding, a year round water source, then some transitional feeding areas with buck bedding areas back behind those and a interlinking system of travel corridors with stand sites along those travel paths that you could sneak into and a property you only went on to hunt - minimizing contact time to just enough time to harvest. I, and its just an opinion, find that 90% of us do not and will never ever have that perfect large track of land to pull that off; We have small plots of land that really have a multi use roll over a sole use/hunting property... even the time we put into habitat improvements pressure deer to a degree - I like to think of it as conditioning them to my presence :-)
Your property sounds like its going to be a rock garden of sorts - which is what it is and you work with it. From what I'm gathering your deer are moving through or to a non ag food source like a more open logged area... with a 20 acre parcel with no plans for a large food plot and possibly being the only good source of food for a long ways...I would be inclined to try and provide some type of draw to your area and I think your on the right track with chemical tillage and direct seeding winter rye and or winter wheat and working the clover idea as a starting point. I like the buckwheat idea too.... After you have improved the area you can mix in stuff like chicory... You might be surprised how large of an area you could create - there are wildlife shrubs you could plant too. Keeping it simple makes it manageable. My long term goal is to provide food 24/7/365 ag/soft and hard mast with more and more native browse - I like having feeding areas - I like seeing deer, and I pressure my property to a degree by my presence with some of my planting activities. There are areas I try not to go into... but I think i am realistic with my goals and practices. I have good land but it is not loaded with deer. Having food or browse is king and you can always work back from that if your constantly bumping deer - actually food is queen and water is king but you "have a river adjoining your property" or just near by? because that is huge - its a double bonus - a funnel or travel barrier plus year round water. If your house isn't perched on the edge of it for the view and its the border of that 20ac area I would be incorporating that feature into my plans.

Like others have mentioned - sort through the ideas; at first keep it simple and you'll figure it out with time, your not making any huge moves so tweaking things later wont set you back.... we all start off with huge plans and often its the simple ones that we finish. Remember they are just deer and likely already have enough your just trying give them a gentle push into your freezer... good luck and take some pics