In defense of THICK cover

[Bowsnbucks]

So I am in the "cover is king" boat as well.....especially here in farm country. The only cover of ANY kind is where the land is either too wet or too steep to farm. These areas are where the deer are....and if you can find/create a small pocket of thick nasty stuff, then you really have something. The thing is that you have to maintain it. I have a neighbor that planted trees in old corn fields for commercial purposes. The first decade or so it was great, but now the trees have grown and closed the canopy and the understory is almost gone. This holds true for when you do timber work and the like. You have to keep sunlight to the ground. A term I use and have used is "stem density"......the higher the stem count of the plants and the like in the area the thicker it will be and in my opinion the more likely it will be for deer to use it as cover. Something that Jeff Sturgis talks about in his books is also "depth of cover". Having a long narrow piece of cover isn't nearly as effective as having the same amount of space in in a block. Lastly the other thing I think some people don't grasp is that what the deer like...well it looks like the "$h1t-holes" that was mentioned. They are not "pretty"....in fact they are nasty jungles. I think some people want that "park" look and that is fine, but is sucks for wildlife. I used to be one that didn't understand how cutting down trees could make better habitat. I have since had two cuttings and look forward to the next. The chainsaw is my friend!

Boy, did you hit it on the head as far as how our camp property looked before we started logging about 25 or 26 years ago. "Park-like", wide open woods with no cover or browse is what we had. The "chainsaw has been our friend" applies at our place. Getting sunlight on the ground has been great for food and cover.

I quoted the "sh##holes comment from the Benoit family of hard-core deer hunters of Maine & northeast Vermont. It's the way THEY describe the places where the biggest bucks like to hang out. In my experience here in Pa. - the thickest, crappiest cover is where the biggest bucks will hang. Logging operations and the sun-driven, thicker growth that follows the saws usually brings a flurry of deer travel / bedding. Giving deer a thick, core sanctuary is key to keeping nice deer around.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I think if I were to cut a path specifically for BIG BUCK travel / bedding - it would be a winding path - read: not straight on the down wind side of doe bedding. With maybe a couple openings of say 10-20 square feet. I’m guessing that the straight paths don’t give the big ones a sense of security, and then tend to avoid them. IMO.

WOW!!! You've discovered the "winding path" thing like my Bro-in-law & I tried going back some years. In our mountain laurel-infested mountains, we tried cutting some curving, winding trails about 3 ft. wide through it. We put tree stands on some of the curves to take bucks' attention away as they rounded the curves while walking slowly along the trails. (they walk slowly because the cover is sooo thick, they feel safe - no hurry.) After about a week of the trails' existence, we checked for deer travel. We could scarcely take steps on those trails without hitting piles of droppings. In the fall, there were rubs and big, stinky scrapes all along those trails. Proof enough for us!!!

Good luck with your winding-trail-cutting Spike_Horn!!! I'm betting you see good results.

 

[Spike_Horn_Shooter]

WOW!!! You've discovered the "winding path" thing like my Bro-in-law & I tried going back some years. In our mountain laurel-infested mountains, we tried cutting some curving, winding trails about 3 ft. wide through it. We put tree stands on some of the curves to take bucks' attention away as they rounded the curves while walking slowly along the trails. (they walk slowly because the cover is sooo thick, they feel safe - no hurry.) After about a week of the trails' existence, we checked for deer travel. We could scarcely take steps on those trails without hitting piles of droppings. In the fall, there were rubs and big, stinky scrapes all along those trails. Proof enough for us!!!

Good luck with your winding-trail-cutting Spike_Horn!!! I'm betting you see good results.

Bows and Bucks. Thanks - so it works for buck travel. I’m going to try and cut some winding buck paths this winter after I do some some post season scouting.

This whole side of my property is basically untouched. It’s next to a busy road but the deer don’t mind (best buck sign I usually find is next to roads anyways).

The goal of my cuttings is going to be to get deer to travel to this green field that is my most remote field, and get Vicks to spend more time cruising. I can sneak in on my the property line cut on a south west wind and jump into a stand. Or sneak in from the road and watch my cut buck path (rut only).

Might try and cut 1 or 2 paths in from the road for me, and a catch a buck cruising my winding trail on a west wind.

 

[Spike_Horn_Shooter]

You can also see how much the prickly ash has grown in this field in the last couple of years. One pic is from HuntStand the other pic is from the NRCS soil mapping website.

I’m not going to cut any prickly ash in big chunks this year. But I might consider it next year. I am going to brush hog the field in the spring to keep the prickly ash at bay. It’s northern ny. I think the limiting factor is fall / winter food, not cover. I have about 20 acres of hay fields I’m going to be slowly transitioning to food plots as my road screening grows up.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

I think mature bucks will take the best bedding in the area. Best as in most secure from predators if they are a problem. Best may also mean thickest or it might mean an advantage due to topography to keep an eye on a parking lot, house, or other deer bedding.

In the most general terms, the thicker is generally better, but that may not always be the case. I also like the several comments on diversity if bedding types. Bucks clearly have different personalities. Some may always want that thick nasty stuff and others may just bed wherever. The radio collared studies from MSU show this to be the case.

 

[GoldenTriangleIL]

Great topic heading into "habitat" season. In thinking about where I have seen or bumped bedded deer, not necessarily mature bucks, it is typically near thick, diverse, undisturbed cover. I agree with most of what has been said above by folks with more experience than me. Two additional observations I have made:
My farm is located in west central Illinois so I don't see many individuals down here managing using what I would refer to as Northern Micromanagement Techniques, such as making specific buck beds, which I see from folks like Jake Ehlinger, Jim Brauker, Jim Ward, etc. Attempting to emulate this style last season, I stacked some trees to create small nooks with overhead cover. When I returned to these nooks a week after making them, I discovered that deer had begun bedding in those nooks. I was surprised deer took to them that quickly and by the overall success of this technique.
Second observation related to nighttime bedding/cover. I purchased a thermal scanner for coyote hunting last season and had the opportunity to scan a lot of ground from a vehicle (soon to be illegal in my state). I was blown away by the number of deer bedded in the open fields along drainages with little cover, often very close to roadways. They were also interspersed with coyotes and neither seemed to mind the other's presence at all.

 

[gjs4]

A winding path has more footage, which means more edge which means more browse too. Those shaded twists have more moisture too.

I feel the big big old boys (and girls) are also smart enough to know where thermals and winds both eddy and pool (with shade) and use that to their advantage smelling/winding more of their local than one would think. I

The longer the straights are the more apt they are to look both ways and leap across without dillying around coming from our experiencing cutting shooting lanes and growing up next to an old RR.

 

[sandbur]

A winding path has more footage, which means more edge which means more browse too. Those shaded twists have more moisture too.

I feel the big big old boys (and girls) are also smart enough to know where thermals and winds both eddy and pool (with shade) and use that to their advantage smelling/winding more of their local than one would think. I

The longer the straights are the more apt they are to look both ways and leap across without dillying around coming from our experiencing cutting shooting lanes and growing up next to an old RR.

With long straights, the best stands could be just inside cover near either end.

I do find that if you have deciduous forest on each side of the straight, a few conifers with lower branches can focus deer movement and give them some security before crossing. Put those conifers at a narrow spot or a bend and they are better yet.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I do find that if you have deciduous forest on each side of the straight, a few conifers with lower branches can focus deer movement and give them some security before crossing. Put those conifers at a narrow spot or a bend and they are better yet.

Bingo. 100% agree.