sandbur
5 year old buck +
I have pretty good luck with bucks on the trails, IF the surrounding cover is thick and the buck is cruising.
If he hits a hot smell, he cuts off trail or if he is following a lady.
If he hits a hot smell, he cuts off trail or if he is following a lady.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
^^^^ Ladies have lured many a good male into danger !!! :eek::D
*Hawaii5joe*
5 year old buck +
I'm new to having good trails on the property. My neighbor mowed them a few weeks ago and that's where most of the deer are I think. Ideally it would be nice to have 5' on each side cleared for young browse and a sense of security.
*Hawaii5joe*
5 year old buck +
Looks like Gunther had some nice daylight buck activity on the love scrapes thread. I like that corn/trail set up he's got going
Prairie Acres
5 year old buck +
Bumping this 10 year old thread.
I placed a trail camera on my land at a mowed UTV trail T-intersection. It's also where part of the UTV trail goes through an opening in a long fence line. I'm getting mature buck pictures in this spot both day and night. I'm thinking of putting a ground blind in the grassland and hunting it this fall. I included a map and a trail camera picture to show the spot.
I placed a trail camera on my land at a mowed UTV trail T-intersection. It's also where part of the UTV trail goes through an opening in a long fence line. I'm getting mature buck pictures in this spot both day and night. I'm thinking of putting a ground blind in the grassland and hunting it this fall. I included a map and a trail camera picture to show the spot.
sandbur
5 year old buck +
Do you think he is bedding in CRP?
Bedding and wind direction might determine stand placement.
Prairie Acres
5 year old buck +
It's possible deer are bedding in the CRP but they seem to prefer the thick wood/brush.
I've got at least 8 different bucks on camera and many doe and fawns. I think it's just a good spot for movement.
The blind would be placed with the prevailing wind in mind.
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
About 30% of my foodplot is trail. Mow 4th of july, spray iand spread seed in august. Young rye, oats, clovers, even most brassicas survive mild ATV traffic. My tail is a public snowmobile trail. Technically ATVs other than my clubs hunting lease folks are not supposed to be on it. But, probably get double the traffic from illegal joyriding.
White clovers seed more than red ones, so when you mow the white clovers set a new set of seed heads that are probably fertile in a month. Red clovers are maybe 2 seed heads a year. You mow, it mgiht not put a new seed head out. Kale family and rape survive atv traffice better than turnips or radish does. Seen native chrocry survive ATV traffic on other trail systems, so that should be ok. Winter peas usually get devoured before they get mature on my foodplots up there.
I dod not plant platain on my foodplots, but they are in the driveways and club lawn areas. They survive traffic too. Small gme loves crabgrass, deer will eat it late summer / early fall.
Timothy survives ATV traffic ok, but deer arent a big fan of it.
I know a few people that only mow around labor day and deer enjoy the fresh fallow food it provides. Some years they lime, some years they run the discs stirring up things. MAybe every few years they buy a seed mix, but dont spray. OFten the deer enjoy grape and other browse along the trail.
White clovers seed more than red ones, so when you mow the white clovers set a new set of seed heads that are probably fertile in a month. Red clovers are maybe 2 seed heads a year. You mow, it mgiht not put a new seed head out. Kale family and rape survive atv traffice better than turnips or radish does. Seen native chrocry survive ATV traffic on other trail systems, so that should be ok. Winter peas usually get devoured before they get mature on my foodplots up there.
I dod not plant platain on my foodplots, but they are in the driveways and club lawn areas. They survive traffic too. Small gme loves crabgrass, deer will eat it late summer / early fall.
Timothy survives ATV traffic ok, but deer arent a big fan of it.
I know a few people that only mow around labor day and deer enjoy the fresh fallow food it provides. Some years they lime, some years they run the discs stirring up things. MAybe every few years they buy a seed mix, but dont spray. OFten the deer enjoy grape and other browse along the trail.
Don't forget that deer like to look down the trails to see what is ahead of them in the open areas. Placing your stand to the side where it is out of the primary line of site down the trail would be something else to consider.
Prairie Acres
5 year old buck +
Thanks for the tip!
bigboreblr
5 year old buck +
When hunting trails, you need 2 spots. One to see them intially, then another to get the shot. You,re on the side of hte trail 2 or 3 trees in. You see him on the trail. IT would be nice to clean up the far side of the trail to have a shooting lane to the left and right of you. Maybe even a 3rd thats on your side of the trail looking down alongside it.
Put a bright orange lifjacket or something about rifle height so you can easily see. Walk around with the saw and pruning shears. Low low where your shot would be going on the deer. Much more than 10-15 minute per lane and you might be cutting too much.
Leave some good low branches for scrapes to happen. Maybe even start it a bit with beating up the grass with a rake a bit.
No matter what you do with trail cameras, some deer always get sppoky of them. You can hang them with a stick on a branch if you put a hook on the trail camera. Tough for deer to get spooked that way on trails.
Put a bright orange lifjacket or something about rifle height so you can easily see. Walk around with the saw and pruning shears. Low low where your shot would be going on the deer. Much more than 10-15 minute per lane and you might be cutting too much.
Leave some good low branches for scrapes to happen. Maybe even start it a bit with beating up the grass with a rake a bit.
No matter what you do with trail cameras, some deer always get sppoky of them. You can hang them with a stick on a branch if you put a hook on the trail camera. Tough for deer to get spooked that way on trails.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
I learned something years ago from a book (or article) by the Wensel brothers. They advised setting up a stand overlooking a trail where it curves, because in their studies / observations, deer will pay more attention to the curving trail than looking around the surroundings. My BIL and I cut trails through thick mountain laurel here to make "walkways" for the deer, cutting curves on those trails to see how deer acted on those curves. Deer acted pretty much as the Wensel bros. observed. Bucks' heads were down most of the time walking those curves. So we placed tree stands within bow-shot range of those curves. 
EDIT: Cut trails in weeds, grass, goldenrod, and mountain laurel have all drawn deer to use them for us. Deer seem to like the easy ways, just like we do!
EDIT: Cut trails in weeds, grass, goldenrod, and mountain laurel have all drawn deer to use them for us. Deer seem to like the easy ways, just like we do!
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