Brush hogging trails.

[Prelude8626]

All. I’ve got a bunch of ATV trails on my property that we try to keep cleaned up (only owned it about a year). Is it too early to start cutting the trails (don’t want to have to cut it Twice). When do most of you start your cutting.

 

[Native Hunter]

Now is a good time. You don't want to be in there cutting trails when it gets close to hunting season. Deer like to bed where there is no human presence. Get the work done early and then stay out except when you are hunting. I also recommend walking in as much as possible, because ATVs alert deer to your presence too. The does and young bucks may not pay much attention, but the old bucks will. Use your feet to kill your deer and your ATV to drag him out.

Also, spraying trails might be better than cutting if you have woody stuff. Woody stuff don't generally come back as fast as weeds once you get it under control initially. Some extra work now (spraying and/or stump treating) will save you time down the road.
Good luck.

 

[dogghr]

Mid summer cutting will keep it clean for 2+ years. Spraying will give 3-5 before becomes a problem again.

 

[Laker]

I run up and down mine with my boomless sprayer and a strong gly/24d/AMS mixture and it lasts a couple of years. I know it's not the recommended route, but I've even mowed THEN sprayed on the same weekend when the growth was so high I didn't think I could get a good kill with the sprayer. I only had to do that once. But, I got a good kill despite not waiting for that new flush of growth.

 

[Drycreek]

I mow once a year, and I just got through with that this past week, at home and at the lease. I wait until I think the rain is over for the summer.

 

[Deadeye]

Interesting.
Growing up in Farm Country there was always Equipment of some sort and lots of Young'ens on Mini and Dirt Bikes running around through the fields and on the roads through the woods. We didn't have ATV's back then, as the 3-wheelers were just coming into existence.

Anyway, I always felt the Deer on those properties got used to the sound and didn't associate it with Danger. I remember several times where I used a vehicle or some sort of equipment to get to a hunting spot with no bad effect.

Now Today, that might no be the same. Pretty much gone are the small Family Farms that were all over back in those days. Still if the equipment you use is the same as you use during the Hunting Season I would think the same effects would happen. I can say that I used my ATV to disc up ground on my new Lease set posts with Cameras on see what was using or crossing there. It didn't take long for the deer to show up on the cams after I did the work.

Personally I think it comes down the Association. If they learn to associate the sound with DANGER, that is the reaction you will get. If they learn to associate the sound with FOOD or NO DANGER then I think that the reaction you will get will be different.

Just for Thought, look at Spin Feeders. Some claim their Deer run fro them when they go off, yet others report the deer learn that the sound means FOOD and they actually come almost running to it.

 

[Prelude8626]

Yea, I don’t use the atv during hunting season at all but like to keep the trails cleaned up. I’ve got some swampy areas and I cut it late last years and it’s already waist high, so I’m not sure it will stay clean for that amount of time.

 

[Mennoniteman]

Interesting.
Growing up in Farm Country there was always Equipment of some sort and lots of Young'ens on Mini and Dirt Bikes running around through the fields and on the roads through the woods. We didn't have ATV's back then, as the 3-wheelers were just coming into existence.

Anyway, I always felt the Deer on those properties got used to the sound and didn't associate it with Danger. I remember several times where I used a vehicle or some sort of equipment to get to a hunting spot with no bad effect.

Now Today, that might no be the same. Pretty much gone are the small Family Farms that were all over back in those days. Still if the equipment you use is the same as you use during the Hunting Season I would think the same effects would happen. I can say that I used my ATV to disc up ground on my new Lease set posts with Cameras on see what was using or crossing there. It didn't take long for the deer to show up on the cams after I did the work.

Personally I think it comes down the Association. If they learn to associate the sound with DANGER, that is the reaction you will get. If they learn to associate the sound with FOOD or NO DANGER then I think that the reaction you will get will be different.

Just for Thought, look at Spin Feeders. Some claim their Deer run fro them when they go off, yet others report the deer learn that the sound means FOOD and they actually come almost running to it.

I've experimented with pressure from all human activities, with record keeping and trying to keep all other details equal, and my results clearly showed that ATV's are the worst kind of pressure, with tractors and humans walking being of the least kind. Neither method was used as a means to shoot at deer. Although not all deer are pushed around by pressure, there's a significant increase in the amount of daytime deer movement in a zero pressure environment.

All. I’ve got a bunch of ATV trails on my property that we try to keep cleaned up (only owned it about a year). Is it too early to start cutting the trails (don’t want to have to cut it Twice). When do most of you start your cutting.

I do my trail widening on woods roads in mid-winter when there's no worry about altering deer patterns, there's less sweating, and you can see what you're doing. If there's a shade canopy overhead that will last at least a year without needing to widen for access. If the trail is exposed to sunlight briars will start to close in by late summer. I drive a tractor with a FEL and brush hog through once to break up the briars to provide hunting access. I try to get this done between July 4th and labor day.

 

[Deadeye]

I've experimented with pressure from all human activities, with record keeping and trying to keep all other details equal, and my results clearly showed that ATV's are the worst kind of pressure, with tractors and humans walking being of the least kind. Neither method was used as a means to shoot at deer. Although not all deer are pushed around by pressure, there's a significant increase in the amount of daytime deer movement in a zero pressure environment.

I do my trail widening on woods roads in mid-winter when there's no worry about altering deer patterns, there's less sweating, and you can see what you're doing. If there's a shade canopy overhead that will last at least a year without needing to widen for access. If the trail is exposed to sunlight briars will start to close in by late summer. I drive a tractor with a FEL and brush hog through once to break up the briars to provide hunting access. I try to get this done between July 4th and labor day.

Interesting take on the ATV. Here's why I hold fast to the belief that if it is a sound they are used to and not associated with Danger, they simply don't care.

Couple of years back I went back Home to hunt with my Brother on the old Farm Property he now owns. We rode to the stand in his little sxs that was very loud to me. He has built a Box Stand near the spot where I used to have a stand built leaning against a tree and it was always a good spot.
I had to take a pee and went outside to relieve myself. While standing on the top step I saw movement coming out of the Pines and checked it out to find it was a Doe. She walked down the lane to the Stand from road we drove in and went and laid down not 20 yards away from his sxs. I eased inside and told him about it. She laid there for several hours before someone walking on the Road spooked her and she fled the area.

Now maybe if hearing an ATV is a rarity then suddenly hearing one they know something is different and are instantly on alert. I believe that is True. My SIL was driving his SXS that he had built for Mudding down to the end of the main trail and then walked the rest to the bottom stand. He never saw a deer while hunting there. Yet I always walked there and saw Deer each time I hunted it.

I use my ATV for Prepping the areas that I hunt, but I walk to them when hunting, if possible.