Food plots and trails

[bearcat]

My new place is pretty thick. I inherited some blinds and feeders and haven’t moved much yet. There were no roads or stands anywhere on the south end of the property. After quite a bit of work I was able to clear a road from the pipeline, past the hinge feeder which I added and connect the road with my main ranch road. Currently, there is a crew out there removing quite a bit of Eastern Red cedars, so that will help with opening up the place as they progress. With limited open spaces, I don’t have a ton of options for access trails and plots. I hate for my trails to be so close to my plots, but that’s where I’m at currently. Over time, I plan on adding to the pond plot on the west to make a large U shaped plot going East. I will also add some plots on the southern portion of the property as well.
What are your thoughts on have my trails go through to next to food plots?
I’m sure many of you face the same issue and wanted to see how you get around it


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[BoneCrusher20]

i've run into similar issues and actually have plots where i want that access road right there on the plot.

But i'm doing that because it is not a destination plot, but a hunting plot. So as night falls typically they are empty and deer have moved onto the big fields/destination plots and i want easy access where i'm not going to walk through whole woods and stir things up this way i can get in quick and exit pretty undetected.

Sometimes there is just no way around them, not everyone's woods can be set-up perfectly just depends on terrain. if worried about spooking deer what about building screens w/ vegetation (pine trees/grasses/corn if have big enough plot/hedges )or berms if have access to dozer.

 

[Triple C]

My main interior road runs along the edge of my largest food plot. Just about every trip from the cabin to a stand location will pass along the food plot. I know folks that say deer won't use it as much but that just hasn't been the case. Just about anytime from early November thru the end of the season there will be anywhere from 8 to 15 deer feeding in this plot before sundown. Sometimes more. Without fail, coming out of the woods when it's just barely light to see, we will almost always bust deer out of this plot driving by. Sometimes they flag and run. Other times they just watch. Got a redneck blind on this plot as well and walk right along the edge of the plot to access the blind. Thinking deer are just accustomed to the drive by traffic cause they are going to be there just about every day.

Same for our cabin field. Got 3 to 4 acres that are overlooked by the cabin. Traffic constantly back and forth from going and coming from stands. It will always have several deer feeding in it when we come out of the woods.

 

[Paradise725]

I think you definitely want to have access trails to your plots and then access trails for hunting. Trails for plot maintenance are always the flattest, path of least resistance. Trails for hunting access are always based on the wind direction for which that plot is setup for hunting.

I have historically seen significant negative impacts of blowing deer out of my plots as I drive by to access other stands. I placed two different screens between my largest food plot and my access trail and have seen significant improvement in daylight activity there throughout the season as a result. Some herds will tolerate getting bumped routinely, but mine won’t. We killed a 5.5 yr old buck out of my my big plot last year after driving past there (behind screening) 2-4 times a day for 6 days in a row prior to that. In my mind, there are no negative impacts of minimizing disturbance so I would setup your access accordingly if you can. I forgot to mention that I have an electric ranger, which is a game changer when it comes to minimizing disturbance.

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[Mennoniteman]

I think you definitely want to have access trails to your plots and then access trails for hunting. Trails for plot maintenance are always the flattest, path of least resistance. Trails for hunting access are always based on the wind direction for which that plot is setup for hunting.

I have historically seen significant negative impacts of blowing deer out of my plots as I drive by to access other stands. I placed two different screens between my largest food plot and my access trail and have seen significant improvement in daylight activity there throughout the season as a result. Some herds will tolerate getting bumped routinely, but mine won’t. We killed a 5.5 yr old buck out of my my big plot last year after driving past there (behind screening) 2-4 times a day for 6 days in a row prior to that. In my mind, there are no negative impacts of minimizing disturbance so I would setup your access accordingly if you can. I forgot to mention that I have an electric ranger, which is a game changer when it comes to minimizing disturbance.

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I didn't even know Polaris made an electric ranger? How do you like it?

As far as trails going through or close to plots vs. access trails hidden from plots, I have both, and there's definitely a clear advantage to having access trails screened from plots, especially with older bucks. The good thing is that distance from plot doesn't matter as much (depending on wind direction) so a screen like spruce trees could solve your problems.

 

[bearcat]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Once I get back to work and get some funds coming in. I’d like rent a mulcher and work on some access trails. I did screen one plot and will work on screening the larger plot next year when it cools down.

 

[BenAllgood]

My main interior road runs along the edge of my largest food plot. Just about every trip from the cabin to a stand location will pass along the food plot. I know folks that say deer won't use it as much but that just hasn't been the case. Just about anytime from early November thru the end of the season there will be anywhere from 8 to 15 deer feeding in this plot before sundown. Sometimes more. Without fail, coming out of the woods when it's just barely light to see, we will almost always bust deer out of this plot driving by. Sometimes they flag and run. Other times they just watch. Got a redneck blind on this plot as well and walk right along the edge of the plot to access the blind. Thinking deer are just accustomed to the drive by traffic cause they are going to be there just about every day.

Same for our cabin field. Got 3 to 4 acres that are overlooked by the cabin. Traffic constantly back and forth from going and coming from stands. It will always have several deer feeding in it when we come out of the woods.

I've seen this on some plots too. How many deer per year do you shoot in each of those plots?

 

[Paradise725]

I didn't even know Polaris made an electric ranger? How do you like it?

As far as trails going through or close to plots vs. access trails hidden from plots, I have both, and there's definitely a clear advantage to having access trails screened from plots, especially with older bucks. The good thing is that distance from plot doesn't matter as much (depending on wind direction) so a screen like spruce trees could solve your problems.

I love my electric ranger. I bought it from a shade tree dealer and didn’t realized it had a rebuilt title, but I only paid $5k for it so even though I’ve put a couple grand into it since then, I’ve been pleased. It will go anywhere a regular ranger will go, but you do have limited battery life.


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[Mennoniteman]

I love my electric ranger. I bought it from a shade tree dealer and didn’t realized it had a rebuilt title, but I only paid $5k for it so even though I’ve put a couple grand into it since then, I’ve been pleased. It will go anywhere a regular ranger will go, but you do have limited battery life.


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So the couple grand was for new batteries? Is it pretty quiet, or does the motor have a bit of a whine to it? I'm mostly interested for the quiet factor of driving woods trails.

 

[bearcat]

I really like the idea of an electric golf cart for hunting season. But dang the batteries get expensive


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[Triple C]

I really like the idea of an electric golf cart for hunting season. But dang the batteries get expensive


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When compared to the back n forth to buy gasoline, oil n filters and prolly a tune-up to 2, it's been my experience that battery is hard to beat. Five years out of my 1st set of Trojan batteries. Went with a cheaper battery on replacement after 5 years and wish I'd bit the bullet on the Trojans. Could run my cart all day with plenty of juice left over at the end of the day. Replacement batteries of a lesser quality...not so much. Gonna replace them after 3 years. Been looking at the Dakota Lithium battery but not sure I wanna spend that much on a glorified golf cart.

 

[Paradise725]

So the couple grand was for new batteries? Is it pretty quiet, or does the motor have a bit of a whine to it? I'm mostly interested for the quiet factor of driving woods trails.

It was for new batteries, new wheels and tires, new wheel studs and lug nuts, new battery retention bolts. It was clear it had been wrecked previously and they had done a half ass job of repairing.

It has a little bit of a whine, but the loudest noises are just from the suspension flexing and the tires running over stuff. A light wind and you can often ride right up on deer and turkeys before they notice you.


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