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Post by sd51555 on Feb 21, 2021 15:21:39 GMT -6
Jumping off Stu's thread, he made a comment about his trails. It made me wonder how much time I spend working on my trails. The more I think about it, other than a few really big projects each year and normal plot operations, most of my impromptu work at camp is trail maintenance or improvement. Half my non-pond dirt project (NOT digging the pond with a mini) this year is just trail work. And human trails, not even deer trails.
I place a very high value on being able to sneak around quietly and get places to do stuff with things. Ya know?
Is that weird?
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Post by badgerfowl on Feb 21, 2021 15:34:39 GMT -6
Very weird.
J/k
I need to work on mine at some point. I’m planning on putting up a couple groundish (2’-4’ legs) blinds this year and cutting a quiet trail to them will be a priority. These won’t be very long but the blinds are going to be on food so I’d like to have a chance of sneaking in/out. One will be easier than the other but both will be going thru some nasty weeds/prickers to get there so I want a trail cleared. Want to get these done in spring before shit gets a chance to grow.
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Post by Catscratch on Feb 21, 2021 15:43:00 GMT -6
I mow trails around my yard plots almost weekly as well as another longer trail that I run on every couple of weeks. Otherwise hunting areas typically don't get messed with much unless it's to kick some leafs of the trail or to situate a rock for quiet walking.
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Post by Sandbur on Feb 21, 2021 15:47:46 GMT -6
My stand access trails get mowed in late summer and also my deer trails.
Sometimes i take a quickly walk after late summer on a windy day if I suspect a storm put trees down.
Otherwise, I tend to stay out of the woods until rifle season and until about October 25 in the bow hunting location.
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Post by chummer16 on Feb 21, 2021 15:50:22 GMT -6
I keep mine maintained but I try to use them as little as possible during the season. I sneak in other place. I know the deer are very alert to what is using the main trail. If I get I really warm day after leaf drop I will clear them of leaves with the York rake. That helps the sneaking if I do use them for the best part of the season.
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Post by sd51555 on Feb 21, 2021 16:10:26 GMT -6
I mow trails around my yard plots almost weekly as well as another longer trail that I run on every couple of weeks. Otherwise hunting areas typically don't get messed with much unless it's to kick some leafs of the trail or to situate a rock for quiet walking. Huh? ........... Maybe I'm too picky about it. When I started, there was a need to open stuff up. Nobody could get through anywhere, not quietly, not at all. Since then, it's been an ongoing project to get access opened up, cleaned up, smoothed out, hidden, and made quiet. If I got everything done this year that i want to do, I suspect I'll still have a full day or two of trail work the following year. Shit I know I do, if not a full week. |
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Post by Catscratch on Feb 21, 2021 16:30:49 GMT -6
I mow trails around my yard plots almost weekly as well as another longer trail that I run on every couple of weeks. Otherwise hunting areas typically don't get messed with much unless it's to kick some leafs of the trail or to situate a rock for quiet walking. ........... Maybe I'm too picky about it. When I started, there was a need to open stuff up. Nobody could get through anywhere, not quietly, not at all. Since then, it's been an ongoing project to get access opened up, cleaned up, smoothed out, hidden, and made quiet. If I got everything done this year that i want to do, I suspect I'll still have a full day or two of trail work the following year. Shit I know I do, if not a full week. I don't like to brush vegetation or make noise when I get close to my hunting spots. I will oftentimes step from rock to rock to avoid leaving scent or making noise. Sometimes I have to move a rock or two so I don't have to step on grass. If you haven't figured it out yet I'm half neurotic when I deer hunt. I'm just as bad about setting decoys when I duck hunt. Everything needs to be just right. I would rather shoot 1 duck that came in PERFECT than 5 ducks out of 10 flocks that flared. Same with deer, I go bat shit crazy if I spook a deer. I'm not healthy. |
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Post by smsmith on Feb 21, 2021 18:15:46 GMT -6
I mow my trails a few times a year. They are all accessible via atv, but it's a bit tight in a few spots. I've gotten pics of p&y caliber bucks walking my trails within hours of me being there. I'm not totally sold on always staying out. I will say that if your scent is an infrequent odor, then it may indeed be very detrimental. Deer on my place smell me more days than not. I'm convinced intensity of stench is more important than there simply being some odor (at least with familiar odors)
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Post by caveman on Feb 21, 2021 18:45:45 GMT -6
I mow my trails a few times a year. They are all accessible via atv, but it's a bit tight in a few spots. I've gotten pics of p&y caliber bucks walking my trails within hours of me being there. I'm not totally sold on always staying out. I will say that if your scent is an infrequent odor, then it may indeed be very detrimental. Deer on my place smell me more days than not. I'm convinced intensity of stench is more important than there simply being some odor (at least with familiar odors) Something that I have really began to notice the last few years is how some deer will bed in a way to monitor highly traveled human trails. In a way, the deer are actually attracted to the trail because that is where they know to keep an eye/nose/ear on their main predator.
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Post by Catscratch on Feb 21, 2021 18:51:14 GMT -6
The deer I shot this year was just a few yards from where my driveway and highway intersect. I run both often. With that said when I hunt that area I go to great lengths to make sure I'm not perceived to have gotten off those "trails" that I frequent. I may give deer more credit than they deserve, but since I started do that my success has gone way up. I'm not afraid to hunt near human disturbance though, just don't let them know the pattern has changed.
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Post by Reagan on Feb 21, 2021 19:02:55 GMT -6
With the family activity my trails get used most of the year. I have the kids cut back in September. My trails are big so I do very little maintenance other than run a mower down it. We have created 2 new trails the last couple of years.
Caveman is 100% correct. I had a main entrance trail on my old place. Deer would bed along it and watch for me. I learned to not use it. More than one time I didn’t use it for entrance in the morning but walked out mid day to jump deer and sometimes nice bucks bedded down watching where I should be coming from. I would always get closer when I walked the opposite direction from normal.
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Post by kooch on Feb 21, 2021 19:20:46 GMT -6
I run up my main access trail spraying with a hot dose of glyphosate once a year, maybe twice. The first year after opening it up I used 2,4-d in the mix too.
My boomless sprayer is perfect for this. My place is pretty flat so erosion isn’t a huge concern.
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Post by nhmountains on Feb 21, 2021 21:58:41 GMT -6
I mow my trails a few times a year. They are all accessible via atv, but it's a bit tight in a few spots. I've gotten pics of p&y caliber bucks walking my trails within hours of me being there. I'm not totally sold on always staying out. I will say that if your scent is an infrequent odor, then it may indeed be very detrimental. Deer on my place smell me more days than not. I'm convinced intensity of stench is more important than there simply being some odor (at least with familiar odors) The past few years I’ve been seeing does fawn near my camp. I think it’s a safety issue. They feel safer from coyotes there. |
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Post by Bwoods11 on Feb 21, 2021 22:06:49 GMT -6
I believe in lack of human intrusion. However, I see nice bucks on my mowed trails. I’m starting to add more trails every year.  |
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Post by Bwoods11 on Feb 22, 2021 7:56:52 GMT -6
I might even hire a forestry mulcher for trails this year . Very important I think.,
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