Don’t Overlook Leasing Recently Logged Parcels

A primer on hunting logged deer leases.

Logging isn’t the negative thing that hunters often paint it to be. In fact, logged timber can immediately improve the quality of hunting in an area. Of course, it all depends on the specifics, but don’t overlook leasing recently logged parcels. Here’s a primer on hunting logged deer leases.

The Myth of Logging Effects on Deer and Deer Leases

Numerous myths surround logging and its effects on deer, deer behavior, and the quality of deer leases. Some think a property is ruined for hunting after logging it. The truth? That couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, logging helps the deer herd in the short-, mid-, and long-term capacities.

Sure, logging doesn’t look great to the human eye. It can lead to a tangled mess of logs, sticks, and brambles. But to the whitetail, and the experienced deer hunter, that’s a beautiful sight. It signals bedding cover, food sources, and overall security.

The only downside? A short, temporary negative impact while the logging is occurring. The equipment activity can push deer to adjacent cover. It won’t drive them out of the country, though. It won’t push deer out long-term, either. I know this firsthand from personal experience hunting logged properties.

Understanding Where Deer Bed

Deer bedding is central to finding and patterning whitetails. Bedding needs are seasonal and change throughout the year. That said, in the fall and winter, deer prefer areas with high stem counts. This early successional cover offers concealment for bedding and food as well.

Interestingly, logged areas provide immediate and long-term bedding cover. The treetops left behind after logs are removed provide bedding cover right from the start. Deer use the horizontal and overhead structure to shield themselves from prying eyes. They feel safe there, and it serves as an immediate draw for daytime bedding.

Knowing How Deer Feed

Food sources are equally important for supporting a deer herd. Food source needs are seasonal, too, and these change throughout the year as well. All year long, natural browse is the No. 1 food source for deer. In warmer months, it’s green browse. In colder months, it’s dry, woody browse.

Logged areas provide immediate and long-term forage. Depending on the time of year, the downed treetops provide either leaves or buds, and deer consume both. It’s an immediate boon of food, and deer flock to it.

Logged areas also provide long-term forage. Opening the forest canopy allows for more sunlight to hit the forest floor. This leads to rejuvenation of low-level forage that deer can reach. They love that early successional growth for food, and they’ll browse on it for many years to come.

Without question, timbered areas provide deer with year-round forage. It’s one of the best ways to increase the available tonnage of food per acre. Leave the oaks standing and cut most everything else and it’ll lead to a world of deer food. Of course, that’s a rare timber harvest, because oaks are among the most targeted trees for loggers.

Hunting Around Logged Timber

Those with leases consisting of logged timber are in for a treat. Hunting around these can lead to incredible success, but like anything, it must be done the right way. Follow the right steps, and implement the right tactics, and it can lead to big things.

Scout for signs of bedding, feeding, and travel routes. Determine where deer are sleeping, eating, and traveling in-between. Put these pieces together, and it should produce a successful plan. Oftentimes, deer bed along the high ground, or where they have some cover to the rear and visibility in front, even amidst the jungle of downed treetops. They also need escape routes in different directions.

Benefit from logging roads. Loggers create these while working. When these work out in relation to bedding areas, food sources, wind directions, and access routes — use these to your advantage. It can make the difference in getting into position, or not, and filling tags, or not.

Deer are edge animals. This habitat type and game plan is all about edge cover. Thus, focusing efforts on areas where logged timber meets other habitat types is a solid play. Examples include where harvested timber meets un-harvested timber, cut hardwoods meets standing conifers, logged areas next to fields of native grasses (or brush), and more.

Obviously, the proximity of timber harvests to neighboring tracts impacts things as well. This can influence where you hunt, as well as how you enter and exit stand locations.

What Happens to a Logged Property? It Depends on the Severity of Timber Harvests.

What happens to a logged property can vary depending on numerous factors, including the severity of the cut, timing of the cut, etc. These factors and more impact the specificity of how deer use these areas.

Logging methods matter. For example, select cuts don’t change things significantly, but these can provide slightly more bedding cover and food sources. It should lead to an immediate but not overwhelming improvement in both categories.

A heavy cut can greatly reduce available mast food sources (i.e.: acorns). On the flip side, it greatly improves bedding cover and available browse for food sources. Interestingly, a heavy cut on a mature stand of hardwoods can immediately flip the script on how deer use the landscape. While they never bedded but always fed in the mature hardwoods, they’ll instead start bedding and feeding in the timbered area and traveling elsewhere for evening destination food sources.

Generally, a clear-cut is not ideal for hunting properties. This type of timber harvest completely eliminates mast crops, trees for stands, etc. That said, it still provides bedding cover, and within a year or two, should offer a significant level of whitetail attraction. These are challenging to hunt, and often require sitting the perimeters or placing elevated blinds within it.

Timing matters, too. The time of year the property is logged can have significant and varying impacts on deer movement. For example, cutting in the summer leaves more than enough time for deer to move back into the area. Cutting right in the middle of October and November can temporarily push deer out when hunting is at its peak, but even then, deer can move back in within days of completed cutting. Cutting during the late season provides much-needed woody browse in the form of buds in downed treetops.

Generally, the hunting really gets good approximately one to two years after a property is cut. This is due to regrowth, which elevates the bedding cover and available food sources.

Ask the Right Questions

In summary, most logged areas can still be great for deer hunting. That said, ask the right questions. What type of timber harvest was done? What method was used? Are there treetops still on the ground, or were they piled and burned? Has the property been un-hunted? Can you plant food plots in open spaces? These and more are factors to know about when analyzing the quality of a logged hunting property. But don’t overlook leasing recently logged parcels.