My honey hole on our place may not be a honey hole anymore....went to the farm this

[rstallings1979]

morning and sat in my favorite spot on the entire property. It it a where a hardwood finger from the neighboring property meets our property at a hardwood creek bottom. If you look at it from the air it would look like a hand giving you the middle finger. On both sides of the finger was thick bedding and the deer would walk the creek bed scent checking the bedding areas.

As the day was getting lighter I looked out through the remaining leaves and across the creek and I no longer saw the thick bedding...it looked like a fresh clear cut. Apparently the landowner (cousin) brought in a chopper this past week and they finished up yesterday or over the weekend. His sister who was overseeing the property never replanted 3/4 years ago from a timber cut and it became jam up bedding for deer. She recently passed away and I guess he is trying to get things back in order. Curious to see what that may do to the spot. I still have high hopes but man on cold mornings and during the rut my oldest son and I saw chasing in there nearly every hunt. I didn't see a single deer this morning but it appears the chopper just came through yesterday. I am crossing my fingers this will push the deer my way even more but who knows. Hoping in a couple of years with a fresh replant of pines the bedding will return.

 

[Big7]

Location, location, location.

Seen my little Mama for a late lunch today.
She came in from the enclosed car port and told me 3 deer were in the front yard. I saw those 3, a buck and 2 does- then, all of a sudden, three more does came from the same side of the back yard.
It happened fast. I think one of the does was only a few months old. No spots but noticeably smaller than the other does. Try as I may, couldn't get a pic.

They all crossed the cul-dee-sac, into the neighbors yard.

And.. They show up in her subdivision all the time. About a mile from the center of town. ?

Prolly be a good time for me to invest in a decent crossbow. Nothing fancy. Range measured in feet, not yards. ?

 

[sghoghunter]

This year I had something similar happen at my house. Maybe 40yards across my fence row there use to be a pond that was maybe 20 to 25 ac’s in size. Well I’d say around 30 to 35 years ago the dam busted and it lost all the water except a small creek that ran through the middle. Well for as long as I can remember it’s been pretty thick and the deer used it to bed in or traveled through it instead of going out in the open areas or fields. Back the past spring the land owner and farmer fixed the dam and now it’s full of water and I can say it has 100% screwed up the deer hunting. Now they either have to cross an open field or an open area behind a business so there’s 0% daylight movement and no more decent bucks

 

[fishfryer]

This year I had something similar happen at my house. Maybe 40yards across my fence row there use to be a pond that was maybe 20 to 25 ac’s in size. Well I’d say around 30 to 35 years ago the dam busted and it lost all the water except a small creek that ran through the middle. Well for as long as I can remember it’s been pretty thick and the deer used it to bed in or traveled through it instead of going out in the open areas or fields. Back the past spring the land owner and farmer fixed the dam and now it’s full of water and I can say it has 100% screwed up the deer hunting. Now they either have to cross an open field or an open area behind a business so there’s 0% daylight movement and no more decent bucks

There’s a saying when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. 20-25 acre pond is a fisherman’s dream, just saying.

 

[Big7]

There’s a saying when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. 20-25 acre pond is a fisherman’s dream, just saying.

What ima' sayin' too. ?

And.. That, to me, qualified as a lake. Where I'm from, 1/2 acre to 7 or 8 is a pond. ?

Lemonade is a good thing.

 

[sghoghunter]

There’s a saying when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. 20-25 acre pond is a fisherman’s dream, just saying.

You ever drank straight lemon juice? That’s about how the fishing is in 20 acres of flooded trees that’s 35 years old. Only thing they done was make one heck of a duck habitat

 

[fishfryer]

You said pond not swamp or beaverpond

 

[SakoL61R]

morning and sat in my favorite spot on the entire property. It it a where a hardwood finger from the neighboring property meets our property at a hardwood creek bottom. If you look at it from the air it would look like a hand giving you the middle finger. On both sides of the finger was thick bedding and the deer would walk the creek bed scent checking the bedding areas.

As the day was getting lighter I looked out through the remaining leaves and across the creek and I no longer saw the thick bedding...it looked like a fresh clear cut......

Yep, same, same for me this past year. Called our spot "Buck Alley". Deer there all the time throughout the entire season. Son killed his first and several more there.
No more..... neighbor clearcut most all of the mature pine/hardwoods bedding area adjacent to that side of our property.
Deer movement patterns changed and so did our tactics. If it comes back, great. If not, no worries. Already moved stands and had successful hunts from the new places. Gonna tweak my stand placement this next spring and start a couple new food plots where the deer are. "Buck Runway" is only 75 yards from old "Buck Alley".
I will admit I was a bit upset when I first saw the clearcut, but not anymore. I've had fun figuring it all out again.

 

[buckpasser]

Sounds like good news to me. This way, assuming they replant it in pines, you now get a brand new thick spot that’ll hold a pile of deer. After seven or eight years those abandoned cuts get pretty stale.

 

[Evergreen]

If its replanted fairly soon(Jan to april) as soon as next season it could be back to the bedding it once was, since you've got what sounds like multiple "edge" points and now that that area is cut, might be a good idea to see if you can put in a little boomerang/semicircle shaped plot nothing massive just a little hold them up spot between the new pines and your hardwood corridor. Could be what dreams are made of pretty soon

 

[sleepr71]

I’m assuming you meant they came in with a Drum Chopper behind a Skidder,or Dozer? If so,they’ll likely burn it in a month or so,then replant. It’ll grow back up in 2 seasons & be good hunting again. No worries & Hey,at least they waited until mid-December ??

 

[Nimrod71]

I can tell you from experience the deer will be back, and maybe with some friends.

 

[GABASSMAN]

my neighbors clear cut their 100 acres next to mine. All my big bucks picked up and moved west to some more big timber. All I’ve got now is spikes and small bucks. Should be great next year

 

[uturn]

Patience Grasshopper...I’ve always heard it put something like this:

Big Bucks walk where Big Bucks walked! Unless they make it a parking lot or something like that of course!

I‘ve been there done that, but it never feels good when it happens and its hard to be patient that is for sure!

Hope it goes your way!