Blacktails and clearcuts, what's the "ideal" clearcut?

[tbrady]

So, I've heard that Blacktails can best be found in clearcuts.  Well I've hunted clearcuts of all shapes and sizes and miles from the nearest gate and I haven't even seen a doe in several days.

Is there an "ideal" clearcut these apparently mythical creatures prefer?  E.g. I've been concentrating on ones that look to be 1-3 years old (regrowth just a few feet high) and usually ones 10acres or larger.

[fishngamereaper]

3- 5 years old for feeding, 5 years plus for bedding, and along the edges next to thick cover for quick escape.

Ive walked the middle of cuts and found no sign, move to within 20 yards of cover/timber and tons of sign. Its just how they are.

And I like small secluded cuts.

[deerhunter_98520]

 
 3-5yr old cuts...provides lots of cover and feed....dog hair and/or tall timber surrounding it

[Blacktail Sniper]

 


Don't overlook the isolated "Islands" surrounded by clearcuts either.  These patches of brush, trees and patches of cover can be deer magnets.

This a not so great example, but it shows what I am talking about:

[tbrady]

Can you describe (or attach a pic) a 3-5 year old clearcut?  I've tried Bing'ing and Googling it but I'm getting a huge variation in how they look...

[deerhunter_98520]

[Moose-head]

Good thread! Is steeper better?

[deerhunter_98520]

It keeps other people out...just make sure there iss no roads through the timber in the bottom...they have to feel safe....the one i hunt now is steep to get down into the cut but basically the whole thing is flat

[deerhunter_98520]

I would post a pic but theres a few things that would stand out and i dont wanna give away my honey hole 

[grousetracker]

3-5 years old and has steep side so you can have a vantage point, away from vehicles and an alder bottom if possible. watch the edges and draws. i love to side hill big clear cuts just high enough to see the bottom or the most area. goodluck

[Clancy]

make sure you got a good view of the lower points. the deersies love to take 1 jump into that little draw and just vanish. look for ears and horns sticking up

[deerhunter_98520]

 :yeah:Good advice

[tbrady]

This is great info guys, I really appreciate all the responses.  deerhunter_98520, you can PM or a pic or just give me the coordinates and I'll stop by and take a look. I promise not to hunt it; it will be for educational purposes only.   

[deerhunter_98520]

You drive right past c post and take a right then go up the hill and  you cant miss my spot 

[billythekidrock]

3- 5 years old for feeding, 5 years plus for bedding, and along the edges next to thick cover for quick escape.

Ive walked the middle of cuts and found no sign, move to within 20 yards of cover/timber and tons of sign. Its just how they are.

And I like small secluded cuts.

I agree.
 But sometimes, depending on location, I find that first year cuts give up the bigger bucks. That is until the hordes find the cut.

[deerhunter_98520]

Why do you think that is? They just did a huge cut right by my honey hole

[Lcl 66 Tinner]

I like the clearcuts with trees between 5'-8' tall and moderate underbrush. They seem to think theyre hidden better. Just have to glass and glass some more. Theyre there you just havent spotted them yet. I look for the ears and antlers and the hind end, white black white combo. The clearcut that Kentrek posted looks real good to me.

[Kola16]

You drive right past c post and take a right then go up the hill and  you cant miss my spot 

Drive right past c post heading east or west 

[deerhunter_98520]

You drive right past c post and take a right then go up the hill and  you cant miss my spot 

Drive right past c post heading east or west 

Now its gonna get confusing 

[dbor]

I like the units that are thick with cover. Areas that you can see across and down into but maybe not rite in front of you. Look for big red rot stumps and red rot logs in units, they like to bed on or near them. Walk part way down in the unit. Take a pocket full of rocks with you and use them... JMO

[Angus]

3- 5 years old for feeding, 5 years plus for bedding, and along the edges next to thick cover for quick escape.

Ive walked the middle of cuts and found no sign, move to within 20 yards of cover/timber and tons of sign. Its just how they are.

And I like small secluded cuts.

I agree.
 But sometimes, depending on location, I find that first year cuts give up the bigger bucks. That is until the hordes find the cut.

Couple weeks ago I talked to some guys in a 4Runner just a few minutes after daylight, after we chatted they headed up the road into a clearing that had been cut a year ago and just after they went out of sight I hear 2 quick shots, when I walked up there they had a nice 3x3 they were dragging down to the road. I've hunted this area all season (archery, muzzy, modern) and hardly gave that bare hillside a second look, I was back up there Sat and glassed that clearing hard for an hour, didn't see a damn thing but knowing what was there the week before changed the way I think about year old clearcuts.

[deerhunter_98520]

Interesting..i always figured with those cuts its gonna be right place at the right time

[billythekidrock]

Why do you think that is? They just did a huge cut right by my honey hole

In my experience, most new cuts in general have a lot of activity (if are deer around) from the get-go. Deer are curious and like to check things out, they like to climb dirt hills and they like to eat the tender tips/tops of felled trees. There are small amounts of feed in even the newest cuts and the amount grows every year until they spray.

I don’t like monster sized cuts as they draw hunters and target shooters like flies to honey. I prefer smaller cuts that most people pass up or glass for a few minutes and leave.

My comment above is for those small to medium cuts that are surrounded by timber or in areas where there have not been many recent cuts and consequently, not much hunting pressure.

The cream of the crop (bigger bucks) have not been killed or educated and it usually takes hunters a year or so to find new cuts. Most hunters only find new clear-cuts during the season and someone who scouts can learn these new cuts and take advantage of the lack of pressure.

For example, this buck fed on the edge of a two year old cut and most likely fed there the year before.


He was one of 8 bucks I would see regularly in the area. The first two years after the cut was created there were numerous three and four point bucks killed there. After that you would be hard pressed to find a two point in the cut even in the summer.

There are still bucks in the area, but they are educated and nocturnal.

Same thing with this new cut.


First couple of years you would find elk in there even though it didn’t have as much feed as cuts a quarter mile away. But fast-forward 2 years and even though the elk are in the area, they tend to stay in the older cuts or reprod due to pressure.

[deerhunter_98520]

Now thats a nice buck...looks like the one i missed last year but a little narrower..ive had excellent success in the huge cuts...but the cuts i hunt are secluded....i pretty much am the only one that hunts them...theres only one high vantage point and im there very early and stay all day till dark...so no one elsr hunts them and i sit and glass

[Bowflinger]

I do like the look of the pic that deerhunter posted. I'm not much of a clear-cut hunter, although my dad and grandpa have taken lots of deer in them. In the pic I see 2 nice draws in the hills behind which feed water into that little marshy area at the edge of that clear-cut (the leafless aspens). There is what looks to be cedars mixed up in there. Deer love to bed under cedars in or near a marsh/swamp because they are usually raised beds off the wet ground and the branches act like an umbrella in the rain. I find most my deer sheds in those exact places, and I find alot. I agree with sitting and glassing over a spot like that, I would bet there would be no shortage of deer in an area like that.

[deerhunter_98520]

Ive taken 2 4pts, 2 3pts, a 1x3, 2pt, a spike from that honey hole...it has produced some good deer for me...my new honey hole is just down the road from that one and is just as good 

[LoganOregon]

One thing I've learned is when glassing, make sure you look at every old red-rot log or stump you can see, they love bedding down on that stuff!

[fish vacuum]

The ideal clearcut is one that doesn't have 10 rigs driving through it a day and isn't in an area that gets talked about on the internet.

[Lcl 66 Tinner]

The ideal clearcut is one that doesn't have 10 rigs driving through it a day and isn't in an area that gets talked about on the internet.

FACT

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

The ideal clearcut is one that doesn't have 10 rigs driving through it a day and isn't in an area that gets talked about on the internet.

FACT

 
Ya i wounldnt turn it into the Tripod Hog Hole either!

[deerhunter_98520]

I guess i shouldnt have said anything about c post then 

[elkoholic]

hunt the  timber around the cuts. 

[tbrady]

I guess i shouldnt have said anything about c post then 

Thanks to deerhunter for sharing his honey hole location!!  Look what I was able to find!