There's several different treatments that they might be doing now and/or what has been done in the past:
- Release treatment - going through and removing unwanted/competing small trees and tall brush from a young stand so the crop trees can maximize early growth
- Precommercial thinning - removal of remaining unwanted/poorly performing trees to achieve desired number of trees/acre for the immediate future
- Commercial thinning - removing crop trees from the stand to take to market, allowing the remaining trees to increase growth rate.
- Harvest - you've got yourself a new clearcut or other radically changed environment.
If that area was commercially thinned in 2014, they're likely working in a different area - perhaps they're just next door. On the west side, once thinned, I would guess it would be a minimum 15 years, probably 20 before they go back into that stand again for a second thinning or perhaps a total harvest. I'm guessing that the numbers are even higher on the dry side.
The deer normally won't go far while they're working out there (to my knowledge). They might stick a lot tighter to their core zones, or find new ones until the activity stops though. It might be a good idea to inquire from one of the crew or truckers how long they'll be working in that area. You can plan your season accordingly.
