Clearcut Age

[erbolton94]

Been lurking on the forum for a while and have learned a lot. I moved down here last year from Alaska, and my previous bear hunting has been from a tree stand above a bait station. I've been out looking at clear-cuts, placing trail cameras, and looking at a lot of satellite images of clear-cuts. My question is about the age of clear-cuts, from what I've read people like to focus their efforts on "Christmas tree" sized cuts, and I've seen people say anywhere from 5-12 year old cuts are best. I've even been reading scientific journal articles about bear habitat selection, and one paper showed bears heavily favored cuts 5-20 years old. This weekend I'm planning on hiking in to a 10 year old cut with my tree stand to help with visibility. However, there is a promising cut nearby that is 3 years old. Does a 3 year old cut have enough vegetation and food to attract bears, and is it worth checking out? I know the visibility will be way better, but not sure if I should spend the time hiking into a younger cut area when I could be in a more productive cut. I'll be on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula if that makes a difference.

[MountainWalk]

Are there any hucks growing in there? Huckleberries. It’s a new cut and getting sun. Berries might be in there. Have a look. That’s the bait.

[hunter399]

If it's thick stuff.
Most likely it holds animals.
There is a window between 8 -15 year old.
That you can still glass animals up ,but thick enough animals hang out there. That many people prefer.
But even the older cuts you can't glass.
Think perimeter,maybe trails going in,going out.
Just cause you cant glass it ,doesn't mean you can't hunt it.
Just takes little more work.
Same thing apply with 5 year or less cuts.
Animals won't hardly step out in them.
So your most likely to catch them in the cut lines ,or in the thick stuff just inside the timber.
Again doesn't mean you can't hunt it.
Just look more along the edges.
Hope this helps ya.

[erbolton94]

Yup, makes sense. Thanks for the advice. I'll go check it just to get some eyes on it for myself and see if it looks like it's producing any berries. As of now I have no idea if there are berries there are not.