# Clearing out some paths



## Bowhunter57 (Feb 9, 2011)

The woods that I bowhunt for deer has had several blown down trees this year and most of them have fallen across the deer's usual paths/trails. The deer seem to have taken different paths in and out of the woods, as well as while they're traveling through the woods. It's almost as if these blow-downs are clogging up their travel routes and they've not re-established new ones. 

So, I've taken up the task of clearing out the old deer paths. This includes cutting up the fallen trees, using a leaf blower to clear paths thoughout the woods and building a few ground blinds off to the sides of some of the trails. The deer really seem to like the trails that I've blown the leaves out of, as it makes for quieter traveling for them. These paths are ATV wide.

I'm hoping that this extra effort will put the deer back in their old travel routes. As it stands, I only know that they're in the woods from time to time, but it's not as clear as it was as to where they're coming in and going out.

Every time that I use my leaf blower to clear out travel routes, it seems to make the deer use them more often. I think they like how quiet it allows them to travel.

Have you ever taken the effort to clear travel routes/paths/trails?

Thank you, Bowhunter57


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

I don't go quite as far as to use a leaf blower but anytime we open up trails for the quads the new paths become travel corridors. I think it's just normal for people and animals to take the paths of least resistance.

My hunting partner and I decided we were going to spend a couple of weekends this coming year doing this same thing. Over the years fallen trees has blocked quite a few areas to quad access and it's time to reclaim some ground.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Like crappiedude said, most animals will always take the path of least resistance. When something blocks a normal route, it usually takes a year or so for a new route to become established by all of the deer. Deer don't really have the abilty to reason that a leafless path is quieter, they just know that it's easier. They are curious however, and they seem to always like to check out bare dirt. Cutting back trees and cleaning up deadfalls from existing deer trails will surely get deer back to using them. I wouldn't mess with the leaf bower, unless you're trying to quiet your entry to a stand.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

crappiedude said:


> I don't go quite as far as to use a leaf blower but anytime we open up trails for the quads the new paths become travel corridors. I think it's just normal for people and animals to take the paths of least resistance.
> 
> My hunting partner and I decided we were going to spend a couple of weekends this coming year doing this same thing. Over the years fallen trees has blocked quite a few areas to quad access and it's time to reclaim some ground.


..agreed...deer always seem to take the path of least resistsnce...i cleared a couple paths in a very heavy thicket on some private property this year..within a week..they were full of tracks and poop.


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## Weekender#1 (Mar 25, 2006)

Yup we borrow a mower and mow out to the stands and back side by side, we do the serpentine view not a straight shot, good for deer and people. We do it mid spring and mid summer then good to go for the season.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Fishlandr75 said:


> ..agreed...deer always seem to take the path of least resistsnce...i cleared a couple paths in a very heavy thicket on some private property this year..within a week..they were full of tracks and poop.


No doubt about it! A couple years ago I cut a path through a thcket from the edge of a swamp to a stand I had just put up. This saved me from having to walk way out around and walking through where the deer would be to get to my stand. Next thing I know, deer are using the new path I cut! A couple things about deer. They will always find the low spot in the fence, and they will always find the path of least resistance through a thicket.


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## Bowhunter57 (Feb 9, 2011)

Thanks for the brush clearing "atta boy", guys, but I wasn't seeing any tracks before and am not seeing any since. This isn't about giving the deer time to adjust, they just aren't in there. My best guess is coyotes, as I'd been hearing the howling at sunset back in November and I've never heard coyotes in this woods. I gave some thought to putting out some feed, like cracked corn, sweet feed or some bird seed...but, if the deer aren't there it would only feed the tree rats, ***** and birds.

Until I see some tracks in this section, I'm done deer hunting. I hate to do this with more than a month to go to the season...especially since I just aquired a new ground blind (and it's a doosey), but the facts are the facts. I may switch modes and do some coyote hunting in the neighboring sections and see how that goes.

AccuWeather has a snow storm coming in late Tuesday and early Wednesday with 3 to 6 inches of snow. Afterwards the temperatures are supposed to drop for a couple of weeks of daytime 20s and night time teens. Those temps will put me out on the ice, which is fine by me.

Anyway, I'm ready to kill some turkeys in the spring with this new ground blind. It's an Ameristep Carnivore, that I picked up in the Bargan Cave at Cabelas for $160. It didin't have a scratch on it and the new tags were still on the zippered door.



















Bowhunter57


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## Mr. A (Apr 23, 2012)

If you think the 'yotes are the problem change gears and "natrually select" them for a week or two to thin out the pack as much as you can. If the deer left because of them, they won't return if they are still there....

Nice blind though!

A

My wife says I have a fishing habbit....


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## Misdirection (Jul 16, 2012)

Put that ground blind to good use at night...with a good caller and shoot some yotes out of it...then a couple hundred pounds of corn will fix your deer problem for sure

posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

... yea... these guys are right..id focus my efforts on killin some coyotes if you can


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## StumpHawg (May 17, 2011)

Coyote main diet is 90% mice and small game: They are part of food chain and yes will take out the weak and wounded but a healthy herd of deer, I wanna see proof with facts


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## FISH DINNER (Jul 23, 2010)

:F


StumpHawg said:


> Coyote main diet is 90% mice and small game: They are part of food chain and yes will take out the weak and wounded but a healthy herd of deer, I wanna see proof with facts


I don't think there is any use in arguing facts and percentages unless you are going to sit the deer down and have this same discussion with them about the odds of them being attacked by a coyote. The real fact is that coyotes are a top level predator and deer are well aware of this. They are not going to establish bedding areas near coyote dens or other places where coyotes generally hang out. I have seen the same thing this year in one of my hunting spots. Every year I have hunted this same area that provided massive doe bedding opportunities without fail. This year the does are gone, moved to a thicket two fields over in an area I don't have permission to hunt. The cause? A brand spanking new coyote den only about 60-70 yards from the old bedding area. And just as my luck runs, that coyote den is also on a property which I have no access to hunt or set traps on. I could try to draw the coyotes to my place but it is easier to go to them if allowed. Those does by the way, don't even like passing through my property now thanks to the coyotes.


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## Bowhunter57 (Feb 9, 2011)

StumpHawg said:


> Coyote main diet is 90% mice and small game: They are part of food chain and yes will take out the weak and wounded but a healthy herd of deer, I wanna see proof with facts


I agree, that mice and small game are the "main stay" of a coyote's diet and that's mostly because of availability and ease of attaining them.

However, coyotes are pack animals and a group of coyotes can and will bring down a mature/healthy deer.
Proof? Here ya go.













I'm sure there are other kills...that aren't on film.  I'll kill as many coyotes as I can get in my sights, but it won't be enough. There are far too many of them and not enough time for me to hunt.

Bowhunter57


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

I've personally watched adult deer being chased by coyotes and I've seen it on more than 1 occassion. Is it common occurance and I don't know for sure but but I have to believe they aren't just chasing them just to get excersize. 
I figure if they chasing the adults, I would have to assume they have a field day with the fawns.
Normally I will only see 1 coyote at a time but I have seen pairs and once I saw 3 running together. 
I also believe you are never going to eliminate all the coyotes from an area but thinning them out can have a positive effect for the wildlife in you area.


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## jiggerman (Nov 2, 2009)

I saw that video a couple of years ago and i dont believe a buck would stand in front of a trailcam while a coyote kills it,unless it is sick.


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## StumpHawg (May 17, 2011)

Have seen the chase many of times on my farm late bow season in the snow, the pack will chase and seek out the weak and wounded on the chase and make a move based on a response from the deers response. This happens when ground is frozen and most small game is scarce, I do believe some healthy deer do get taken down on bad winters but not often in the modern winters we have in Ohio nowadays.
Coyotes cover a 500 acre parcel easy in a nights time so with their population status I really dont think deer are running away from their homeplace because coyotes are everywhere.
Coyotes never really got established in Ohio until the 1980s after small farms seemed to get bought up taking out fencerows and making for bigger fields and open areas. As a trapper and farmer I noticed red fox decline in the trapline with a increase in coyotes in the good old dirthole set. Groundhog species took a decline with the coyote increase along with many mammals that used groundhog holes as there dens with young.
Look at the whitetail population explosion since the 1980s along with the coyotes population increase and tell me if the two species are healthy with each other in nature Not a coyote lover but everybody hates them and just wanted to give a different view of the topic. I believe they are good for taking out the weak n wounded but thats just my 2$ Merry Christmas guys and Happy New Year!!!!!


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

Deer don't move out of an area because of coyotes. If they did, there wouldn't be any deer in the U.S.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

Bowhunter57 said:


> I agree, that mice and small game are the "main stay" of a coyote's diet and that's mostly because of availability and ease of attaining them.
> 
> However, coyotes are pack animals and a group of coyotes can and will bring down a mature/healthy deer.
> Proof? Here ya go.
> ...


I really don't know how much of a predation effect that coyotes have on mature deer, but I can understand why deer would not like them being around. Coyotes are canids. Dog like creatures, predators, meat eaters. It stands to reason that herbivorous prey species, like deer, would not like being in the same place.

I witnessed an encounter, years ago, between an 8 point buck and a large, mature red fox. Even though the fox, at its size, was no threat to the buck, it was very obvious that the buck DID NOT LIKE that fox being around. Maybe it's the same with 'yotes. When a gang of "yotes moves in, the deer move out to a place where the "yotes aren't so thick. Then, the "yotes move, and the deer move again and so on, like a big chess match! 

I understand that "yotes are primarily solitary hunters and go after small prey. If they ever learn pack hunting techniques, like wolves, we deer hunters could be in a world of hurt!


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

M.Magis said:


> Deer don't move out of an area because of coyotes. If they did, there wouldn't be any deer in the U.S.


I'll 2nd that....there's no where to go, they're everywhere.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

buckeyebowman said:


> i really don't know how much of a predation effect that coyotes have on mature deer, but i can understand why deer would not like them being around. Coyotes are canids. Dog like creatures, predators, meat eaters. It stands to reason that herbivorous prey species, like deer, would not like being in the same place.
> 
> I witnessed an encounter, years ago, between an 8 point buck and a large, mature red fox. Even though the fox, at its size, was no threat to the buck, it was very obvious that the buck did not like that fox being around. Maybe it's the same with 'yotes. When a gang of "yotes moves in, the deer move out to a place where the "yotes aren't so thick. Then, the "yotes move, and the deer move again and so on, like a big chess match!
> 
> I understand that "yotes are primarily solitary hunters and go after small prey. If they ever learn pack hunting techniques, like wolves, we deer hunters could be in a world of hurt!


that makes sense...agreed here


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