Pursuit Info - The Wood Lot

The Wood Lot was actually the feature that first caught my attention on this property. After not seeing deer sign in nearby fields, I felt the wood lot, with it's ample cover and browse, could be helping the deer avoid exposing themselves in the fields. (The fields around this clump of land have no agricultural crops, just simple grasses.) The wood lot also provides "edges" that white-tails are drawn to, and these edges are far removed from normal roadways, unlike the fields.

The wood lot is encompassed within an area of roughly 55-65 acres and is bordered on the north by a creek (West Creek) which is actually a narrow swamp. A stand of young, dense pines borders the wood lot on the south and west, and a stand of tall pines and hardwoods and another creek (East Creek) to the east.

The wood lot was harvested in 2007 and 2008 so it should prove to draw more deer as young browse develop and take over the open areas. Already the white-tails have claimed the logging trails through the lot as their pathways, abandoning older trails that once navigated around this section of woodland. This is true for all but one deer that still seems to use the old trail as an escape route. It's quite possible that this is an older deer that knows the old trail and feels secure using it.

As you can see in this photo, not every tree was harvested for sale, and there are soft and hardwoods still standing. The only negative aspect of the wood lot are the piles of limbs and fallen trees littering the forest floor. There is literally no "silent" way of getting across the wood lot. And, when covered with a blanket of snow, the hazards are merely hidden from view and make for a tiring if not treacherous hike.

A key feature of the wood lot is a sub-ridge that runs parallel and to the south of West Creek. Although I have yet to see any bedding activity on the ridge, I have spooked feeding or migrating deer (not sure what they were doing) off the ridge in late morning. I have also found that most of the deer sign and activity has been found on the ridge, at crossing points along West Creek, and various spots in the western half of the wood lot.

My intentions at this point will be to seek permission to clear a pathway for myself through the wood lot so as to avoid twisting an ankle or breaking a leg, and for a more silent passage way to thw western side of the wood lot. In this effort I will also be making "natural" blinds with the limbs and downed trees as stopping points for still-hunts through it.