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Brush cutting

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
I took advantage of the last 2 days of decent weather and cut brush in my woods. After bow hunting last year I seen the deer movement improvements needed for bow hunting. So I redid my woods for better bow hunting. Or so I think.
That damn honeysuckle bushes are a mess. I made a point to remember to cut the damn stuff when there's no leaves on it. It's so thick you can't see from point A to point B. It's now cut down and got about 25% dragged out of the way.
I'll probably put my new ladder stands in couple weeks.
On another note I stopped this week at the (anti-hunter) landowner behind me and talked to the wife. She inherited the farm from her parents.
And I was surprised when she said she saw no problem with me hunting but she had to speak to her husband. They also have a neighbor up the road hunting the property. That surprised me.
I asked her if they eat deer meat and yes they do when someone gives them the meat. I informed her I would be more than happy to bring them a processed deer over when I get one. The guy hunting the property has promised them a deer but has never given them one. I told her I can change that.
The husband is bailing hay so I haven't bugged him this week. I hope for the best.

My friend sold the landing strip I been hunting so I talked to the new owner. They have nothing against hunting but don't allow hunting on their property as the wife feeds the cute friendly animals. I would see 5-12 deer every time I hunted it over 1/2 mile of lush grass strip.
 
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MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
Why would you cut honeysuckle if you don't mind me asking? That's some of the best browse you can get.

If I don't cut the honeysuckle down I can't see the ground from my hunting tower. Don't worry there is plenty of honeysuckle left. I only cut shooting paths. Otherwise I can just stay home during hunting season. it is so thick you can't walk in many places.
I have 35 acs. of honeysuckle. It's everyplace there isn't a pasture planted.
Every square inch of my woods is covered with honeysuckle except my shooting lanes and a cleared patch around my tower.
Honeysuckle looses it's leaves on the 1st frost. But up until the 1st frost the deer go crazy over it. But here it's a nightmare growth.

I forgot to mention when I cut a bush off at ground level 5-10 sprouts shoot up off the stump. Last years cutting is 3-4 ft. high already with tons of tender new growth.
 
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MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
10 4 sounds like the thickets 4 the big boys I gotcha now. Sounds like your ready for September. I wish I had that problem up north were I'm at lol I'm jealous.

You don't want this honeysuckle problem up North. It grows so thick the ground is totally bare under it. It don't know if it's the total lack of sunlight or the bush throws up a protection shield. My house is circled with the stuff. I pulled out a large bush getting into the yard 3 yrs. ago and there is still a total bare spot there and not even a weed growing.
My woods is only about 3 ac. and mainly is a pass-throw pinch point. I have 2 main North-South trails. One of the N-S trails is 2 trails that join into one which is 35 yards to the East of my tower and the other N-S trail is 100 yards to the West. Both are next to the border fence lines.
The one main West-East trail is 35 yards South of my tower about 25 yards from the South fence line.
If deer don't walk down these trails there is no chance of a shoot even with a gun.
A excellent pinch point for the last 22 yrs. Now there is another natural gas pipe line being put in 150 yards to the east of my woods. That's the main reason I put in the food plot just to the West of my woods. Most of the clearing, road and ditch crossings digging has been done. I hope they get the pipe install soon. 5 yrs. ago when the other pipeline went through it took 3 yrs. for a somewhat normal deer pattern to return. Screwed up everything for 3 yrs. when they removed a N-S tree line about 200 yards to the East of me on the neighbors property. Now it just shows a large 30 ac. hay field.
 

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
Dragging the cut honeysuckle brush today I noticed something. Older honeysuckle bushes 3-4" have no bottom branches or leaves. Closest leaves to the ground is about 5-6 ft. 90% of the bushes I'm cutting is large diameter and is 15-20 ft. high.
It seems honeysuckle reach for the sunlight and grow straight up.
The bushes I cut last year have 5-10 suckers coming off each stump. And they are 3-5 ft. tall already. I will re-tirm these to knee high for a controlled tender growth for browse.
Best of both worlds.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I will say this, you are the only person I know who manages for deer and has had an issue with honeysuckle. That's a problem 99.9% of us would love to have. Now if you were talking multi-flora rose or autumn olive, then we'd all be on the same page. I hope it works out for you this fall!
 

Buckmaster

Senior Member
14,362
191
Portage
I will say this, you are the only person I know who manages for deer and has had an issue with honeysuckle. That's a problem 99.9% of us would love to have. Now if you were talking multi-flora rose or autumn olive, then we'd all be on the same page. I hope it works out for you this fall!

I don't like Honeysuckle either. I have acres of it. It grows so think we cannot get through it anymore. Each year I have to hand trim tails through it which takes hours only to find a few months later the regrowth is something like 5 feet. I hate that stuff. It takes its toll on land management without a bull dozer to clear it.
 

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
I will say this, you are the only person I know who manages for deer and has had an issue with honeysuckle. That's a problem 99.9% of us would love to have. Now if you were talking multi-flora rose or autumn olive, then we'd all be on the same page. I hope it works out for you this fall!

Let me give you some background history on this honeysuckle problem.
I bought this farm 22 yrs. ago. The farm has always been a diary farm with several small pastures because of the hilly nature and broken in half by a creek.
I have a woods in the rear that's about 600X450 ft. which is my major hunting area. The woods is a great pinch point with trails running N-S and E-W.
20 yrs. ago being a handgun and ML hunter I put up a 20 ft. ladder stand in the center of the woods.
Picking my shots I could hunt 75% of the woods from that stand. I couldn't hunt the area to my West due to a step hill and in the past they planted 100's of cedar trees in rows that are about 12" in diameter now.
After about 5-6 yrs. I had to stop using that stand as I could no longer see due to the honeysuckle growth. I went to couple smaller ladder stands setup around the woods.
Then about 10 yrs. ago I had to start trimming shooting lanes to see anything for a 100 ft. shot with a gun.
I put up my tower 5 yrs. ago and even at 15 ft. high I was limited to a hunting area 100 ft. around my tower. Which at 1st was OK as that covered the 2 major trails. I could shoot in that 100 ft. and see some movement in the brush other places. No everywhere but enough in a way for a gun hunter to setup for a shot.
2yrs. ago I needed to trim some of that 100 ft. for decent sporting shots with a gun. So that's when I put in couple shooting lanes about 15 ft. wide. I didn't trim the shooting lanes new growth last year as I was bowing hunting. Today there is 10-15 ft. growth on that 2 yr. old trimmings and there are no shots possible past 50 ft. and no sightings past 100 ft.
So I hope this sorta explains my reasons for a control trimming of honeysuckle in my woods. Either I control trim or I don't hunt. And I will hunt.
 
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"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,743
274
North Carolina
Y'all ever try the saw blade on the weed eater trick on that stuff? We did it one year too cut shooting lanes for rabbit hunting a pasture that was over grown with it.... Wasn't bad too do and made the world of differance in cleaning g out some rabbits the owner wanted thinned...
 

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
Y'all ever try the saw blade on the weed eater trick on that stuff? We did it one year too cut shooting lanes for rabbit hunting a pasture that was over grown with it.... Wasn't bad too do and made the world of differance in cleaning g out some rabbits the owner wanted thinned...

Not on bushes 3-4" in diameter.
 

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
Just one old guy with a bad heart and bad back with a chain saw.
I'm not attempting to remove the honeysuckle from my woods. I'm just trimming shooting lanes to make the woods huntable.
22 yrs. ago I could see and shoot end to end in the woods and take 75-100 yd. shoots with no real problems.
Today without the shooting lanes I'm only able to take one ft. shots standing on the ground. In my 15 ft. hunting tower it's no better as you are attempting to look through the 15-20 ft. honeysuckle brush tops.
In the last 10-12 yrs. all deer taken by my grandsons (4) and myself (6) have been shot in the shooting lanes.

Jesse thanks for the comment on managing for deer. I should have made my issue with honeysuckle clear in the beginning.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
No worries man. I was just confused what was going on. Makes perfect sense to cut shooting lanes! Hopefully a slunger stops in one for you this fall!!!