Ask The Biologist

The Path Logs Traveled

The Path Logs Traveled

By Bob Humphrey

Logging trails can provide a variety of hunting benefits.

QUESTION: I have 100 acres of forest property in upstate New York. Hunting there has been good. I recently had the property logged, and there are a lot of trails crisscrossing the property. Should I continue to leave all the trails open, or should I block them up and let them grow back into forest? Will closing the trails up improve deer habitat or make it worse? I have a 2-acre food plot and a 1-acre food plot, too. –David

ANSWER: To borrow a page from the Business School 101 curriculum, you should view the trails (and I assume you are referring to skid trails and logging roads) not as a problem but an opportunity. At the very least, they make good walking trails, access paths and shooting lanes. But you can do far more than that. The hard work has already been done. Do a soil test, throw down some lime and fertilizer and a conservation seed (something with perennial clover) and your shooting lanes become food plots. And if you decide to let some grow back to forest, all you have to do is leave them alone and let nature take its course.

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