When I first started hunting, a massive amount of logging was being done in the woods behind our house. In the matter of days, acres upon acres of beautiful woods were clear-cut to the point where only a few trees were left standing in some areas.

It was sort of a sad sight to see. I grew up in those woods. It would take nearly a lifetime until those woods grew back to the way I knew them.

Little did I know how beneficial those clear-cuts would be toward the wildlife in my favorite hunting grounds.

Steve Sherk Jr.

Columnists

Within a couple of years, the areas that were logged started to grow back into impenetrable jungles for deer, bear, grouse and other wildlife to hide in. Cover is one of the most important needs for all wild game. Just when I thought my hunting grounds were ruined, little did I know they would become better than they had  ever been in just a few years.

As soon as an area is clear-cut, deer will move in immediately to eat the soft browse off the fallen tree tops. In less than a year, new plant life starts to develop. The first five years of a clear-cut are the most beneficial for whitetails. Young clear-cuts are like sanctuaries for deer. The combination of quality browse and cover gives deer everything they need within a small area. I’ve gotten to know many big bucks over the years that took advantage of clear-cuts. They learned that they are almost impossible to be hunted while in them. If they stay in the cover, their chances of surviving hunting pressure are best. Bucks don’t have to leave clear-cuts during daytime hours when being hunted. Within the cover, they have all of the food and security they need to survive.

Bears also love clear-cuts. Many people overlook just how much bears spend their lives in thick cover. This time of year, bears start spending a lot of time around areas that have been logged in the past several years. They hide in them throughout the day but also take advantage of plentiful raspberry and blackberry crops. Even once the berry season is over, bears will remain using clear-cuts until hibernation.

As clear-cuts get older and start to grow in height, they are still attractive to a lot of wildlife. Grouse love older clear-cuts. Cuts that are within 10 to 20 years of age make for perfect grouse habitat. Grouse prefer cover that has decent tree height because if they need to get up and fly, they still have cover well above ground level. This is why you often never find grouse in lower brush or high field grass.

Another lover of older clear-cuts is snowshoe rabbits. They are similar to grouse and prefer cuts 10 to 20 years of age. The way a snowshoe uses a clear-cut reminds me of how a big buck uses it. You can chase a snowshoe for hours and it will often never leave the cut that it lives in. It will keep making circles, refusing to leave the cover. A mature buck will often do the same if spooked inside of the cover. Instead of running out of it and traveling a long distance to get away, it will circle back and hide in the cover where it feels most safe.

The best areas I know of that seem to have an abundance of wildlife are where there are clear-cuts. Most game animals benefit in some way after an area has been logged. From the first day of logging to as many as 20 years after, that clear-cut will remain an attractive place to an abundance of game animals. Even though logging is rarely about producing healthy habitat for wildlife, it’s a blessing in many ways. At times we hate to see our hunting grounds change from being logged, but in the long run, it will make for much better hunting.