Planting trails

[Big E]

For those that don't have the time or equipment to make a food plot why not plant logging trails or small openings in the woods? My trails leading up to my food plots are all planted. I hunt these a lot so I don't spook deer off the food plot in the evening when leaving my stand. Deer LOVE to browse. They love to keep moving and eating. Ever notice that the deer at a deer feeder only stick around a little while? They take a few mouth fulls and then they're on the move. Trails and small opening are great little "kill plots" to have. Deer feel very comfortable eating during the daylight on these because one hop and they are in cover.
 Deer get up about every 2hrs and move around. They are a very nervous animal and we would be too if we lived their life. Having a food plot in the middle of the woods is like a having a fridge in your bedroom. How often would we grab a snack if we got up and moved around every 2 hrs and had the fridge sitting next to us? There's a lot of stuff that will grow in shaded areas and it doesn't take much to make it a draw for deer. Take a look at my Rye post. That is a very very small opening in the woods all done by hand. From the clearing, spraying to planting.
 
Here is a trail on some very wet ground that is leading up to a bigger plot. Doesn't get a ton of light and the deer never went out into this swampy area until I planted it. They were in it every night. I planted it in brassicas and had turnips the size of soft balls in here.


This is a trail leading up to the plot a lot of my pictures come off of. (spring brassica plot) You can see the plot in the far background where the trail ends. It is planted in a clover mix that can handle shade, heavy grazing and low ph.


This is a old logging trail I planted. Again not much of a area but enough to be a draw for deer.


Here is a wide spot in a fire lane. I've shot a lot of deer off of this one. You can see my ladder stand in the big oak on the left. I see deer all day here because they bed about 40 yards away to the North so it's a quiet and sent free walk in with the prevailing NW winds.



For those that haven't seen the Rye post here's a picture off of it. Very very small opening in the woods. 2 hrs of work with hand tools and I had a hidden plot.

[Big E]

Here's a little buck in the middle of the day at one of the small openings. These are great for grouse, Turkey and Rabbits too I might add.