Time to Work on Your Deer Woods

I know it's May but it's also the time of year when nights are cool and comfortable and day time temperatures and humidity don't suck the breath from you. It's a perfect time to be in your deer woods.


Now's the time to clean up your trails.  New growth green briars are  vulnerable to good herbacides. Winter blow downs can be cleaned off the trails and you can get a head start on those shooting lanes you'll end up working during August.

I like taking a 50 gallon electric sprayer out in my RTV and spraying down the roses, grean briars and bunch grasses that may be starting up on my old trails. It's wise to include a chain saw for the winter blowdowns, and a machete is always nice from pruning back new limbs and tall briars that have managed to intrude on your trails.

It's also an excellent time to be putting down mineral licks and blocks. Deer desperately need this during the time that the antlers are beginning to grow and does are about ready to start dropping fawns. Delaware soil is missing many of the bone growth minerals deer seek and if you have a mineral lick or a salt block hanging out, this is the time of year to insure it's fresh.

And sure, some of the foilage will come back before deer season, but if you get a head start on it, the job won't be so tough when you do have to go back in the late summer. Whatever you do, don't forget the permethrin. Ticks and chiggers are also in their glory this time of year and those are things you can do well without.

By George Roof