Hunting Land Clearing: Trails, Shooting Lanes & Food Plot Access
Good hunting ground is thick, and thick ground is hard to get through and hard to see across. We cut trails, shooting lanes and food plot openings with a tracked forestry mulcher and leave the cover around them standing.
Hunting Land & Trails, Start to Finish
You bought the back forty for the deer, and the deer love it. The problem is you cannot get a side-by-side to the far corner, the old logging road is a tunnel of saplings, and the stand you hung last fall looks out on a wall of autumn olive. Dragging a deer out means fighting briars the whole way. A chainsaw and a free weekend will open a short path. Opening a whole property that way takes more weekends than any season has.
A forestry mulcher does it far faster and leaves no brush piles behind. Jeff looks at the ground with you or goes over your map, and then we cut the trail network, the lanes and the openings you want. The machine grinds brush and small trees to chips in place, so the trail is ready to ride as soon as it passes. Everything outside the cut stays as thick as it was. The bedding cover you bought the land for is still there when we load up.
You end up with quiet access to your stands, clear lanes to shoot through, and openings ready for you to work up and plant. We offer this to hunters and landowners across northeastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and the northern panhandle of West Virginia. It is part of our forestry mulching work. To see how much ground the machine covers, read how much a forestry mulcher clears in a day.
What We Cut on Hunting Land
- ATV, side-by-side and tractor trails
- Shooting lanes from blinds and stands
- Food plot openings and access paths
- Old logging roads reopened
- Stand and blind sites cleared
- Bedding cover and mast trees left alone
Trails you can ride and walk in the dark
A trail needs to fit the widest thing you will drive on it, with a little room to spare for limbs that lean in by fall. Tell us whether that is a four-wheeler, a side-by-side or a tractor with a planter behind it. We follow the high ground where we can, since a trail cut through a wet spot becomes a mud hole by November. Old logging roads usually make the base of the system because the grade is already there. The mulch left on the trail quiets your footsteps and holds the dirt on slopes. Loop trails and spur trails to each stand are both easy to lay out.
Shooting lanes and stand sites
A shooting lane does not have to be wide. It has to be clean, and it has to point the right way. We cut lanes out from your stand or blind in the directions you choose, grinding the saplings and brush low so nothing is left to turn an arrow or a bullet. Mark the stand tree and stake the far end of each lane before we come, or point them out on the walk through. Bring your own judgment about wind, bedding and travel routes. You know your deer. We know how to cut what you lay out without opening more than you asked for.
Food plot openings and what comes after
For a food plot, the mulcher takes a patch of brush or young woods down to a mat of chips with the stumps ground low. That opens the canopy and gives you a place to work. The mulcher does not till the soil or pull the roots. From there, most owners rake or disk through the mulch, test the soil, lime and plant. Plots need sun, so pick a spot where taking out brush lets light reach the dirt. If the opening needs leveling or a real access lane with stone, we do grading and farm lanes too.
Hunting Land & Trails, Up Close
Real photos from Logan Earthworks jobs. See more recent work.
Hunting Land & Trails Questions
Not seeing yours? Call (330) 625-5754 and ask Jeff.
- Forestry Mulching Cost Per Acre in Ohio: What Moves the Price
- What Is Forestry Mulching and When Is It the Right Call?
- What to Do After Forestry Mulching: Regrowth, Seeding and Upkeep
- Forestry Mulching vs Bulldozing: Which One Fits Your Land?
- How Much Land Can a Forestry Mulcher Clear in a Day?
- Is Forestry Mulching Worth It? The Downsides, Plainly
When should shooting lanes and trails be cut before deer season?
Earlier than most people think. Cutting in summer or late summer gives the ground time to settle and lets deer get used to the changes well before opening day. It also means the leaves are on, so you see the lane the way it will look in early bow season. Winter after the season closes is the other good window. Call well ahead of the season to talk it through.
Can a forestry mulcher clear a food plot?
It can open one. The mulcher grinds brush and small trees down and leaves a layer of chips with stumps cut low, which gives you sunlight and a workable opening. It does not turn the soil. You or a neighbor with a tractor will still need to disk or rake through the mulch, then lime and seed. Larger trees in the plot come out with the excavator.
How wide should a trail be cut for an ATV or side-by-side?
Wide enough that the machine passes without limbs slapping the sides, plus a margin for a season of growth. One pass of the mulcher is wider than a four-wheeler and suits most side-by-sides. Tractor and implement trails need more. Give Jeff the width of the widest thing you plan to drive in so the cut can be set to match.
Do you travel to hunting land in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia?
Yes. We work across northeastern and eastern Ohio, western Pennsylvania and the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Hunting ground is often far from the owner's house, so send Jeff the parcel location and a rough map of what you want cut. Tell him about the job and he will talk it through with you.
What does it cost to cut trails and shooting lanes on hunting property?
The total length of trail, how thick the growth is, how steep and wet the ground is, and how hard it is to get the mulcher to the back of the property. Lanes and trails add up faster than people expect once you measure them. A map with the trails drawn on it lets Jeff give you a free estimate that matches what you want.
How a Job Runs
Talk It Through
Call or send the form. Tell us where the ground is and what you want it to look like when we leave.
We Look at the Site
Jeff walks it with you: the growth, the slope, the wet spots, the way in and out for the machines.
A Straight Plan
You get a free estimate and a plain recommendation on the approach that fits the ground.
The Work Gets Done
We bring the right machine for the job and do the work the way we said we would.
Clean and Ready
We leave the site cleaned up and ready for the next step, whatever that is for you.
Hunting Land & Trails Near You
Based in Farmdale, in Trumbull County, Ohio. Pick your town, or call and ask if we cover it.
Forestry Mulching pages for your town
More services
Forestry Mulching
Brush and small trees ground into mulch in place. No piles, no burning, no hauling.
DetailsBrush Mulching
Thick brush, briars and saplings ground to mulch in place. No piles to deal with.
DetailsFence Line Clearing
Grown-up fence rows and property lines opened with a forestry mulcher.
DetailsNeed Hunting Land & Trails?
Call Jeff or send a few details. Estimates are free, and you get a straight answer on what the job takes.