Hunting Lanes, Shooting Lanes & Food Plots
Shooting lanes cut, trails opened, food plots cleared and the ground left ready to disc and plant. Hunting land work across eight west Alabama counties, done with tracked mulchers and a dozer.
Hunting Lanes & Food Plots, Start to Finish
Cutover grows back into a wall. A few seasons after the loggers leave, a clear-cut is head-high sweetgum, briars and pine so thick you can hear deer and never see one. The old woods road is shut. The stand that used to watch a hardwood bottom now watches forty feet of brush. The only opening on the place is the power line. A lease or a family tract like that needs lanes to see down, trails to slip in on, and openings that will grow something.
That is mulcher work, mostly. A tracked loader with a mulching head opens a lane or a trail in one pass and leaves chips on the ground instead of piles. No stumps are pulled, so the ground is not torn up. Food plots get cleared one of two ways: mulched and left thin enough to work, or pushed with the dozer and root rake when the stumps have to come out for a disc. Standing hardwood up to roughly six to eight inches on the stump is inside the mulcher's range.
We are based in Berry in Fayette County and take hunting land work in Fayette, Walker, Tuscaloosa, Marion, Lamar, Pickens, Cullman and Winston counties. Tell us where the stands are, or better, ride it with us. Twenty minutes on a four-wheeler saves cutting a lane in the wrong place. If you live a long way from the land, we can go over it with you on satellite first. Estimates are free. Call or text (205) 535-6376.
What hunting land work covers
- Shooting lanes cut to the stand
- Trails wide enough for a four-wheeler and trailer
- Food plots cleared and left workable
- Stumps taken out where you plan to disc
- Old woods roads and logging decks reopened
- Firebreaks cut around stands and lines
Shooting lanes and trails
A shooting lane wants to be cut to the width and the direction that works from the stand, not just a straight line off the nearest road. Think about where deer cross, where the sun sits at first light, and what is behind the lane. Trails want to be wide enough for a four-wheeler and a trailer, cut where the ground drains, and looped so you can get in and out of a stand without walking across the whole property. Most people want more width than they first ask for, and it is a lot easier to take a little more now than to bring a machine back. More on this at trail and ATV path clearing.
Food plots: where to put one
Where a plot goes matters as much as how it is cleared. Alabama Extension says plots usually run from a quarter acre to five acres and do better in the open, because trees left standing in a plot shade out what you plant. It lists logging decks, woods roads, power lines, old fields and firebreaks as good places to start, and says to stay away from poorly drained ground and from spots near property lines or in view of a public road. Add one more: a way to get a tractor to it. Plots get cleared, stumps handled if you are going to disc, and the mulch spread thin or pushed to the edges so the ground can be worked.
Timing: cut early, plant on time
Alabama Extension says most cool-season food plots in the state are planted in September and October, and that lime can take six months or longer to take full effect. Work backward from that. Clearing wants doing in late winter through summer, not in October. The ground is drier, you are not pushing deer off the property right before the season, and the lime has time to work. If you are calling in September we will still cut it. Just know it is the expensive way round, and the plot may not do much the first fall. Our guide on when and how to cut hunting lanes and food plots has the calendar.
Cutover, old roads and the rest of the tract
A lot of hunting land in these counties is timber company cutover or family land that was logged and left. The slash, tops and stump sprouts can be mulched down so you can walk it, see across it and plant into it: that work is on our cleanup after logging page. Old logging decks make good plots, and old skid trails make good lanes, because the ground has already been opened once. While the machine is there, a firebreak around a stand, a camp or a property line is worth having before you need it. If you lease, bring the landowner into the plan before anything is cut.
Real Job Photos
Phone pictures from real jobs, captioned with what they show. See more recent work.
How wide should a shooting lane be cut?
It depends on the gun, the distance and the ground, but most people want more width than they first ask for. A narrow lane gives you a second or two on a walking deer and grows shut in a few seasons. It is a lot easier to take a little more while the machine is there than to bring one back.
When should I clear a food plot in Alabama?
Well ahead of planting. Alabama Extension says most cool-season plots in the state are planted in September and October, and that lime can take six months or longer to take full effect. So late winter through summer is the time to clear. The ground is drier, and you are not stirring up the property right before the season opens.
Can you leave the mulch off a food plot so I can plant it this season?
Yes. The mulch can be spread thin or pushed to the edges. Chips left on a plot break down and feed the soil over time, but a thick layer is hard to plant through the first season. Say what you are planting and when, and the plot is set up so you can work it.
Do stumps have to come out of a food plot?
Only if you plan to disc or plow it. A mulched plot has the stems ground flush and the roots left in the ground, which is fine for a no-till drill or broadcast seed on a worked surface. If a disc is going over it, the stumps come out with the dozer's root rake or the excavator and the holes are filled.
Can a forestry mulcher cut lanes through thick cutover or a young pine plantation?
Yes. That is what it is built for. Briars, sweetgum sprouts, volunteer pine and standing stems up to roughly six to eight inches on the stump go through the head and come out as chips. In planted pine, lanes can follow the rows so the trees you are keeping are left alone. Bigger timber is a dozer job.
How a Job Runs
Tell Us What You Have
Call, text or send the form. County, rough acreage, what is growing on it and how a truck and trailer gets in.
We Look at the Ground
Close by, we come and look. Farther off, we can go over it with you on satellite first, then see it on the ground before the work starts.
A Number to Plan Around
Estimates are free and priced off the property. Small jobs carry a minimum, and you hear the figure before you commit.
The Machines Go to Work
We settle what comes out and what stays. Mark the trees you want kept, or walk it with us and point them out.
Finished, Not Just Knocked Down
Holes filled, ground pulled back to grade, and the fall set so water leaves the site instead of standing on it.
Hunting Lanes & Food Plots Near You
Based in Berry, in Fayette County. Eight west Alabama counties. Pick your county or town, or call or text and ask.
Towns
More services
Firebreaks
Firebreaks and fire lanes cut around homes, timber and property lines before you need them.
DetailsForestry Mulching
Brush, briars and small timber ground to mulch where they stand. No piles, no hauling.
DetailsLand Clearing
Trees pushed, stumps raked out, debris burned or hauled, ground graded and ready to use.
DetailsNeed Hunting Lanes & Food Plots?
Call or text, or send a few details. Estimates are free and priced off the property.