Yea I'm sure y'all have, no doubt in my mind, but where I hunt they just don't prefer them. I have 2 sanctuarys that I've never ever stepped foot in, literally never and one I suppose you could call a cutover and They could bed in there and some probably do but I'm not going to find out. I find other spots to kill them. Just talking deer hunting and another strategy, one of the most fun ways I've ever bow hunted and been successful on mature bucks is stalking standing corn fields. That is an awesome way to get a mature bucks. Just have to have some wind and/or rain. But again to the OP, try different strategies, it will benefit you, I think, and keep it challenging and fun.

What age/age range clear cut do you all prefer to hunt?

Years 2-5 are usually best then they get too thick to hunt.

My kind of hunting. If I know a good one is using a clear cut I'm going to slip around in it until I get him up. I kill my fair share of 5 yr old plus bucks doing this. It ain't for the faint of heart, sometimes they'll get up right on top of you. I like a BAR .270, sometimes it takes a shot or two or three to catch up with him, sometimes you don't catch up. I have no doubt that I would of never killed or even seen many of these old bucks if I hadn't walked them up.

Good spots for rut hunting too. You can catch them on the move in cut overs.

never to thick to hunt but the dragging them out of it can get to be hell . lol

no telling how many you did walk by .

As far as stated post above during the rut if you can do all day sit that has been good for me. Seem to bed and chase frequently in the cutovers

Also pay real good attention to how they travel through the clear cut while you can see.I hunted a 20 AC 1 year cut on my property last year and every buck that crossed it did so in one particular travel corridor, which was about 100 yds further than I wanted to shoot.I have now set up stands which I hope will put me on them for many years, even after I can no longer see them like I can now.A buddy who is a very successful hunter and timber guy who sees lots of clear cuts does this and and has shot some good uns. He says the travel routes don't usually change as the pines grow, so he pushes out shooting lanes across major trails and sees a pile of deer.

Nearly every clear cut around my place has a smz or "head" coming into it. Deer like to use the smzs to travel in and out of clear cuts. Really good way to bow hunt a clear cut.

Another thing that I have done in the past is that I fertilize the browse as well as took a few 50lb bags of wheat and rye and spread it over a particular hillside or flat away from where anyone could see it. Not all of it will come up but I have some good hunts watching these spots and nobody knew what I had going on in there.

I'm familiar with saddles, benches, and funnels, but what is a SMZ?

Streamside Management Zone (SMZ)...basically a strip of timber containing a creek, river, or branch that is left when the timber is cut. Allows travel corridors for wildlife

Oh yeah, I remember that now. Thanks for the reminder!