With all the rain, the grass is high at my hunting property. Do you like the grass to be high or low for deer habitat? Do you mow before the season or leave it high?

Before. Especially roads. Catalytic converters scare me

I mow all I can.. especially feeding areas that will be plots

I mow all I can frequently to prevent or at least lessen damage caused by wildfires.
I keep roads, fence lines, feeder, blind / all areas near & around structures mowed short year around.

Nothing scares me more than acres & acres of knee high tall or more dry grass/brush come mid to late summer.

Over the years I've lost far too much from wildfires even when keeping the above mowed to let anyplace I own or lease to grow wild.

The cattle I put on between March - August do a pretty decent job of keeping the grass down.

We mow everything we can. I like everything to be aesthetically pleasing... and I think the deer appreciate it as well lol.

Well, yea I understand the fire risk and the way it looks really nice. But I'm wondering if the deer prefer high grass to short.

They prefer edges.... Were you have plenty of both.. Thicker bedding area to thicker grass to more grazing tolerable open areas.. I like keeping a good medium not to much not to little.

I have noticed more deer movements on my place with knee high to thigh high grass as opposed to lower than that. The additional amount and nature of brush cover will contribute to that as well.

When I think about it in October, I'll shred some wide shooting lanes in the deer field at our place, mainly so any guest or young 'un can see the shoulder of a deer plainly.

The lease is in the Chihuahuan desert - no mowing required.

Mow early before the season. The deer will have more fall Forbes to eat and be more comfortable eating there. High grass and weeds are easy for predators to hide and stalk in.

My thinking as well, though I leave "edges". Deer are attracted to cut areas for the new growth, plus the added exposure to sun can help weedy forbes to grow, one reason you see deer at night on road berms that are mowed.

I mow around my food plot so it's the same year round. I think change affects the animals. If it goes from tall to short, they don't show up for awhile. I've also found that they travel on my trails if I keep them mowed. In my opinion, their tracks show a preference to walking in areas that are mowed. You can see their tracks following the mowed areas.

The deer in East Texas will graze in my food plots after I mow them, which I suspect is because the grass closer to the ground carries a better taste and more nutrients. For that reason, I mow them in the early summer and again about a month before spraying prior to disking and planting. I also mow just to keep the roads and trails more passable when checking on things.

Everything else is left alone.

I shred every chance I get.

Leaving it like it is (tall) greatly increases fawn survival rates.

I usually don't shred until late August/early September ... chopped up several fawns when shredding earlier that were hidden and staying put. After shredding, I normally will drag a plow around where I have shredded and there is an amazing amount of new growth shortly after a good rain later in the fall. For the areas I put in fall food plots, I do similar but merely plow the area again right before putting out seed. The old shredded downfall weeds breakdown in the soil providing similar to compost.

I mow year round. I like the look of a well maintained property. Our place is a mix of woods and pasture so the deer have plenty of cover. I think if you want good grass for cattle you have to mow it. Sounds counterintuitive but it works for me.

We mow, but leave some strips uncut. Makes great quail habitat.

i only shred around the feeders maybe a 20ft span and only keep an 8ft rideaway....deer like cover....bucks like cover.

My Ibex are a lot like deer. Very skitish. They do not like tall grass or weeds. It seems to scare them because they can't see into it. If I shred then they will go into that area.

I mowed about 10 hours this weekend... roads, trails, camp, and the feeders in grassy areas that I could get to.

Best grass on the place is where we mow.

Now? That's for lawns and golf courses

We shred the roads and around feeders. Like bobo said the fire hazard scares me with driving in the tall stuff. We have also had the seeds from the knot head grass we have plug up the radiator of a few trucks and the tractor and need to clean them out which is a pain so we try to keep it cut down where we typically drive. Our grass can grow as tall as 6-7 foot hi in wet years... so if you want to see the deer/hogs you have to mow.

We don't run livestock so our place tends to be more grown up than others. If you don't have brush I think the deer would use a heavy grass covered property more than one that is mowed short, they feel hidden and more comfortable. On brushy tracts we find that after mowing the roads we see increased movement of every kind from quail to yotes and deer and hogs on the mowed roads, they just don't like moving through the tall grass as much and will take the mowed roads when they can.

Continually mow around stands and 50 yards around each feeder and travel paths, other that that no other mowing.