Many parts of west Texas didn't have white tails till mexican cattle were grazed up here and transplanted mesquites. The area around big lake didn't have mesquites (and almost no whitetail deer) until mesquites took hold.

The most important thing mesquite provide is cover and shade. There are more deer and quail now than ever in many regions thanks to mesquites.

Roller chopping strips is a much better option.

Are the deer safe to eat?? Like 4Weight stated " I do know that cattle have to come off the property for at least a year"

The cows don't come off because of the chemical. The reason the cows are removed is that the land owner has a contract with NRCS that says the section of land that is to be sparayed has to be defered for a period of time before and after the spraying is to be done in order to let the pasture rest. NRCS shares in the cost of the spraying in exchange for cooperation from the land owner in making range improvements. I think it would be highly unlikely for the application of herbicides to have much of an effect on the deer hunting. Shouldn't be much different than doing an aeirial survey. Cactus can be sprayed any time of year, and it is very cost effective to aerial spray prickly pare costs around $25/acre. We have aerial sprayed a couple thousand acres at this point and have not seen any negative impact on our deer heard. We hand spray for mesquite during the summer and we burn a few hundred acres every year. Our pastures are basically mesquite and pare free and our deer hunting is excellent. Aerial spraying is a very effective tool for ranchers to control cactus and it is marginal for mesquite. In the long run you will be glad your rancher is managing the prickly pare.

The cows don't come off because of the chemical. The reason the cows are removed is that the land owner has a contract with NRCS that says the section of land that is to be sparayed has to be defered for a period of time before and after the spraying is to be done in order to let the pasture rest. NRCS shares in the cost of the spraying in exchange for cooperation from the land owner in making range improvements. I think it would be highly unlikely for the application of herbicides to have much of an effect on the deer hunting. Shouldn't be much different than doing an aeirial survey. Cactus can be sprayed any time of year, and it is very cost effective to aerial spray prickly pare costs around $25/acre. We have aerial sprayed a couple thousand acres at this point and have not seen any negative impact on our deer heard. We hand spray for mesquite during the summer and we burn a few hundred acres every year. Our pastures are basically mesquite and pare free and our deer hunting is excellent. Aerial spraying is a very effective tool for ranchers to control cactus and it is marginal for mesquite. In the long run you will be glad your rancher is managing the prickly pare.

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The OP is talking about Cactus not spraying mesquites. Trust me, my place is 98% mesquite and I mean heavy cover so I like mesquites. Its the cactus that don't allow native grasses to take hold.

The cows don't come off because of the chemical. The reason the cows are removed is that the land owner has a contract with NRCS that says the section of land that is to be sparayed has to be defered for a period of time before and after the spraying is to be done in order to let the pasture rest. NRCS shares in the cost of the spraying in exchange for cooperation from the land owner in making range improvements. I think it would be highly unlikely for the application of herbicides to have much of an effect on the deer hunting. Shouldn't be much different than doing an aeirial survey. Cactus can be sprayed any time of year, and it is very cost effective to aerial spray prickly pare costs around $25/acre. We have aerial sprayed a couple thousand acres at this point and have not seen any negative impact on our deer heard. We hand spray for mesquite during the summer and we burn a few hundred acres every year. Our pastures are basically mesquite and pare free and our deer hunting is excellent. Aerial spraying is a very effective tool for ranchers to control cactus and it is marginal for mesquite. In the long run you will be glad your rancher is managing the prickly pare.

Do you have other cover brush? I can assure you that grasslands won't support the deer that a bunch of brush will.

There is a direct conflict in managing for cattle vs deer if your management means controlling all brush.

Most of those chemicals are mixed with diesel fuel.

The cows don't come off because of the chemical. The reason the cows are removed is that the land owner has a contract with NRCS that says the section of land that is to be sparayed has to be defered for a period of time before and after the spraying is to be done in order to let the pasture rest. NRCS shares in the cost of the spraying in exchange for cooperation from the land owner in making range improvements. I think it would be highly unlikely for the application of herbicides to have much of an effect on the deer hunting. Shouldn't be much different than doing an aeirial survey. Cactus can be sprayed any time of year, and it is very cost effective to aerial spray prickly pare costs around $25/acre. We have aerial sprayed a couple thousand acres at this point and have not seen any negative impact on our deer heard. We hand spray for mesquite during the summer and we burn a few hundred acres every year. Our pastures are basically mesquite and pare free and our deer hunting is excellent. Aerial spraying is a very effective tool for ranchers to control cactus and it is marginal for mesquite. In the long run you will be glad your rancher is managing the prickly pare.