Mississippi Hunting and Fishing Forums banner
Cancel

Thickets

Jump to Latest Follow
1 - 20 of 22 Posts
Rancher

· Registered
Joined
·
1,783 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
What’s y’all opinion on thickets? I’m talking 5-7 year old cutover full of briars and native vegetation and pines around 6-10’ tall.

We have a stand that is in such an area for last 3 seasons. 1st two seasons we had great bucks (wife took her 2 biggest) and a couple more of them on camera. Throughout the season we’d also have different bucks show up on camera. Those years the vegetation wasn’t as thick nor tall, could still see deer walking in places.

This year 1 lil eight point my youngest took durning youth weekend and not a single racked buck was seen or showed up on camera. Multiple does all day every day (this is stand I talked about which does to shoot). We took 3 does off that plot and still have a decent amount coming out, still no racks.

Is it possible bucks are avoiding this 40 acre thicket due to it being ridiculously thick? Plot is kinda in middle. When we retrieved deer off the plot it was almost impenetrable! I mean THICK with briar and whatever else grows between pine.
 
Rancher

· Registered
Joined
·
1,783 Posts
Discussion Starter · #3 ·
W said:
Put cameras on trails on the outside edge. Sanctuary is key and that sure sounds like one. Is it possible to put a plot on the outside edge and leave the 40 alone?
Click to expand...
Negative on moving the plot, it’s leased land from Weyerhaeuser.

One of her nice bucks did come from more open woods. (not on our lease) She watched it come off the open woods hill down into a holler then he appeared on the plot. That was 3 seasons ago when she could kinda see in it.

I could be wrong but I feel at least 1 racked buck woulda walked infront our camera that sits at the feeder facing the plot. Ain’t no way I’m walking in that stuff to put a camera! lol It would only be catching max 2 feet of view if that.
 
Rancher

· Registered
Joined
·
1,783 Posts
Discussion Starter · #5 ·
rt8 said:
Certainly. If they literally can't walk through it, they won't. Surely there are trails through it, though?
Any chance you can bushhog some lanes in it between the rows of pines?
Click to expand...
Yes there’s trails deer are using. I’ve done exactly that with the bush hog till I couldn’t go any more without messing with the pine trees.

Looking back I’m an idiot not realizing how thick it is in there and bucks with anything on their head would have trouble getting thru there. I’ve always heard thicker the better but now I realize too thick will hurt.

After posting this thread I have devised a plan to blaze me a trail to neighboring hardwoods.
 
Stringwacker

· Registered
Joined
·
2,472 Posts
#7 ·
That's an odd one for sure. To see does and not see bucks is unusual. My first though was that the natural browse is suppressed as sunlight no longer gets to the forest floor as it did in years past when the foilage was thinner. That doesn't explain why you still see does but not bucks.

If the mature bucks haven't been harvested before this year; I would just say they have moved to an area they like more. Deer often move if they encounter a period of offensive scent (such as human) if your tracking back and forth in that area often or a variety of other reasons. I have moved stands constantly over the years as one year its a hot stand and then the next year its not.

Deer are only second to women in their unpredictability.
 
Rancher

· Registered
Joined
·
1,783 Posts
Discussion Starter · #8 ·
Stringwacker said:
That's an odd one for sure. To see does and not see bucks is unusual. My first though was that the natural browse is suppressed as sunlight no longer gets to the forest floor as it did in years past when the foilage was thinner. That doesn't explain why you still see does but not bucks.

If the mature bucks haven't been harvested before this year; I would just say they have moved to an area they like more. Deer often move if they encounter a period of offensive scent (such as human) if your tracking back and forth in that area often or a variety of other reasons. I have moved stands constantly over the years as one year its a hot stand and then the next year its not.

Deer are only second to women in their unpredictability.
Click to expand...
This area was prayed by timber company couple years ago so it wasn’t as thick. Now the briars are almost as tall as the pine trees which are around 6-10’.

Way less human scent in this area this year as I relied on my cell cameras to tell me if I should hunt there.
 
dzsmith

· Registered
Joined
·
2,171 Posts
#12 ·
Rancher said:
What’s y’all opinion on thickets? I’m talking 5-7 year old cutover full of briars and native vegetation and pines around 6-10’ tall.

We have a stand that is in such an area for last 3 seasons. 1st two seasons we had great bucks (wife took her 2 biggest) and a couple more of them on camera. Throughout the season we’d also have different bucks show up on camera. Those years the vegetation wasn’t as thick nor tall, could still see deer walking in places.

This year 1 lil eight point my youngest took durning youth weekend and not a single racked buck was seen or showed up on camera. Multiple does all day every day (this is stand I talked about which does to shoot). We took 3 does off that plot and still have a decent amount coming out, still no racks.

Is it possible bucks are avoiding this 40 acre thicket due to it being ridiculously thick? Plot is kinda in middle. When we retrieved deer off the plot it was almost impenetrable! I mean THICK with briar and whatever else grows between pine.
Click to expand...
The woes of hunting in this area man…. It’s like a the deer are vagabond roamers. Not a lot of consistency from year to year … is it too thick , is it this is it that . I have had the exact experience you described so many times . Public and private. I think mast crop has a heavy influence on what we see in those areas during hunting hours , but I don’t know that’s it’s always the case . I run a lot of cameras , and it’s totally different on many of them from year to year .
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rancher
Save Share
Reply Quote
rt8

· Registered
Joined
·
5,498 Posts
#14 ·
urbanbucks said:
I don’t believe it is too thick for bucks.
Click to expand...
It may not get too thick for them to hide in around the edges, but a buck isn't going to fight his way through a quarter mile of thicket on his routine travels any more than you or I would. There are surely Some trails that were established and "maintained" by the deer as the cutover grew...but that'll be the extent of where they routinely travel through that kind of thicket.
 
urbanbucks

· Registered
Joined
·
2,787 Posts
#15 ·
rt8 said:
It may not get too thick for them to hide in around the edges, but a buck isn't going to fight his way through a quarter mile of thicket on his routine travels any more than you or I would. There are surely Some trails that were established and "maintained" by the deer as the cutover grew...but that'll be the extent of where they routinely travel through that kind of thicket.
Click to expand...
I’ll bet they have their routes they use. They’ve probably just got him patterned.
 
randywallace

· Administrator
Joined
·
8,696 Posts
#18 · (Edited)
I have never seen a thicket too thick for a buck to utilize. No telling how many times I have crawled through briars to help get deer for folks. Bucks will walk those tunnels and bed off to the side of them or in small openings. Even with tornado damage making it dang near impassable for humans, deer will find a way. When your pines get up to a height that shades out undergrowth, that is when you will see deer avoid them for several years because there simply isn't any food to eat in there. Right now is the best time to find the trails. The lack of leaves coupled with the wet ground, make those trails stick out like cattle paths.
 
1

· Registered
Joined
·
51 Posts
#20 ·
Rancher said:
What’s y’all opinion on thickets? I’m talking 5-7 year old cutover full of briars and native vegetation and pines around 6-10’ tall.

We have a stand that is in such an area for last 3 seasons. 1st two seasons we had great bucks (wife took her 2 biggest) and a couple more of them on camera. Throughout the season we’d also have different bucks show up on camera. Those years the vegetation wasn’t as thick nor tall, could still see deer walking in places.

This year 1 lil eight point my youngest took durning youth weekend and not a single racked buck was seen or showed up on camera. Multiple does all day every day (this is stand I talked about which does to shoot). We took 3 does off that plot and still have a decent amount coming out, still no racks.

Is it possible bucks are avoiding this 40 acre thicket due to it being ridiculously thick? Plot is kinda in middle. When we retrieved deer off the plot it was almost impenetrable! I mean THICK with briar and whatever else grows between pine.
Click to expand...
 
1 - 20 of 22 Posts
About this Discussion
21 Replies
10 Participants
Last post:
JohnM37
Mississippi Hunting and Fishing Forums
A forum community dedicated to hunting and fishing enthusiasts in the Mississippi area. Come join the discussion about safety, gear, tackle, tips, tricks, optics, hunting, gunsmithing, reviews, reports, accessories, classifieds, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Mississippi Deer Hunting Mississippi Fishing SALTWATER Forum Mississippi Turkey Hunting Guns and Ammo Announcements and Classifieds
Top