Southern hunters..how in the world..

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Ryan
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Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby Ryan » Thu Dec 24, 2015 3:22 pm

I've scouted some prominent features and have defiantly been onto more bucks but I can't help but notice the extremely thick pockets of thorns/vegetation/canopy the southern/coastal terrain provides the deer, I mean you would have to rent a bulldozer to even think about clearing a path through some of this stuff it's like hitting a brick wall, I know the deer are in there but they won't come out in daylight and you can't get in to hunt their beds, theyll hear you coming from a mile away..how do you guys hunt these pockets? Or just chalk it up as a lost cause?

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IkemanTx
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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby IkemanTx » Thu Dec 24, 2015 3:31 pm

Hand sheers and SLOW going. I don't know any different than that kind of thick stuff. A lot of people just don't understand when you tell them it's thick.

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Ryan
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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby Ryan » Thu Dec 24, 2015 3:37 pm

IkemanTx wrote:Hand sheers and SLOW going. I don't know any different than that kind of thick stuff. A lot of people just don't understand when you tell them it's thick.

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Hand sheers are a must...so do you cut a path in pre season or summertime?

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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby Twenty Up » Thu Dec 24, 2015 8:06 pm

Stay away from the creeks, rivers & swamp bottoms. Probably easier said than done but I've began to seek out certain areas (while hunting) and try my best to avoid walking through the thick nasties with a stand on my back. Skirt the edges and follow the sign, chances are those big bucks are doing the same (unless they're heavily pressured)

I've noticed, even in the thickest terrain, the bucks tend to opt for the more open creek bottom (at night) and bed on top of the ridges with the wind at their favor.

What I'm getting at is don't go through the thick stuff, unless you absolutely need to. Try and find an open spot to walk through and get around or build your own before/after the season. But where I have ended up chasing bucks has been is the ridges above all the junk.
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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby dan » Thu Dec 24, 2015 11:48 pm

We have some pockets of pretty thick stuff in the north too... Bucks don't usually go 1 mile thru stuff you can't crawl thru.. They are bedding on the edge.
I have a stand I have hunted a few times that has such thick briars mixed with dogwood around it that I have to crawl thru a hole near the ground and break a hole for about 25 yards to get the the stand tree, and drag my bow and stand thru, a few years back I was in the tree and a doe and a nice buck got up out of edge beds circled a way I didn't expect and got my wind.

The doe bolted down a trail into the thick stuff behind me and the buck followed her... I was trying to get my bow and turn around and lean out to shoot behind the tree but was not fast enough and the buck got to the trail leading into the "thick" before I could get around...

But, he could not get his antlers thru. He kept trying and even backed up and tried running thru, and was stopped cold. Eventually he came back out to circle around and I shot him.

Thats just one example... But, if you think about the type of deer your after, if you can't push thru the stuff, neither can a buck with no hands and a head full of branch grabbers... And if you put that adside, and look at how a buck beds, he will be on the edge of thick, where you can hunt.
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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby IkemanTx » Fri Dec 25, 2015 1:03 am

Ryan wrote:
IkemanTx wrote:Hand sheers and SLOW going. I don't know any different than that kind of thick stuff. A lot of people just don't understand when you tell them it's thick.

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Hand sheers are a must...so do you cut a path in pre season or summertime?

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I am going to be cutting several entry and exit paths starting this January. Once you get them cut, it is pretty easy to maintain. Around here, greenbriar is a pretty important browse item in the late fall and winter, you would be surprised how well they can eat their way through over the years. If your area is heavy pressured, these areas make great late season havens.
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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby Spysar » Fri Dec 25, 2015 1:11 am

When your wondering late in the season, where did all the deer go? It's places like that. Some places you just can't hunt good. They find thick stuff, with no traces of human scent, and stay all day. They can get their antlers through anything if they want. I think they avoid these spots in velvet, bed just inside after hard horn, and go deep under heavy pressure. The mature bucks people want to hunt next year, are in there getting a year older now.
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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby headgear » Fri Dec 25, 2015 1:18 am

Spysar wrote:When your wondering late in the season, where did all the deer go? It's places like that. Some places you just can't hunt good. They find thick stuff, with no traces of human scent, and stay all day. They can get their antlers through anything if they want. I think they avoid these spots in velvet, bed just inside after hard horn, and go deep under heavy pressure. The mature bucks people want to hunt next year, are in there getting a year older now.


Well said spy, even when you try and chase them out at lot of times they will just keep doubling back because they know they are safe in any kind of thick mess.
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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby bowkill00 » Mon Dec 28, 2015 11:27 am

I live in North Alabama and hunt thick mountain terrain. 95% of the time it's impossible to get within killn distance of a bedded buck. Until it rains. Most of the bucks I hunt bed right under the bluff at the top of the mtn. Use thermals under them and feel secure w rock wall behind them. So after rain moves thru I slip up to edge and look off and check beds I know of. Killed a few this way and will kill more when I find more beds. It's a killer way 2 hunt. These big deer use the same beds year after year from what I'm learning.

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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Mon Dec 28, 2015 12:02 pm

Spysar wrote:When your wondering late in the season, where did all the deer go? It's places like that. Some places you just can't hunt good. They find thick stuff, with no traces of human scent, and stay all day. They can get their antlers through anything if they want. I think they avoid these spots in velvet, bed just inside after hard horn, and go deep under heavy pressure. The mature bucks people want to hunt next year, are in there getting a year older now.


I'll add that you can cut a 1 - 2 foot path 3-4 feet high strategically to prompt deer movement...

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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby checkerfred » Mon Dec 28, 2015 12:27 pm

bowkill00 wrote:I live in North Alabama and hunt thick mountain terrain. 95% of the time it's impossible to get within killn distance of a bedded buck. Until it rains. Most of the bucks I hunt bed right under the bluff at the top of the mtn. Use thermals under them and feel secure w rock wall behind them. So after rain moves thru I slip up to edge and look off and check beds I know of. Killed a few this way and will kill more when I find more beds. It's a killer way 2 hunt. These big deer use the same beds year after year from what I'm learning.

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That sounds like Skyline. I have heard several people tell me about walking the bluffs looking for deer and shooting nice bucks this way

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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby bowkill00 » Mon Dec 28, 2015 12:32 pm

checkerfred I'm 30 mins east of skyline near scottsboro.

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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby checkerfred » Mon Dec 28, 2015 12:41 pm

bowkill00 wrote:checkerfred I'm 30 mins east of skyline near scottsboro.

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Cool! I have some family that lives in scottsboro. I knew it was really steep there but never hunted it due to the distance. I'm about 2 1/2 hrs south near Birmingham.

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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby Stanley » Mon Dec 28, 2015 12:46 pm

You never hear me say it's easy.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: Southern hunters..how in the world..

Unread postby Bonecrusher101 » Mon Dec 28, 2015 2:26 pm

I always try to avoid clearing a path for the hunter coming behind me on public land. It's loud and if you clear a path to make it easy access it kind of defeats the purpose and deer will move on from the pressure of you and other hunters going in there.

What I always look for is a line of trees leading into the middle of the thick stuff, Or a way to see into the thick without actually having to go into it. Unless I have killed one then I don't care. If you skirt the edges you can find the deer trails and a lot of times I will use the deer trails and only hunt those situations a few times a season. Look for your larger trees and stay under the drip line of those trees, the underbrush is never as thick under larger trees. Thorns and briars can't grow well if it's shaded out from the larger tree canopies.

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