Thick or Open?

[Jrichard]

Okay so I am going to get a little graphic. This with a weak stomach do not read...

So today I was sitting on the "throne" and I downloaded Huntwise. I was running through the app and I noticed that you could post multiple pictures and you could scroll through them. And there were quite a few on people taking pictures while they are up in there tree. Kind of giving a point of view to the left front and right views. And more than I ever thought actually took pictures of deer walking right under there stands. And from what I could make of it, they were all decent bucks. But as I studied the pictures, none of them were in thick areas. Any idea why that may be? I mean I have always thought bucks traveled off the beaten path in the thickest of areas. Not to mention it doesnt even seem like the deer are on any type of terrain features. on shelves, fingers, or hills.

IDK just thought it would be an interesting topic.

[Crazinamatese]

Whoa, that post made me ill.

[Jonny]

Okay so I am going to get a little graphic. This with a weak stomach do not read...

So today I was sitting on the "throne" and I downloaded Huntwise. I was running through the app and I noticed that you could post multiple pictures and you could scroll through them. And there were quite a few on people taking pictures while they are up in there tree. Kind of giving a point of view to the left front and right views. And more than I ever thought actually took pictures of deer walking right under there stands. And from what I could make of it, they were all decent bucks. But as I studied the pictures, none of them were in thick areas. Any idea why that may be? I mean I have always thought bucks traveled off the beaten path in the thickest of areas. Not to mention it doesnt even seem like the deer are on any type of terrain features. on shelves, fingers, or hills.

IDK just thought it would be an interesting topic.

IMO you find the bucks in the same areas you find the does. Those guys tend to hunt either very remote public land in the mountains or most likely lease a huge chunk of land that has zero human pressure on it. If the deer feel safe, they come out in the day light. If they don't they go nocturnal. I hunt big open hardwoods and see decent numbers of deer and have seen some monsters I know most guys here would shoot. And I hunt a mile off a logging road on a big open hardwood ridge. Never see anybody there. Most guys here hunt more pressured land and the deer go to areas with less pressure which tend to be the thicker areas where there are less people. To find the deer, I simply start where I think they should be and work from there to find the best place for the deer with the least amount of pressure. I don't see a lot of deer but I see as many or more than everybody I hunt with. Look at pictures taken by Dewey or Dan or Jackson Marsh, those guys go into some impressively thick areas, but they also hunt very high pressure land. It all depends on your situation.

[Bowhunting Brian]

Why would a buck stay in thick areas all the time with all that bone on top of their head. It would be hard to walk.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Hawthorne]

This is a good topic. I've seen nice bucks in both but more in the thick. Pressure has a lot to do with it

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[Ol'DanBoone]

This is a good topic. I've seen nice bucks in both but more in the thick. Pressure has a lot to do with it

[ Post made via iPhone ]

^this.

[ Post made via Android ]

[mheichelbech]

I estimate that 80% of bucks I have seen that would score over 150 were in areas of very thick low growth type bushes and various weeds and trees up to about 8 feet....the kind of growth you see a couple years after logging. My 3 biggest bucks came from hunting on the ground because there weren't any trees big enough for a stand.

I need to get back into hunting that type of terrain more. It's hard to get past the whole lack of sign thing.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[tgreeno]

I also hunt alot of pressured public land. And for the most part all the buck's I've seen, stick to the thickest areas possible even during the rut. Sometimes it's huntable and sometimes not. If not huntable I try to get as close to the thickest stuff as possible.

[magicman54494]

My guess is if they are getting lots of big buck pictures in the open they are most likely hunting somewhere where the deer get very little pressure.

[ Post made via Android ]

[john1984]

But Dan says in his DVDS that it's usually the does that have the big thick areas for there bedding. And the bucks have these, "little teeny, tiny hideouts" ..

I'm still trying to figure this out.

Most say thick, but then Dan says, teeny, tiny hideouts" ...

[ Post made via Android ]

[tgreeno]

Most say thick, but then Dan says, teeny, tiny hideouts" ...

[ Post made via Android ]

That makes sense. My biggest buck encounter this year was in a semi-thick area with a small marshy area on one end. He was bedded in the small marsh even though it's 75 yards from a field edge.

[john1984]

Most say thick, but then Dan says, teeny, tiny hideouts" ...

[ Post made via Android ]

That makes sense. My biggest buck encounter this year was in a semi-thick area with a small marshy area on one end. He was bedded in the small marsh even though it's 75 yards from a field edge.

Here is a" thick" area. I found some beds in here. I refuse to believe a big buck WONT utilize a big bedding area like this



[ Post made via Android ]

[mauser06]

I agree...lack of pressure.




As far as bedding...it depends on terrain/habitat. Hill country is where Dan said that...and when I see it most. Mature bucks in hill country like to bed on the leeward side of a point. They can essentially see and smell it all. Sometimes a little thick on the backside but not always. I just found a buck bed yesterday that had absolutely nothing around it. Not even a log. It was freshly used and had hair in it...it was used enough that is was compacted. The size and lone bed and tracks said buck. Literally in the wide open. Very few trees let alone thick. Could see 100 yards or so very easily in every direction. And he had the thermal tunnel and if anything was spotted he slipped into the hemlocks and was gone.

Does do tend to like thicker bedding. Sometimes in the thermal tunnel but not always. If there is say a clear cut on top of the ridge the does are often gunna be in there...while the buck is below on the point.


Mature bucks I see are typically a solitary animal. I've never found one bedding with does or small bucks. I've seen plenty of small bucks bedding with does. Just today I snuck up on 4 doe and 2 small buck bedding in a thick little ditch. They ran together. When my driver came through he pushed them all right back to me. Still together.


Most of us on here talking mature bucks and hunting them and how they bed are hunting heavily pressured lands. IMO they are a different animal and require different hunting approaches. My small buck and doe sightings are starting to go down while my big buck sightings are going up the more I target and learn to hunt mature bucks.

I also have learned the deer better and most any day I can put myself in a situation to shoot a doe or small buck.

[ Post made via Android ]

[mauser06]

Looking at your pic...hard to say. Just because it's thick doesn't mean a big buck is or isn't using it.


Depends on the habitat and terrain.

Your scouting should ultimately dictate your hunting. Find big tracks and follow them back to the bed. Then you'll know.



There's no absolutes. There's no hard set rule.


Plain and simple big bucks got big by being old. They got old by avoiding people. Briar patches often attract lots of people...small game and bird hunters, deer hunters often surround them or push them out..not always a good hideout for a big buck.


I located a mature buck bed a few winters ago. It's used every year by a mature buck. It's thick. But that's not why they use it. They use it because it's behind a house and noone goes in there. And the buck has several advantages and he dips out before the truck is in park. Right now it's occupied by a mature 6 point that isn't a legal buck. He's a slob. Just not legal. I watched him get up from the bed this archery season. He hasn't left so I Haven't been back knowing he's occupying it.



In the big woods I see bucks prefering to have that sight advantage on top on the scent advantage. They can dip out long before you see them.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Lockdown]

Most say thick, but then Dan says, teeny, tiny hideouts" ...

[ Post made via Android ]

That makes sense. My biggest buck encounter this year was in a semi-thick area with a small marshy area on one end. He was bedded in the small marsh even though it's 75 yards from a field edge.

Here is a" thick" area. I found some beds in here. I refuse to believe a big buck WONT utilize a big bedding area like this



[ Post made via Android ]

That absolutely looks like a good spot for a big buck to bed. It also looks like a good spot for a group of does to bed. If that's the case and they keep pestering him, he just might be holed up in a "teeny tiny hideout" in the vicinity. Just something to think about...

[ Post made via iPhone ]