How do you deal with thick briar areas?

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sureshotscott
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How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby sureshotscott » Tue Dec 27, 2016 2:56 am

Have some thick briar areas on public land near me. It's spotty; some areas are choked so thick you can barely get through upright (I took a thorn to the balls trying to bust through last month) while other nearby land is a mix of mature timber, ag, swamps, march etc. You can run into briars almost everywhere, but some places it's thicker and you can find yourself in the middle of it pretty easy.

Also took a trip down to the Shawnee forest in Ohio recently, where the greenbriar is EVERYWHERE and left me feeling like the Shawnee is a mountain range with barbed wire growing from the ground.

So I have a few questions:

1) How do you think deer use thick briars? I can't see a monster with giant headgear wanting to get into it, but I've also seen tunnels where it looks like small deer are getting through and/or bedding in it. Also a story was recently told to me of a hunter who missed a nice buck in the Shawnee who watched that buck run into briars so thick it actually turned around came back towards the hunter. My theory now is bucks will bed in it under high hunting pressure, but bucks in low pressured areas will avoid it; does that sound right?

2) Do deer browse on this stuff? If yes, where does it rank in terms of preferred food sources?

3) When you HAVE to get into thick briars, what do you bring? I love fleece sweaters but after my thorn-to-the-balls scouting trip my favorite fleece was shredded. There are some clothing lines marketed for this, anyone use them? Do you cut through the thick stuff? I've tried a machete (lots of work), maybe some pruners next time? (I have actually considered hauling a weedwhip into the woods.) And my waterproof Danner boots, well much more tearing through briars and I'll be surprised if they keep out water anymore.

So I'm interested in scouting areas where briars are thick, and wondering how the Hunting Beasts deal with it.


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Crazinamatese
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Re: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:27 am

I love briar thickets. Sucks to walk through but do make for excellent doe bedding areas. Some of my better set ups are close to large isolated patches. I have watched deer browse on the leaves at times. Really, there is no easy way to penetrate briar patches. If I can, I will just take the long way and skirt around them. Too much noise and entangling to deal with.
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Re: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby sojourner » Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:37 am

I have seen tunnels through briars and actually caught a nice 8 point slip into a briar tunnel. I followed him a little, but could not close the deal. I was surprised at how a 8 point rack made it through the tunnel. I was either bent over or crawling, and definitely had shed some blood and ripped some clothes on the way.

I have no idea if they browse on briars.

I bring wicked hand saw, ez-kut pruners and a mini-machete. When I do "bushwhack", I find that the deer eventually find my trails and then use the trails themselves.

My wife still owes me a Christmas gift, and I am seriously thinking about either of the below.
http://danshuntinggear.com/froglegs_five-star-chaps.html
http://danshuntinggear.com/bibs_frogger-bibs.html

I'd like to know what everyone else does. And especially if anyone uses the chaps or bibs I gave a link to.
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Re: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:44 am

SE Mass has the worst green briar I have seen anywhere I have been in the country. Literally, you get wound up in it like a bug on a spider web. Lots and lots of big pines, big softwoods and green briar everywhere.

My hats off to you guys that deal with that stuff on a regular basis. Still hunting or tracking not real effective in areas like this. You can see the trails that humans use, deer use the same ones. I remember one swamp I went into, there had to be 20+ ground scrapes all up and down the access trail. Pretty sure deer preferred not to trail in the green briar either lol.
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Re: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby sojourner » Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:44 am

I deal with briar patches and generally briar filled areas where it is difficult to walk without getting tangled up.

When offseason and trying to setup a tree location for hunting or posting property, I'll bring a fullsize machete.
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Re: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:45 am

sojourner wrote:I have seen tunnels through briars and actually caught a nice 8 point slip into a briar tunnel. I followed him a little, but could not close the deal. I was surprised at how a 8 point rack made it through the tunnel. I was either bent over or crawling, and definitely had shed some blood and ripped some clothes on the way.

I have no idea if they browse on briars.

I bring wicked hand saw, ez-kut pruners and a mini-machete. When I do "bushwhack", I find that the deer eventually find my trails and then use the trails themselves.

My wife still owes me a Christmas gift, and I am seriously thinking about either of the below.
http://danshuntinggear.com/froglegs_five-star-chaps.html
http://danshuntinggear.com/bibs_frogger-bibs.html

I'd like to know what everyone else does. And especially if anyone uses the chaps or bibs I gave a link to.


That stuff looks like the ticket though!
sureshotscott
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Re: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby sureshotscott » Tue Dec 27, 2016 3:53 am

sojourner wrote:I have seen tunnels through briars and actually caught a nice 8 point slip into a briar tunnel. I followed him a little, but could not close the deal. I was surprised at how a 8 point rack made it through the tunnel. I was either bent over or crawling, and definitely had shed some blood and ripped some clothes on the way.

I have no idea if they browse on briars.

I bring wicked hand saw, ez-kut pruners and a mini-machete. When I do "bushwhack", I find that the deer eventually find my trails and then use the trails themselves.

My wife still owes me a Christmas gift, and I am seriously thinking about either of the below.
http://danshuntinggear.com/froglegs_five-star-chaps.html
http://danshuntinggear.com/bibs_frogger-bibs.html

I'd like to know what everyone else does. And especially if anyone uses the chaps or bibs I gave a link to.


Yes, I've been looking at Danshuntinggear also. And those pruners are going in my Amazon cart. 8-)
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Re: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby Hawthorne » Tue Dec 27, 2016 4:28 am

We have them in southern mi. They are called multi flora rose. There's a disease going around killing them. I found a dead 10 point in one a few years back. Like someone said they are great doe bedding areas. I know a few if I bust thru them I'll kick out some does. They also make for great rabbit hunting. Just have to wear brush pants , leather gloves, and a carhartt jacket or you will be bleeding. Deer will browse on it in winter time
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Re: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby Stanley » Tue Dec 27, 2016 6:37 am

Deer love to hang out where humans don't. :think:
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: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby mheichelbech » Tue Dec 27, 2016 7:19 am

If possible use a brush killer chemical in them to clear a path. You will have an excellent funnel next fall. Just be sure not to start it in the very beginning so other hunters don't see the opening. I have not had to try this but have heard about it being a great tactic.
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Re: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby IkemanTx » Tue Dec 27, 2016 11:44 am

I stumbled across a dynamite area last year that is chest high in greenbriar. It seems to be the primary food source on an almost 700 acre peninsula sticking into a large resevoir. The deer have literally browsed their own travel corridors through it. I have yet to make it into the interior of this area without seeing deer. (Though I assume if I went more often, the pressure would move them) I can safely say that no other hunters are going in there, it is a 3 mile boat ride and several hundred yards of the thickest thorny junk you have ever seen. But, there is near constant daytime movement.

I will have to prep an entrance, because it currently takes me so long to enter and exfil that I have been unable to get to location on time.

Here is a view of the area
Image

https://youtu.be/2X-ny_z9Kto
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Re: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby creepingdeth » Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:28 am

Love Stanley's reply....deer are where humans are'nt. Little simple things I needed to hear :clap:
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sureshotscott
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Re: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby sureshotscott » Wed Dec 28, 2016 10:44 am

creepingdeth wrote:Love Stanley's reply....deer are where humans are'nt. Little simple things I needed to hear :clap:


How much have you had to deal with thick briars? Guys have responded in this thread about dealing with them, it's no joke.

I've fished all through the BWCA and Quetico, never ran into thick briars there. But that was fishing with limited bushwhacking...

Simple-sounding things in abstract can seem pretty simple...until real life arrives.
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Re: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby oldrank » Wed Dec 28, 2016 12:45 pm

There are patches of them around here that are so thick you cant get in em. They will swallow you up. They hold deer. I treat them as any other bedding area. They seem to grow with autumn olive and wild blackberry alot around here. Together they can make some knarly bedding and be a deer magnet.
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Re: How do you deal with thick briar areas?

Unread postby Wlog » Wed Dec 28, 2016 12:53 pm

In areas where there isn't standing water, phragmites or cat tails deterring other hunters, large briar patches are a great people deterrent. If I find big patches of greenbrier, I find deer. Theres all kinds of vegetation with briars around here. The green briar gets browsed heavily.

This is the stuff I'm talking about.

http://www.bio.brandeis.edu/fieldbio/Ed ... brier.html
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