I have a hunting spot that is predominatly white pine. Now there is a million 3 to 5 foot pines growing everywhere. They are from the larger pines that are all around. There are areas the the trees are 2 to 4 feet where you can see the deer coming. There are areas on the property where the pines stop and hardwoods start. The trails thru the 3 to 5 foot pines are thick. I can hardly walk thru them ducking and walking backwards. My question is will a bigger buck avoid these thick areas or will he go thru. What I mean is I think his antlers will catch all the branches. There is about a 12 to 15 inch area at the bottom of the trees that has no branches. The braches bend very easily.but I could hunt in the middle of it all where 3 trails come together or on the edges where it is more moveable.What might you do. I think all the does might be using the pines trails. This is thick stuff and I am not sure where to sit for the buck trails. The property is 10 acres.

He would prefer to travel in the thickest, nastiest terrain around. Hunt the thickets!!!

Niether - He will LIVE there

He could run through that stuff full speed and barely touch a branch He will have no problem getting through sapling pines.

Sounds like a great place to hunt

If you look at a thicket and think "god, I don't want to go in there" or simply cannot go there........that's where the big boys will be!!

I forgot to mention all the soil is basicly sand and I think the deer do not spend much time on the property just pass thru. The 10 acres is part of probably 100 acres that is all surrounded by corn. They travel to the corn but kind of just cruise the property. It is beatiful with all the pines everywhere.

i have the same sort of situation at the place i hunt in pa. i have found that these pine thickets hold deer big time. But mine is surrounded by hardwoods that lead to the cornfields. after a season of hunting it, it was easy to realize that the deer were either bedding in these lower pines and going to the corn fields to feed at night or they went straight through them over the top of the mountain and bedded in the pines on the other side of the mountain. The nine point i shot this year lived in one of these pine thickets. I could tell cause during rifle season i was walking through it and i found a rub on a tree with a distinct feature that my buck had. My 9 point was a main frame 8 with a 1.5 inch sticker point on his left antler. i could tell his rubs because the sticker would cut into the tree pretty deep as compared to the rest of the antlers. his face and antlers were pretty dark and you could tell that he had been living in these pines for a long time. i was lucky enough that i set-up my stand between the lower pines and the upper pines and caught him one morning checking the beds for hot does. Don't push the pines to hard cause it is quite possible its there bedding area. Good luck!

hi, newshooter

I was just curious, is there a lot of tracks in these pines. Also, have you found any beds.

Thick, nasty areas are what big bucks want. The pines also offer protection from wind, rain, snow and sunlight on hot days. That area should only get better with time as long as it's not overhunted.

when the only way you can move is to belly crawl... setup your stand in the middle of it. I promise that is where he sleeps. He's huge for a reason, because he doesn't sleep in the grass on the hill side.

Our constant challenge is to figure deer patterns in an area we can legally hunt. Your area is small so you have a built in advantage, less territory to scout. Once we have a good picture as to their presence and movements we must station ourselves for a CLEAR ETHICAL SHOT. Many have said that it is a sweet spot and I don't doubt that one bit. If you are amidst the thick, Gnarly stuff you might be setting yourself up for exasperation and dissappointment. Look closely for open shot areas between the young and mature pines, or points of entry and exit to the food plot.