My Phobia of hunting thick stuff.
 

Whats the thickest stuff you ever hunted( brush...tress..etc)

I hate hunting when i cant see the deer coming in from a good distance off

My buddy says i need to get over it if I wanna find some big deer.

My buddy up here in VA is putting me in a stand tommorow for one of my last 2 days to hunt. i checked it out a few days ago and man its thick. ill be upm about 20 feet overlooking 2 seperate pine scrub thickets. You cant even see in them form above. the tree trunks ar like 3 inches apart ..lol..theres a small trail running through them. My longest shot would maby be 15 yards.. ill be up in a a maple ..one of the only few in the the thicket.

i was barley able to get to the tree .lol...but his deer cam on the trail has show several NICE deer..2 8-ts and one 10...man..i just hate hunitng where i Cant see far..


Anyone lese have a phobia of not liking it when u cant see deer a long way off??I guess its something in need to get over huh?

Well if he's putting you in a stand than he has patterned them. I always do the opposite of what I am told to do. Because that is just me. Use a little doe scent to turn'em your way.....

O'ya don't forget your safety harness.................

This year for elk....the willows along the river....talk about a pain in the butt! you'd kick up a bull at 10yds and barely get a look at him. he'd go crashing through all that stuff, pretty exciting.

I'm not sure "phobia" is your best choice of word, but more something along the lines of "uncomfortable" or "non-optimistic".

When I started to learn more about buck hunting with a bow, my strategy changed and the thick stuff you are talking about is the stuff I was often in. You have to be quiet and keep your ears focused because you can hear them coming if the situation is right.

If you're not constantly prepared, you can miss a shot that develops in only seconds.

I understand what you mean, because lately I've switched back to rifle more than a bow and now I seek out places where I can reach out and touch 'em.

I will fess up though.... it does get boring at times when you don't have as much area to keep your eyes busy. It does help to know or actually see that there are big bucks there. That will help you remain focused and be more patient.

Good luck to you out there. You'll get bored as ****. LOL! Just kidding. Hang in there and see what happens.

iSnipe

Thanks Snipe..yeah Im not Scared of it..lol..so Uncomfortable is a better word..lol.

u hit the nail on the head. Boredom seems to set in quickly. Ill try to keep focused this morning.

I am the opposite ,I dont like hunting wide open areas . I generally see more deer in thick cover.

LOL!

iSnipe

You want to see more Deer? or see one Deer your hunting for? Good Luck

The THICK stuff is where they'll be once the pressure is on. This is the "edge" of a thicket I hunt. I don't go IN the thicket as it's their safe sanctuary, I wait until they come out of it in the evenings. At this point after already filling my buck tag, I'm just after another doe for the freezer.

I rarely hunt where you can see very far and I rarely hunt fields. Most of the deer around here will not enter a field until well after dark. I find the most sign in thick areas and setup, 10 to 30 yard shots are common for me. Good Luck and be confident.

I feel better if I can see farther, but I want to be where the deer are. Bring your shotgun and some 00 buck!

Pros and Cons for me. Our ranch is very dense (except where Earl and his bulldozer have been) cedar, scrub, oaks, mountain laurel, persimmon...but all tighly packed. It gives the illusion that there simply aren't many deer out there but the trails and tracks and sign call BS on that noise. In any case, given the chance, the people in my family have always hunted our big lease near Hondo because its a little more open. You can drive around and see deer running from place to place.

When actually in a stand, I like to have alot to look at. I like to be able to see a ways and pick them up coming in, have the option to take a longer shot if its worth it and I'm confident but I'm coming around to the notion of just having a shooting lane. This season has driven that point home as my stand is a little exposed and its made the deer nocturnal feeders at my bait. Given dense brush all around, they'll stick to it. I think deer that aren't as used to it are less uncomfortable without it.

One way to combat the feeling of 'missing out' on something is to make liberal use of trail cameras and do some serious scouting. Its a sick feeling to know that the bog one is standing there in the brush just out of sight but if that whole area was clear, good chance he wouldn't even be there.

just be ready for a close encounter, of the furry kind :)

keep focused, try not to let boredom set in...sounds like you will need to act quickly, but don't rush the shot...good luck!

I hunt exclusively in New England (NH and Maine) and I hunt the thickest, nastiest places in my woods. That's usually cedar swamps or thick alders. As previously mentioned, I also love to hunt the edges of these places as well. Most of my setups only offer me shots that are usually 25-30 yds at best. One of my favorite stands allows me shots at only 30 yds and it's less than 50 yds wide. I will usually hear the deer before actually seeing them but that is not always the case. Many times, a deer will suddenly appear, almost out of nowhere. Having a deer step into my lanes at only 10-20 yds away is truly up close and personal.

I know the deer use these areas because it offers feed, security and protection from nasty weather. My scouting over the years has reinforced this. Of all the deer I have shot over the years, my longest shot was about 65-70 yds away. All others have been much closer.

So to answer the question, I have always hunted thick stuff. Scouting plays a big part in my strategy as well as always hunting the wind.

Good Luck!

I think it's a human tendency to want open areas to veiw. A hunter placed at the edge of woods/field will nearly always spend more time looking at the field, even though (generally) he would see more deer in the woods.

Obviously, the further away you can see them coming, the better your chances are of success since you can get most of your moves in while they're still too far away to realize you're in the same state.

As already pointed out, shots in the thick stuff can come and go very quickly, so you definitely have to be more alert which, incidentally, means more mental fatigue. It's all part of the price you pay for a crack at those big dudes that hang out there.

I hunt in overgrown clear cuts and mountain laurel thickets. You can barely walk through the cover.

The deer love it in there and hate it in the more open areas.

I hunt around some thick stuff but not exactly in it the way you are saying. I would be afraid of getting busted getting in something that thick. I like to be able to see around me so I'm not surprised, caught off guard.

When I lived in Missouri I used to hunt a buddies land. He had all of his stands setup to overlook the fields, then had shooting lanes cut into the woods.

I had setup 2 stands in thick stuff where I knew deer were moving through. Average shot was probably 20 yards all the way around.

He has been skunked on his own land ... I have not. Of course this doesn't hold true everywhere. You just have to hunt where you know the deer will be.