Hunting Thick Woods
 

Can anyone offer a few general tips for hunting in thick woods and areas with lots of underbrush? Google isn't being very helpful.

I generally hunt around areas like that rather than in them. Maybe that is not an option?

i agree with rockport, normally really thick areas are probable bedding grounds. Its better to find the travel routes in and out of them and hunt there instead

I see what you mean, but no, it's not really an option. Part of it is the fact that I have to hunt on others' land (with permission, of course), and part of it is the nature of the forests around here. They're mainly younger, with lots of underbrush. Mature forests are logged, which opens up the land to more brush. I'm stuck with very narrow shooting lanes and am not able to see deer moving in until they're right in the kill zone, so I have no time to prepare for the shot.

Yeah we get the logging and underbrush etc here to.

Where are you at and what are the deer eating?

If the owner allows it, cut yourself some openings and shooying lanes . They don't have to be big, just big enough to be able to shoot. If you are hunting in the thick, you must keep your eyes moving around looking for parts of deer that were not there earlier. If you stare in one direction, you will miss what is moving in the other areas.

Rockport, I'm in Winston County, Alabama.

As for what they're eating, I can't say for certain. I know there are no farms in this side of the county; the ground is too rocky and there are too many canyons. People have garden plots, but those are all dried up now. So the deer aren't eating ag stuff. There are oak trees around, mostly the ones with huge acorns. I think that's black oak. Anyway, hogs, squirrels, and deer all seem to leave them behind. There are white oaks and a few red oaks around, but there aren't any that I can find on the land I'm allowed to hunt, nor on the land next to it. In all, land I can hunt and land I can walk but not hunt is about 350 acres or so, and I've not found any food sources that really stand out. I'm not experienced enough to be able to tell what they're eating if the obvious signs aren't present.

I went and walked it again today. The land is backed up against Smith Lake, but the shoreline is rocky and steep. I've found a very small pond in the middle of the property that I think they're watering at. I didn't have time to check everything, but I may can make that work, especially if the owner will let me hang a stand.

Oldtimr, I can't make too many changes to the land in question. The gentleman who gave me permission is careful about such things because others have abused his permission in the past. He may let me hang a stand, but other than lopping off the odd branch or cutting a sapling here and there I don't think he will allow me to do much at all.

I don't know how helpful I'm going to be on hunting Alabama but I thinks its pretty universal that you are going to have to find out what they are eating. Google should help you learn that or maybe somebody here from Alabama can help.

Food water and cover and it sounds like you have found 2 out of 3

the deer will likely be back for those big acorns once they eat up the other acorns they like better.

I'm sure there are white oaks somewhere.

As far as the brush.....if its all over and you can't cut it your just going to have to deal with it I reckon.

Gotta find out what they are eating and where its at.

I have the opposite problems. Corn fields as far as the eye can see and a thousand white oaks.

I've hunted the big wood all my life and cedar swamps you almost have to crawl to get thru them. Takes a bit of scouting(best time is after the season is over.) and look for the trails most heavy traveled. Look for small clearings also. Funnels are good places to find also like a narrow dry spot between a couple of swamps or marshy ground.
Hunting heavy brush woods areas isn't all bad. Ya you can't see the deer till they are about on top of you but that is true of the deer also they can't see you either. Just need to practice quick rifle handling and have a nice easy rifle to use. I like the carbines like a Winchester model 94, Remington Model 7, Remington 760 (7600) carbine, and several others that are over all short and easy to swing in thick brush. Don't over look a shot gun like a Remington slugger which is short or a Mossberg. I also prefer a peep sight for that type of shooting over a scope.

:D Al

One way to make lanes without cutting is to find large dead logs to pin brush down. See if the owner is OK with that. This is what I do on state land to make a shooting lane.

Actually, I'm running a Remington 870 12 gauge with 24" rifled barrel and iron sights for most deer and hog hunts. I've got my father-in-law's Savage 10 in .270WSM, but it's too much gun for this close-in style hunting. My brother uses a Winchester 97 in .30-30 for the same brushy hunts and does well with it.

I think I'd just go with a smooth bore barrel

I hunt the same exact type of area. Fortunately the loggers left huge piles of sawdust that are about 25' high. Last Saturday I made a hole in the top of one, sat down inside and could see 360 degrees around me. (I watched two bucks chase a doe for about 10 minutes)
Any chance you have sawdust piles?

If you can find any, hunt some acorn producing oaks. If not, I would try setting up somewhere around that small pond. May be your best bet. Try and find the trails where they are coming in and watering, then set up back far enough you are not right on top of them when they come in. Even if it means you can only get back 20-30 yards due to the undergrowth. If you are able to hang a stand you should be good.

OK ... let me see if I get this? You are hunting near Smith Lake, on the Winston Co. side. Private property that has little or no large trees, and none of them acorn bearing oaks ?? That makes it a tough go for this time of year. And by the way, the "large" acorns are likely Chesnut Oak acorns, and where I hunt in SE Alabama these are one of the top 2 choices for deer .... the other being White Oak acorns.

Around the pond there are trees large and tall enough to be suitable for a ladder or climber? Sounds like a possible set-up to be looking down into the thick stuff or watch the pond. As dry as it has been here in Alabama these past 5-6 weeks, deer should be using the pond at least some. If there are no tracks around the edges of that pond, I'd say the 350 acres is not holding many deer at all.

In that thick stuff, if there are deer in the area, I'd say you will come across well used and obvious walking paths , plus beds. Any paths that are regularly used should have droppings along the way. You just have to keep looking.

Also look carefully at the browse around the edges of any open areas. If there are deer in the area, they will be clipping the ends of what I call "Wait-a-Minute" vines, French mulberry bushes, any oak saplings, Honey Locust, etc. If you cannot find evidence of browsing, you may be hunting a very sparsely populated area of the county.

Good luck.