#2050449 - 08/29/10 11:12 PM
ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
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turkinator
4 Point
Registered: 03/05/09
Posts: 197
Loc: Bolivar, TN
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Every year I get big bucks on my cameras, yet every season ends without me getting any of them. Some of my "succesfull" buddies tell me "thickets, thickets, thickets".
My question for all of you thicket hunters is do you try to find trails thru the thickets or just pick a spot in the thickest part you can find and climb.
Also, how many of you have killed big ones that were not on a trail? Fields dont count
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#2050452 - 08/29/10 11:17 PM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: turkinator]
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smstone22
16 Point
Registered: 01/11/04
Posts: 16325
Loc: Allardt, TN
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Terrain features within thickets will drive deer movement to an extent. Say you have a gap or saddle and its in a thicket, thats where you wanna be. Or a creek crossing, swamp, etc etc.
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#2050453 - 08/29/10 11:20 PM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: turkinator]
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lungpuncher1
4 Point
Registered: 12/23/09
Posts: 232
Loc: in a tree in TN or IL
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Try and hunt the outskirts of thickets or even better if you can find where two thickets are close together, try and get in between them and NO MATTER WHAT make sure the wind is right you never know what or how many deer you are spooking when your wind is blowing into a thicket ,a very bad feeling. Sometimes if your hunting a larger or new tract of land and haven't explored it all you can find an aerial map that has a late fall or winter picture without the leaves on the trees and really see where those "secret" thickets are or even where your neighbors thickets are and try to set up where the deer are coming out of them onto your place.
_________________________
God only gives us so many sunrises I don't plan on missing many.
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#2050457 - 08/29/10 11:26 PM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: lungpuncher1]
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RKenney
10 Point
Registered: 03/15/08
Posts: 3634
Loc: Maury Co.
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Don't worry about trails, look for the "away from the main
stream" thickets.
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#2050521 - 08/30/10 05:37 AM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: RKenney]
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bowriter
Non-Typical
Registered: 08/31/02
Posts: 40337
Loc: Lebanon,TN USA
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I hunt thickets almost exclusively. All I have are mixed hardwood/cedar thickets and open hayfields. The fields never figure into my picture except for rattling right at dawn. Even then, the stand is in the thicket.
I concentrate on two things: 1- An old tractor road through the thicket-grown up but still a highway to the deer. I have three stands along it. 2-Food sources within the thicket. I place stands on oaks and green browse.
I fertilize areas of greenbriar and honeysuckle and place stands within shooting distance. Most of my shats are under 30 yards. I also have trails for me to get into the stands trimmed well in advance of the season. Stands are left up all year.
_________________________
Constipation has ruined many a good day. Not as many as stupidity, though.
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#2050566 - 08/30/10 06:36 AM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: bowriter]
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DUCK37101
"Link" Police
16 Point
Registered: 08/29/05
Posts: 18867
Loc: McEwen, TN.
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I hunt some thickets but I try to stay on the "outside" of the thicket. I have cut some SMALL openings into thickets so I can get a bow shot into them. You will see much more about what goes on inside those thickets at season's end. Scout it out then and use it to your advantage.
Oaks close to those thickets will be a plus also. Stay all day.
Good Luck.
_________________________
You Can't Take It With You.....So Don't Go.
IN GOD WE TRUST!
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#2050600 - 08/30/10 07:25 AM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: DUCK37101]
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BlackBelt
10 Point
Registered: 08/09/08
Posts: 2632
Loc: SouthWest TN
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Towards the end of the season I only hunt thickets. It's the place to be when the pressure has educated deer to the ways of sloppy hunters.
But here's the thing about hunting thickets: you MUST pay attention to ALL the details to be successful consistantly. It's not like going and sitting in a treestand and hoping the deer will come by.
I always try to approach a thicket from the downwind side, but many times when you are on the ground in a thicket the wind just swirls around.
Because of that, you simply MUST be religious in your scent-control tactics.
Late season it's usually cold enough that if you go slow enough you won't sweat. Use your scent killer shampoo and body soap, make sure your carbon camo (like ScentLok or Scent Shield camo) is clean, your carbon face veil is clean and activated, your gloves STAY on your hands the entire time you are in the thickets, and of course- rubber boots. All your camo and ALL your gear need to be sprayed with scent-killer.
On the subject of camo...Those dark green mossy oak patterns make you stick out like big dark blob in the thickets. You want more open patterns with browns/tan colors. I've got an ASAT suit (google it) that has the perfect camo pattern for thicket hunting. I've also used my tan (scent free)synthetic ghillie suit with geat success, but you can't put it on until you get where you are going to sit or it will catch on every briar and thorn you pass by.
Tactics: I hunt thickets by finding the deer run trail through them, and crawling (not on their trail) and snipping my own trail through until I get to a spot where I can see and get a shot, as far off of their trail as possible, but still close enough to see their trail. The thickets I hunt do not allow for rifles because the undergrowth is too thick, and the rifle can't be swung around. I hunt with a .44 magnum revolver in the thickets.
My belief is that if you are hunting a thicket that you can get a bow or a rifle into, you aren't really hunting a honest-to-goodness thicket.
And by the end of the season, the big boys are in those 'real' thickets.
Just my experiences...
Edited by BlackBelt (08/30/10 07:26 AM)
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#2050630 - 08/30/10 08:02 AM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: BlackBelt]
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AllOutdoors
8 Point
Registered: 11/03/08
Posts: 2386
Loc: Tennessee
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I hunt the edges of the thickets early in the season that are close to the most food(white oaks or food plots) they each need to be within site of one another. After the rut, I will move into the thickets and hunt an area that was pre - scouted during the summer. This spot will be an area that has several trails coming together or if possible looking at a single, big deer bed.Pay close attention to the wind and your direction of entrance and exit.
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#2050696 - 08/30/10 09:28 AM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: Baxter83]
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Tree Tramp
8 Point
Registered: 07/22/09
Posts: 1560
Loc: Tennessee
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#2050736 - 08/30/10 09:52 AM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: Tree Tramp]
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Bowbender 14
Spike
Registered: 03/30/10
Posts: 85
Loc: Mcminn co Tn
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I want thick stuff close by, my favorite has become overgrown fields.
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#2050822 - 08/30/10 10:41 AM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: Bowbender 14]
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Winchester
Non-Typical
Registered: 12/05/03
Posts: 25338
Loc: TN
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Im not sure I have ever killed a mature buck walking down a well used deer trail, but that being said most all of them have came either in thick cover or close by it. Terrain features are your best friend in the pursuit of mature deer, never overlook them.
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#2050885 - 08/30/10 11:20 AM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: Baxter83]
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Twitch
8 Point
Registered: 11/27/08
Posts: 2232
Loc: Knox
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Set up outside the thickets, then bust'em when they come sneaking out.
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#2050897 - 08/30/10 11:36 AM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: Twitch]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59670
Loc: Nashville, TN
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I never hunt IN thick cover, but I always try to hunt where I can see the edge of the thick cover. Leave the cover itself as a sanctuary from hunting pressure. Catch the big boys going in or coming out.
_________________________
"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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#2050963 - 08/30/10 12:36 PM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: BSK]
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Bottom Hunter
16 Point
Registered: 12/29/06
Posts: 15554
Loc: Hatchie Bottoms
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I never hunt IN thick cover, but I always try to hunt where I can see the edge of the thick cover. Leave the cover itself as a sanctuary from hunting pressure. Catch the big boys going in or coming out.
me too.....
i never go inside a thicket, even to scout. No need in tipping a big old boy off to my intentions.....if you ever jump him , he may leave ......for good. or you may push him into someone else's view....
I hunt the edges as well, and hope lady love will bring him out.....
It's the power of love ....Huey Lewis would be proud...!
lol
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#2050975 - 08/30/10 12:43 PM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: BSK]
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MUP
Non-Typical
Registered: 08/01/07
Posts: 36585
Loc: Just North of Chatt-town
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I never hunt IN thick cover, but I always try to hunt where I can see the edge of the thick cover. Leave the cover itself as a sanctuary from hunting pressure. Catch the big boys going in or coming out.
Yep, I hunt below a thick pine knob, that has thick, mtn laurel infested hollows skirting the sides of it. I'm either upon a finger ridge where I can see the side of that knob and two of the hollows, or directly down below the south side of it(south southwest wind only) where I can either see movement coming out from the top, off the side, or the flat at the bottom where the hollows empty out into. Seen some dandy bucks sneaking thru there. Well, that's one place that's fast becoming one of my favorite stand locations anyway. 
Edited by MUP (08/30/10 12:45 PM)
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MUP
Amateurs: Built the Ark
Professionals: Built the Titanic
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#2051361 - 08/30/10 05:55 PM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: MUP]
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LIL JOKER
14 Point
Registered: 01/11/08
Posts: 9114
Loc: tennessee
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i like a mix i like a hardwood funnel between 2 clearcuts ..the deer ive seen like walking the edge of the clearcuts..
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#2051490 - 08/30/10 07:44 PM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: bowriter]
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Boone 58
16 Point
Registered: 06/23/04
Posts: 13564
Loc: Food Plot
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A very solid plan indeed!
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#2051650 - 08/30/10 09:13 PM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: Baxter83]
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BUCKTOOF
4 Point
Registered: 08/18/05
Posts: 163
Loc: KNOXVILLE , TN
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I grew up hunting in, on the edge or close to clear cuts. I guess I will die hunting them. Sometimes you can be very successfull, many times you can be humbled. Either way, there is always deer action around clear cuts.
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#2052802 - 08/31/10 04:28 PM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: BUCKTOOF]
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Mike Belt
TnDeer Old Timer
16 Point
Registered: 03/26/99
Posts: 16944
Loc: Lakeland, Tn.
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You want to hold deer? Get thick. Put a little pressure on them and watch where they head. That being said, I love hunting edges of thickets especially when certain terrain features line up just right. When thicket space is limited the best way to run your deer away from the immediate area is to penetrate those thickets. You can have too much of a good thing however. At Ames where I hunt there are thousands of acres of thickets and pine plantings. Some of those pine plantings have been thinned and are mature enough to see into but many of them are fairly young and thick in the 5-10 year range. Along the outside edges it's easy to step from one fresh scrape into the next all the way around them. Once the deer react to hunting pressure and go into the avoidance mode and they have 100 acre thickets butting up to other 100 acre thickets to others, sometimes you have to jump into the middle of them...at least that's my game plan this season. Much of this is point blank sighting and shooting but we have so much of them there's almost no alternative. The good thing is we have so much of it we don't fear losing our deer.
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#2052855 - 08/31/10 05:38 PM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: Mike Belt]
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Andy S.
TnDeer Old Timer
12 Point
Registered: 07/26/99
Posts: 7290
Loc: Atoka, TN
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You can have too much of a good thing however. At Ames where I hunt there are thousands of acres of thickets and pine plantings.
I could not agree more Mike. This "overabundance of thickets" makes for some hard hunting for us. Once the deer sense our presence, they hardly ever show their face during daylight hours. The fact that we have absolutely HAMMERED the does for several years does not help either. The deer have hundreds of acres of prime "sanctuary" to hide in, and they do a good job of it!
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Andy S.
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#2052858 - 08/31/10 05:46 PM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: Andy S.]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59670
Loc: Nashville, TN
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And that's why I recommend small scattered sanctuary thickets instead of a big sanctuary in the middle of a property. It's darn hard to entice a hunter-wary older buck out of a big thicket once the guns start going off. I would rather have lots of little thickets a buck can't possibly live in full time. Then try to catch him moving from thicket to thicket.
_________________________
"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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#2053313 - 08/31/10 10:25 PM
Re: ATTENTION THICKET HUNTERS!!!!!
[Re: BSK]
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RKenney
10 Point
Registered: 03/15/08
Posts: 3634
Loc: Maury Co.
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A fairly open area within a thicket is good, but you must enter
the area under the right conditions.
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