#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: 16262
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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- Fentress Roots 200 years and growing
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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: 219
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: 3633
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: 40303
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!
"The Constitution does not just protect those whose views we share; it also protects those with whose views we disagree."
- Ted Kennedy
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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: 2614
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: 2304
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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Looking to buy a Marlin 1894 FG 41 Rem. Mag.
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