Anyone hunted a place with 70% pine?

[BirdDog123]

Its been a while since I posted on here.

I am hunting a place that is about 70% planted pine thickets and the rest is about half and half on hardwood bottoms/fields on ridgetops.

From my scouting I see old rubs everywhere in the bottoms and the sides of the fields. I don't see much acorns dropping in the bottoms and haven't seen a whole lot of deer activity down there.

We had a ton of deer on camera before the start of the season... now it appears they have all vanished.

Has anyone else hunted spots that have a ton of pine? Any tips other than sticking to the hardwood bottoms?

 

[travle]

I use to hunt a place that was logged in a certain area and pines replanted. Before I left the pines weren't tall enough for a stand and still too thick to hunt on the ground. But you walk in there and it was like a deer super highway. Trails everywhere and bedding areas. The deer loved to bed and travel through it as cover. I killed my biggest buck coming out of it to check some does in the field. I've always heard pines are the place to be on windy days because it dampens the sound and they can hear better so they prefer them.

 

[huntncoach]

I've had great luck in/around pines. Our lease is predominantly pines, but I prefer to hunt hardwoods. Still, see lots of deer in the pines AT THE RIGHT TIMES. Windy days and poor weather days are best. Also see more there in the evenings. We hav been fortunate to be able to plant food plots in clearings, so that helps too.

 

[Boll Weevil]

Immerse yourself in topo maps...hunt terrain features. It can be hard to imagine what the woods were like 10-20-30 years ago but interestingly, I've found deer will often move the same way they did when it was all towering oaks or before it was enrolled in CRP. A bench, saddle, ditch, pinch, section of raggedy woven wire fence, dried up pond...these are the things that haven't changed for eons and they can influence movement big time.

In a sea of pines I study terrain first, confirm with boots on the ground, then hunt accordingly. Lots of times these are discovered during rabbit season or maybe chasing spring turkeys.

Also, there might be SMZs that reach far into a big pine plantation or maybe a single, ancient, limby, twisted acorn bearing tree the loggers left because it worthless at the mill or painted to leave. Maybe a grove of persimmons or an old homestead with a pear tree that survives. You find that...you might as well have found a goldmine.

 

[BSK]

Immerse yourself in topo maps...hunt terrain features.

Boll Weevil beat me to it!

I prefer to hunt favorable terrain features at the edge of large pine blacks. In essence, right where that feature leaves the pines.

 

[Mike Belt]

You failed to state what growth period the pines are in. I break them down into 3 periods. First, after a timber cutting when pine seedlings are set out you have about a 5-6 year growth. During this time the pines are growing along with a lot of undergrowth. This makes for some great hunting because it supplies cover, unlimited browse, and you can see into it to kill deer. Between 6 and 10 years old the trees are usually too tall to see into or over and much of the browse has been shaded out. Most of the trees aren't climbable so you're pretty much left to hunt the edges which can also be some great hunting. Once the trees are 12+ years old most places planted in pines have every other row thinned out. Initially it's pretty open inbetween rows but after a couple of years that open canopy allows for a little undergrowth. Now you can get anywhere inside these plantings and most of the trees are climbable. If you rule out hunting in these pines you better think again. Granted that broken terrain features may influence travel patterns inside them even flat, unbroken terrain will draw deer usuage. We see bookoos of deer inside them, see lots of chases, find much scraping activity (particularly if you have a few hardwood trees among them), hear and witness buck fights, and get some of our biggest buck pics of the year. Also the deer are more inclined to move all day because of the security cover.

It takes some getting use to because sight distance can be very limited and you really have to pay close attention because most of the time you have to see deer movement. They make little to no sounds moving around in them. Can be some great hunting....

 

[MUP]

Not 70% pines, but my favorite #1 stand is located on a hardwood ridge, adj to a pine thicket. Awesome spot!

 

[BirdDog123]

You failed to state what growth period the pines are in. I break them down into 3 periods. First, after a timber cutting when pine seedlings are set out you have about a 5-6 year growth. During this time the pines are growing along with a lot of undergrowth. This makes for some great hunting because it supplies cover, unlimited browse, and you can see into it to kill deer. Between 6 and 10 years old the trees are usually too tall to see into or over and much of the browse has been shaded out. Most of the trees aren't climbable so you're pretty much left to hunt the edges which can also be some great hunting. Once the trees are 12+ years old most places planted in pines have every other row thinned out. Initially it's pretty open inbetween rows but after a couple of years that open canopy allows for a little undergrowth. Now you can get anywhere inside these plantings and most of the trees are climbable. If you rule out hunting in these pines you better think again. Granted that broken terrain features may influence travel patterns inside them even flat, unbroken terrain will draw deer usuage. We see bookoos of deer inside them, see lots of chases, find much scraping activity (particularly if you have a few hardwood trees among them), hear and witness buck fights, and get some of our biggest buck pics of the year. Also the deer are more inclined to move all day because of the security cover.

It takes some getting use to because sight distance can be very limited and you really have to pay close attention because most of the time you have to see deer movement. They make little to no sounds moving around in them. Can be some great hunting....

Good point! The pines are all very young. About 5-6 foot tall and 3-4 inches wide.

Thanks for everyone's input! Sounds like I still have a lot more scouting to do. Hunting in around those areas during muzzleloader should be pretty good.

 

[Mark71211]

I hunt on 700 acres that is 90% pine 5% holly tree and then mixed trees. The best spots we have the best luck are at points where taller pines meet small thicket of pines. They bed down in there and we catch them traveling to and from them. Then another spot on that land that is a 15 year old clear cut thats about 200 acres replanted with pines that are now 15-20 foot tall. We got a couple ground blind in it where the farthest shot is 75 yards and a lot of nice bucks are taken out of it ever year. The best spots in there are the ones that are holding water in ruts that the loggers made with there tractors.