Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
I have a couple of the Benoit family's books (Larry & sons) and one of the things they seem to emphasize is that the biggest, smartest bucks hang out in the thickest cover. One of the lines in the book went something like this - "We look for the sh##-holes. Sh##-holes are the thickest, most impossible tangles of cover we can find. That's where we often find the biggest bucks."
In my area of Pa., our camp - and on certain other lands - that I've hunted for years, I can confirm what the Benoit family has said. When the hunters hit the woods - and even in the rut - the biggest mature bucks are in the kind of crap you don't want to walk into. The buck sign proves out how much time they spend in those places. I can tell you without exaggerating, the places I've preferred to hunt you can't see 20 yards on the ground. If you aren't up in a tree stand, you won't see deer close by you. A 50 to 60 yard shot is fairly long where I hunt. Most shots are 20 to 40 yards. Many of the deer trails are more like tunnels in the thick brush, pines, hemlocks, and mountain laurel. I often have to duck low under overhanging limbs and tangles to get to my stands. Some spots are in pine & hemlock swampy areas so thick that even on sunny days, it's pretty dark in there. But the bucks are in there. My sons and I have mounts and racks on our walls to show for going into "sh##-holes."
Some guys on here are owners of properties that have THICK cover - pines, spruce patches & thickets, briars, honeysuckle, etc. Other guys want to plant thicker cover on their land. I've read some guys' posts on here that say they want the thickest cover around, so when the shooting starts - the bucks will head for their place. In my experience - that's a very smart strategy. Planting clusters and thickets of spruce on our camp land has improved the "holding ability" to attract & hold deer at our place, where before we were largely a pass-through property. One of the areas we planted first after logging 25 years ago is now so thick that 98% of our camp members don't want to even go in there. Avg. sight distance is about 15 to 20 yards, and you'll trip on things walking in there. But deer regularly bed and hide out in that thick stuff. What was once open hardwoods - no cover, no deer - is now a haven for bucks and does. It seems the Benoits were right about thick cover. I've seen it prove out on our camp property, and also on some other lands I've hunted over the years.
If I were starting out new on a property, I'd be planting the thickest cover / sanctuary I could create. Spruce, pines, hemlock, hawthorns. That'll take more years to establish than a food plot. I'd be hinging too - making tangles and thick, briar-infested security covers. Some guys on here have posted about deer running INTO their properties to thick cover they have when hunting begins. Perfect set-up.
In my area of Pa., our camp - and on certain other lands - that I've hunted for years, I can confirm what the Benoit family has said. When the hunters hit the woods - and even in the rut - the biggest mature bucks are in the kind of crap you don't want to walk into. The buck sign proves out how much time they spend in those places. I can tell you without exaggerating, the places I've preferred to hunt you can't see 20 yards on the ground. If you aren't up in a tree stand, you won't see deer close by you. A 50 to 60 yard shot is fairly long where I hunt. Most shots are 20 to 40 yards. Many of the deer trails are more like tunnels in the thick brush, pines, hemlocks, and mountain laurel. I often have to duck low under overhanging limbs and tangles to get to my stands. Some spots are in pine & hemlock swampy areas so thick that even on sunny days, it's pretty dark in there. But the bucks are in there. My sons and I have mounts and racks on our walls to show for going into "sh##-holes."
Some guys on here are owners of properties that have THICK cover - pines, spruce patches & thickets, briars, honeysuckle, etc. Other guys want to plant thicker cover on their land. I've read some guys' posts on here that say they want the thickest cover around, so when the shooting starts - the bucks will head for their place. In my experience - that's a very smart strategy. Planting clusters and thickets of spruce on our camp land has improved the "holding ability" to attract & hold deer at our place, where before we were largely a pass-through property. One of the areas we planted first after logging 25 years ago is now so thick that 98% of our camp members don't want to even go in there. Avg. sight distance is about 15 to 20 yards, and you'll trip on things walking in there. But deer regularly bed and hide out in that thick stuff. What was once open hardwoods - no cover, no deer - is now a haven for bucks and does. It seems the Benoits were right about thick cover. I've seen it prove out on our camp property, and also on some other lands I've hunted over the years.
If I were starting out new on a property, I'd be planting the thickest cover / sanctuary I could create. Spruce, pines, hemlock, hawthorns. That'll take more years to establish than a food plot. I'd be hinging too - making tangles and thick, briar-infested security covers. Some guys on here have posted about deer running INTO their properties to thick cover they have when hunting begins. Perfect set-up.
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