As someone who’s hunted deer in the Deep South all the way up to Canada, the most difficult area I’ve ever pursued whitetails is the rugged pine country of South Carolina. These deer are among the most skittish in America, and the land doesn’t make it any easier to hunt them.
Much of America is dominated by rows and rows of pine trees. Even when they aren’t in rows, the pines are predominant in certain regions. Just think of the Southeast, where pines are commonplace and comprise much of the landscape’s flora. But it poses a problem: How do you kill bucks in pine tree country? Here is a 12-step game plan to the best pine tree ground deer hunting.
1. Stagger the Ages of Planted Pines
This starts from a land management perspective. By staggering the ages of planted pines, it creates better habitat diversity and increases the amount of edge cover. By offering different stages, deer can have better access to different things they need, especially cover.
2. Maintain an Acreage of Young Pines
By ensuring that part of the planted pines are younger, it increases the likelihood that deer use the property. Generally, younger pines are denser and provide better bedding cover. This increases the odds of deer using the property during daylight hours.
3. Thin Pine Trees Accordingly
Thinning pine trees in a strategic manner can increase the quality of habitat. Removing a number of pines can provide additional space for remaining ones, which can accelerate growth and size. From a wildlife perspective, thinning pine trees also can increase sunlight to the forest floor. This allows for early successional habitat to flourish, effectively providing food sources at deer-level that wildlife can bed in and feed on.
4. Skip Planted Rows of Pine Trees
When thinning or planting pines, another good practice is skipping planted rows. Doing so creates strips of openings within the timber. Alternating these planted pines with food plot strips creates quality food sources that deer can enjoy, because they aren’t receiving bedding or feeding benefits from the pines themselves.
5. Implement Controlled Burns to Improve Native Habitat
Those who manage pine plantations might consider using prescribed fire to improve the habitat. Controlled burns can especially be effective in areas that aren’t densely packed with pines. A loose planting of pines with more spacing can use periodical burns. When planting, think about objectives, though. Growing season burns favor forbs. Dormant season burns favor grasses.
6. Plant Some Food Plots
Food plots are even more important in pine tree country than other areas. Pines offer no food value for deer, and so, other acres must provide quality grub. Food plots often thrive near pines because these trees don’t compete for surface water. At least, not like hardwoods do. Hardwoods have shallow, wide-spread root systems that limit surface moisture. Pines have deep, narrow tap roots that impact surface moisture minimally.
7. Plant Food Plots on a North-to-South Orientation
The best way to maximize food plot production is planting these within strips between the pines. When doing so, it’s best to plant these on a north-to-south orientation. Oftentimes, southern soils are quite dry, and tend to experience drought conditions. The north-to-south direction can reduce soil moisture lost to the sun. This is due to less direct sunlight and exposure to it. Over time, that leaves more moisture for food plot plants and increased plant yields for deer.
8. Focus on Lines of Travel Leading Through Pines
Deer don’t spend a lot of time dwelling within homogenous stands of pines. However, they do pass through these areas as they head for food and water. Sometimes, if an extensive volume of early successional habitat is present within loosely planted pines, they might even bed there. All said, even if deer aren’t bedding there, pines are so common that deer must at least pass through the pines to reach destination food sources. It’s these lines of movements you should focus on. Intercept deer in the mature pines where visibility is slightly better, and deer are passing through along predictable travel routes. That said, get as close to the thick cover as possible to see more mature deer during daylight.
9. Find the Best Buck Sign and Dive Even Deeper
One of the best methods for success is scouting for buck sign. Buck sign reveals presence of bucks, and that’s all that should be gleaned from it. Unless located close to bedding cover, hunting over scrapes rarely produces, especially in pressured southern pine plantation settings. Instead, use the buck sign to confirm buck presence, and then dive deeper into cover to find potential interception points with odds of producing daylight encounters. Additionally, if a high concentration of rubs are present, it’s possible to follow these back into cover and find potential staging areas or even bedding areas.
10. Focus on Transition Lines (Edges)
Deer are edge-centric animals, because these are usually the places that offer the best and most food sources. The most important element of hunting in pine tree country is focusing on transition lines. Generally, these areas are spots that offer edge habitat. Edge habitat and transition lines are areas where two different habitat types meet. Examples of edge include where pines meet hardwoods, pines meet an ag field, pines meet a field of native grasses, pines meet a brushy clear-cut, etc.
11. Locate Isolated Oak Trees
Pines with intermittent hardwoods can be ideal for hunting. Locating isolated single oak trees, or a small group of oaks within the pines, can prove as effective as a bait pile. If these are among the white oak tree family — which produce sweeter, more attractive acorns than red oak trees — it’s even better. Simply put, hot oak producers within the pines or on the fringe of pines, is a great play.
12. Stick to the Creek Bottoms
Another excellent hunting tactic is hunting closer to creek bottoms. Oftentimes, even on pine plantations, hardwoods dominate the bottomlands closest to waterways. Sticking to the creek bottoms can increase deer encounters for multiple reasons. First, hardwoods are mast producers. Second, edge is more abundant. Third, water sources are close by. Plus, some deer prefer bedding closer to the water.
Post Some Cams to Confirm
Whether you deploy the above outline, or not, it’s crucial to find the chink in a buck’s armor. Study the property, learn its intricacies, and plan accordingly. Study the landscape, understand how deer maneuver the landscape, and find the best spots from habitat, terrain, and topography standpoints.
Furthermore, post cellular and SD trail cameras to scout some of the areas mentioned above. Use these scouting tools to verify deer are in the area. Then, drill down on specific deer travel patterns to find likely hunting spots, access routes, and more. Learn the ins and outs of each buck you plan to target.
Overall, it isn’t easy to kill bucks in pine tree country. But it is possible, and hunters do it every season. Learn your neck of the woods a little better, and you’ll be stacking racks and venison in no time.