I know what you mean about it coming in so thick that you can't walk through it. For me, it happens in just a couple of years. But it's the opposite with deer. My land was very thick and there was almost no sign of deer. I couldn't even find a deer trail. The State Biologist told me that deer numbers where about one for every 40 acres because it was so thick everywhere. My neighbor and I have been opening up the land and making it more like a park. More land, more grass, more mowing, but also more deer. In my opinion, they go off to somebody elses place to hide in the thick stuff, but the spend all their time eating and running around on my place and my neighbors land, where it is now more open.
I'm not over run with deer, but the numbers have been increasing dramatically as the land gets opened up. There are trails all over the place. Lots of rubs, and it's non stop every night on the game cameras.
I'm not to the point that I want to get rid of all my pines, but I am trying to get rid of all the saplings. Nothing grows around them, and nothing eats them. At least the oaks and other hardwoods provide food for the deer and my goats. Goats love leaves!!!!
This is a fun picture because it shows what the future holds. A few years ago, we where excited if we had one buck show up to the feeder and food plot. Not they come in waves. A group of little bucks, a group of does, and then the bigger bucks that are alone, or there is two of them. Just guessing, I think that at times, there is one deer for every 3 acres on my land. It's a huge difference from what it was when the land was so thick.
