I know I’m in the minority, but I would rather hunt this public land than any other high-dollar, managed property I’ve ever been on. It is much more challenging….and thank goodness I don’t mind if I don’t pull the trigger. I did get a glimpse of a hoss opening morning…and I’m still after him.
I realized that this season marks the 25th anniversary of hunting these woods. I seem to learn something new every year about deer behavior…including some pretty strange stuff. Some of it makes sense, some other stuff I haven’t figured out yet.
Here’s some of it.
Bucks will return on the same path after chasing does. During the rut, when you hear crashing through the woods, it’s undoubtedly a doe running from a buck hot on her trail. On numerous occasions, I’ve seen rejected bucks simply walk back the same way they came. After seeing this several times, I learned to intersect their chase path. The bucks are in such a stupor, they won’t even see you there waiting.
Are female deer using jealousy to attract better mates? A young four pointer was trailing a doe and was grunting with each breath. The deer were simply walking through the woods as the doe made sure the love-struck youngster did not get too close. I envisioned a bigger buck, hearing the grunts, coming to the doe’s rescue. Survival of the fittest, and all that.
Thunderstorms can be your friend. After a torrential rain shower, deer seem to come out of the woodwork. Try to be on stand when the danger of lightning has ended.

Here’s the entire story:

The Trophy in the Pineywoods

Thanks, BCT love the article! Never been out to the Pineys but definitely want to some day.

Hunted there for 10 years when I was a teenager to early 20s. Learned twice as much about hunting then than I have in the last 20 years. Tend to do a lot of staring at my feeders or food plots now days. Every year I miss it but man it sure is hard hunting. Still look on google maps every once in awhile to see if I can find places we hunted successfully. Lots of memories out there growing up. Remember going to the store in Ratcliff and seeing the pics of deer shot and hoping to have my pic on that wall some day. Finally got afew of em up and man,, real badges of honor. 1st buck I killed by myself was a nice 6. One of the proudest days of my life.

The DCNF is one of the greatest deer hunting jewels in the state. As you point out, 90% of the key to success is simply doing your homework. Getting away from the knuckleheads and locating the good spots are the keys. Google Earth is an invaluable tool for this.

It is real, challenging, and satisfying hunting. May not be able to watch a pasture full of deer coming to foodplots/feeders-but the ones you kill are well-earned. This more than makes up for it IMO.

I have my own place in east TX. But if I did not, I would not hesitate to take on the unique challenges offered by the DCNF. I applaud you for doing so. Congratulations on your successes and I wish you many more in the future.

Where's the "like" button for these comments?

Really,DCNF is not for everyone. And that is a good thing. The biologists kept telling me that the lack of deer sightings the last two years were due to drought and acorns. I have to admit, I was skeptical. But this year, I saw more deer the first morning than I did in five days of hunting last year.

The DCNF is coming back.