Additionally, the presence of water and thick cover associated with cedar swamps provides deer with two of the three essential elements for survival. The third element is never far away either. No wonder many hunters concentrate their efforts on hunting swamplands.

When hunting pressure is heavy on the immediate areas around a big swamp, finding a high spot surrounded by thick cedars is sure to be a win-win situation.

Approach such an area with the wind in your face, move in slowly but with determination, and don’t forget to wear your hip boots!

OAK GROVES
It’s no secret that acorns are a big buck’s staple. In fact, acorns are an extremely important mast crop for all deer in the Pines. During years with bumper acorn drops, it’s not uncommon for deer to travel for miles to feed on the newly fallen nuts. My experience has proven that oak groves are excellent places to harvest deer in the fall bow season as well as during the rut.

During the first week of December, once the six-day firearm (buck) season rolls around and the guns start blazing, the deer almost instantly become nocturnal.

More often than not, groves of white oaks will draw larger numbers of whitetails than red oaks, since the red oak acorns tend to taste bitterer and are less favored by deer.

Hunting whitetails in an oak grove can be tricky. In most cases, it will require a bit of tree-stand hopscotch. I always try to find the trees with the most deer droppings around and hunt about 30 yards downwind of that location to start. Adjust your location from there, depending on where the deer enter the grove.

Because oak groves tend to be considerably more open compared to the pine/oak thickets that surround them, you’ll really have to play the wind here. Be patient and spend a lot of time in these oaks. It will pay off in the end.

THICKETS
I tend to treat thickets as bedding areas. Perhaps this is partly due to my laziness -- I don’t want to walk through them and suffer all the fury that the briars have to offer! I’ve always had rather poor experiences in thickets. The few deer that I have been lucky enough to harvest in them were not easy to track and drag out.

In addition, I tend to like the scenery of more open areas -- along a strong edge, for example. Hunting a single trail amidst a thicket is just not my idea of fun.

However, hunters who enter the deer’s “bedrooms” take many nice bucks each year. If you can do it without being detected and the sign is just too good not to hunt, then by all means hunt it!

New Jersey has a lot to offer the avid whitetail hunter. The Pine Barrens specifically holds many hidden secrets. Those hunters who are looking for just a fun experience and to see a lot of deer, with the intention of stocking the freezer, are sure to be rewarded. In my fairly short hunting career, I’ve been fortunate to have harvested the deer I have. While none of these animals has been worthy of a Pope and Young or Boone and Crocket trophy book, they are all worthy of my trophy book -- and that’s all that matters to me!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An avid hunter and fisherman since the age of 10, Brian Scott received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. He currently works as a wildlife biologist for a private consulting firm in the New Jersey Pine Barrens.