SWAMP BUCKS ARE DIFFERENT
Mississippi
River Swamps
Editor’s Note: Although outdoorsmen mainly think
about hunting deer in southern swamps, swamps, bogs
and flooded timber exist across most of the U.S. The
deer that live along flood plains throughout the nation
often have different movements and behavioral patterns
than deer holding away from the water. These swamp bucks
often defy reason and usually will be bagged by the
men who understand why these deer do what they do. Let's
look at the men who hunt swamp bucks across the country
and the tactics they employ to take these animals.
A
few years ago Will Primos of Primos Game Calls in Flora,
Mississippi stalked a buck that often waited in a slough
in the Mississippi River swamps near where he hunted.
But Primos never could get a shot at the buck. Finally
he took a stand in the water. During the late afternoon,
he watched the buck wade in the water and look back
toward land. Just before dark the buck bedded down on
the edge of the water. From this vantage point, the
deer could see and hear anything coming from the land
to him. "To get a shot at this buck, I threw a
limb on the land near the buck to spook him back into
the water," Primos said. "When the deer came
within bow range, I took a shot but missed." To
successfully hunt swamp bucks, get in the water with
them, and put up a stand over the water. Then
climb in your stand, and wait for the deer to come through
the water. You can go back and forth to your stand by
boat or canoe and take more bucks.
Primos also scouts for deer in the water. When the
water comes up and floods scrape lines, Primos still
hunts over those same scrapes. "If you know where
the scrapes are before the land floods, then locating
them will be easier than if you have to wait for the
water to recede to find those same scrapes," Primos
promised. "If you don't know where
the scrapes were before the water came up, as you scout
flooded land, search for rubs on the sides of trees
out in the water. Then look near a rub for an overhanging
branch that may have hung over the scrape on the ground.
Under flood-water conditions, bucks still will visit
the overhanging branch and leave a scent from their
eyes, mouths and foreheads. You can hunt scrapes even
when you can't see the scrape on the ground because
of the water."
TOMORROW: NORTHERN WETLANDS
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