SWAMP BUCKS ARE DIFFERENT
Midwest
Flooded Areas
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.
Mark Drury, the creator of M.A.D. Calls from Missouri
and the co-owner of Drury Outdoor Videos, hunts water
bucks in northern Missouri and Illinois. "I mainly
hunt flooded sloughs coming off the main river systems,"
Drury explained. "When a river floods and pushes
water back into the woods, deer will funnel around the
ends of these sloughs. Imagine a 12-lane highway barricaded
except for two lanes. All the cars going in both directions
must pass through those two lanes. You can expect with
deer this same type of traffic jam when woodlands
flood and you hunt at the end of a slough that protrudes
deep into a woodlot. A huge amount of deer traffic comes
from both directions around that slough. However, I've
also learned the biggest bucks in an area don't use
the trails around the ends of the sloughs but usually
either wade or swim across the slough 20- to 30- yards
away from the end of the water."
Drury also mentions if you're hunting trophy bucks
not to hunt main deer trails, even around flooded timber.
"Because big bucks don't move like does, I look
for the dim trails near water without as much traffic
on them. I want to set up a tree stand for the wind
to blow my human odor out over the water
away from the deer. Then if the buck comes from the
land to the water, the buck won't smell me. Since I
know bucks will walk in shallow water, I want the wind
in my face carrying my human odor out over deep water.
"When I'm hunting flooded timber, I like to approach
my stand by boat. Then I leave no human odor in the
woods to spook the deer. Also I can hunt from the same
stand for several, consecutive days if the wind doesn't
change."
TOMORROW: SOUTHERN SWAMPS
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