Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

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Ridgerunner7
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Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby Ridgerunner7 » Thu Mar 07, 2013 5:57 am

I've been glancing at a book by Greg Miller "Hunting the Big Woods". I believe that's what its called. Seems he cut his teeth hunting the big public woods of Northern Wisconsin. A couple of things I found interesting was his opinion on hunting marsh/swamp islands. He states he completely avoids these areas as he explains here:
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I wasn't sure if he meant he completely avoids bedding areas or just those small islands too small to sneak into without alerting the deer.

Couple other things I found interesting were:
He mentioned how he would spend an entire season hunting in/around one clear cut that may only be 100-150 acres in size.

Hunting rub lines was his most effective tactic.

Just thought it was interesting read. Not my favorite book, but has some good info in it.


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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby whitetail007 » Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:03 am

alot of guys think the same way he does, to much work for a deer.
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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby xpauliber » Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:03 am

I have that book and agree that it wasn't the best in my opinion. I've never been able to find a textbook rub-line that he describes.

In that paragraph you posted, it seems he figured out everything about those islands but then stopped short of figuring out how to kill them there like Dan explains in Marsh Bucks. So close, yet so far?
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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby Dewey » Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:14 am

Your talking about the book titled Bowhunting Forests & Deep Woods right?

I have that book as well and will have to pull it off the shelf and read it again. Been a few years but I remember it does have some good info in it.

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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby headgear » Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:23 am

xpauliber wrote: it seems he figured out everything about those islands but then stopped short of figuring out how to kill them there like Dan explains in Marsh Bucks. So close, yet so far?


Yep agree with this. Most of the time I can't hunt the points jutting out into the swamp/marsh. Its just too easy access and gets too much pressure in many of the areas I hunt. If I'm not out on or near the island I am out of the game.
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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby wiscbowhntr » Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:34 am

whitetail007 wrote:alot of guys think the same way he does, to much work for a deer.


I don’t know if you have been to some of the swamps that Greg is talking about, but a lot of those swamps are impenetrable and that is why the deer are in there. If the deer can hear you busting through all the brush like he stated then it is a waste of time trying to hunt them in that spot. Furthermore Greg may not have “worked” (which that word I believe is left to interpretation) as hard for his deer, but he definitely hunted smarter for them then… Instead of killing himself getting through some of those swamps and alerting the deer he found a different tactic that worked for him… And worked it did, he dropped a lot of bucks in the big woods.
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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby Bowhunting Brian » Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:44 am

you also have to take into account that Greg is an accomplished hunter and has the bucks to back his words up. everyone has their own style of hunting. every style doesn't jive with every person.
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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby Ridgerunner7 » Thu Mar 07, 2013 6:59 am

Bowhunting Brian wrote:you also have to take into account that Greg is an accomplished hunter and has the bucks to back his words up. everyone has their own style of hunting. every style doesn't jive with every person.

Absolutely! More than one way to skin a cat sometimes but he also mentions more than one the pressure was light.

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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby Dewey » Thu Mar 07, 2013 7:09 am

wiscbowhntr wrote:
whitetail007 wrote:alot of guys think the same way he does, to much work for a deer.


I don’t know if you have been to some of the swamps that Greg is talking about, but a lot of those swamps are impenetrable and that is why the deer are in there. If the deer can hear you busting through all the brush like he stated then it is a waste of time trying to hunt them in that spot. Furthermore Greg may not have “worked” (which that word I believe is left to interpretation) as hard for his deer, but he definitely hunted smarter for them then… Instead of killing himself getting through some of those swamps and alerting the deer he found a different tactic that worked for him… And worked it did, he dropped a lot of bucks in the big woods.

Exactly. I hunt some really nasty stuff in large cattail marshes but they don't even come close to some of the tangled swamps I have been in the big woods. Could never understand how a big buck gets around in that stuff but they do and grow big in there too! Add deep water and bogs to this and it is quite the adventure. More than once being in this stuff I thought who in the right mind would shoot a deer back here and then have to get it out. I don't have a problem with hard work but when you can only get around by crawling over and under stuff on your hands and knees it becomes way much more than all but the most extreme hunter can handle.

A swamp island is much different than your typical cattail island so I can totally understand what Greg is talking about in the book.

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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Thu Mar 07, 2013 7:31 am

Every terrain can vary from Northern parts of a state to Southern parts.
Like East - to - West...

My cattail swamps in NH are typically under 100 acres and that's a larger one from my experiences.
I recognize a swamp to be something different than cattails, as cattails are not very prone for my area.

My swamps are mostly alder (whips) or grassy/muck with balls of vegetation...

Pretty interesting though!
If he wasn't succesful he may have given swamps another try - you never know...
How old is this book, maybe he works the swamps a little more now-a-days?
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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby Stanley » Thu Mar 07, 2013 7:35 am

Interesting.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby xpauliber » Thu Mar 07, 2013 7:48 am

In Dan's Marsh Buck video when Andrae is telling the story about the giant buck he shot in the Marsh, doesn't he make the comment that just because you make noise in the swamp doesn't mean your hunt is over? He said deer hear things moving through the cattails all day long and don't know what it is. When you get into trouble, is when you are walking through the cattails and you get upwind of them. I thought that was very interesting and never thought of it that way.

We don't have swamps in my area and I've never hunted them so I can't relate exactly, but the mountain laurel in my area is thick and noisy and I was always paranoid about making noise when I tried to move through it. This kind of gave me a new way of looking at it.
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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby Buckfever » Thu Mar 07, 2013 8:06 am

There was a time when hunting the public wasn't nearly so challenging as it is today.
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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby dan » Thu Mar 07, 2013 8:21 am

xpauliber wrote:In Dan's Marsh Buck video when Andrae is telling the story about the giant buck he shot in the Marsh, doesn't he make the comment that just because you make noise in the swamp doesn't mean your hunt is over? He said deer hear things moving through the cattails all day long and don't know what it is. When you get into trouble, is when you are walking through the cattails and you get upwind of them. I thought that was very interesting and never thought of it that way.

We don't have swamps in my area and I've never hunted them so I can't relate exactly, but the mountain laurel in my area is thick and noisy and I was always paranoid about making noise when I tried to move through it. This kind of gave me a new way of looking at it.

You can make a lot more noise than one would think you can... The noise does not penetrate those cattails and brush as much as one would think... Also, I don't think Greg was keying in on exact placement of buck beds. When you know where they are at, its easier to know what you can get away with.
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Re: Greg Miller Wisconsin tactics

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:15 am

There is no need to penetrate to a swamp island if the hunting pressure is light enough that the bucks will make an appearance to the swamp edge before dark... but that is seldom the case in my hunting areas except for special circumstances and conditions.

If you are serious about hunting huge swamps then stating you would scare all the bucks if you try to penetrate them is a cop out. It requries a special skill set buy my family and friends, and many others like us, have been doing it for over a century. I have shot deep swamp bucks when they stood up in their bed and when they've walked 18 feet from their bed, among others. I assure you it can be done. It is an incredible amount of work and one of the most difficult deer hunting habitats that exists, but that makes it all the more satisfying.

Deep Swamp scouting gear:
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Well over a hundred years of Shawl bucks taken from deep swamp:

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