Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

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hunter_mike
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Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby hunter_mike » Fri Aug 26, 2016 4:33 am

I think i could kill some more bucks if I was better at placing my body and bow in certain areas in the mornings. At this point I have way more hunting spots that I would like to try than I have days to hunt. So why not use some mornings to hunt some bedding areas. I have had some limited success and encounters by doing this in the past. I see it as one of the most physically challenging parts of my hunting. I think its one thing to walk out of a swamp in the evening because you just keep walking towards drier ground and eventually find a way out. But walking in blind in the mornings, I always seem to find the nastiest brush and the deepest mud hole and try to walk through it. This is even worse if I have a stand on my back, hanging up on stuff.

One analogy i think of is this: its easy to navigate a canoe down a creek a few miles because you just keep going downstream and you end up in the main river. But if you navigate upstream, you really have to know what you are doing because you could accidentally go up a wrong branch of the creek and end up in the totally wrong creek.

I know that what I am trying to do is always going to be a tough act. But I know there are some forum members who are good at it. Lets hear some tips anyone may have! Thank you!


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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby Hawthorne » Fri Aug 26, 2016 4:58 am

Glow tacks or glow twist ties for brush for pre scouted areas. I've heard guys talk bad about them on here but they have gotten me to my stand in the dark no problem. Another thing I do is read the treetops. You can see them in the dark and if you know the woods it works.

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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Fri Aug 26, 2016 5:16 am

I use my GPS a lot, it keeps me within 10 yards of where I want to be on most days and usually actually about 3 -5 yards. I hunt some really thick nasty thorny crap down here in TX and you have to clear routes or at least find lanes to get in and out - I do this during preseason prep and check them in August. I can navigate to nearly all my stands via GPS and a very small pen light.... last 100 yards to my tree I use a red lens light on my upper thigh and stalk my stands. I very seldom ever hunt blind in the morning - I know where I am going and how I am getting there and it isn't the frst time I have done it in the dark. Usually when I am final prepping my stands in late July/early August, I go in before daylight just so I can see how well my notes and GPS cords I made in early spring can get me to my tree in total darkness. If I use tacks they are the brown ones that reflect with red light best.... usually I have one white glow tack up in my tree where I hook my tree tether - when I get close to my tree I shine up locate it and climb. The tack in the tree also ensures I set up at the exact height I cleared my shooting lanes for.
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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby stash59 » Fri Aug 26, 2016 5:23 am

Can't really say I have experience in marshes. But years ago when the only headlamps available were the large cumbersome ones used by coon hunters and coal miners. I just did everything without a light. I didn't like the idea of having my weapon in one hand and a flashlight in the other. I believe this taught me how to subconsiously pay attention to the sky/canopy/horizon above and around me. I traveled way back into remote areas of northern Wisconsin in the total darkness. This way. Studying maps and especially aerials. Even though they were black and white helped alot. Knowing how to use a compass to navigate also.

It does take some practice. I wasn't very good at it when I was younger. But not being afraid helped alot.

When I did go to a headlamp I used the red light. Which still gave me the benefit of seeing what I mentioned above. I used these means to navigate in the dark in the mountains of Montana. I did use reflective tie winders in some tricky spots. Or would stack a rock, larger branch or rotten piece of stump against a tree. Sometimes I'd place these markers at a known amount of steps before the actual spot was reached. The old trapper my dad hunted with in northern Wisconsin would take his knife and cut twigs or brush in an upward stroke. Only when traveling away from camp or the trailhead. Then he would feel with his hand which way the points were facing. To know if he was heading in deeper or back out.


I would think today. With all the new technology. Studying topos and aerials. Using a GPS. Gaining experience by knowing what to expect from studying aerials and traveling through areas in daylight should help. Then plan routes in using the aerials. Placing waypoints on your GPS. If it's a really tough one use your GPS in the spring to mark a route while you actually have boots on the ground. Use some reflective ties or some other marker in the tricky spots when you set up in the spring. Most likely you'll be the only one in those types of spots anyway!!!
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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby cbigbear » Fri Aug 26, 2016 5:28 am

I use my phone GPS app for both swamps & extreme hill country. When I find a stand site I turn on the track & walk either to the truck, boat, or spot I know I can access in the dark. Most times I also need this track to get out after evening hunts as well.

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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby Dewey » Fri Aug 26, 2016 5:36 am

When I scout I always plan a route in and out. I have my gps on at all times tracking my route. When I get home I save that track for future reference. Later when going in or out I zoom into 20 feet and can use the exact same walking path making it very easy to take the best and usually safest route.

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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby IkemanTx » Fri Aug 26, 2016 5:51 am

I tried going into an "area" in the dark last year, our area just has too much scrub brush and thorn bushes. Edges are limbs and leaves from ground to canopy top, so trimming becomes paramount. (Even if it is small, strategic amounts) I nearly ruined a pair of leafy netting one morning when I was unable to find a path without briars in an area that looked clear in the moonlight.

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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Fri Aug 26, 2016 6:11 am

IkemanTx wrote:I tried going into an "area" in the dark last year, our area just has too much scrub brush and thorn bushes. Edges are limbs and leaves from ground to canopy top, so trimming becomes paramount. (Even if it is small, strategic amounts) I nearly ruined a pair of leafy netting one morning when I was unable to find a path without briars in an area that looked clear in the moonlight.

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Yep I learned a few years back you don't walk in with ghillies or leafy wear
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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby headgear » Fri Aug 26, 2016 6:15 am

Going in blind in the dark is tough, you almost need a GPS to hit the spot you want to setup if you don't have it scouted, otherwise it all kind of looks the same and you don't really know where you are. If you really study and aerial photo and use a compass you can sometimes hit those spots but nothing usually turns out how you expect it and there are always some surprises. I've had some incredibly interesting hunts doing this, best to go in with a good sense or humor and never die attitude or the swamp will adjust it for you. If you hit some deep stuff a stick can come in handy to see what you are getting into before you have to step down with all your weight. Sometimes you have to jump a canal or beaver run, I usually do ok with these but some of the time you are going to get wet so make sure you have a waterproof bag for electronics.

Not going to lie, sometimes the swamp will just not be passable, I've ran into waist deep muck or bog that basically turns into deep water with any kind of weight on it, don't be dumb and back out. Worst case you wait until light and them work your way in, you could also just turn the morning into a scout if the hunt goes bust, this has happened to me many times, even the in the evenings. Going in blind will always be an adventure, but it can also lead to nice bucks. I have ran into several of them on blind hunts, it can be a ton of fun because you never know what you will find.
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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby headgear » Fri Aug 26, 2016 8:56 am

Oh ya, early season will be 10 times harder to navigate than say mid to late Oct but more often than not you are hunting prime real estate and not going in blind. Although I still do it every great now and then.
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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby PK_ » Fri Aug 26, 2016 9:51 am

I do this quite a bit, actually I do it all the time.

I would say chest waders is a good idea and keep your phone in a ziplock bag (you can use it without removing it from the bag.) Not that you will be in water that deep, but if you step in a hole or stumble it is way too easy to put a boot or even a hip boot under. Another plus if you are hunting from the ground you can kneel down, which is sometimes necessary to get a shot off in these thick areas. Another reason chest waders are good is because generally in water deeper then knee deep or so doesn't grow much vegetation. So you can walk in the deeper water along the edge of the tangled mess and then tuck up into it after light when you find and opening or whatever.

I generally try to find an edge in unfamiliar ground, this is a super easy way to not get turned around, whether it is a creek, ditch, whatever. Keep track of it and use it to navigate back in the the dark, in or out. If one isn't available, just use your head, rising setting sun, moon etc make excellent navigational beacons to keep you headed in the right direction.

Just learn to wade and walk silently in standing water. You will find yourself getting stupid close to relaxed deer. Still-hunting through standing water is by far my favorite way to hunt.
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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby Twenty Up » Fri Aug 26, 2016 10:54 am

PK_ wrote:I do this quite a bit, actually I do it all the time.

I would say chest waders is a good idea and keep your phone in a ziplock bag (you can use it without removing it from the bag.) Not that you will be in water that deep, but if you step in a hole or stumble it is way too easy to put a boot or even a hip boot under. Another plus if you are hunting from the ground you can kneel down, which is sometimes necessary to get a shot off in these thick areas. Another reason chest waders are good is because generally in water deeper then knee deep or so doesn't grow much vegetation. So you can walk in the deeper water along the edge of the tangled mess and then tuck up into it after light when you find and opening or whatever.

I generally try to find an edge in unfamiliar ground, this is a super easy way to not get turned around, whether it is a creek, ditch, whatever. Keep track of it and use it to navigate back in the the dark, in or out. If one isn't available, just use your head, rising setting sun, moon etc make excellent navigational beacons to keep you headed in the right direction.

Just learn to wade and walk silently in standing water. You will find yourself getting stupid close to relaxed deer. Still-hunting through standing water is by far my favorite way to hunt.


I second all of this, swamps can be difficult to travel and navigate and I've gotten lost before but if you keep your cool you will be fine.
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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby hunter_mike » Sat Aug 27, 2016 3:33 am

Thanks for the responses everyone.

PK that is intense.

I will be doing a few more of these morning hunts this year. I guess I am not really going in blind because I have scouted these bedding areas. But my entry routes will be blind because I have not walked them yet. They are bedding areas that I scouted through but I kept scouting instead of taking the time to find an access route. I have definitely been stuck before and just waited for the sun to come up. I am hoping to get better at these types of hunts though. Lots of opportunity to improve for me here. Getting pumped for season.

One thing i need to do for these hunts is slim down my profile. I am giving the sit-drag thing a try this this year. Should help me maneuver thru the thick stuff without snagging a stand on everything.

I have done some long hauls through 6 ft tall grass in the dark and strapped my bow to my back. THAT seemed to work really well. But sucked as soon as I got into brush again.

Machete's are illegal on WI public land from what I can tell...

Someone needs to design some kind of suit that allows you to burrow your way through thick brush.

I am just throwing out some crazy ideas here.
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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby hunter_mike » Sat Aug 27, 2016 3:44 am

I googled how to walk through thick brush and this is what came up:

Image

Thinking that if anyone had perfected the art of getting a man, gear and a weapon from point a to b in a jungle it was probably these guys.
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Re: Mornings - Navigating wet brushy ground

Unread postby vermonthunter16 » Sat Aug 27, 2016 4:43 am

Those boys definitely got crawling through the swamps down...
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