First swamp "hunt" kicked my but

[JakeB]

A walking stick really makes it a lot easier walking through the soft stuff. Especially with a load on your back it'll help you keep your balance some. But during early season, swamps will never be easy.

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[headgear]

A walking stick really makes it a lot easier walking through the soft stuff. Especially with a load on your back it'll help you keep your balance some. But during early season, swamps will never be easy.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Yep good tip, I pick one up on many hunts, helps with balance and checking depth of the water and muck.

[mainebowhunter]

It happens to all of us. Meaning...you see something in the spring..you have all these grand ideas. Grab your gear..head to the spot...and wham, nothing looks the same, the place is flooded. Its no where near as clear for shooting. The tree you wanted to go up is not working for the wind direction you thought you had. Lots of things really appear better in your head than realty.

Sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself and think "really? have I really ever killed a deer?" Sweated up mess. Soaking wet. Crashed through everything.

[Country]

Sounds like many of my swamp hunts for sure. I lost an arrow and couldn't find it so I marked the area on my gps. Later on I lost my entire quiver with the remaing four arrows in it. Got stuck in the muck so many times I started to wonder if I would ever get out. Ditched my bow and stand in the cattails and came back the next day with a kayak to retrieve them. Eventually did find my quiver and all arrows after two trips back in. I ended up hunting the same spot on opening day the next year but found a better entrance, which turned out to be flooded, so I waded across a creek chest deep. This year I took a canoe in to the same spot and made a huge difference.

Keep at it bud, I am still trying to figure it out myself. Just keep learning from your mistakes.

"The Hunting Beast almost killed me."

[Tufrthnails]

Keep at it bud. My favorite saying is "this too shall pass" meaning nothing lasts forever. Embrace the suck and success taste so much sweeter!

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[Edcyclopedia]

Yea. I like to save those blind swamp hunts for gun season. I will slip through and still-hunt it. Much easier to crawl and slither through brush with just a gun vs a stand/sticks/bow.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Yup.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Edcyclopedia]

Those types of areas have to be prepped/trimmed in advance to bow hunt. Typically winter/early spring for the majority, and then a tune up 3-4 weeks before season. Usually enough time for deer to get back to their routine based on the intrusion/stink factor.

[ Post made via Android ]

[headgear]

Sounds like many of my swamp hunts for sure. I lost an arrow and couldn't find it so I marked the area on my gps. Later on I lost my entire quiver with the remaing four arrows in it. Got stuck in the muck so many times I started to wonder if I would ever get out. Ditched my bow and stand in the cattails and came back the next day with a kayak to retrieve them. Eventually did find my quiver and all arrows after two trips back in. I ended up hunting the same spot on opening day the next year but found a better entrance, which turned out to be flooded, so I waded across a creek chest deep. This year I took a canoe in to the same spot and made a huge difference.

Keep at it bud, I am still trying to figure it out myself. Just keep learning from your mistakes.

"The Hunting Beast almost killed me."

This reminds of my lost list - all swamp related.

Lost my quiver 4 times - recovered 3 of them.
Lost a jacket one time, tried to find it that winter & spring but no luck.
Lost a vest - recoverd the following spring but the mice had their way with it.
Lost my glasses countless times, alwasy recovered.
Lost boots in muck - dozens of times. Always recovered but some I almost gave up on.
And of course the standard wipe outs where the old lone wolf slams into the back of your head - oh the joys of swamp hunting.

[Jrichard]

My first time out hunting last year was embarrassing. I will be honest. And I am not going to give all the details. But long story short, I went into a spot. I knew it was a bedding area. And honestly it was only about 150 yards from the road. Now the road itself was secluded and it was a dead end. (it took me 2 hours to find it). My friend took me here to scout a few times, and even with a GPS in my car it was tough. Then I decided to get into a small thick area outside the bedding area with my climber. I started walking in and I tore up the whole area. Got turned around. Ended up back out where I came in at least 3 times.

I left the car at 2:45. Didnt get to the tree i scouted until 5:30ish. That went in the hunting journal quick.

So back in march I took nippers to an old deer trail that they abandoned. (used cameras to verify they didnt use it. A coyote uses this trail pretty often so the deer took off quick. Got about 3 or 400 pictures of this coyote between feb 1st and july 15.) Only clipped the long stuff that would get caught on my bow and my clothes. (its still very tight quarters). I hauled an 18 foot ladder stand in. That took me 6 or 7 hours easy. (not including set up.) I have only hunted this spot one time and it was in the morning. Could not be happier. The set up process was long and tedious. And I lost about 10 pounds in the process. But it makes it so easy. All I take in is my GPS a compass and my bow and release. (obviously my safety harness But I leave my lineman's rope and tree strap there.) You cant get any more relaxing than that.

So now I do serious planning and scouting before I go into any spot. Unless its brandy new, the wind isnt right in my other spots, and I want to hunt. Then I just find a tree outside a pine thicket or a potential bedding area and hunt that and see if theres anyone home. No more blind intense hunts for me especially if they are in the afternoon. If getting in in daylight is that hard. Getting out in the dark is even harder. Not that I have killed anything. But I learned. GEtting sweaty and frustrated leads to bad things lol.

[Tufrthnails]

My first time out hunting last year was embarrassing. I will be honest. And I am not going to give all the details. But long story short, I went into a spot. I knew it was a bedding area. And honestly it was only about 150 yards from the road. Now the road itself was secluded and it was a dead end. (it took me 2 hours to find it). My friend took me here to scout a few times, and even with a GPS in my car it was tough. Then I decided to get into a small thick area outside the bedding area with my climber. I started walking in and I tore up the whole area. Got turned around. Ended up back out where I came in at least 3 times.

I left the car at 2:45. Didnt get to the tree i scouted until 5:30ish. That went in the hunting journal quick.

So back in march I took nippers to an old deer trail that they abandoned. (used cameras to verify they didnt use it. A coyote uses this trail pretty often so the deer took off quick. Got about 3 or 400 pictures of this coyote between feb 1st and july 15.) Only clipped the long stuff that would get caught on my bow and my clothes. (its still very tight quarters). I hauled an 18 foot ladder stand in. That took me 6 or 7 hours easy. (not including set up.) I have only hunted this spot one time and it was in the morning. Could not be happier. The set up process was long and tedious. And I lost about 10 pounds in the process. But it makes it so easy. All I take in is my GPS a compass and my bow and release. (obviously my safety harness But I leave my lineman's rope and tree strap there.) You cant get any more relaxing than that.

So now I do serious planning and scouting before I go into any spot. Unless its brandy new, the wind isnt right in my other spots, and I want to hunt. Then I just find a tree outside a pine thicket or a potential bedding area and hunt that and see if theres anyone home. No more blind intense hunts for me especially if they are in the afternoon. If getting in in daylight is that hard. Getting out in the dark is even harder. Not that I have killed anything. But I learned. GEtting sweaty and frustrated leads to bad things lol.

Sucks you had a bad go of it, but listening to peeps on here and learning the cyber side of it is only a small portion learning to navigate is a tough curvball to hit and I still get spun around from time to time. Honestly GPS has made me pretty lazy as far as land nav goes, but from time to time I still practice with compass and aerial map or topo map. It is seriously a perishing skill to hit a 40'x40' island in a swamp 2 miles out with a compass and map.

[Itchy Bones]

Very few spots are huntable in a swamp like that. Narrow it down to the huntable spots, if you can hunt from the ground too you open up the selection a lot. make your (non obvious) access routes in the spring take what the swamp gives you instead of trying to conquer it. Even if you do all of this the swamp can still kick your but.

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[Kraftd]

Very few spots are huntable in a swamp like that. Narrow it down to the huntable spots, if you can hunt from the ground too you open up the selection a lot. make your (non obvious) access routes in the spring take what the swamp gives you instead of trying to conquer it. Even if you do all of this the swamp can still kick your but.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Ground is a good suggestion. I've played that game enough times that I'm getting better at recognizing in spring or cyber scouting which spits its best to just leave the stand at home. Makes getting through the nasty stuff so much easier, and many times there are no trees to hang in and if there are the shot selection is so limited I ended up on the ground or basially setting my stand with one or not sticks anyways.

It's also finally getting beaten into my head that I must prep and select actual single trees instead of just have an idea or a rough area.