Ditch hunting

[Lastcast#1]

Spoke with local farmer today at work..The subject of deer hunting came up quite early and we had a nice discussion..We talked about the area, crop damage permits, the public land near by, poaching, a long list of things..Anyways he hasnt hunted in a while..He was an avid duck hunter and deer hunter..Claimed he had killed 40 bucks, some big, some not, all with a shotgun..

He said, " Chad, people thought I was crazy hunting fields with no crops or a low crops and zero trees..." What they didnt realize was"I was hunting inside the large ditches tbose bucks would use to travel and or run away from other hunters"..

Always love to use a ditch for access, I hunt over a ditch crossing or 2 from a tree, cant say in my short career that I have hunted in a ditch..I bow hunt only but hmmm..

Any beasts ever kill a ditch buck with a bow?

[Hawthorne]

Ditches and brushy fencerows can be sancuarys for bucks because a lot of times nobody hunts them. It's amazing some of the big bucks I've seen out in the wide open come out of them.

[Ack]

I have also heard from farmers about big bucks bedding in the ditches....makes sense because typically nobody goes near them.

[jmaas07]

In farm country Iv seen them bedded and come out of the ditches, travel along side side the ditches, iv set up in the dumbest looking sets in probably 4" diameter trees in the ditch that put me up to just about the main ground level. Iv had good encounters where they aren't bedded in the ditch but cut across a field and then use the ditch like an edge to travel and sometimes iv seen them make it a long ways during daylight along a ditch

[Lockdown]

I saw two BIG bucks last season. One of which I ran into on the walk back to my truck in the dark. I was hunting a big thick marsh and where was he bedded? Out in the ag fields. He was either bedded in the 15 yard wide drainage ditch, or in the standing corn next to it. Not all that far from where I park There wasn't a tree within 400 yards of him.

I'm going to scout those ditches this spring, but I don't expect to find solid bedding I believe it will be pretty random. If I don't find anything to key on I'm going to walk those drainages in season to stack the marsh.

This is a great topic

[dan]

Thick transition, water escape, downwind visibility, over looked by humans... Everything a good bed should have... Ditches make good bedding too.

[Kokes]

in the book mapping trophy bucks theres a whole chapter on hunting fencerows and I think its very similar to this topic, often ditches and fencerows go hand in hand anyways...

[tgreeno]

How wide & deep do the ditches need to be?

Just deep enough to hide a standing deer?

[JoeRE]

Just deep enough to hide a bedded deer. I have bumped bucks out of shallow drainage swales that if they had stood up you could see them from 300 yards but bedded I just about stepped on them.

If there is a tree or log or rock they often like to bed next to it still just like other terrains. Makes looking for the beds easier.

I haven't killed a ditch buck with a bow but have shot a couple with a gun using ditches as escape routes. Funny how when they are in shallow ditches they seem to know to keep their head down to make it harder to spot them.

[matt1336]

They also love to bed on the higher burms that are often on either side of a deeper ditch. They can see forever and can simply dump into the ditch to escape if they see or smell a threat approaching.

[Mibowfreak]

I have a pretty big drainage ditch behind the house that cuts the 80 acre row crop field in about half. It isnt perfectly straight and can hold a tad bit of water at times. The deer use this as a travel corridor almost nightly. On bean years I can get on top of the house and see them travel it most evenings. I wouldnt be surprised if they use this ditch even more when it's surrounded by corn.

[SD_Bowhunter]

I hunt mostly farmland and I have learned a lot over the last couple years on how deer use the terrain to their advantage. I definitely agree that ditch bedding in farm country in the middle of ag fields is often missed by most hunters. I have found that waterways with grown up weeds are great for buck bedding. I will say though it doesn't appear to be as consistent as other forms of buck beds. Understanding how bucks use terrain in farm country is also huge. The buck seems to always follow the low spots in a wide open field when moving from one block of cover to another. The place I hunt has a shallow waterway (3 foot elevation drop) that runs between two fields and into a corner of the shelter belt. I set up a stand on the downwind side of where that enters the tree and have had lots of close encounters. This year I want to put up a camera in one of the grown up water ways to see what type of buck bedding goes on there and when throughout the season.

[Lockdown]

I have a pretty big drainage ditch behind the house that cuts the 80 acre row crop field in about half. It isnt perfectly straight and can hold a tad bit of water at times. The deer use this as a travel corridor almost nightly. On bean years I can get on top of the house and see them travel it most evenings. I wouldnt be surprised if they use this ditch even more when it's surrounded by corn.

I'd bet money it sees twice the activity or more.

[H2archer]

Great topic. Gives me an idea for acouple of spots to look over next time i'm scouting.

[Uncle Lou]

Great topic. Gives me an idea for acouple of spots to look over next time i'm scouting.

x2 great topic. Loved the thread title and had to click it. Ran a lot of ditches in the thumb (Michigan's Thumb, its a place) pheasant hunting and wish I was a BEAST back then. We saw deer appear out of nowhere more than once, they had to come from the ditches.