Flooding and Movement

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Marcus.smith620
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Flooding and Movement

Unread postby Marcus.smith620 » Thu Sep 06, 2018 10:23 am

Good evening beasts,

With all of the flooding in Wisconsin over the past two weeks I'm wondering if anyone else has had this happen a couple weeks before the opener. Where did you see the bucks go? How far did they go? We know that the deer will not bed in water, but in spots that normally hold the mature deer, and now are under water, they are looking for new spots to go. I am talking specifically about the marsh environment. Did the big bucks go to bedding areas that are not the "prime" spots, or did they leave and find farmland surrounding the marsh where there are taller hills? There will be spots that they can go in the marsh, but may leave them more susceptible to more hunters. Thoughts?

Pray that everyone who was affected by the tornadoes and flooding are safe and are doing well!


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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby muddy » Thu Sep 06, 2018 10:31 am

My guess is they'll be in pretty odd places, or else the first safe feeling high spot.

Fun comment... my buddy texted me that his entire hunting area was flooded and under water, he wanted to know what I'd suggest doing? I suggested he go fishing, he didnt reply back!

Good luck up there, stay safe
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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Thu Sep 06, 2018 12:02 pm

I had a few Riverbottoms properties get flooded afew years back. The deer piled up on the nearby ridges. Much like fishing when the lake gets bad low, it concentrates the fish to available cover. If it's flooded and I'm not talking ankle deep with some dry humps. I'm talking underwater Jack! Mark that off and look to nearby high ground. High ground overlooked brushy fence rows often hold something special during these times.
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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby Marcus.smith620 » Thu Sep 06, 2018 12:10 pm

Boogieman1 wrote:I had a few Riverbottoms properties get flooded afew years back. The deer piled up on the nearby ridges. Much like fishing when the lake gets bad low, it concentrates the fish to available cover. If it's flooded and I'm not talking ankle deep with some dry humps. I'm talking underwater Jack! Mark that off and look to nearby high ground. High ground overlooked brushy fence rows often hold something special during these times.



Did you see the bucks that normally were in those river bottoms stay on the close ridges, or were there different bucks there? Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel that there would be a higher concentration of bucks due to the displacement.
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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Thu Sep 06, 2018 12:20 pm

My area lays out prob diff than most. I have several large lakes in my area that are surrounded with the better ridges. The flooding also shrinks the ridge, couple that with low deer numbers and nomadic behavior I might have a diff scenario.

But to answer your question yes I saw the old river bottom bucks as well as some newbies holding to the high ground. Was a very friendly hunting situation. But as in most cases the best bucks still kept to themselves away from the high numbers packed on the ridge. Come rut diff story, with all the doe's piled on the best ridges closest to food it was a favorable condition with limited travel routes.
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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby Marcus.smith620 » Fri Sep 07, 2018 3:54 am

Seems like flooding should actually help get the bucks out then? Should be an interesting beginning to the season around here.
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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby Dewey » Fri Sep 07, 2018 4:21 am

Whitetails are masters at adapting. It's not like high water will suddenly make them easy to kill. You can bet if forced out of primary bedding spots they will quickly find the next best spots for security. No different than how they elude hunters during extreme hunting pressure. They have a knack for staying hidden from predators by going where they are not detected. Doesn't take much to hide a deer and I am amazed year after year how I jump deer out of completely overlooked spots. Most of my largest bucks ever caught on trail cam were set up right in thicker cover with a few feet of water. Bucks have absolutely no problem traveling around in the wet and nasty stuff. Water will be higher in marshes and swamps but within them there is almost always high spots where deer can easily bed. If you did your homework you will know exactly where these spots are located. The problem with hunting the edges of the marshes on the high ground is that's exactly where everybody else will be hunting and the deer will quickly figure that out. I personally don't like to hunt like everybody else. A majority of hunters are afraid to go in the water. Don't be afraid and use the water to your advantage. The bonus is you get away from other hunters and get to enjoy completely un-pressured deer.
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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby Marcus.smith620 » Fri Sep 07, 2018 5:46 am

Dewey wrote:Whitetails are masters at adapting. It's not like high water will suddenly make them easy to kill. You can bet if forced out of primary bedding spots they will quickly find the next best spots for security. No different than how they elude hunters during extreme hunting pressure. They have a knack for staying hidden from predators by going where they are not detected. Doesn't take much to hide a deer and I am amazed year after year how I jump deer out of completely overlooked spots. Most of my largest bucks ever caught on trail cam were set up right in thicker cover with a few feet of water. Bucks have absolutely no problem traveling around in the wet and nasty stuff. Water will be higher in marshes and swamps but within them there is almost always high spots where deer can easily bed. If you did your homework you will know exactly where these spots are located. The problem with hunting the edges of the marshes on the high ground is that's exactly where everybody else will be hunting and the deer will quickly figure that out. I personally don't like to hunt like everybody else. A majority of hunters are afraid to go in the water. Don't be afraid and use the water to your advantage. The bonus is you get away from other hunters and get to enjoy completely un-pressured deer.



I wasn't thinking they'd be easier to kill, but figured that they might be in groups more instead of loners because there would be less spots to be in isolation. Thank you for the info.
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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby d_rek » Fri Sep 07, 2018 5:59 am

Hmmm I haven't even though about this but the public land I hunt is all along a riverbottom. I expect some areas to be quite soggy but usually it only floods in the spring when ice dams up the river during the spring thaw.
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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby Dewey » Fri Sep 07, 2018 6:01 am

Marcus.smith620 wrote:
Dewey wrote:Whitetails are masters at adapting. It's not like high water will suddenly make them easy to kill. You can bet if forced out of primary bedding spots they will quickly find the next best spots for security. No different than how they elude hunters during extreme hunting pressure. They have a knack for staying hidden from predators by going where they are not detected. Doesn't take much to hide a deer and I am amazed year after year how I jump deer out of completely overlooked spots. Most of my largest bucks ever caught on trail cam were set up right in thicker cover with a few feet of water. Bucks have absolutely no problem traveling around in the wet and nasty stuff. Water will be higher in marshes and swamps but within them there is almost always high spots where deer can easily bed. If you did your homework you will know exactly where these spots are located. The problem with hunting the edges of the marshes on the high ground is that's exactly where everybody else will be hunting and the deer will quickly figure that out. I personally don't like to hunt like everybody else. A majority of hunters are afraid to go in the water. Don't be afraid and use the water to your advantage. The bonus is you get away from other hunters and get to enjoy completely un-pressured deer.



I wasn't thinking they'd be easier to kill, but figured that they might be in groups more instead of loners because there would be less spots to be in isolation. Thank you for the info.

Guess it all depends on the property. If you are speaking of smaller marshes less than 100 acres then absolutely that may be true due to there being no high ground within the marsh for bedding. The marshes I hunt are 1000’s of acres and there is no shortage of prime bedding spots even when the water is high. Sure it concentrates them to specific spots but the bucks still have an advantage especially when surrounded by water. Never seen them concentrated to one specific area as they still have plenty of options to spread out. It does make it easier to pinpoint those spots if you know them well but still a challenge to kill them. I am one of the few that actually prefers high water. I have always done better in those conditions mainly due to reduced hunting pressure. Much harder patterning deer when they are constantly being bumped around by hunters able to walk pretty much anywhere when it’s dry.
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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby Marcus.smith620 » Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:05 am

d_rek wrote:Hmmm I haven't even though about this but the public land I hunt is all along a riverbottom. I expect some areas to be quite soggy but usually it only floods in the spring when ice dams up the river during the spring thaw.



Judging by the other comments I would guess they would be on the points of the surrounding hillsides if you have that topography around there. Hopefully those river bottoms aren't too flooded for you.
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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby Rich M » Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:37 am

We had high water last season - one of the wetter WMAs had a record deer take - bucks and does as they were forced to leave the swamps and find higher ground.

I'm hoping for some high water to subside before scouting a WMA for a hunt during 2nd weekend in October.
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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby Marcus.smith620 » Fri Sep 07, 2018 8:53 am

Rich M wrote:We had high water last season - one of the wetter WMAs had a record deer take - bucks and does as they were forced to leave the swamps and find higher ground.

I'm hoping for some high water to subside before scouting a WMA for a hunt during 2nd weekend in October.


Interesting. Were there just record numbers, or were there record size bucks taken?
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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Fri Sep 07, 2018 12:17 pm

Another thing to take into consideration is food. In my case the food is high which helps. If your food is low (in the flood area) I suspect they would relocate unless the pressure is to bad. Then they would just bed farther away and take the long trip after working hours in my experience.
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Re: Flooding and Movement

Unread postby Rich M » Sat Sep 08, 2018 12:00 am

This is Florida - there are few record size bucks - folks kill what walks by. No-one talked about how good things were out there - go figure. LOL!

2016 they shot 89 deer for 8,163 hunter days. That's about 92 hunt days per deer.

2017 they shot 105 deer for 7,555 hunter days. That's about 72 man days per deer.

Might not seem like a lot but it is a big difference for 1 WMA down here.


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