Hi everyone, I am new here and to the beast style. I am curious if anyone has any thoughts on the significance, if any, of relatively small marshes—say 1-10 acres. Do they still make for good bedding or are they too small to make the bucks feel safe?
I ask because mostly where I am the areas are smaller and islands, meaningful points, bowls, etc. are relatively rare. There are lots of low areas along creeks and sloughs that form small marshes with lots of cover.
Small Marshes
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- stash59
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Re: Small Marshes
If these small marshes provide the security the bucks need for bedding. They'll be used. Just need to dive in and look for beds to find out.
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Re: Small Marshes
Thanks! I definitely plan to check some of them out. On a more macro level, I am also wondering about scouting via aerials and topics and just narrowing places down to look. I guess nothing replaces footsteps!
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Re: Small Marshes
Definitely worth checking out. Find the dry areas/higher ground within them.
I hunted an area with some "pot holes" in Michigan. Small "ponds" but mostly cattails and wetland vegetation..not much actual water like a pond..they held buck bedding. Low deer density and big woods made it tough for me to figure out what was going on. I jumped one buck from one...he was bedded on a tiny island. It was separated from the land by a 10ft or so piece of wetland...there was a piece of real high ground and a couple trees and brush on it. I glassed it for a while knowing if I was a buck I'd probably hide out there. After a while I decided to put the sneak on it. I was within 30yds or so and heard my buddy shoot. Forgot about the task at hand and made a couple dumb moves and a buck bounded off of there. Don't know if the outcome would been any different... but I feel like if I kept my sneak I may have gotten a shot.
I hunted an area with some "pot holes" in Michigan. Small "ponds" but mostly cattails and wetland vegetation..not much actual water like a pond..they held buck bedding. Low deer density and big woods made it tough for me to figure out what was going on. I jumped one buck from one...he was bedded on a tiny island. It was separated from the land by a 10ft or so piece of wetland...there was a piece of real high ground and a couple trees and brush on it. I glassed it for a while knowing if I was a buck I'd probably hide out there. After a while I decided to put the sneak on it. I was within 30yds or so and heard my buddy shoot. Forgot about the task at hand and made a couple dumb moves and a buck bounded off of there. Don't know if the outcome would been any different... but I feel like if I kept my sneak I may have gotten a shot.
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Re: Small Marshes
I hunt in ND and many of the deer will bed in 1/4 acre sloughs in the middle of crop fields. Sometimes they are bedded in rock piles the size of a pickup.
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Re: Small Marshes
I hunt a smaller swamp and there is usually a good amount of deer there. It touches a large piece of public hardwoods but no one ever goes into the swamp. During gun season we always do a drive and usually jump 10+ deer out of it.
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Re: Small Marshes
About how many acres is it?
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Re: Small Marshes
Great question Kel! I'm new here as well and will be hunting a state park tomorrow that sounds very similar to what you described. So I was glad to get some tips and suggestions from everyone!
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