Deer reactions to flood waters

[Robertpgrissom86]

I’ve been hunting a public marsh along the Missouri River, that has been completely under water (over 5’ deep) for most of the summer. The deer numbers were pretty high and I had a couple close encounters with some mature deer last year. My question is, as the flood waters recede, will the deer mover right back in or will it take a while for the marsh to repopulate?

[hambone]

I've got the same thing going on, off the Mississippi. The deer will move back in. How soon is the question. Around here, the understory will not have time to recover before fall. So there is not going be be any ground cover for the deer to bed in or conceal your approach. In the past I have noticed that the older bucks follow the water down as it recedes, but hunting them successfully is another subject. There will be little, desirable browse and no ag, so the deer will be counting on mast production for the bulk of their feed. It is too early to tell what percentage of hardwoods were killed by this flood. In '93 it killed nearly all of the hardwoods, in our area. Here is some info on what happened back then. I have yet to hear any predictions on the damage this time.

https://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/1995/08/floods-and-trees

[greenhorndave]

Great question and I was wondering the same. Bunch of swampy areas had lots and lots of water a year and a half or so. Been better this year, so I also am curious about when/if they start revisiting their old haunts.

[Dewey]

Don’t be afraid of flooded areas because many times contained within them are higher spots where deer will still bed even if it means traveling thru a bunch of deep water especially when hunting pressure kicks in. I routinely set up in trees completely surround by deeper water and I will say deer have no fear whatsoever of flooded timber. Obviously excessive flooding where everything is under extremely deep water with strong current like you would get with a river is a big issue but just general flooding isn’t a real big deal. The key is to scout the land enough to know where the high and dry spots are so you know in the future where the deer go. Flooding can be a huge advantage because it really concentrates the available bedding. The key is knowing how to capitalize on that. What you learn now will be HUGE for future seasons.

[greenhorndave]

Don’t be afraid of flooded areas because many times contained within them are higher spots where deer will still bed even if it means traveling thru a bunch of deep water especially when hunting pressure kicks in. I routinely set up in trees completely surround by deeper water and I will say deer have no fear whatsoever of flooded timber. Obviously excessive flooding where everything is under extremely deep water with strong current like you would get with a river is a big issue but just general flooding isn’t a real big deal. The key is to scout the land enough to know where the high and dry spots are so you know in the future where the deer go. Flooding can be a huge advantage because it really concentrates the available bedding.

That's good stuff.

I think the thrust of the question was, how long does it take the deer to go back to the places that were previously flooded after the flood waters recede?

[Dewey]

Don’t be afraid of flooded areas because many times contained within them are higher spots where deer will still bed even if it means traveling thru a bunch of deep water especially when hunting pressure kicks in. I routinely set up in trees completely surround by deeper water and I will say deer have no fear whatsoever of flooded timber. Obviously excessive flooding where everything is under extremely deep water with strong current like you would get with a river is a big issue but just general flooding isn’t a real big deal. The key is to scout the land enough to know where the high and dry spots are so you know in the future where the deer go. Flooding can be a huge advantage because it really concentrates the available bedding.

That's good stuff.

I think the thrust of the question was, how long does it take the deer to go back to the places that were previously flooded after the flood waters recede?

Yes and my answer was sometimes they never left. Water is not much of an obstacle for deer but it is for people. I watched a mature buck in the northwoods swim out to an island in the middle of a lake to bed in the morning and reverse the course in the evening multiple times. This was over 20 feet of water. He had security there and that was all that mattered. Never overlook anything just because it’s flooded.

[greenhorndave]

Excellent. Thanks. Couple of the places I've gone had high high-water marks on trees. This kept the deer out of them from a bedding standpoint, but I did find the nearby higher ground where they went. I guess the answer is to expect fluid movement from them between the two areas.


(see what I did there? )

[Wannabelikedan]

To simplify it as much as I can, I would say how long before they return is dependent upon the amount of browse and bedding available post flood. Short term flooding typically doesn’t have lasting effects unless the flood was extreme. Reverse is long term flooding typically delays the deer returning. Those individual deer may not return either. On a side note, bucks are more prone to delayed return, further displacement or relocating as opposed to does. Flooding is usually associated with spring and does are toting fawns around or are near birthing dates. Not a good time to make extreme adjustments in their daily living but extreme events will force them to. Very trivial question. Hope this helps.

[UofLbowhunter]

Don’t be afraid of flooded areas because many times contained within them are higher spots where deer will still bed even if it means traveling thru a bunch of deep water especially when hunting pressure kicks in. I routinely set up in trees completely surround by deeper water and I will say deer have no fear whatsoever of flooded timber. Obviously excessive flooding where everything is under extremely deep water with strong current like you would get with a river is a big issue but just general flooding isn’t a real big deal. The key is to scout the land enough to know where the high and dry spots are so you know in the future where the deer go. Flooding can be a huge advantage because it really concentrates the available bedding.

That's good stuff.

I think the thrust of the question was, how long does it take the deer to go back to the places that were previously flooded after the flood waters recede?

Yes and my answer was sometimes they never left. Water is not much of an obstacle for deer but it is for people. I watched a mature buck in the northwoods swim out to an island in the middle of a lake to bed in the morning and reverse the course in the evening multiple times. This was over 20 feet of water. He had security there and that was all that mattered. Never overlook anything just because it’s flooded.

Agreed! , deer in swamp flooded areas and deep water there not scared of it! Most of the swamp areas i hunt are more like sloughs. Even when the water is up and like six ft deep they still swim or what ever they need to do. Its the norm for them, even though i have seen seen them pushed completely out of areas, they will hang the edges and move back.

[UofLbowhunter]

I've got the same thing going on, off the Mississippi. The deer will move back in. How soon is the question. Around here, the understory will not have time to recover before fall. So there is not going be be any ground cover for the deer to bed in or conceal your approach. In the past I have noticed that the older bucks follow the water down as it recedes, but hunting them successfully is another subject. There will be little, desirable browse and no ag, so the deer will be counting on mast production for the bulk of their feed. It is too early to tell what percentage of hardwoods were killed by this flood. In '93 it killed nearly all of the hardwoods, in our area. Here is some info on what happened back then. I have yet to hear any predictions on the damage this time.

https://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/1995/08/floods-and-trees

Hey even if it kills some big timber , that would make it alot better for the future, it will grow and get thick! More bedding! It would be a big win in my eyes, more big buck bedding to scout!

[JAK]

Just this year the river bottoms were flooded bad and the swamps all around as well. And i found a pair of bucks liveing on a island that was high and dry. Saw them every night for a week on it. Now that it has dried up a little. Im starting to see them on the food source about a mile from that island. Dont know if its a coincedence or if they were there because of the high water.

[hambone]

I've got the same thing going on, off the Mississippi. The deer will move back in. How soon is the question. Around here, the understory will not have time to recover before fall. So there is not going be be any ground cover for the deer to bed in or conceal your approach. In the past I have noticed that the older bucks follow the water down as it recedes, but hunting them successfully is another subject. There will be little, desirable browse and no ag, so the deer will be counting on mast production for the bulk of their feed. It is too early to tell what percentage of hardwoods were killed by this flood. In '93 it killed nearly all of the hardwoods, in our area. Here is some info on what happened back then. I have yet to hear any predictions on the damage this time.

https://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/1995/08/floods-and-trees

Hey even if it kills some big timber , that would make it alot better for the future, it will grow and get thick! More bedding! It would be a big win in my eyes, more big buck bedding to scout!

I agree. Good point. More sunlight, more vegetation. It may be boogered for the rest of this year but it will come back thicker for the next several years, starting next spring.

[Ack]

Not sure how soon they will return, but I have seen first hand at the property my buddy hunts how flooding can relocate bucks. A few years back we had a huge flooding event at the end of June that kept the deer out of the flood plain for some time. That fall he saw and had the most bucks on camera than he ever has, mainly because they relocated a mile from the river to his property up on the higher ground. Take a drive a mile or so away and you may see the same thing.

[Motivated]

A couple of deer biologists from Mississippi State University just released a podcast episode on this for you down south guys. The podcast name is "Deer University". They spend an hour or so discussing the river bottom flooding along the large rivers, deer response, and effects on the deer herd. I guess along the Great Rivers you down south guys have had a couple of the 500-year floods here recently.

Up here in Indiana, I hunt some large reservoirs which flooded significantly in 2015. Water levels were 40 feet high at the peak. Most areas were under water for a month or two. The vegetation was dead when the water went back down. But interestingly the grass was not knocked over and was still standing straight up until the winter. The deer immediately moved back in to the bedding areas when the water receded, they just walked farther to get green vegetation. There were some higher areas of cover that looked trashed from the deer, and I found one bed that year I had so much hair in it I thought something must have died there.

It changed my hunting that year because an early-season everything was crunchy. Forced me to slow down.
Usually it is not that hard to be quiet in early season. The trees are not lost their leaves, but all the leaves are brown as if it was fall. Above the high-water mark the leaves were still green. I accidentally set up in a dead tree that year, and only noticed because that treetop was not green. But the deer went right back to the the same bedding areas.

It also helped me to keep focused on season scouting.

[MrT]

I agree with Dewey's answers.

Last year in NC, we dealt with a lot of flooding due to hurricanes. There were areas close to the rivers that stayed underwater almost the whole season. The high water concentrated the deer to the high spots while the flooded roads kept the public out.

Late December, a buddy and I accessed a flooded farm area via boat that still had standing corn. I hunted one end, he hunted the other. I saw a few does. My buddy had a group of 4 bucks come out, 2 being shooters which one he ended up shooting. This bachelored group of bucks in late December in a corn field during daylight is unheard of in my area, especially on public land. These bucks hadn't encountered a hunter, or human for that matter, all season long. The property had become a sanctuary of sorts.

Last season was an excellent learning opportunity. The deer were still on the property, but they were concentrated to the safest area that had food and cover. Learn where these areas are and remember them for the future. When most hunters struggle the next time it floods, you'll be able to capitalize on the situation.