How Big is your Swamp?

Unread postby **Singing Bridge** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:16 am

Everything is relative to us hunters... we all have varying preconceived notions and rightfully so.

Question: How big are the swamps you hunt most of the time?

To some hunters, a square mile is a big swamp- and for their area it may well be. To me, that is a tiny swamp. A 3 square mile swamp is quite small to me. A lot of swamps I hunt in michigan are 5 square miles or bigger. One swamp I hunt in the Upper Peninsula is about 96,000 acres more or less. And swamps I hunt in Canada are off the charts in size, sometimes the next stop is the North Pole other than a few line roads that are a hundred miles apart.

So again, no matter how big or how small, how large are the swamps you spend the most time hunting? Throw up a picture from your swamp if you have one!

Unread postby **Hawthorne** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:35 am

Pot holes in the farm country I hunt that range in size from 1acre to maybe 10acres. If you find any swamp over 40aces in this area it's considered big and probably holds some good bucks if not pressured.Some of the public I've been looking at maybe 3 square miles is the biggest and that has roads every mile or two so not sure if that counts.One swamp with no roads 1000 acres probably my biggest.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Unread postby **MN_DeerHunter** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:45 am

I only know of 1 swamp (public) close to me that is exactly 1 square mile and that is definitely the largest in the area. Most other ones I have mapped out are much smaller chunks.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Unread postby **Singing Bridge** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:47 am

Here is a buck bed in one of my favorite swamps. This swamp is slightly smaller than 10 square miles. Note how much debris is on this island, the bed is the only clean spot for the buck to lie down. There is a rubbed tree right on the back edge of the bed.

This spot is an adventure to get to and you will bleed... But I cherish this swamp as gun hunters are too afraid to penetrate it. Visibility in this swamp is normally 30 yards or less, at best. 8-)

[ Post made via iPhone ]

john1984 · Unread postby **john1984** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:55 am

I'm fortunate to live close to a public property that's thousands of acres in size. But I've only explored a small percentage of it. The property isn't ALL swamp, but still ALOT of swampy marshy areas. Here is a picture of part of it.

[ Post made via Android ]

Unread postby **stash59** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:57 am

I picked 1 square mile or less. But I have alot of small pothole type marshes too.

In the past I hunted some large roadless areas that were a mixture of swamp and small but long ridges. Just enough higher in elevation to have hardwoods growing on them.

Unread postby **cbigbear** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 6:07 am

Hard to answer this one as it seems the definition of a swamp is pretty broad. Down here a swamp holds water year around & the depth can vary from a foot to 10' depending on rain or tides. They are only accessible by boat. The places I hunt in MS are in a flood plain. By my definition it has a couple smaller swamps, but at times the entire 20k ac is underwater. Then we have the local swamps in LA that are inaccessible April-Nov & only accessible by boat the rest of the year.

Small MS swamp - probably square mile

LA swamp - probably 10 square miles

The LA swamps are pretty much heck of earth!!!
Normal cover in the shallow water. This was accessing a stand in late Nov.

One of the beds in this area.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Unread postby **JackKnifeJake** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 6:31 am

60+ sq miles

Unread postby **moog5050** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 6:36 am

A whopping 40 acres surrounded by ag and a non-hunting preserve.

Unread postby **Wlog** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 6:42 am

All of what I consider swamp is just potholes of varying sizes but nowhere near a square mile. There are salt marshes here though that are thousands of acres.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Unread postby **mainebowhunter** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 6:58 am

Singing Bridge wrote:Here is a buck bed in one of my favorite swamps. This swamp is slightly smaller than 10 square miles. Note how much debris is on this island, the bed is the only clean spot for the buck to lie down. There is a rubbed tree right on the back edge of the bed.

This spot is an adventure to get to and you will bleed... But I cherish this swamp as gun hunters are too afraid to penetrate it. Visibility in this swamp is normally 30 yards or less, at best.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Have you benefited from the generations of hunters before you? Thats the thing about "BIG" anything. It takes a LOT of time and energy to learn something that big. And then once you start to learn it, it takes the time to learn how the deer move on it. If you have a heritage that is passed down, awesome. It takes a long time to learn 20-30k acres of ANYTHING that is timber or swale or marsh or swamp.

Personally, most swamps I hunt are potholes in the timber. We have bogs and places that are 1000s of acres. Especially as you head north. I have mentioned this before. I don't HAVE to hunt them so I don't. I am interested in killing mature deer. If I can do that in a 100 acre piece of timber, that is where I am going to focus. I am strictly a bowhunter so that does change my focus a bit as well.

Unread postby **Dewey** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 7:10 am

I have hunted some huge cedar swamps in the far north but would say a majority I hunt are pockets in the 5 square mile range with 100's of thousands acres of woods surrounding them. When I head north I like to have plenty of land to work with and the more remote the better. To me there is nothing like being in a huge remote swamp and knowing that very few ever venture there.

I have so many great swamp pics and will put some up when I get a chance.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Unread postby **rbuckleyjr1** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 11:23 am

Mostly on the smaller side (few hundred acres at most).

Unread postby **PK_** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 12:01 pm

>700sq miles.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Unread postby **Lockdown** » Wed Aug 17, 2016 12:11 pm

Dewey wrote:I have hunted some huge cedar swamps in the far north but would say a majority I hunt are [glow=red][glow=red]pockets in the 5 square mile range[/glow][/glow] with 100's of thousands acres of woods surrounding them. When I head north I like to have plenty of land to work with and the more remote the better. To me there is nothing like being in a huge remote swamp and knowing that very few ever venture there.

I have so many great swamp pics and will put some up when I get a chance.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

A five mile "pocket" Dewey? :shock:

To me a pocket is 60 or 80 acres :lol:

Great idea for a thread Bridge... Pretty interesting to hear the differences in our hunting territories.

In most of MN (can't speak much for the North half, don't go there much aside from I-29) a square mile swamp is big. However I do know of some that are larger but they are pretty rare and often times open water constitutes a good portion of the acreage.