Many believe that deer bed right near a food source this time of the year but I found that these deer were traveling at least 1 1/2 miles through cattails to get to the cornfield. That was somewhat surprising considering there is no hunting pressure since the season has been closed since Jan. 8th but with the mild weather I guess they are still keeping security a priority.
Headed out to one of my favorite islands I have seen a few nice bucks on. Walking out there without ice in the early bow season is quite an adventure. I got stuck in muck up to my waist last fall for a half hour one night in the dark walking out. This spot is still not safe even though everything else has been frozen solid for quite some time.
Luckily I was able to skirt around it and stay on top of the ice. Looks like a few deer went in and surprised they got out! Very nasty stuff never seen muck quite that dense and hard to even pull your legs free! 
Found alot of deer sign on this island but only one large bed at the NW tip. Here is the bedding area and a pic of that bed...
This is the same island that a beaver has been destroying by taking down a bunch of large popples. Here is his lodge....
Did a lot of exploring following the maze of trails in the cattails finding plenty of doe and fawn beds. It's amazing how far some deer travel through cattails. I followed many tracks for over a mile and they never once stopped to bed or even went near any type of food source. Just a sea of cattails as far as you can see!
Decided to check out this very small island that I know a few bucks have bedded on over the years.
There is really no way to hunt this bedding area but I set up on a secondary island about 150 yards downwind of this one that they cross to get to the mainland. When I walked onto this small island I immediately found larger tracks and a few large beds. These beds looked to be a few days old.
He had plenty of rubs right in his bedroom......
I am not convinced this is a mature buck but worth checking out next season. Checked out many other bedding areas but seemed like the deer were really out and about yesterday and not bedding in their usual spots. I could not believe the amount of tracks they layed down after the fresh snow. It's almost like they were just wandering around all day and never bedded.
I reset the trip odometer on my GPS when I started. I knew I walked alot but surprised by just how far
............... 
What a great way to end the day with a beautiful sunset on the marsh.
. Keep it up!