Who has hunted swamp land similar to this?

[buckeye]

This is swamp land I recently got permission on. Have you hunted swamp land like this where it is full if oxbow ponds?

What can you tell me about the bucks relating to these swamp ponds? I imagine the deer would funnel along side of the oxbow ponds a lot, but what I am curious about is how much these deer will just cross these rather than travel along them... Most are a couple to a few feet deep.

I know all bets are off during the rut... but, any knowledge, experiences or thoughts are appreciated.

Here is a couple aerials. I didn't bother with the topo as the land is flat other than the ponds and the whole area just shows as wetlands on the topo.

Red is property border, blue is the river. I will not hunt at all on the east side of the river, only interested in the west side of the river.

[headgear]

I've hunt a couple spots like this but didn't have too much luck, however they were right off a larger river and got a lot of duck hunting pressure.

[Redman232]

Good lord, have fun scouting that. I've never hunted something that cut up with water.

[MOBIGBUCKS]

You sure those aren't old strip pit mines?

[buckeye]

You sure those aren't old strip pit mines?

Yes, I am sure they aren't strip pits. Although they do look similar to them in the photo. I hunt a few strip mine areas though a couple hours south of where I live.

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[BassBoysLLP]

I've hunted land like this on the Lower WI riverway. The best beds were on the higher elevation islands created by the oxbows...anything that allowed the buck to see. That being said, I STRUGGLED to generate early season encounters. All the oxbow lakes work as heat sinks and it pulls your scent all different directions when the wind died at last light. I've had my best success hunting downwind of the oxbow lakes during the cruising phase of the rut as the bucks will cruise around them. In your photo, I would look at the pinch created by the oxbow lakes and the river and hunt it with a NW wind.

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[buckeye]

I've hunted land like this on the Lower WI riverway. The best beds were on the higher elevation islands created by the oxbows...anything that allowed the buck to see. That being said, I STRUGGLED to generate early season encounters. All the oxbow lakes work as heat sinks and it pulls your scent all different directions when the wind died at last light. I've had my best success hunting downwind of the oxbow lakes during the cruising phase of the rut as the bucks will cruise around them. In your photo, I would look at the pinch created by the oxbow lakes and the river and hunt it with a NW wind.

[ Post made via Android ]

Do you recall how deep the oxbows were on the land you hunted? Did you see them cross the oxbows at all?

I used to have permission on land that had two big oxbow ponds and were about 5-6 feet deep, I never saw deer cross those. These (at least the ones on the East side of the river, I have't got across yet) are about half that depth at normal pool with no flooding present (but could be 10 feet deep with bad flooding) and am real curious how much they just cross them at normal depths. If they don't cross much there are a couple killer pinches on this property.

This is also a clear cut regrowth that is tangled with green brier. I have high hopes as I located some slammer tracks when I walked the area East of the river a few days ago. I will throw out a low impact fringe area camera sometime in July leave it a couple weeks and see what shows.

I wasn't able to get in there this winter because I had a surgery on my stomach and it took me completely out of the game this winter season.

[BassBoysLLP]

I've hunted land like this on the Lower WI riverway. The best beds were on the higher elevation islands created by the oxbows...anything that allowed the buck to see. That being said, I STRUGGLED to generate early season encounters. All the oxbow lakes work as heat sinks and it pulls your scent all different directions when the wind died at last light. I've had my best success hunting downwind of the oxbow lakes during the cruising phase of the rut as the bucks will cruise around them. In your photo, I would look at the pinch created by the oxbow lakes and the river and hunt it with a NW wind.

[ Post made via Android ]

Do you recall how deep the oxbows were on the land you hunted? Did you see them cross the oxbows at all?

I used to have permission on land that had two big oxbow ponds and were about 5-6 feet deep, I never saw deer cross those. These (at least the ones on the East side of the river, I have't got across yet) are about half that depth at normal pool with no flooding present (but could be 10 feet deep with bad flooding) and am real curious how much they just cross them at normal depths. If they don't cross much there are a couple killer pinches on this property.

This is also a clear cut regrowth that is tangled with green brier. I have high hopes as I located some slammer tracks when I walked the area East of the river a few days ago. I will throw out a low impact fringe area camera sometime in July leave it a couple weeks and see what shows.

I wasn't able to get in there this winter because I had a surgery on my stomach and it took me completely out of the game this winter season.

Just like creeks and rivers, they cross where it is shallowest. They rarely crossed the deep stuff, but crossed the shallow spots (less than 2') with ease. You can often estimate where the shallow spots are on the aerial by imagining the riffle, pool, run pattern from the old river. Wide, straight portions of the oxbow lakes are likely shallower riffle portions where you might have a crossing.

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