Unread postby whitetail_addict » Thu Nov 12, 2015 6:39 pm
Scouted an area new to me yesterday that looked really good on maps too... big wet marsh with obvious trails visible on Google Earth between several isolated red oak islands (not much for white oak in that area) out in the middle of the marsh. I made about a 2 mile loop out through knee high water following the deer trails from island to island and the sign I expected, especially for this time of the year, was not only not there... I didn't even see but maybe 4 or 5 old rubs from past seasons. This particular marsh was mainly the shorter marsh grass and I didn't see any cattails. Also, the islands didn't seem to have the red brush thickets on the edges... some brushy spots but not many.
The larger surrounding area in general is all public forest with scrub red oak and pine and then river bottom habitat that is more hilly and has white oak as well. The forest land has not been known for high deer numbers or big bucks but the river bottoms only a few short miles from this marsh area I checked out are full of sign and I've seen and heard of at least a few nice bucks in and around those river bottoms. The entire area overall doesn't see much for bowhunting pressure at all and is mainly a gun hunting area with a lot of hunting cabins. That said, the pressure is probably minimal outside of that one week of gun season here in WI.
So, from previous posts in this thread it seems as though the cattails alone could be one of if not the reason I'm not seeing much for deer sign in this marsh. However, is it likely that the deer are just more attracted to the river bottom areas with the white oaks as opposed to the forest and marsh areas with not much more than scrub red oak?
Like I said I'd say the numbers are lower than a lot of the state which obviously would mean less deer sign too but as was said only a few short miles away the bottoms are loaded with buck sign so the deer are in the wider area. Would the lack of bowhunting pressure keep the deer from pushing back into this marsh grass marsh since they are really being forced into it?