Cattails or marsh grass

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stash59
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Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby stash59 » Sat Feb 07, 2015 10:27 am

I spot checked a couple of my areas I've been cyber scouting the other day. Some of the stuff I thought was cattails looked more like marsh grass. How much difference does this make as far as finding buck beds? Do any of you more experienced cyber scouters have a clue to tell apart the cattails from the marsh grass?


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Re: Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby fishlips » Tue Feb 10, 2015 8:26 am

My observation is that cattails are generally more wet and thick and thus hold more deer. I scouted a spot earlier this winter that I thought was going to be great, but the ground was just higher than I thought and what I was scouting was marsh grass instead of cattails. Sign dried up pretty quickly. I guess that's only one observation, but in general, it seems like cattails are more wet than the marsh grass, which keeps more people out and more deer in.

I guess I can think of another spot very similar to what I explained above and same prinicipal applied. As soon as I found the cattails, I found more sign. I don't know that the deer seek them, just that they feel safer in them. And they usually provide cover for most of teh year, whereas marsh grass can lay down after getting snowed on.
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Re: Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby stash59 » Wed Feb 11, 2015 4:32 am

Thanks kinda figured that. Wish it was easier to tell the difference on aerials. I've started to compare the elevation to the nearest water. This shows up in the lower right corner of Google Earth. It changes as you move the cursor. Looks like we could be close each other. All of my hard core hunting friends are back in Montana. PM me if you'd like to get together and talk hunting sometime.
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Re: Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby stash59 » Thu Feb 19, 2015 5:52 am

bump
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Re: Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby dan » Thu Feb 19, 2015 9:14 am

Its hard to tell the difference from an aerial... Cattails are better at holding bucks than marsh grass.
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Re: Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby bowhunter15 » Thu Feb 19, 2015 10:19 am

With the right map you can tell the difference. Like in this example, all the pale tan/brown is cattails. All the yellow/green stuff is marsh grass. Actually it's usually pretty easy to tell on Bing birds eye. Especially if you've been there on foot and have a point of reference to know what actually is cattails vs marsh grass.

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Re: Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby stash59 » Thu Feb 19, 2015 10:21 am

dan wrote:Its hard to tell the difference from an aerial... Cattails are better at holding bucks than marsh grass.

Does it matter how wet the grass is? I kept checking and when I was away from the trees and brush there was ice with the grass.
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Re: Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby hunter_mike » Thu Feb 19, 2015 10:21 am

Often times on the aerials, cattails grow in circles, thats what I look for:

Image

The circular shapes you see are cattails, i can guarantee that cuz i just walked this a few weeks ago,.

If you use google earth, use the feature where you can view aerials from different times of year. The circles show up better at certain times of year. Some times of year the circles are invisible. Other times you can spot them really easy.
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Re: Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby stash59 » Thu Feb 19, 2015 10:30 am

bowhunter15 wrote:With the right map you can tell the difference. Like in this example, all the pale tan/brown is cattails. All the yellow/green stuff is marsh grass. Actually it's usually pretty easy to tell on Bing birds eye. Especially if you've been there on foot and have a point of reference to know what actually is cattails vs marsh grass.

Image

I noticed on some maps different shades of brown and tan. Marsh hunting is totally new to me. The public areas are all new also. I was living in Montana 2 years ago. By the way I have to thank you. Your YouTube channel is one of the first places I saw THE BEAST mentioned.
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Re: Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby stash59 » Thu Feb 19, 2015 10:33 am

hunter_mike wrote:Often times on the aerials, cattails grow in circles, thats what I look for:

Image

The circular shapes you see are cattails, i can guarantee that cuz i just walked this a few weeks ago,.

If you use google earth, use the feature where you can view aerials from different times of year. The circles show up better at certain times of year. Some times of year the circles are invisible. Other times you can spot them really easy.

Yeah I've been doing that. Just with my inexperience with marsh hunting I wasn't sure what I was looking at. Thanx.
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Re: Cattails or marsh grass.ma

Unread postby Swampthing » Thu Feb 19, 2015 10:51 am

Look for irregular shaped water features as well. I say irregular because if you see a perfect little water feature (canal, pond, etc) it is proably man-made and would generally not be within cattails.

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Re: Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby dan » Thu Feb 19, 2015 12:04 pm

stash59 wrote:
dan wrote:Its hard to tell the difference from an aerial... Cattails are better at holding bucks than marsh grass.

Does it matter how wet the grass is? I kept checking and when I was away from the trees and brush there was ice with the grass.

What matters is pressure, and escape, and good bedding features... Cattails have more of what they want. If your wet grass has better ingredients than everywhere else around, certainly, they will bed there like cattails. I would be looking at the edges where it meets thick dogwood or some other cover..
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Re: Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby stash59 » Thu Feb 19, 2015 12:38 pm

Thanx Dan. I'm hoping the wet conditions are going to keep others away from some areas I haven't got to yet. It's definitly a longer walk. I also think early season should be better before the grass browns and starts to fall over.
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Re: Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby KLEMZ » Thu Feb 19, 2015 1:22 pm

Swampthing wrote:Look for irregular shaped water features as well. I say irregular because if you see a perfect little water feature (canal, pond, etc) it is proably man-made and would generally not be within cattails.


I will respectfully disagree with this. In my experience, some of the best mature buck bedding is directly related to man made canals in cattail swamps. Mostly, where a corner is formed by two canals meeting. The spoils where the dredged earth was piled, is the only dry spot for a deer to lay. The corner is a natural barrier from predators. I know of 3 mature buck bedding areas located within 40 yards of two man made canal meeting (a corner).
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Re: Cattails or marsh grass

Unread postby stash59 » Thu Feb 19, 2015 1:51 pm

KLEMZ wrote:
Swampthing wrote:Look for irregular shaped water features as well. I say irregular because if you see a perfect little water feature (canal, pond, etc) it is proably man-made and would generally not be within cattails.


I will respectfully disagree with this. In my experience, some of the best mature buck bedding is directly related to man made canals in cattail swamps. Mostly, where a corner is formed by two canals meeting. The spoils where the dredged earth was piled, is the only dry spot for a deer to lay. The corner is a natural barrier from predators. I know of 3 mature buck bedding areas located within 40 yards of two man made canal meeting (a corner).

Thanx makes sense.


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