Scouting River Bottom

Discuss the science of figuring out our prey through good detective work.
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willsk85
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Scouting River Bottom

Unread postby willsk85 » Fri Sep 23, 2016 5:19 am

Has anyone had any luck scouting along a creek, or river bottom? Run into a lot of bedding?

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DaveT1963
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Re: Scouting River Bottom

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Fri Sep 23, 2016 7:11 am

I think it is a pretty well accepted fact that deer use and bed along waterways? Some really good info in the all time thread
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Hatchet Jack
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Re: Scouting River Bottom

Unread postby Hatchet Jack » Fri Sep 23, 2016 8:09 am

hit them oxbows buddy
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Stanley
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Re: Scouting River Bottom

Unread postby Stanley » Fri Sep 23, 2016 9:40 am

It looks like the creek is fairly shallow from the picture. I believe this makes the oxbows better than if the water was wide and deep. In the shallow water creeks you lose some of the barrier effect. This makes the escape routes of the oxbows much better. Bucks like to get out of sight as fast as possible.

I would also look for shallow water crossings. These can be dynamite. A shallow water crossing is kind of a bottle neck so to speak. The creeks also have some great looking bottle necks that would be great to look at. I have circled the areas that I would look at if scouting the property. Lots of good everything in my opinion.

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Twenty Up
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Re: Scouting River Bottom

Unread postby Twenty Up » Mon Oct 10, 2016 12:42 pm

The biggest factor is creek depth and how deep/wide the creek actually is. I've seen some 2ft deep creeks that were 5-7ft below the ground level due to erosion, but on an aerial map you wouldn't even know the creek was there. It's really hard to get a feel for an area without topography maps but there are some good ideas to get you started.
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Re: Scouting River Bottom

Unread postby Josh_S » Thu Oct 13, 2016 1:44 am

Stanley wrote:It looks like the creek is fairly shallow from the picture. I believe this makes the oxbows better than if the water was wide and deep. In the shallow water creeks you lose some of the barrier effect. This makes the escape routes of the oxbows much better. Bucks like to get out of sight as fast as possible.

I would also look for shallow water crossings. These can be dynamite. A shallow water crossing is kind of a bottle neck so to speak. The creeks also have some great looking bottle necks that would be great to look at. I have circled the areas that I would look at if scouting the property. Lots of good everything in my opinion.

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Stanley, just curious what catches your interest at the 2 locations (furthest north) circled on the opposite sides of the deep oxbow bends? Do you see potential bedding here, or is it a pinch point to get around the oxbow bend?

Thanks
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DaveT1963
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Re: Scouting River Bottom

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Thu Oct 13, 2016 2:17 am

One thing to pay attention to as we move to late Oct/early November is that when bucks are cruising they are lazy and use their nose. I would look for trails that cut across oxbows from point to point while they scent check the oxbow. Bucks will often cut across (marked in yellow lines) these oxbows and pass relatively close to the top ends of the oxbows which creates great rut funnels (marked with red stars). I have had a lot of luck hunting such set ups over the years. Blue arrow is the general wind for that set up. Some of these are double funnels on your photo with the tree line edge. The north one in the middle may be too large so I wouldn't be surprised if there is a cruising trail that goes down into the oxbow?

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