River Bottom Scouting

[crossfitcarpenter]

photos.thehuntingbeast.com/displayimage.php?album=lastup&cat=0&pid=2260#top_display_media


Hey Beasts, Im scouting this most likely for a rut hunt when everyone else is rifle hunting it is archery only river access only. The red lines are where I plan to walk and look for beds, trails, etc. Thanks yall know so much more than I.

[dan]

[Bonecrusher101]

Yeah that red might be what I'd want to walk.


I would first of all be looking for tracks and droppings. Namely, big buck tracks. If you can cut a big track maybe follow it if you have time.

Along the way, I would want some answers on a lot of things in a new area Like this. Id check to see who else hunts it and where they setup, any permanent stands? Any signs of anyone else bow hunting it? I'd want to know if the private land hunters that boarder it encroach into the public? Do they have a stand on the field edge that allows them to shoot into the public land? If so I'd avoid those type stands during rifle season for numerous reasons! Is it possible that they shoot into the public with rifles, and drag deer to their side of the fence? I'd also want to know what's planted in that ag field. Will you be better off bow hunting it early season before pressure increases and deer are still hitting the ag field? Are deer currently bedding near that field on the public land side? If you decide to hang a cam this summer, this would be where I'd probly hang it to try to get inventory.

I'd look for clusters of oaks on high spots in the swamp. This could be where they move to after the acorns start dropping. I'd want to know this so I could adjust with the deer as the season progressed. Is it thick enough with low browse to hide and hold deer? Can you find any old beds or rubs that get used year after year?

I have been trompsing through similar types of swampy areas this summer. I haven't found much for sign or bedding or jumped many deer. It's felt like a bit of a bust to me but it's part of learning a new area. Most deer in my area are currently hanging close to the groceries planted in fields. But those patterns will shift to acorns by the first few weeks of our bow season.

I would expect this type of area you are looking at to get better after hunter pressure increases and acorns drop. As long as it has acorns cover and not enough pressure to deter the deer.

It still might be worth an early season sit if the fields are getting hit hard this summer. Any deer you jump I'd watch where they escape to, and where they were bedded. Those can help get you a better understanding on how to enter and exit or possibly use other hunters to bump deer to you.

That might be too much but this time of year that's about what I'm looking at. The rest is an educated guess for me. Good luck!

[crossfitcarpenter]

Thanks Guys, Ill let you know what I come up with in a week or so.

[crossfitcarpenter]

Yeah that red might be what I'd want to walk.


I would first of all be looking for tracks and droppings. Namely, big buck tracks. If you can cut a big track maybe follow it if you have time.

Along the way, I would want some answers on a lot of things in a new area Like this. Id check to see who else hunts it and where they setup, any permanent stands? Any signs of anyone else bow hunting it? I'd want to know if the private land hunters that boarder it encroach into the public? Do they have a stand on the field edge that allows them to shoot into the public land? If so I'd avoid those type stands during rifle season for numerous reasons! Is it possible that they shoot into the public with rifles, and drag deer to their side of the fence? I'd also want to know what's planted in that ag field. Will you be better off bow hunting it early season before pressure increases and deer are still hitting the ag field? Are deer currently bedding near that field on the public land side? If you decide to hang a cam this summer, this would be where I'd probly hang it to try to get inventory.

I'd look for clusters of oaks on high spots in the swamp. This could be where they move to after the acorns start dropping. I'd want to know this so I could adjust with the deer as the season progressed. Is it thick enough with low browse to hide and hold deer? Can you find any old beds or rubs that get used year after year?

I have been trompsing through similar types of swampy areas this summer. I haven't found much for sign or bedding or jumped many deer. It's felt like a bit of a bust to me but it's part of learning a new area. Most deer in my area are currently hanging close to the groceries planted in fields. But those patterns will shift to acorns by the first few weeks of our bow season.

I would expect this type of area you are looking at to get better after hunter pressure increases and acorns drop. As long as it has acorns cover and not enough pressure to deter the deer.

It still might be worth an early season sit if the fields are getting hit hard this summer. Any deer you jump I'd watch where they escape to, and where they were bedded. Those can help get you a better understanding on how to enter and exit or possibly use other hunters to bump deer to you.

That might be too much but this time of year that's about what I'm looking at. The rest is an educated guess for me. Good luck!

Ok guys I took my youngest son out and we got a third of this place scouted. It is very dry and the river was only 6inches deep in some spots so tracks were out of the question. The field on the left is just a hay field but the blue maark is four beds we found over looking the pasture and the was a beaten trail leading to them. The dark green at the bottom is a pine plantation and the brown line is a Beaver dammed slough with the red mark representing a well used crossing. The white marks up on the oxbow was the only two old rubs we found but this place is probably a fifteen yr old select cut there are millions of hardwood saplings and its thick overall. Along the edge of the pines on private there is a box blind and feeder but they are not feeding now.

[crossfitcarpenter]

[img]photos.thehuntingbeast.com/displayimage.php?pid=2338&message_id=69662c913ea54834f2b35360329ec261&message_icon=info#cpgMessageBlock[img][/img][/img]

[Bonecrusher101]

I'm having trouble seeing the images you posted but it sounds very promising especially after hunter pressure increases. If attempting to mess with cams, I would set up a cam on the trail or creek crossing. Good thing that creek isn't completely dry. I think I'd definitely try to scout the entire thing and make another trip or two before mid August then stay away till acorns start dropping heavily, mid to late October if possible before hunting it.

I think I would start off by I would try to hunt near beds and hunt topography starting off. Good luck and thanks for the update!

[crossfitcarpenter]

http://photos.thehuntingbeast.com/displ ... play_media

[Bison]

If your posting from an Apple device or possibly another device try selecting and copying the BBC code on you picture details. Then paste it on your post. Then preview your post to see if the image has shown correctly. Sorry to clutter up the topic with this but I went through the same issues.

[crossfitcarpenter]

[quote="Bison"]If your posting from an Apple device or possibly another device try selecting and copying the BBC code on you picture details. Then paste it on your post. Then preview your post to see if the image has shown correctly. Sorry to clutter up the topic with this but I went through the same issues.[/quo

Thank you I will try that.