New to swamp hunting
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New to swamp hunting
I found a buck bed on a transition line between dogwood and cattails in water and was wondering: will a buck bed with the wind at his back coming off the cattails or off the dogwood?
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- 1STRANGEWILDERNESS
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Re: New to swamp hunting
I’ll chime in. I’m no expert! I would kneel in that bed and look around. If you can see well opposite the cattails then maybe he likes wind from the cattails. If there’s no visibility then I really don’t know. Without any visibility I would be leaning toward wind from the dogwood and those cattails being a safety net downwind because something traveling through them will make some noise.
That’s how I would approach it. I’d probably be wrong
That’s how I would approach it. I’d probably be wrong

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Re: New to swamp hunting
They’re most likely to bed where they can smell where danger will approach from and let their scent blow out across the cattails.
As always it is situational. If the bedding is very secure with good escape they might bed there with any wind. Pressure always factors in. Super low pressure means they’re more likely to “ignore” the wind.
The buck I shot last year was bedded with the wind blowing from the cattails to him. In fact the wind doesn’t really work well for them in that spot at all. NE wind would make sense for that bedding but 75% of the time we have a NW or SE wind. NE wind is pretty rare.
As always it is situational. If the bedding is very secure with good escape they might bed there with any wind. Pressure always factors in. Super low pressure means they’re more likely to “ignore” the wind.
The buck I shot last year was bedded with the wind blowing from the cattails to him. In fact the wind doesn’t really work well for them in that spot at all. NE wind would make sense for that bedding but 75% of the time we have a NW or SE wind. NE wind is pretty rare.
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Re: New to swamp hunting
Here's a topo image with icons. The X is the bed and the cattails to the south. You can see the bike trail and the local business to the wnw. My gut tells me a north wind-based bed and he's able to scan the cattails and observe the bike trail. Or, a west wind-based bed while still being able to scan the cattails.
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- tgreeno
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Re: New to swamp hunting
From that pic, I would say it looks like he would bed with the wind off the mainland. NW or W winds. But cattail beds are not always wind based.
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It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid, than to open it an remove all doubt
It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid, than to open it an remove all doubt
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Re: New to swamp hunting
tgreeno wrote:From that pic, I would say it looks like he would bed with the wind off the mainland. NW or W winds. But cattail beds are not always wind based.
Are cattail beds typically more sound-based?
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Re: New to swamp hunting
Elite wrote:tgreeno wrote:From that pic, I would say it looks like he would bed with the wind off the mainland. NW or W winds. But cattail beds are not always wind based.
Are cattail beds typically more sound-based?
He will use his nose ,ears & eyes no matter where he beds. Not wind based meaning, he could bed there in any wind conditions. But would probably prefer it coming off the mainland.
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It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid, than to open it an remove all doubt
It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid, than to open it an remove all doubt
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Re: New to swamp hunting
tgreeno wrote:Elite wrote:tgreeno wrote:From that pic, I would say it looks like he would bed with the wind off the mainland. NW or W winds. But cattail beds are not always wind based.
Are cattail beds typically more sound-based?
He will use his nose ,ears & eyes no matter where he beds. Not wind based meaning, he could bed there in any wind conditions. But would probably prefer it coming off the mainland.
Ok good to know! Would this be similar to bedding on an oxbow ie wind blowing from the mainland towards the tip of the bend?
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