Black Spruce Bogs

[BorealBushMN]

Lots of talk about cedar swamps, tamarack swamps, black ash swamps, but I don't see mcuh chatter about the Black Spruce Bog. They are similar, and sometimes a part of a tamarack swamp.... Anyone venture deep into them to look for bedding? I've been scoping out some of them and see high-ground islands in some that I suspect to possibly hold deer, however, these are pretty treacherous to navigate, specially during a wet season. Seems like a deer (and a human for that matter) could easily get stuck back in one of these and never get out.

Any northern folks ever venture deep into these and had success?

[Huntress13]

I think they are pretty much the same thing by definition, just the variety of trees that grows in the peat differs depending on what part of the country you are in.

[Singing Bridge]

Dan and the Hunting Beast have you covered... stay tuned !

[BorealBushMN]

I think they are pretty much the same thing by definition, just the variety of trees that grows in the peat differs depending on what part of the country you are in.

There's understory differences. Tamaracks tend to be more open in spots and allow for additional shrubs to grow, drier in spots. Spruce bogs are dark, dense and wetter overall and limit the ground floor to mostly mosses and laurel.

[BorealBushMN]

Dan and the Hunting Beast have you covered... stay tuned !

[headgear]

I hunt a lot of them, just like many of the other swamps out there but sometimes a little more open (they can be crazy thick too). Shot one of my heaviest bucks out on a very large island surrounded by a black spurce bog, he was bedding off the tip of a large point off the island. Like anything all the right ingredients need to be there, even kind of like hunting islands, sometimes you scout 5-10 of them and find a bunch of buck beds and other times you scout 20 of them and find nothing. With a lot the larger swamps I don't find deer out in the middle of them, they will be near some kind of terrain feature or transition line within or on the edge of the swamp. Seems I have my best luck when these bogs are next to other cover or near a lake, the lakes especially will have a big thermal pull that the bucks will use to an advantage. The deer will very much travel through them, easy to see century+ old deer trails everywhere and that can help determine bedding and travel routes, I never find much for rubs on black spruce, not sure if it is a thing or just me not finding them. If you have to cross a big stretch of bog get ready for a work out, some of my spots are half mile to a mile of bog and it is not a fun walk but you have to go where the bucks are, by the end of the fall you will have ripped up bog legs. About all I got for now but I'm sure something else will pop in my head later and I will post it up.

[Huntress13]

I think they are pretty much the same thing by definition, just the variety of trees that grows in the peat differs depending on what part of the country you are in.

There's understory differences. Tamaracks tend to be more open in spots and allow for additional shrubs to grow, drier in spots. Spruce bogs are dark, dense and wetter overall and limit the ground floor to mostly mosses and laurel.

Okay, paying attention to learn some more things.

[Cchez]

Like headgear, i've never noticed much for rubs in black spruce bogs, but a lot of the ones i've walked through seem to have really good trail systems within them.

[greenhorndave]

Dan and the Hunting Beast have you covered... stay tuned !

Scott... You know this group isn't very good about being patient, right??

[Singing Bridge]

Dan and the Hunting Beast have you covered... stay tuned !

Scott... You know this group isn't very good about being patient, right??

You have an excellent point !