The Hunting Beast

Tadmdad - thanks for the information on them possibly extending some WMUs for NR. I'll have to keep my ears open for that. Headgear - congratulations on the new baby!

bigwoodsmn wrote:Dan - interesting -- Would a hunter just start knocking on doors to find a place to hunt in SW Wisc CWD area? Are the tags the usual non-resident price?

There is a lot of good public land. If its your 1st wisc. license its about $80. If you hunted here before I think its around $160. Tags are free. You get more just by asking for them at any license agent.
After you fill your 1st buck tag you can only shoot bucks you "earn" by shooting does. Every doe you shoot they give you a stamp that you can attach to one of the free tags turning it into a buck tag.

Thanks for the information about accessible public land. It'd be nice to have the name of a big marsh in PM to look at with Google earth and BackCountry Navigator topo and images. A friend of mine is retired WI DNR and may even be able to point me in the direction of finding "3D-ish" steroscopic maps. Could do some scouting with a good map. I bet the marshes are more accessible for the late season hunt (harder ground & fewer hunters). Bucks may not be moving as much but they will be feeding to beef up for winter. If it is a very large marsh I'm guessing they're using some overlooked small islands. I don't know. It's intriguing though. Is there really a lot of CWD? Do the deer get inspected? Edible? I've never hunted CWD zones. My guess is there are very few deer with CWD and that the meat is A-OK. But I don't know anything about it! Thanks--

bigwoodsmn wrote:Thanks for the information about accessible public land. It'd be nice to have the name of a big marsh in PM to look at with Google earth and BackCountry Navigator topo and images. A friend of mine is retired WI DNR and may even be able to point me in the direction of finding "3D-ish" steroscopic maps. Could do some scouting with a good map. I bet the marshes are more accessible for the late season hunt (harder ground & fewer hunters). Bucks may not be moving as much but they will be feeding to beef up for winter. If it is a very large marsh I'm guessing they're using some overlooked small islands. I don't know. It's intriguing though. Is there really a lot of CWD? Do the deer get inspected? Edible? I've never hunted CWD zones. My guess is there are very few deer with CWD and that the meat is A-OK. But I don't know anything about it! Thanks--

Marshes are extremely easy to read... At least actual "cattail" marshes. and you don't find many hunters venturing back to the cattails. It seems like people are afraid of the water.
We have a video on the site for sale that goes into great depth about exactly where bucks bed in marshes, and how we successfully kill them there. If your serious about it, I would strongly suggest the DVD... But, as always will be glad to help you without you getting it as best I can.
All the hunters seem to be on the dry land, and the deer are in the cattails. They bed in spots along the edges of the cattails that are remote from people. They like cattails that are mixed with dogwood or small trees, points going into the cattails, islands, etc. One technique that works well (with rifle) in marshes you don't know well is to just still hunt down the deer trails in the cattails in very remote sections of the marsh. Watch for any tree, or bush out in the cattails, beds are usually near them.
As far as it being easier to navigate when frozen? Yes, and no... Easier maybe, but certainly not safer. Ice can never be trusted in a cattail marsh. Rotting vegetation will create "hot spots" which you will fall thru. The key is to always walk in the cattails, or on the edge, don't cross small openings. Step at the roots of the cattails to hold you up... Most of the cattail marshes have floating bog and the bottom can be pretty deep. You will feel like your walking on a water bed when you go over sections like this. Stay in the cattails.

I just saw this thread for the first time, great getting to put pictures with the stories you talked about at the get together hunt. I can confirm that bus is the best deer camp there is bar none! Looks like an ideal spot to hunt and get away from the daily grind, a true wilderness. Hopefully you got to get the crown down again this year!

dan wrote:

bigwoodsmn wrote:Thanks for the information about accessible public land. It'd be nice to have the name of a big marsh in PM to look at with Google earth and BackCountry Navigator topo and images. A friend of mine is retired WI DNR and may even be able to point me in the direction of finding "3D-ish" steroscopic maps. Could do some scouting with a good map. I bet the marshes are more accessible for the late season hunt (harder ground & fewer hunters). Bucks may not be moving as much but they will be feeding to beef up for winter. If it is a very large marsh I'm guessing they're using some overlooked small islands. I don't know. It's intriguing though. Is there really a lot of CWD? Do the deer get inspected? Edible? I've never hunted CWD zones. My guess is there are very few deer with CWD and that the meat is A-OK. But I don't know anything about it! Thanks--

Marshes are extremely easy to read... At least actual "cattail" marshes. and you don't find many hunters venturing back to the cattails. It seems like people are afraid of the water.
We have a video on the site for sale that goes into great depth about exactly where bucks bed in marshes, and how we successfully kill them there. If your serious about it, I would strongly suggest the DVD... But, as always will be glad to help you without you getting it as best I can.
All the hunters seem to be on the dry land, and the deer are in the cattails. They bed in spots along the edges of the cattails that are remote from people. They like cattails that are mixed with dogwood or small trees, points going into the cattails, islands, etc. One technique that works well (with rifle) in marshes you don't know well is to just still hunt down the deer trails in the cattails in very remote sections of the marsh. Watch for any tree, or bush out in the cattails, beds are usually near them.
As far as it being easier to navigate when frozen? Yes, and no... Easier maybe, but certainly not safer. Ice can never be trusted in a cattail marsh. Rotting vegetation will create "hot spots" which you will fall thru. The key is to always walk in the cattails, or on the edge, don't cross small openings. Step at the roots of the cattails to hold you up... Most of the cattail marshes have floating bog and the bottom can be pretty deep. You will feel like your walking on a water bed when you go over sections like this. Stay in the cattails.

Thanks for the info on navigating the marshes and the specific details on still-hunting cattails and areas bucks prefer in the marshes. I'll get the DVD - I need to look over all of the video material. Looks like I've stumbled upon quite a wealth of knowledge.

Brad Lamont wrote:I just saw this thread for the first time, great getting to put pictures with the stories you talked about at the get together hunt. I can confirm that bus is the best deer camp there is bar none! Looks like an ideal spot to hunt and get away from the daily grind, a true wilderness. Hopefully you got to get the crown down again this year!

Brad you need to do a wilderness hunt, think you would look at deer hunting differently after the experience. And yes the crown tradition lives on, I just wasn't the one making the toast, but no matter.

[ Post made via Android ]

bigwoodsmn wrote:Thanks for the info on navigating the marshes and the specific details on still-hunting cattails and areas bucks prefer in the marshes. I'll get the DVD - I need to look over all of the video material. Looks like I've stumbled upon quite a wealth of knowledge.

bigwoodsmn, I own both of Dan's DVDs, high quality stuff any serious hunter should take a look at. You can apply a lot of the tactics and bedding habits of mature bucks to the bigwoods as well.

headgear wrote:

bigwoodsmn wrote:Thanks for the info on navigating the marshes and the specific details on still-hunting cattails and areas bucks prefer in the marshes. I'll get the DVD - I need to look over all of the video material. Looks like I've stumbled upon quite a wealth of knowledge.

bigwoodsmn, I own both of Dan's DVDs, high quality stuff any serious hunter should take a look at. You can apply a lot of the tactics and bedding habits of mature bucks to the bigwoods as well.

Headgear: thanks for the heads up on the content in the other video. I ordered the marsh hunting DVD yesterday. I'll order the other video. Only solid instructional books and videos can get a hunter worried about next year's taxidermy bill.

Hal Blood (2 books, 1 video): still-hunting when no snow, finding signpost rubs, bare ground tracking, and tracking in snow. Plus story after story of the actual "tracking jobs" -- what the deer did, how Hal handled it, and how much the deer weighed :)

Benoits (3 books, 5 videos): tracking tracking tracking (location - hunt where the biggest bucks are, selection - hunt just the biggest bucks there, and persistence - "never get discouraged, you'll get your buck")... plus 1000 gold nuggets ("here's how, and here's why"). Plus, they're very entertaining.

And personally, I think Peter Fiduccia's "Tactics for Talking to Deer" should be a prerequisite for any buck hunter planning to make any kind of deer noises, at least while out in the woods. :)

Thanks again