small patches of wetlands within hill country

[Josh_S]

I'm talking maybe 1-2 acres of cattails or swamp that most hunters (in my area anyhow) would over look. Just curious if anybody has found any buck beds in this type of terrain. I mapped out a few areas on public fitting this description that I plan on scouting this winter.

And this brings up another question...If a ridge is overlooking a small marshy area, would a mature buck prefer to bed in the security of a secluded little marsh, or prefer the scent advantage of the thermal tunnel on the top 1/3 of a leeward point? I do understand hunting pressure would influence bedding preference.

[purebowhunting]

I've scouted/hunted a few areas like these, they tend to be difficult to hunt because they have the thermals working so well in their favor in the evenings.

Below is an example of one, the "B" is the bed the "S" is his staging area. Once the thermals started falling he could smell everything dropping through the valley. I was never able to figure out the spot. The bed was in a clump of 4 cedars with a elevated area in the middle, elevated by about 2' above the surrounding area. Ton of sign from multiple years, just tough hunting.


[ Post made via Android ]

[rff]

Anxious to hear more thoughts on this one.

[ Post made via Android ]

[dan]

When swamp/marsh and hills are together, swamp/marsh trump hills... What this means is that they will bed in both, but as soon as you add a little pressure in hunters or maybe a couple wolves, they hit the security of the water...

A small wet area surrounded by hills can be the best spot for a big buck as P/B mentioned, he has all the dropping thermals letting him smell all the hills at once around him as he exits in the evening.

[tmarbut]

This is what I encounter much of the time where I am.
What are some good tactics to try to get in on the buck?
Trying to get him coming back to bed in the morning maybe?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[GRUD]

In the scenerio on the map, I have hunted somewhat similar spots if orientation on North is actually Up. On a cold, still, sunny morning the thermals should be lifting for a couple hours. I have successfully hunted the bottoms in this type of set up but you would have to go in and see what the thermal activity actually does on a sunny morning. One spot I have the valley runs north and south. I hug the east hillside and what happens is the west side of the valley gets sun first and the sun doenst actually hit the east side of the valley till 10am.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[purebowhunting]

The map I posted the top is north.

With the staging area at the bottom of the valley taking advantage of thermals your best setup would be to setup in the morning or setup on a moon day you hope he leaves the staging area before dark. In the map posted the top of the ridge held oaks and NW of the swamp was clear cut with growth in the 10ft and less stage, these were the main food sources. This was in the UP of Michigan, no agriculture in the area.

[ Post made via Android ]

[wickedbruiser]

When swamp/marsh and hills are together, swamp/marsh trump hills... What this means is that they will bed in both, but as soon as you add a little pressure in hunters or maybe a couple wolves, they hit the security of the water...

A small wet area surrounded by hills can be the best spot for a big buck as P/B mentioned, he has all the dropping thermals letting him smell all the hills at once around him as he exits in the evening.

So obviously this creates a very difficult spot to hunt. How do you go about setting up on this type of feature, Dan?

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