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setting up on a beaver dam

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2017 12:04 am
by northeast beast
I did some long hours of boots on the ground this last weekend. I hit a new area and found a beaver dam. It is hill country but rolling hills nothing to steep( no military crest). The ridges leading down to the swamp are pretty wide open hard woods. The beaver dam is swampy and thick and nasty. I am going to put some more time in this weekend looking for beds in the area. Anyone have experience hunting beaver dams? Logic tells me the deer would bed on the hill side wind coming down the hill toward the beaver dam ovder the deer's back and the deer facing the dam. But it is open hard woods and it just does not seem thick enough for a deer to just bed on the hillside. I am assuming the deer are bedding in the swamp bottom because it is the best cover all around. juts looking for some feedback if anyone notices a trend around beaver dams and bedding.

Re: setting up on a beaver dam

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2017 12:09 am
by DaveT1963
I have found that a lot of mature bucks like to bed around beaver ponds/streams, etc... Beaver, and their tail slapping, are a natural alarm system for approaching danger and I think wise bucks know that.

For me, If I find a buck is using a beaver dam to cross, or any water crossing for that matter, I usually try to determine direction they are most likely to cross and then set up on the EXIT. my reasoning is that while they are approaching the crossing, and while they are crossing, they will be on hyper alert - and my experience tells me that once they reach cover on the far side their alert level goes down a bit thus making it easier to draw down on them. Just my experience.

Re: setting up on a beaver dam

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2017 12:57 am
by ODH
There is a great post on here which helped me a lot - in summary it said bucks like to bed in thick cover on the edge of the pond where the wind blows their scent out over the pond. So they can smell anything upwind, see/hear to the sides, and know nothing is going to cross the pond on their downwind side. Makes sense. So that's where I started looking and sure enough I found it.

Re: setting up on a beaver dam

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2017 1:10 am
by ODH
Regarding your hillside comment, and being in NY also, I have found it doesn't have to be thick everywhere. Keys for me have been on undisturbed ridges, I find beds in spots where it gets a little thicker relative to the surrounding woods, and with a good view downhill. It can be a small dense spot, doesn't need to be a big area.

So for example in your case there may be beds on the ridge overlooking the thick dam area down below. They may be rut beds or may be used all the time. Time will tell.

Re: setting up on a beaver dam

Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2017 2:03 am
by headgear
I hunt a bunch of different beaver dam setups, the bucks certainly use them for bedding and for travel so they are always spots I check. With pretty open hardwoods I am guessing you are right, they are probably bedding down in the thick stuff and will use an evening thermal to smell anything up above them before they venture out. Find that bed or beds so you can pinpoint an area. Watch for swirling winds because will hills around they will be an issue. Then try and find a location to setup where the wind, swirling wind and thermals don't bust you. That might be right on top of the beds, it might be across the beaver dam, it might be off to the side. Bring some milkweed next time you scout and see what the wind is doing in that area, that can help speed up the learning curve.

Re: setting up on a beaver dam

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 12:42 am
by BA-IV
I've been following these threads for awhile, because I still haven't figured out how bucks are using them around here in the south. It's patchy, thick, nasty, and infested with snakes and hogs, and you can walk it and find rubs back and forth. Common sense tells me bucks are living in there, but I have yet to unravel the puzzle.

Re: setting up on a beaver dam

Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2017 12:58 am
by yungbuck
i am hunting 2 beaver ponds this fall- found them scouting hope to share my learnings as season begins

we could always pull a dan- snorkel under water slowly rise up and shoot him in his bed (at least that sounds, to me, like sounds like something dan would do :lol: :D :clap: )

Re: setting up on a beaver dam

Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 3:05 am
by BA-IV
One of the biggest problems I face, is when you find something that would have great buck bedding, hogs have moved in and took over most times.

Re: setting up on a beaver dam

Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2017 11:55 am
by northeast beast
Well I did a good amount of boots on the ground last week and found some beds tucked at the edge of the Beaver dam...I'm pretty positive it was doe bedding...found a nice pinch point a ways back I'm thinking a rut hunt there...new question is since the Beaver dam is at the bottom of a long flowing hill will the bucks bed way at the top still or more likely to be near that doe bedding maybe sitting 1/2 up the hill or less..I'm thinking more rut set up...thanks for the help on here with the Beaver dam....it looked like a lot of hot sign but I know that's an easy trap to get sucked into hunting the bottoms

Re: setting up on a beaver dam

Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2022 8:50 am
by Chooch2.0
This is actually the post I stumbled upon the other day that kicked me in the rear saying “get back on the forums you idiot”.

Such an interesting thread as the swamp I’ve been focusing my efforts on, with a creek running thru, now has two small beaver ponds associated with it. Pond 1 is dammed up on the downstream side right next to a road, while the headwater dam (which is a heavy, thick crossing) is quite aways “upstream”. It’s funny, I set a couple cameras on the windward side of the pond, but a touch up the creek, and just on the dry ground where it’s tangle-thick. 10/11-10/26 the bucks (two mature) were in there quite routinely. Much more hunting pressure on the leeward side of the pond… moral of the story, I set those cams as a “let’s see if anything happens in this area throughout the season” and now it just flat out makes sense.