Spicebush bedding

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Killtree
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Spicebush bedding

Unread postby Killtree » Thu Feb 15, 2018 11:50 am

Dad once showed me a buck bed in a clump of Spicebush.
He told me that bucks liked to bed in it in the summer because it keeps mosquitoes away.
I can attest to the fact that it does indeed keep mosquitoes away because I often weave it into a loop and wear it around my neck when I am in the woods in the summer.
I have found a couple other buck beds in Spicebush over the years.
Of course the patches of Spicebush have to be in an advantageous spot for the buck to bed in it, but I do believe they take advantage of the mosquito repelling properties of Spicebush when the opportunity presents itself.
I was just wondering if anyone else has made this observation?


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Weaver.b
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Re: Spicebush bedding

Unread postby Weaver.b » Thu Feb 15, 2018 4:37 pm

I could see that being possible. Another plus is the leaves have a pretty good taste if you havent tried it give it a whirl. Kind of lemony
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Killtree
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Re: Spicebush bedding

Unread postby Killtree » Thu Feb 15, 2018 10:06 pm

Weaver.b wrote:I could see that being possible. Another plus is the leaves have a pretty good taste if you havent tried it give it a whirl. Kind of lemony


I know you can make tea out of the leaves and the berries can be dried and ground up to make a seasoning similar to allspice, but I have tried neither.
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Re: Spicebush bedding

Unread postby Bigburner » Fri Feb 16, 2018 1:33 am

I have some killer bedding areas in thick spice bush right up against the transition with a young pine plantations. It creates a nice soft edge very similar to how you would get a transition from timber than dogwood than cattails like you get in the Midwest marshes. I found one really good one early fall this year bumping a big group of does and then started finding buck bedding tight to the transition. I hung a camera on the trail coming out of the bedding and got some big boys using it in daylight pretty regularly and the rut activity around it was awesome. In my parts I've found more often than not that it works really well for me in the flat ground I hunt. I often times find it intermingled with high bush blueberry as well because it all likes to grow in heavy organic soils that are very acidic. Its good stuff and really reliable in terms of bedding tendencies.
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ghoasthunter
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Re: Spicebush bedding

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Sat Feb 17, 2018 12:18 pm

Killtree wrote:
Weaver.b wrote:I could see that being possible. Another plus is the leaves have a pretty good taste if you havent tried it give it a whirl. Kind of lemony


I know you can make tea out of the leaves and the berries can be dried and ground up to make a seasoning similar to allspice, but I have tried neither.

I take the leaves and add boiling water in a bucket then put it in a spray bottle its works great for early season as a natural bug repellent cover spray. colonial Americans used it for tea during the revolutionary war when we would not accept the taxes on tea
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Re: Spicebush bedding

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Sat Feb 17, 2018 12:23 pm

Killtree wrote:Dad once showed me a buck bed in a clump of Spicebush.
He told me that bucks liked to bed in it in the summer because it keeps mosquitoes away.
I can attest to the fact that it does indeed keep mosquitoes away because I often weave it into a loop and wear it around my neck when I am in the woods in the summer.
I have found a couple other buck beds in Spicebush over the years.
Of course the patches of Spicebush have to be in an advantageous spot for the buck to bed in it, but I do believe they take advantage of the mosquito repelling properties of Spicebush when the opportunity presents itself.
I was just wondering if anyone else has made this observation?

I find a lot of bachelor groups using spicebush swamps in summer. my best mineral site is right next to one I will get over twenty bucks on it on average. I think your dad is a wise man.
THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL A HUNTER HAS IS BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS


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