Swamp Hunters...

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Singing Bridge
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Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Tue Sep 12, 2017 3:51 am

I am planning on being interviewed for "The Deer Hunting Podcast" later this week. I believe our main focus will be hunting Cedar Swamps (white cedar).

I will post a link when it is available. Please take the time to post feedback, positive or negative. It helps me greatly with future responses here on the Beast and elsewhere.

Fire away with questions to me anytime... Bridge.


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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby Jonny » Tue Sep 12, 2017 3:57 am

I will definitely be listening to this one.

Would really love to hear how (if you do) cyber scouting for a swamp, and then combine it with offseason scouting when its frozen.

Just found this gem
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=29560
You have a monkey Mr. Munson?
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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby rbuckleyjr1 » Tue Sep 12, 2017 4:13 am

Awesome! Thanks for the heads up and taking the time to do it, SB.
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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby Baseball3011 » Tue Sep 12, 2017 5:28 am

Could you touch on observation sets? I just tried a preseason observation set and I felt that I was almost too far away. If that makes and sense.
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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Tue Sep 12, 2017 6:48 am

8-)


Looking forward to it.
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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby johndeere506 » Tue Sep 12, 2017 6:58 am

I cant wait to listen. Thanks for doing this!
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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby whitetailassasin » Tue Sep 12, 2017 7:05 am

Baseball3011 wrote:Could you touch on observation sets? I just tried a preseason observation set and I felt that I was almost too far away. If that makes and sense.



Could you see the bedding area? or daylight movement from suspecting bedding? If you answered no, then your too far away. If you answered yes, then maybe he wasn't home or didn't move.
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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby whitetailassasin » Tue Sep 12, 2017 7:08 am

Scott, I'm not real up to speed on cedar swamps, so if there is a difference between the swamps I hunt and them, and how deer use them, I would love to hear that contrast. Also how different the food sources can be and the timing of why and how deer bed in them, as say a typical marsh or cattail swamp. Thank you.
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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby slowpoke69 » Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:31 am

Jonny wrote:I will definitely be listening to this one.

Would really love to hear how (if you do) cyber scouting for a swamp, and then combine it with offseason scouting when its frozen.



X2 can't wait either way. I'd like to hunt up north with in the next few years. Swamps are where I'd like to target and any extra info would be great.
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Singing Bridge
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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Tue Sep 12, 2017 11:56 am

Jonny wrote:I will definitely be listening to this one.

Would really love to hear how (if you do) cyber scouting for a swamp, and then combine it with offseason scouting when its frozen.

Just found this gem
http://www.thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopi ... =5&t=29560


I've done cyber scouting for quite a while and will definitely address it if it is asked on the podcast. If it isn't I will try to answer as best I can here on the Beast. Hunters have it really good these days with the satellite photos and topo's, etc.

In the 1970's we had pictures we took from airplanes of the swamps we hunt (my family, friends and I). Many of them were black and white and not of high quality, even the color photo's weren't high quality... but they were better than nothing. To get better views we had our film made into slides and bought a slide projector. We then projected the slides onto a screen so we had a large view to examine our swamps... those were some of my fondest scouting sessions as I learned from others who were older what to look for. Even in the 1980's I had a friend fly me over my swamps in a small plane as I had very specific areas I wanted to view. In time we were able to order slides and prints from the government... again, both black and white and color.

Some of the earliest satellite pics I had of my swamps were from the Russian spy satellite "Sputnik." These predated my access to satellite shots from Google, Bing, etc. Now with modern satellite pics and flyovers the clarity of the shots is remarkable compared to what I had back then. But modern shots have something missing... in my swamps I have observed points, islands, beaver ponds and huge floodings for many decades. Most of the islands cannot be seen on modern shots because the vegetation has matured to the point where they are not visible. The ability to go back many years on Google, for example, is critical to view these hunting spots.

Prior to getting pictures from airplanes in the 1970's my family walked our swamps in grid patterns and wrote down observations and created maps by hand. We have been doing this since before the Civil War.

To answer your question I certainly do cyber scout and I use winter scouting to find primary buck bedding areas within... which are very different from yarding areas.
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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Tue Sep 12, 2017 12:02 pm

Baseball3011 wrote:Could you touch on observation sets? I just tried a preseason observation set and I felt that I was almost too far away. If that makes and sense.


Regarding cedar swamps, most of the time observation sits are limited in there scope to specific areas. If hunting pressure is limited an observation sit outside the swamp while watching the edge, without screwing up bedding, can be very productive. Thermals, wind direction, water etc. all have to be factored into the set so you do not give yourself away to the buck.

Another type of observation sit can be done in the interior where there are openings, whether from flooding, tornadoes, marshes within the cedar swamp, etc. Again, all potential factors of entry and exit, wind, thermals and water, have to be taken into account.

Cedar swamps are so thick that other types of observation are very difficult- the canopy shuts off any safe observation from a distance.

Yes I have ground hunted for many decades. I use a treestand when the set allows and other times I'm on the ground.
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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby Perfectionitz » Tue Sep 12, 2017 12:08 pm

Thanks singing bridge! I will definitely be listening. I have a bunch of public marsh and swamp land nearby that I don't think many (if any) people hunt, so I'm looking for any tips I can get, especially because I've focused all of my efforts so far on the marshes.
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Singing Bridge
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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Tue Sep 12, 2017 12:24 pm

whitetailassasin wrote:Scott, I'm not real up to speed on cedar swamps, so if there is a difference between the swamps I hunt and them, and how deer use them, I would love to hear that contrast. Also how different the food sources can be and the timing of why and how deer bed in them, as say a typical marsh or cattail swamp. Thank you.


Cedar swamps are different for a number of reasons. Other hunters are left behind almost immediately because of the lack of visibility and their fear of getting lost- gps or not... and you'd better have a lot more than just a gps when you penetrate.

The swamps I hunt will have you bleeding, literally, by the time you get on stand. That's just the way it is and most guys don't want to put up with it. Muck holes and water can be treacherous. Oftentimes walking out the only real visibility I have is a little hole above in the cedars where I can see a star or two.

Cedar swamps are the supreme escape cover for old bucks, there is nothing more daunting to hunters. They also provide the buck with food and water... he doesn't have to come out if he doesn't want to. White cedar is the only documented food source (browse) that a whitetail can eat in exclusion to all other foods and crops and survive a harsh winter. Plenty of water and food with supreme escape cover puts age on bucks.

With tremendous hunting and poaching pressure even some of the youngest bucks will move into a cedar swamp to escape. On opening day of Michigan's archery season I have had yearling bucks go by that had no chance of making it to the edge of the swamp before dark... its that bad in some areas.

Food sources are utilized outside the swamp whenever pressure allows. A couple of miles of travel for a big buck inside a cedar swamp before stepping out of its edge and being well after dark is a joke to a big buck.

Pressure dictates bedding on the edge, deeper into some islands and cover transitions, or downright scary penetration. The oldest bucks want to be left alone most of the time and will move to where that is possible... no human scent.

My swamps have local bucks that utilize them for bedding most of the year (sometimes all year) and they contain transient bucks that move in after leaf drop in the highlands, the rut, weather that dictates it, etc.

How bucks navigate these swamps, utilizing water and air currents for bedding to food, travel in between doe areas, etc. with nearly no visibility is little understood by any biologists and is something that only a few hunters have observed to this day. There is so much more to it than deer travelling within based on the tracks and scent of other deer.
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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby d_rek » Tue Sep 12, 2017 2:45 pm

Singing Bridge wrote:
whitetailassasin wrote:Scott, I'm not real up to speed on cedar swamps, so if there is a difference between the swamps I hunt and them, and how deer use them, I would love to hear that contrast. Also how different the food sources can be and the timing of why and how deer bed in them, as say a typical marsh or cattail swamp. Thank you.


Cedar swamps are different for a number of reasons. Other hunters are left behind almost immediately because of the lack of visibility and their fear of getting lost- gps or not... and you'd better have a lot more than just a gps when you penetrate.

The swamps I hunt will have you bleeding, literally, by the time you get on stand. That's just the way it is and most guys don't want to put up with it. Muck holes and water can be treacherous. Oftentimes walking out the only real visibility I have is a little hole above in the cedars where I can see a star or two.

Cedar swamps are the supreme escape cover for old bucks, there is nothing more daunting to hunters. They also provide the buck with food and water... he doesn't have to come out if he doesn't want to. White cedar is the only documented food source (browse) that a whitetail can eat in exclusion to all other foods and crops and survive a harsh winter. Plenty of water and food with supreme escape cover puts age on bucks.

With tremendous hunting and poaching pressure even some of the youngest bucks will move into a cedar swamp to escape. On opening day of Michigan's archery season I have had yearling bucks go by that had no chance of making it to the edge of the swamp before dark... its that bad in some areas.

Food sources are utilized outside the swamp whenever pressure allows. A couple of miles of travel for a big buck inside a cedar swamp before stepping out of its edge and being well after dark is a joke to a big buck.

Pressure dictates bedding on the edge, deeper into some islands and cover transitions, or downright scary penetration. The oldest bucks want to be left alone most of the time and will move to where that is possible... no human scent.

My swamps have local bucks that utilize them for bedding most of the year (sometimes all year) and they contain transient bucks that move in after leaf drop in the highlands, the rut, weather that dictates it, etc.

How bucks navigate these swamps, utilizing water and air currents for bedding to food, travel in between doe areas, etc. with nearly no visibility is little understood by any biologists and is something that only a few hunters have observed to this day. There is so much more to it than deer travelling within based on the tracks and scent of other deer.


Ask Kevin and Drew about their property near Gaylord aka 'Buckhorn Ridge'. The back half is cedar swamp. Ask him about the backpacking trip we did earlier in the year and how his two idiot cousins hiked from buckhorn to the Pigeon... there's a good story and some hilarious pictures we could share :lol:
"I don't know what the f*** this is but it's weird as f*** so i'm leaving."
-The Deep
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Re: Swamp Hunters...

Unread postby d_rek » Tue Sep 12, 2017 2:54 pm

I was always curious how in areas like NLP Michigan in the cedar swamps how other large game animals - namely bear and elk - affect deer movement in cedar swamps? It seems like we find a lot of elk sign but very little deer sign in the cedar swamps up there. Or maybe the elk sign is just that much more obvious? Would be great to hear your thoughts on this.
"I don't know what the f*** this is but it's weird as f*** so i'm leaving."
-The Deep


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