A lot of good information in the posts. I am still very new at really hunting this terrain, so these pointers will definitely help me out.
I did dive into a spot this weekend and was surprised how closely some of these deer will bed from the higher ground. Don't get me wrong, it's a tangle getting anywhere near them, but they must know nothing is going to bother them without them knowing in advance.
The spot I did find was kind of like what has been brought up before. The area is very wet right now, but there are a few high spots that are about a foot above the water right now, a couple of which I found loaded with hair. There wasn't a lot of rubs in them. Only one in the one bed and two in the other. Based on the size and the fact that I only saw one bed, I am going to assume a buck is bedding in these spots. Now I have to figure out how exactly I can hunt them. There are no good traditional set ups, so I am going to have to put my mind to it to see what I can find. Would love to scout these spots after a fresh snow to see how they use them.
Cedar Swamp Area Help
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- headgear
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Re: Cedar Swamp Area Help
dan wrote:but the biggest bucks should lay claim to the transition areas that are remote and lack pressure the most.
I think you are dead on Dan, I just haven't been able to find some of them yet. I know the bucks are there (tracks and other sign) but I'm just not finding that core area yet. It will take time, a lot of areas I scout have low or no pressure so we might be talking about 2-3 square miles with little to no hunting pressure. I have scouted the main transitions and structure but there can be a lot of subtle and interior transitions I haven't gotten around to yet. Just have to spend more time there and put the puzzle together, been breaking down the larger swamps and doing a little every year, it will come just a matter of time.
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Re: Cedar Swamp Area Help
headgear wrote:dan wrote:but the biggest bucks should lay claim to the transition areas that are remote and lack pressure the most.
I think you are dead on Dan, I just haven't been able to find some of them yet. I know the bucks are there (tracks and other sign) but I'm just not finding that core area yet. It will take time, a lot of areas I scout have low or no pressure so we might be talking about 2-3 square miles with little to no hunting pressure. I have scouted the main transitions and structure but there can be a lot of subtle and interior transitions I haven't gotten around to yet. Just have to spend more time there and put the puzzle together, been breaking down the larger swamps and doing a little every year, it will come just a matter of time.
Featureless swamps might actually be easier to hunt in a high pressured area. You can automatically eliminate any easy access areas and save your self lots of leg work. Hunting a huge, featureless, low pressure swamp would take longer to figure out for sure.
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Re: Cedar Swamp Area Help
headgear wrote:Singing Bridge wrote:Another thing we take for granted is that when you travel the interior of this sea of green, you watch the treetops for changes in habitat type. A rise in elevation of a foot may not show on the topo, but it may hold hardwoods that are much taller than the surrounding cedars. These islands of "high" ground can lead to edge / travel and bedding. I call them an island even though they are surrounded by cedars / water / muck and almost no visibility. The bucks treat them just like the hardwood island was surrounded by marsh or water, something a lot of cedar swamp hunters never catch on to.
Another great tip SB, I pretty much ignore topo maps when scouting these interior swamps, all you need to know can be found on aerial photos and getting your feet wet. Those tiny elevation changes can be great bedding and never show up on topo maps.
I have spent the better part of the last year studying topos and aerials of the cedar swamp I hunt, both the private and public. I'm a rookie at all of it, but soaking it in. Not much shows on the topo but after looking at dozens of aerial photos, I randomly found one on Bing that was different and actually showed two key points within the swamp where the swamp transitions from tamarack/cedar to just cedars. I suspect this is a 1 ft elevation change that could hold a key. My point In all of this being - look at A LOT of aerial photos. Dan mentions it in one of his videos, and here is a case where I hadn't noticed anything until I used an aerial from a different spot.
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