2017 SCOUTING REPORTS

[strutnrut716]

Thanks Dewey ..

[Dewey]

Betting there are deer bedded in this little thicket. It's only 20 yards across.



Sure enough. Here are the beds. They held tight but busted out when I got within 10 yards. Doe and a fawn. Looks like they were lying there for awhile. Melted the snow to bare ground.

[tgreeno]

Nice pics Dewey!

I went scouting today. I found a nice looking rut funnel filled with rubs. Bedding appears to be on adjacent private land. I found a few fresh beds that looked to be doe & fawns. I did find a great looking primary buck bedding area a couple weeks ago that looked promising. I found a great kill tree.

Forgot my camera again

[Jackson Marsh]

I got out today for my first scout of the year

I hit an area that I've never walked before, it's not difficult to get to, but if the water level is " normal " guys can't get there in knee boots without getting wet. Beds were tough to find due to the high flooded water. I made some educated guesses and marked some kill trees. I'll probably give it a sit or so early season.

I then re-scouted an area that has been giving me fits. I pushed out past the island to the thick treeless area and started finding buck sign. Found a few beds, made a few guesses and marked some kill trees.

This rub is waist / belly button high while standing on frozen water. ..probably a good buck. I got a blurry trail camera pic of a decent buck in the general vicinity last August. ..hopefully he made it.




I found a nest!



I find it amazing that an eagle can haul all that stuff up a tree and get it woven together. I'm assuming it's an eagle

It was a fun day to walk the marsh.

[Jonny]

Do you have the Swamp Bedding DVD? Chapter 4. Dan explains some of this in that chapter. Well worth the price!!!!!!

It's now on my bday list, which is coming up soon! :)

I'd beg and plead to get it as an early bday present!!!!!! It's that good!!!!!!!

X2 absolutely outstanding. The marsh DVDs are on my bday list. Already have hill country and swamp bedding. My goal this year is to live and breathe northern Wisconsin swamps

Strike that. Birthday is in two months. Ordered the marsh dvds. My birthday (21st) will just have money spent on other things

On a scouting standpoint, I am working on getting a week of straight scouting in a month. Not prime time of the year for it but will make do. Cyber scouting now and making a list of things I want to look at while I am up there. Stand and sticks might be coming with so I can prep some trees for the season. Just need to get a couple of ok's to make it happen.

[Motivated]

I got out for my first scouting day of 2017 today!
I was so excited I woke up an hour before my alarm clock went off!

I logged 9.6 miles out there today, mostly with pack and sticks. Dark to dark, because I get a limited number of days and have to make the most of it. Prepped a few sets, found an awesome buck bedding area which I overlooked before. Big enough for the whole bachelor group to spread out and feel comfortable. The only trees nearby are black locust, so I have some work to do ther next time. Probably also contributes to others avoiding the area.

Also found another buck bedding area that I knew must be around somewhere, but never nailed down before. Brought a dead head home as well. I did sprain my ankle mid-day, but not bad enough to stop me. All in all a great day!

I really needed some nature time!

Also saw a very interesting track pattern. Going to have to do some research...

[csoult]

Put on about 5 miles today in the snow, which I don't think are the best conditions for scouting, but it sure was nice to get out. I learned a lot today. Always good to find sign post rubs

[Singing Bridge]

Singing Bridge has a thread about micro islands. I briefly explained one of my favorites on that thread but decided that today I would take a walk out there, test the ice and get some pics.

Here is the micro island. As you can see in the center of the pic it's completely surrounded by water and cattails. Normally it's only one foot higher than the water and that is key to bedding.



Here is the edge just as I stepped on the island.





Here is what I found on the island.











Here is the primary bed. Hasn't been used since the snow fell but it's consistently used every year.



Adjacent to the bed I found this rub as well.



First time I have been out here since last winter. Good to see some current fresh sign from this past fall.

Great pics and example of a micro island Dewey. The Bucks sure do use them.

[Hawthorne]

I jumped a big buck out in the swamp today. He ran about 50yds and stopped behind some brush. With the snow I could make him out standing there and I got a great look at his rack. Probably 120s. Should be a good one next year. I followed where he went and backtracked where he came from. I set up two two trees 100 yds from his bed on his travel route toward some oaks then to ag fields. Also got good access.Only 4 hours out today I felt like I learned some valuable info. The wicked tree saw is flat out awesome. I highly recommend it for setting up trees.

[Hawthorne]

Also wanted to mention both beds I found were under mature tamarack trees on the hump surrounded by brush . He was bedded with either a doe or a shed buck. He only had two trails from his bed one coming in and one out the back door.

[Lockdown]

Boss said take Friday off I headed to the same public chunk I went to a couple weeks ago when I chased all those bucks out of known bedding. When I was pulling in at 9:00 there was a bunch of deer in a private CRP field adjacent to it. 2 yearlings, and one definite shooter. I'm thinking he's a nice 3.5 Didn't get a real good look at him but he appeared to be mid to upper 120's as an 8 but he could have been a 10.

I took a 2nd gander at the situation and I think I have my set up figured out. Going to have to walk upstream IN the river for 75 yards, then climb out and right into my ground blind and leave 10' worth of a scent trail. No trail by the river right there either so entry is about as solid as it gets. Prevailing wind is just off and he can leave bedding wind in face.

I didn't make the ground blind because I had limited time and some more remote stuff I wanted to check out. There are plenty of bedding opportunities there in the shatter cane and cattails along the river. I walked it all. Found a decent rub line but looked to me like a parallel trail rub line scent checking the does as they left the river bedding.

I hoofed it back to the main area I wanted to check and it didn't disappoint! Had to search some but finally found this




At that point I knew it was big buck bedding, just need to hopefully find some exact beds. I found a few more modest rubs and a possible buck bed along a back door trail that eventually crosses the river. There's trees I can set up in but they'd be a nightmare to get to. I kept seeing a huge set of tracks and found one large poop. This might be the biggest track I've ever come across. I laid my hand in a bunch of them and it's 3.5 fingers wide.




I found a small clearing and one clump of brush on the edge with cattails behind it. "Gotta be a bed there!" and sure enough





Hair in the bed, trail in the cattails that J-hooks to it, big tracks all around! If you look close there's a 2015 rub behind the fresh one. Obviously the vertical limb has seen repeated rubbing, and the horizontal limb was rubbed many years ago. The bedding area makes perfect sense and he has plenty of options for escaping gun hunters. To make the situation even better, I knocked on the neighbor's door last spring and he said they had a monster on camera coming up to feed in their little bean plot which is 1/3 to 1/2 mile away.

To say I'm excited about this spot is an understatement. Gonna scour aerials some more, go back in to re-evaluate, then prep a spot or two. It's not going to be an easy kill as there are satellite bedding issues and thick cover to sneak through. I think he (more like THEY) use this bed with any wind. If he's bedded wind and obstacle to back, he's upwind of and watching the little clearing.

Logged 5.73 miles in 3 hrs 20 mins

[tgreeno]

That sounds like a perfect Friday at "work" to me! Nice find!

[tbunao]

Boss said take Friday off I headed to the same public chunk I went to a couple weeks ago when I chased all those bucks out of known bedding. When I was pulling in at 9:00 there was a bunch of deer in a private CRP field adjacent to it. 2 yearlings, and one definite shooter. I'm thinking he's a nice 3.5 Didn't get a real good look at him but he appeared to be mid to upper 120's as an 8 but he could have been a 10.

I took a 2nd gander at the situation and I think I have my set up figured out. Going to have to walk upstream IN the river for 75 yards, then climb out and right into my ground blind and leave 10' worth of a scent trail. No trail by the river right there either so entry is about as solid as it gets. Prevailing wind is just off and he can leave bedding wind in face.

I didn't make the ground blind because I had limited time and some more remote stuff I wanted to check out. There are plenty of bedding opportunities there in the shatter cane and cattails along the river. I walked it all. Found a decent rub line but looked to me like a parallel trail rub line scent checking the does as they left the river bedding.

I hoofed it back to the main area I wanted to check and it didn't disappoint! Had to search some but finally found this




At that point I knew it was big buck bedding, just need to hopefully find some exact beds. I found a few more modest rubs and a possible buck bed along a back door trail that eventually crosses the river. There's trees I can set up in but they'd be a nightmare to get to. I kept seeing a huge set of tracks and found one large poop. This might be the biggest track I've ever come across. I laid my hand in a bunch of them and it's 3.5 fingers wide.




I found a small clearing and one clump of brush on the edge with cattails behind it. "Gotta be a bed there!" and sure enough





Hair in the bed, trail in the cattails that J-hooks to it, big tracks all around! If you look close there's a 2015 rub behind the fresh one. Obviously the vertical limb has seen repeated rubbing, and the horizontal limb was rubbed many years ago. The bedding area makes perfect sense and he has plenty of options for escaping gun hunters. To make the situation even better, I knocked on the neighbor's door last spring and he said they had a monster on camera coming up to feed in their little bean plot which is 1/3 to 1/2 mile away.

To say I'm excited about this spot is an understatement. Gonna scour aerials some more, go back in to re-evaluate, then prep a spot or two. It's not going to be an easy kill as there are satellite bedding issues and thick cover to sneak through. I think he (more like THEY) use this bed with any wind. If he's bedded wind and obstacle to back, he's upwind of and watching the little clearing.

Logged 5.73 miles in 3 hrs 20 mins

Dang LD!! Solid day off of work to put in work

[rfickes87]

Wow Lockdown, nice job!! Will you put a camera in there to see what is using that area?

[BassBoysLLP]

Not much boot leather for me the last several of weeks but plenty of research and observation. I've been glassing two different areas that have kicked out multiple super bucks the last two seasons. I'm mainly watching how deer work through the area. Using light dustings of snow to count tracks back and forth. I hope to walk it soon.