Dry season affect on swamp/marsh bedding?

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Hookslinger
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Dry season affect on swamp/marsh bedding?

Unread postby Hookslinger » Fri May 14, 2021 1:35 pm

Someone at work today mentioned that a wise old farmer they know was predicting a very dry season here in Michigan this year. Me being the way that I am, I can relate almost anything to bowhunting in my mind. So that got me wondering, what affect does a dry season have on bedding in marshes and swamps?

A wet season and high water levels are pretty self explanatory, and I saw how Dan and Joe kind of approached that during the public land challenge in MI.

So during a really dry season, if water levels are way down during bow season, does that have any affect on the bedding? Here are some questions that came to my mind:

Will bucks be more spread out because they have more options to bed in areas that are normally too wet?

Will bucks be forced to bed deeper into the marshes and swamps for security reasons because they like to surround themselves with water to stay away from predators and hunters?

Will some bedding areas that are good during normal or wet seasons be void of mature bucks during a really dry season?


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HuntingParadise
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Re: Dry season affect on swamp/marsh bedding?

Unread postby HuntingParadise » Sat May 15, 2021 1:05 am

Ive heard talks of a dry season here in Wisconsin as well. Normally I wouldnt be for it and cant talk as much on the effects but it may help us out some if its a little dry. We have been extremely flooded the past three years so our might go back to normal. As long as the whole marsh/swamp doesnt dry up I feel like a wouldnt cause any major issue. May just not funnel the deer as much as they will have more areas to roam that arent under water etc.
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Re: Dry season affect on swamp/marsh bedding?

Unread postby szwampdonkey » Sat May 15, 2021 1:10 am

Swamp hunting is BETTER during a dry than the other way around.
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Re: Dry season affect on swamp/marsh bedding?

Unread postby Hawthorne » Sat May 15, 2021 1:32 am

They bed out on the edges of dogwood and alders when it’s dry. It’s flooded during winter and spring scouting when it’s the wettest
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Re: Dry season affect on swamp/marsh bedding?

Unread postby MichiganMike » Sat May 15, 2021 1:36 am

Depending on how dry it is and temp, they will definitely locate closer to water and/or the most edible forage at that time. Security cover plays the biggest part. But if temps are in the 70's or 80's early season- bedding near a water source is the key. Once it gets later in Oct, its wherever the does are if they aren't bedding near him already. But usually they are.
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Re: Dry season affect on swamp/marsh bedding?

Unread postby LukeTM » Sat May 15, 2021 2:09 am

I can't wait to hear what everyone has to say about this! It's certainly been a dry spring here in S. Wisconsin.
Being fairly new to beast hunting, I don't have a ton of experience to add much to this topic. I will say that two years ago, my area was more dry than last year. Two years ago I was able to predictably find buck beds based off of satellite scouting where as last year, all the remote marsh spots that looked good on a map were under water.
I'm inclined to think that the mature public land bucks would be easier to find in a more wet season as dry ground is harder to come by? I'm thinking of a scenario like what I've heard MarshBuster talk about which is finding a small high spot within the cattails that you'll never find on a map.
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Lockdown
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Re: Dry season affect on swamp/marsh bedding?

Unread postby Lockdown » Sat May 15, 2021 2:50 am

Hookslinger wrote:Someone at work today mentioned that a wise old farmer they know was predicting a very dry season here in Michigan this year. Me being the way that I am, I can relate almost anything to bowhunting in my mind. So that got me wondering, what affect does a dry season have on bedding in marshes and swamps?

A wet season and high water levels are pretty self explanatory, and I saw how Dan and Joe kind of approached that during the public land challenge in MI.

So during a really dry season, if water levels are way down during bow season, does that have any affect on the bedding? Here are some questions that came to my mind:

Will bucks be more spread out because they have more options to bed in areas that are normally too wet?

yes

Will bucks be forced to bed deeper into the marshes and swamps for security reasons because they like to surround themselves with water to stay away from predators and hunters?

In general yes they’ll bed deeper because pressure will be more widespread, but you need to keep in mind some shallow bedding might dry up and become an option near the road and become a “new” overlooked spot.

Will some bedding areas that are good during normal or wet seasons be void of mature bucks during a really dry season?

Some will some won’t. Use in season scouting and hot sign to tell you where they are.

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Re: Dry season affect on swamp/marsh bedding?

Unread postby Lockdown » Sat May 15, 2021 2:55 am

At one of my spots there is an island surrounded by cattails with a river on one side. The cattails are almost never deep enough that knee boots won’t get you through. Even on a wet year. Normal year it’s only a couple inches deep. On a dry year they will be completely dry and there is no way anyone can convince me that this patch of cattails won’t have beds in it.

Now instead of bucks laying tight on the transition on the downwind side of the island, they could easily be 50 yards out in the cattails downwind of the island. It will be the exact same scenario as freeze up when the deer lay on the ice in the cattails. The bedding will be more spread out.

In a low pressure situation I can see them staying up near the island. High pressure they’ll be downwind in the cats. “They’ll never find me here.”
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Re: Dry season affect on swamp/marsh bedding?

Unread postby Dewey » Sat May 15, 2021 5:07 am

In my experience super dry marshes/swamps=bedding that's so MUCH less predictable since deer can bed pretty much anywhere they want. I find bucks bedding often out in a sea of cattails that's normally under water. The are almost unhuntable in that situation especially if they feel some pressure. The other negative factors is dry years allows other hunters to easily get to places they never would otherwise. This pushes deer even deeper into the much expanded bedding. I'll take wet years anytime over dry. Bedding is so much more predictable if you did your homework and know where the best bedding areas are out of the water.
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Re: Dry season affect on swamp/marsh bedding?

Unread postby Lockdown » Sat May 15, 2021 5:45 am

Dewey wrote:In my experience super dry marshes/swamps=bedding that's so MUCH less predictable since deer can bed pretty much anywhere they want. I find bucks bedding often out in a sea of cattails that's normally under water. The are almost unhuntable in that situation especially if they feel some pressure. The other negative factors is dry years allows other hunters to easily get to places they never would otherwise. This pushes deer even deeper into the much expanded bedding. I'll take wet years anytime over dry. Bedding is so much more predictable if you did your homework and know where the best bedding areas are out of the water.


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