SWAMP BUCKS ARE DIFFERENT
Mississippi
River Swamps
Editor’s Note: Although outdoorsmen mainly think
about hunting deer in southern swamps, swamps, bogs
and flooded timber exist across most of the U.S. The
deer that live along flood plains throughout the nation
often have different movements and behavioral patterns
than deer holding away from the water. These swamp bucks
often defy reason and usually will be bagged by the
men who understand why these deer do what they do. Let's
look at the
men who hunt swamp bucks across the country and the
tactics they employ to take these animals.
A few years ago Will Primos of Primos Game Calls in
Flora, Mississippi stalked a buck that often waited
in a slough in the Mississippi River swamps near where
he hunted. But Primos never could get a shot at the
buck. Finally he took a stand in the water. During the
late afternoon, he watched the buck wade in the water
and look back toward land. Just before dark the buck
bedded down on the edge of the water. From this vantage
point, the deer could see and hear anything coming from
the land to him. "To get a shot at this buck, I
threw a limb on the land near the buck to spook him
back into the water,"
Primos said. "When the deer came within bow range,
I took a shot but missed." To successfully hunt
swamp bucks, get in the water with them, and put up
a stand over the water. Then climb in your stand, and
wait for the deer to come through the water. You can
go back and forth to your stand by boat or canoe and
take more bucks.
Primos
also scouts for deer in the water. When the water comes
up and floods scrape lines, Primos still hunts over
those same scrapes. "If you know where the scrapes
are before the land floods, then locating them will
be easier than if you have to wait for the water to
recede to find those same scrapes," Primos promised.
"If you don't know where the scrapes were before
the water came up, as you scout flooded land, search
for rubs on the sides of trees out in the water. Then
look near a rub for an overhanging branch that may have
hung over the scrape on the ground. Under flood-water
conditions, bucks still will visit the overhanging branch
and leave a scent from their eyes, mouths and foreheads.
You can hunt scrapes even when you can't see the scrape
on the ground because of the water."
TOMORROW: NORTHERN WETLANDS
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