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Cedar Swamp Setup Help

MJH

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2017
Messages
770
Location
Ontario Canada
Guys, maybe you can give me some perspective.

I have access to a 250 acre patch of solid flooded cedars. It is an absolute nightmare in there, with super thick cedars, thicket, and ankle/knee deep water all over the place. There is no elevation changes, and no stream or river (there is but not in this immediate area). There are no hardwood patches. Just image a solid block of cedars with sporadic hardwoods/poplars popping up above the cedar canopy.

Every side of this patch is heavily hunted (mostly crop fields).

I have been through it looking for sign and haven't found it (in this specifc area), and there are no natural clearings that I can find.

Is my best option to literally cut/manufacture an opening in this around a suitable tree, or is there a better way to hunt this?
 
My first question is why do you want to hunt it if you are not finding any sign? I would cover the entire 250 acres looking for the best sign. Is it holding even deer? Are there dry patches for them to bed on? If there are deer in there there has to be sign in the form of tracks, trails and poop.
 
The deer won't bed there unless they can stay dry. You can usually find small little "islands" just big enough for a deer to lay down. I've found lots of these in the GA swamps I hunt.

My thought would be the only way to hunt it would to be find these beds since there seems to be no food.
 
The deer won't bed there unless they can stay dry. You can usually find small little "islands" just big enough for a deer to lay down. I've found lots of these in the GA swamps I hunt.

My thought would be the only way to hunt it would to be find these beds since there seems to be no food.

They eat cedar trees. I often find beds around cedar trees that are slightly elevated in a swamp


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
They eat cedar trees. I often find beds around cedar trees that are slightly elevated in a swamp

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ya there are beds in there. My description made it sound wetter than it is. Sure there is lots of water, but also lots of patches of dry ground. I have a second patch of the same terrain where I have found the bedding and rub lines - but there I hunt the transition into the hardwoods. That makes it feasible. This patch has no transition, apart from a very thin perimeter, and the neighbors hunt those (not that I can't, but I want to push into the middle of it - cause I can).

I can guarantee there are tonnes of deer in there.

So what do I do - cut lanes around a climable tree?
 
Yeah, exactly. Do it now so they're used to it. Could be a killer spot if you can sneak in undetected.
 
Yeah, exactly. Do it now so they're used to it. Could be a killer spot if you can sneak in undetected.

I'll give it a try.
There are two problems - getting in undetected like you mention wont be easy. Finding a deer after a shot may not be easy...
 
Ya there are beds in there. My description made it sound wetter than it is. Sure there is lots of water, but also lots of patches of dry ground. I have a second patch of the same terrain where I have found the bedding and rub lines - but there I hunt the transition into the hardwoods. That makes it feasible. This patch has no transition, apart from a very thin perimeter, and the neighbors hunt those (not that I can't, but I want to push into the middle of it - cause I can).

I can guarantee there are tonnes of deer in there.

So what do I do - cut lanes around a climable tree?
In the cedar swamps I have been in it is often hard to find open areas - so many branches and it is hard to be very high. I have often just tried to find the main trails, rubs or scraps or just sit on the ground. Often in a big swamp there are a few larger trees that can be set up on too. I can understand your situation. I have wondered how to hunt those areas too. I tried this fall in one area. I felt like if I had enough cover I had no shot. If I had a shot I could not see a deer coming and had no cover. I would love to figure that out too.
 
If legal you will probably need to do some trimming. I hunted several cedar swamps growing up. I always hunted them in late bow season.

The shooting is fast.
 
Get a topo of the property cyber scout it see if there is any islands out there thats where the big boys will be
There has to be some dry spots in that ankle/knee deep water somewhere. Look in the bowls and points of the thick nasty stuff walk the transitions of it there will not always be big rubs scrapes etc in areas with poor buck to doe ratio so don’t let lack of deer sign fool you if there is none. Cause most areas nowadays have poor ratio’s
Unless the deer are just not using the area. If there isnt food or bedding available. They wont hang out long


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4_gcun8_kLGQWJMDxQtFpQ
 
Update.
I have visited the flooded cedars again and have now found a couple of well used isolated beds - droppings, hair... The best of them was at the base of a white pine. Around it there were no other climbable trees within 30 yards. I prepped that tree for climbing and cleared some foliage around it to open up some shooting possibilities (minor). The principal issue here is that I didn't really want to setup right on the bed itself, but had no other choices at that time.

What is my next move?
- setup a trail camera and see what uses the bed
- work to relocate the set so that I have a chance to hunt an animal moving in or out of that bed
- use that set as an AM spot in the hopes I can get one coming back in there to bed down
- other
 
Update.
I have visited the flooded cedars again and have now found a couple of well used isolated beds - droppings, hair... The best of them was at the base of a white pine. Around it there were no other climbable trees within 30 yards. I prepped that tree for climbing and cleared some foliage around it to open up some shooting possibilities (minor). The principal issue here is that I didn't really want to setup right on the bed itself, but had no other choices at that time.

What is my next move?
- setup a trail camera and see what uses the bed
- work to relocate the set so that I have a chance to hunt an animal moving in or out of that bed
- use that set as an AM spot in the hopes I can get one coming back in there to bed down
- other
I have actually hunted sitting in hog beds before. Killed pigs.

Your setup sounds like a "one and done" deal. If I was looking to hunt it, I would pick a windy/rainy day to mask my approach and get up early enough to ensure a stealthy entry at least 2 hours before sunup. The whole things off if he's already in bed when you get there, and they WILL bed down before daylight. Bonus points for a day with high hunting pressure to force him into that bed.
 
I have actually hunted sitting in hog beds before. Killed pigs.

Your setup sounds like a "one and done" deal. If I was looking to hunt it, I would pick a windy/rainy day to mask my approach and get up early enough to ensure a stealthy entry at least 2 hours before sunup. The whole things off if he's already in bed when you get there, and they WILL bed down before daylight. Bonus points for a day with high hunting pressure to force him into that bed.


Thanks Nutter. I can work that plan. The hunting pressure bonus points are not a problem in this spot...
 
I would do the following:

First I would buy OnX Maps and go through and mark off all the high spots, beds and rubs I could find.

then I would mark trails leading to those spots and do some trim work on the trails making it easier for the deer to go through.

then I would fine suitable trees on those trails.

I can guarantee you if you make those trails easier for bucks to use going from bed to bed or rub lines they will quickly start using those trails in favor of blocked or real narrow trails.
 
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