Little long winded but hang with me just trying to lay out the details.
Last Friday I headed down to the wooly swamp to scout some beds in the marsh in the pouring rain.
I scouted a state WMA but I accessed it through a meadow on National Wildlife Refuge. The state piece is highlighted in blue. I called the fed office to see if it was possible and no problem but as far as hunting the fed it’s a serious hassle so long story short I want to avoid that.
Anyway, I made it back into the phragmites with my hip boots on and followed some trails to beds which were pretty much what I expected. I had a lot of active beds with hair and droppings, about 8 or 9 and all were singular except for one that looked like a doe spot. The only thing is that there were no rubs. So are they in fact being used by bucks? Do they always have to have a rub in them? Anybody have experience with this? I did find a small rub line along the marsh edge to the north of the beds.
sitting in the bed
All of the marsh beds are the pink dots.
So, that left me with a decision but I wasn’t aware at the time that another set of circumstances were going to make themselves present. I walked along the east side of the hedgerow that ran between a private farm and the NWR meadow and where the first red star to the south on the second map is, I bumped a bedded buck. He let me walk right past him on the way in because I walked down the middle of the meadow. On the way out I walked 5’ from him before he busted out.
Here is his bed and this is what he sees from his bed. He sees the private field the state WMA and the fed. meadow along with the fed. treestand at the south edge of the meadow. So, nothing getting by him.
He sits on the ditch and there is was a trail going to the north to the point where the other red star is located and I found his penthouse suite. Here’s his bed with my pack sitting in it. His back to a small pond and his staging area full of rubs and poop. He sees the farmers house across the field. He sees the State WMA boundary and far into the woods to the south west. He sees the aforementioned treestand to the south east and he sees the parking area to the north and pretty much has 360 vision as well as the thermal pooling of both the pond and the opening of his staging area. Nuts. I was blown away at how perfect his set-up is.
his stagging area
the view from the parking area looking south the red/white arrow is his bed and the blue/white star is the state stand
So the $64,000 question. How would you guys go about trying to get a crack at him. My assumption is that the field to the west is going to be in soy beans this year and he can take ten steps from his staging area and be in that field. The closest oaks are to the southwest with him having to travel into the woods and along the marsh edge to his south and then have to travel west.
Also would you guys try to hunt the marsh beds or just forego them knowing that there is a known target in your area. It’s a one shot deal it seems to me. The bed on the point and the hedgerow make him pretty hard to get to. I figured if I tried to hunt the area with the northern most bed I could set up in the small block of timber to his southwest. There is a parallel trail along the inside of the field edge with a bunch of scrapes but that may be night time garbage. And I think I would have to access from the south and walk off of the main rd. (little neck) going into the WMA but in doing so I burn all the beds in the marsh when walking through and definitely when the thermal start pooling in that water course.
Last Friday I headed down to the wooly swamp to scout some beds in the marsh in the pouring rain.
I scouted a state WMA but I accessed it through a meadow on National Wildlife Refuge. The state piece is highlighted in blue. I called the fed office to see if it was possible and no problem but as far as hunting the fed it’s a serious hassle so long story short I want to avoid that.
Anyway, I made it back into the phragmites with my hip boots on and followed some trails to beds which were pretty much what I expected. I had a lot of active beds with hair and droppings, about 8 or 9 and all were singular except for one that looked like a doe spot. The only thing is that there were no rubs. So are they in fact being used by bucks? Do they always have to have a rub in them? Anybody have experience with this? I did find a small rub line along the marsh edge to the north of the beds.
sitting in the bed
All of the marsh beds are the pink dots.
So, that left me with a decision but I wasn’t aware at the time that another set of circumstances were going to make themselves present. I walked along the east side of the hedgerow that ran between a private farm and the NWR meadow and where the first red star to the south on the second map is, I bumped a bedded buck. He let me walk right past him on the way in because I walked down the middle of the meadow. On the way out I walked 5’ from him before he busted out.
Here is his bed and this is what he sees from his bed. He sees the private field the state WMA and the fed. meadow along with the fed. treestand at the south edge of the meadow. So, nothing getting by him.
He sits on the ditch and there is was a trail going to the north to the point where the other red star is located and I found his penthouse suite. Here’s his bed with my pack sitting in it. His back to a small pond and his staging area full of rubs and poop. He sees the farmers house across the field. He sees the State WMA boundary and far into the woods to the south west. He sees the aforementioned treestand to the south east and he sees the parking area to the north and pretty much has 360 vision as well as the thermal pooling of both the pond and the opening of his staging area. Nuts. I was blown away at how perfect his set-up is.
his stagging area
the view from the parking area looking south the red/white arrow is his bed and the blue/white star is the state stand
So the $64,000 question. How would you guys go about trying to get a crack at him. My assumption is that the field to the west is going to be in soy beans this year and he can take ten steps from his staging area and be in that field. The closest oaks are to the southwest with him having to travel into the woods and along the marsh edge to his south and then have to travel west.
Also would you guys try to hunt the marsh beds or just forego them knowing that there is a known target in your area. It’s a one shot deal it seems to me. The bed on the point and the hedgerow make him pretty hard to get to. I figured if I tried to hunt the area with the northern most bed I could set up in the small block of timber to his southwest. There is a parallel trail along the inside of the field edge with a bunch of scrapes but that may be night time garbage. And I think I would have to access from the south and walk off of the main rd. (little neck) going into the WMA but in doing so I burn all the beds in the marsh when walking through and definitely when the thermal start pooling in that water course.
. Our current house is in Barnegat Light and I grew up with our first time share in Harvey Cedars. I love it down there and I'm sure going to miss that place. It is beautiful down in Delaware though and there is lots to do, just gonna be a bit further of a trip for me.