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Hunting the MARSH

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Enorris89

Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2019
Messages
70
Location
Northwest Indiana
Okay so I’ve map scouted a few islands on some public near my house but I’ve never walked through a marsh without someone that knew where every hole and soft spot was. what are some things to lookout for and ways to avoid becoming a missing person while walking the marsh in the dark
 
Best tip I can give you is if your walking and the ground is moving ahead of you like a water bed back out immediately. Floating bogs are probably the biggest danger because you never know how much water is under them. I have broken through some to my chest and never felt bottom. That can get real hairy if your loaded down with a bunch of heavy gear on your back. It's best to avoid them and find a different route.
 
A Dan Infalt tip I used last year that worked great... Walk on the roots of the cattails. Use your foot to push the cattails over and step where they go under water. Areas that don't grow cats tent to be deeper, and can suck your boots down fast!
 
Wolverinebuckman said:
A Dan Infalt tip I used last year that worked great... Walk on the roots of the cattails. Use your foot to push the cattails over and step where they go under water. Areas that don't grow cats tent to be deeper, and can suck your boots down fast!
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I second what Wolverine said. Always use vegetation to step on when its around and take your sweet time. I mess around with alot of bog where I live and hunt and I always find the sketchy holes when I'm not paying attention to every foot placement.
 
I was walking the edge of an old pond one squirrel season and broke through, went right under. I threw my .22 off to the side(dropped it more like) as I went in. I struggled a minute before I could get a hand hold and pull myself out and roll off the mat to solid ground, grabbing my rifle as I went. By the time I got to my feet and looked back at the hole I'd made from going through it was almost completely covered over with duck weed. I often go out with no plan so no one would have any clue, just my .22 laying by the pond. It's always best to leave some kind of notice before striking out alone. At least they'll have a better chance of recovering the body.
 
Weldabeast said:
Where the heck are u guys hunting at? I've been in some nasty marsh/swamp and never had any issues. Just follow the game trails.... They already found the easy ways throu
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I was following a game trail once while scouting and went up to my gut in mud which is why I made this thread everything was solid.... until it wasn’t
 
Weldabeast said:
Where the heck are u guys hunting at? I've been in some nasty marsh/swamp and never had any issues. Just follow the game trails.... They already found the easy ways throu
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I guess the closest you have are those floating grass mats that turn into islands with trees growing on them. Then a storm comes and the island, trees and all is on the other side of the lake. Somewhere between that and mud flats on the coast.
 
I’m always surprised by how, uhh, surprising mud can be. I’m sure many of us have done the following: gone knee deep in stuff that looked hard as a baseball diamond, or slid across the top of mud so slippery you were basically skating, or stepped up sturdy-looking banks that disintegrated under you leaving you to thrash around like a wounded camouflage gamefish. I just try not to mess with anything through the marsh except the game trails, but I also look at how damn deep the hoof tracks are, because I weigh about double the average doe.
 
I guess you guys Marsh may be a little different then my Marsh...... My main concern is not slipping and falling on oysters. Cattail Marsh average knee to waist deep. If i plan on heading in there I'll put the chest waders on. On any given public land i hunt, excluding 1, i plan on getting wet up to my chest every hunt.... Luckily it doesn't happen that much. I try to dress accordingly.... Either plan on trying to stay dry with hip or chest waders or just embrace it and wear clothes that dry quickly and get filthy, wet, and a little bloodied up by either sawgrass or oyster bars
 
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