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Your take.

MattMan81

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2020
Messages
4,943
Location
The Mitten
Walked a public ground just down the road from me. 3.8 miles and walked most of the edges of the area.
1st question. I only counted 4 ladder/tree stands on the property. Is that normal this time of year for Michigan? Or in the next month will they multiple?
2. There was a strip that had a corn field up high, and open woods w/mature trees slooping down to a real marshy area. Super thick and deep water. I wanted to go in, but my knee boots weren't gonna cut it. I found some green acorns starting to drop. But with the open woods and long visabiltiy, is this a spot you would expect to see bucks during day light? My instinct is telling me not really. To exposed for them. Probably some Does? Unless they are coming out of the swamp up to corn before it's dark.
3. I did find a decent buck track near the parking lot headed out of some swamp. It just poured rain yesterday, so it was pretty fresh. There was some grassy open areas near the parking lot that had some beds and found a couple oak trees. Would those be a better place to start early season you think? Or even the trail I found running in/out of the marsh. I found another place I liked up along the corn field next to the un planted feild and some grassy area that had some beds in it. It's a little farther walk in. But looks like a good spot.
All the other good spots were stuck in dense area with super thick cover.
Just thinking out loud. See what anyone else thinks.
 
The marshy area you would've had to wade through and the super thick stuff seem like good options to set up near. I've also been looking at some really out of the way places this year like up on high unplanted terraces with just a shrub or two for cover and finding beds, tracks and scat. What seems like exposed areas to us may be worth looking at too if he has an easy back door exit plan depending on wind. Maybe start close at your parking lot spot and work your way in if you aren't seeing anything? I have enough areas that I kind of go for broke right from the start but I'm not sure that's the best strategy either.
 
I scout extensively on the state land I hunt here in the St. Helen area and find several stands all over the place. I watch them for pre-season tune up but it seems to be 50-50 on guys just leaving them from year to year or just abandoning them from laziness. In some cases. They are just gun set ups so nobody is around them during bow season. I would never tru to hunt them, just like to know where the shallow divers set up and how it will affect deer movement in the area. I also try to see if they bait, which is about 75%, even with a baiting ban in Michigan...
So of your 4, figure two are active during bow. And maybe 3 or all 4 during rifle. JM own observations over the years in my area
 
That sounds about right. The one ladder stand came out at the top. So doubt someone just set that one.
 
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