You hear that? You hear angels singing that hallelujah song? I can. They’ve been on full blast in my head since I found out that the big point that goes out in the marsh I talked about in my last post has an island of mature oaks in the center of it. There is also another island across the marsh on the other point that was kind of cut out of the screenshot I took.
Definitely gonna to need to scout that other point, too, while I’m out there this weekend. I’d really like to hit both points in the same day, dial in where bedding is, and then knowing where the oaks are, start thinking about different stand locations for different winds.
So I changed my scouting plan, basically doubling the mileage to 6 miles. That will be a full day, gonna need to pack a lunch.
This whole area of the marsh feels like its ideal for a South or Southeast wind based on the terrain and the nearest two tracks for access. It could definitely work for a west or east wind, too, as deer could move to either side of the islands or points. The islands seem like they should be the place to bed for a northerly wind. It will be interesting to find out if the sign matches up with all that. Either way, it will be a great learning experience.
I watched the DIY Sportsman's latest YouTube video about his workflow for scouting marshes.
I really enjoyed this video as it made me realize that while I've often got a plan for which terrain features I want to scout, I don't really plan the day as well as he does or make great use of my time.
For example, the spot I talked about scouting in my last post was not a good choice to scout after work, way too much ground to cover and I was basically in a spot where I almost had to walk out when I got to where I wanted to scout and now I should probably go back one more time.
The first spot to use his work flow jumped right out at me- a giant marsh I found this winter that looks fishy.
Here is the route I've planned out, its about 3 miles and will probably need a saturday or a sunday to have enough time to see everything I want to plus have time for any audibles.
My plan is to walk the main transitions from cedar swamp to marsh, and see whats been using the islands. Satellite imagery looks like there are runways galore going through the marsh, we will see what they look like on the ground. Check out the sign around the little island on the other side of the creek.
This is a small chunk of this marsh, its going to take 3 or 4 more scouting trips to cover the rest. The west side really intrigues me as it is VERY difficult to access. My plan is to work from east to west. If I could get it down to two trips, that would be great, but I think I will need three. Maybe I will camp out there this weekend, do some social distancing, and knock the whole thing out at once?
I need to find a few shorter routes for after work scouting. I think 1-2 miles for an after work scouting route would be about perfect.
I cleaned my arrow building/fly tying bench off in my man cave this weekend. Gonna take me a while to be able to find anything with everything where "its supposed to be now"
Scouted a small part of a large chunk of land yesterday after work. Its roughly 2000 acres, so still a lot of ground to cover before I feel like I know it. I'd really love to post some topo and satellite maps of it here but I'm just too paranoid. But let me tell you why I'm excited about it. 1, censored. 2, it has some amazing topography and habitat types. 3, one side borders a heavily trafficed road.
I love places that border major roads. People ignore them, and deer get pushed into them for that reason.
I got about a mile and a half in and really hadn't seen much good sign other than a large'ish buck track in a saddle, and then I climbed to the top of a long ridge that pointed out into a cedar swamp. As I got to the top and stopped, a turkey gobbled. First one I've heard this spring. I sat there and he gobbled again few minutes later. I tried mouth calling him in and he went silent.
I saw a nice pile of buck poop. Got on the west side and started seeing sign. FINALLY! I followed a runway that spiraled along the side then down the point into the swamp. No large tracks, looked like a doe runway, but it took me to an area that looked like deer and even elk were spending a lot of time this winter. Felt like bedding cover but no visible beds. I got down into the swamp and found a massive old rub, there were even some time marks from 2019. Because of the size of the tree, I was thinking this might be an old signpost rub, but still not certain.
This had me really excited to keep exploring but I was losing light fast because of the hills and hiked out. Definitely going to be back to learn more and explore other corners of the property, especially the area that border the highway.
Yesterday I went out to the big woods after work. It's a part of the big woods I'm kind of on the verge of cutting out of my hunting spots because there are just too many elk, and where there are elk, there are more people. But! There is a place that I've never been, so I thought it might be a good time to see what's there.
I walked a big oval loop, about 3 miles, total. I was just trying to cover ground and intercept mature buck tracks or sign. I came across one 3 finger track and two 4 finger tracks. I saw at least 500 elk rubs. That might sound like an exaggeration but it was probably more like 1,000.
This spot may be worth a hunt or two, I found two areas that I will use as starting points to scout during the season and see what happens. Maybe I end up climbing a tree, maybe I will just walk around some more.
Snow is disappearing, I'm guessing a week or so and south/east/west facing land will be dry ground again. Been some good finds out scouting and it's nice to be getting outside again without being all bundled up, and even more nice to be in a place safe from covid-19 headlines and people panic buying toilet paper. No better way to escape all that than the deer woods.
