Hunting river bottoms

[JohnnyDollar]

I have just started hunting river bottoms, I have no experience in hunting this type of terrain. It is all hardwoods, no food plots. There are sloughs and cane thickets and the land is all flat. My question is how do you find a bedding area in such terrain? Every 50 yds or so is a thicket. There are a lot of deer in the area I hunt but no really defined trails. I'm used to hunting ridges and such so this is all new to me.

[vixenmaster]

Kinda sounds like huntin where me home is. Ms. Ok have you located any trails ? Sould be some around the sloughs specially if'en they be deeper than yer waist. They will bed up on any raised area out in sloughs/swamps. Bigger cane thickets sure will be good beddin areas. Any good white oaks droppin acorns set up on it, if'en not & you gotstid Pin oaks they will gobble them up. Sometimes its best to find the food source then worry about beddin areas

[JohnnyDollar]

The sloughs run through it like creeks, I have found a few well defined trails, and the white oaks have dropped so many acorns that you will just about roll your ankle walking in the woods.

[sipsey]

Lots of sloughs where I hunt too. I look for good funnels, sometimes they use beaver dams as crossings. Just hunt the food and bottlenecks.

[JohnnyDollar]

Lots of sloughs where I hunt too. I look for good funnels, sometimes they use beaver dams as crossings. Just hunt the food and bottlenecks.

What are some of the things you are using to notice the bottlenecks? I have watched the deer walk straight across the sloughs like it wasn't there. It's not like I just started hunting, but this new type of terrain is almost overwhelming. There are some really nice bucks on this property, I just haven't figured out what exactly to look for yet.

[wheelie]

So glad you brought this up. Have I got something for you to help you on river bottoms.

http://www.excaliburcrossbow.com/phpBB2 ... bowfloatie

[vixenmaster]

Bottleneck/funnel anything forcing deer to go around or thru a certain area. Once located you can set-up fer watching & huntin

[wabi]

Not sure of any of the details, but a friend was telling me someone shot a decent buck "down along the river" recently. Sent me a pic, but I'll have to find out more.
Looks like "river bottom" bucks may be worth hunting, though.

[fuzzy]

...

[JohnnyDollar]

Those are pretty good ideas and a nice pic. You ought to make a rifle floatie to go along with the xbow floatie, maybe sell then as a Christmas package deal!

[sipsey]

Are your sloughs big enough and connected enough to paddle a small canoe or kayak in? It is legal in my state to use a non-motorized boat to hunt from as long as its not a captive flood situation. It's a lot quieter than walking and we have killed some nice deer this way.

[vixenmaster]

Poke Boat trollin motor is legal in most states