So I’m diving in to the public stuff mainly to learn. I’ve always hunted small parcels of private but it’s hard to figure out what the deer are actually doing when they’re just passing through 40 acres. I picked out some stuff in early spring to scout, but it ended up being big, wide open timbered hill country, white oaks on every ridge. Almost like somebody was copy and pasting to fill in stuff, so that area was kind of a flop. I went and checked out a marsh today and it was more of what I’m used to...thick, trails, etc. I followed a trail out of the middle of this so called marsh (more like a wetland) with heavy traffic that crossed a creek, and then ended up in this mud hole. It looked and smelled like a hog lot. My question is, what the hell is going on here? I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s a heavily used deer trail that runs into this .... wallow I guess is what it’s called. Smelled like a hog barn and the water was still cloudy. There is a creek that runs right next to this. It’s basically in the middle of an oxbow and the slop hole dead ended next to a tree to the right of the pic. Creek crossing before slop hole Trail to slop hole after creek crossing Slop hole
I’m no expert on this kind of habitat, but my first reaction is that this is an area where their tracks are preserved for a long time, so what looks like a lot of activity in a short time is actually a couple seasons or a year worth of traffic where the tracks aren’t being washed away or covered with leaves. maybe you can get a camera in and prove me wrong? just an idea, hope it helps...
Deer love drainages. First thing I look for on google earth are drainages. Here in the south, pine plantations are everywhere, but most properties often have hardwood drainages. Good edge habitat. The hog smell was most likely rotting matter in that swamp.
I love marsh hunting! I have been hunting the VA side of Eastern Shore for some time now and one thing I'll say about any kind of water hole is they can be prime locations, especially the first couple of weeks of bow season here. It stays so hot and muggy here into October and those deer are starting to put on thicker coats so to them it's probably worse. Any fresh water can be a gold mine. It's worth mentioning I deal with a lot of salt marshes so the water in and around them is salt water or brackish which makes a fresh water hole up in the woods (cover/shade) even more of a draw. I'd put a couple cheap cameras in there, one on the hole and one on a trail.
Probably going back in to check out across the creek this weekend (to the right of the highlighted line) and I’ll hang a cam over the slop hole. Across the creek is more marshy and looks like I won’t have to worry about any pressure.
