bowhunting for swamp deer

[Ian johnson]

with the loss of the private property that I used to hunt around local farms, me and my hunting partner are forced to look to hunting public land, the problem is the only close public land to us are swamps, we have fished these swamps before but never hunted in them, does anyone have any tips on bowhunting swamps? any hunters out there hunt the Pearl River WMA or Joyce WMA in south Louisiana?

thanks
Ian

[nc recurveman]

Find the pine trees, where theres pines theres high ground. Where theres high ground theres deer.

[BWD]

Find the water oaks early and the swamp chestnut oaks for later in the season. When the swamp chestnuts start falling...be there.

[Ian johnson]

looks like ima need to find some swamp chesnuts

[Wile E. Coyote]

Ian, I hunt the Pearl River area. For safety reasons I suggest you DO NOT hunt it during the gun season. Look into Big Branch WMA in Lacombe, it is bowhunting only.

[jhg]

Swamp Deer. Just the saying it makes me want to hunt them. Sounds like a blast- and maybe a way to find an old wise monster buck?

[Interseptor]

I use to go to New Orleans a lot and wondered about the hunting in Pearl River.  THis should be good.

[Onehair]

You could try the Bombing Range, not many deer,  cheap club dues and plenty of sketters or you can  find something in MS if you want to kill deer. It's tough in your area. I have a bud in your town that hunts by piro and has some success.

[Ian johnson]

yeah deer hunting south louisiana is tough, if people here wanna kill deer they go to MS or north LA and the WMA's are packed in gun season, Ill let yall know in a few weeks how my hunt goes

[Zradix]

Good LUCK

[STEVE R.]

I would use a conoe, and hipboots. I love to hunt that way. Of course use a life jacket. I hunt the water line. I find animals like to follow the waters edge, or close to it. I never hunted Pearl river but hunt Sherburne, Spring Bayou and Lake Ophelia that way.

[Cory Mattson]

All good stuff especially the waterline - hey and I can't think of a single hunt that I do where I do not cross water - this is how we hunt - I have no confidence in any spot on public land where a simple walk through the woods will do - with water entry it is more work but we have never had a hunt disturbed or seen another hunter since we started this about 20 years ago out of frustration - swamps are very good hunting.
<><
<----------------<<<<<<<

[hova]

i have hunted a few times in swampy locations , and thats where i saw 90% of the wildlife i have ever seen. it was like they knew no one was comin back there.

as for crossings , very few people will cross even a small creek if they cant jump it or knock a small tree down. i always carry duct tape and 2 50 gallon trash bags. lightweight instant hip boots.

pull trash bag up , wrap around thigh with duct , wrap around knee once to keep it snug. wrap around top of boot , and run a piece or two over the sole of your boot area to keep from poking through the bag. i like to do the sole pieces first , then wrap around the ankle/boot and this keeps it all snug.


not the longest lasting , but you can usually get a few crossings out of just two bags. i never worry too much about the crossings on the way out , cause 1:i havent had to drag anything out yet and 2:im always leaving when im leaving. i dont mind driving barefoot...

-hov

[Lamey]

If you hunt the Pearl River keep your eyes open for hogs too.

[mrjsl]

I live in Covington and have been hunting in the Bogue Chitto NWR  by canoe. I am just learning the area really. I did kill a big doe in there this season and passed on several deer.

It seems like there is a lot of deer in there, and not too many people hunt it considering how much land is there. It is pretty difficult to access, there are zero roads, little to no walk in access, boat access is difficult in low water, and you are pretty much going to have to camp deep in there to get any hunting done.

I know that some nice bucks came out of there during the week of gun season in Dec., and it was not overcrowded even then. There were a lot of pretty much untouched places.

I am from north La, and still hunt up there a lot, and the hunting in the BC is just as good as most public land up there, it's just ten times harder to access. Really have to be careful in there, because if anything happens to you its a long way out. I haven't hunted very hard this season, but I'd estimate that I paddle 25-30 miles minimum per trip and camp in a tent 1-2 nights per trip in there.

There are a lot of hogs in there too - seen them numerous times. Had a deer come right through my camp site, and lots of varmints generally visit at night.

[Bill Carlsen]

I don't know how different the swamps in the South are different from the swamps in the Northeast but if you find higher ground set up along the edges where the elevations change. If you have to get into the swamp itself and can find game trails with trees large enough for stands set up there.If the swamps are actually bedding areas then find the feeding areas and the trails that connect them and set up there.

[mrjsl]

Originally posted by Bill Carlsen:
I don't know how different the swamps in the South are different from the swamps in the Northeast

The biggest difference is in scale. "Swamps" in south louisiana can be 100,000 acres or more in size and have habitat from hardwood bottomland to flotant marsh, bayous, canals, lakes, you name it.

One of the places he mentioned - Joyce WMA - may be the most difficult to access swamp in the state. It's almost all flotant cypress swamp, and the only way to hunt it is in chest waders pretty much. Not a lot of boating lanes in it.

[Ian johnson]

Joyce WMA is only about 10min from my house, but like mrjsl said its almost all cypress swamp, I know some people that waterfowl hunt out there but not very good for deer hunting, good bowfishing though, shot a few gar out there

[Arwin]

In my experience, if you plan to hunt a swamp, stay through thru midday if possible. Deer seem to use swamps all day when the time is right.  

[rnharris]

i have heard all my life that big bucks always have wet feet and have hunted in and around swamps all my life sometimes you have to work hard for them but the satisfaction of being succesful is worth it all.

deer love water and are extremly good swimmers when you think deer couldn't possibly be there that's where they will be.

i hunted a buck in Al for three years that lived on an island the only way out there was to swim he died of old age as far as i know he lived on public land and was 140 class they know how to survive good luck!