Creek crossings for stand sites?

[bclark1]

Trying to plan for my first public-woods deer hunt in Ohio. Expecting hunting pressure to be pretty absurd during shotgun season. So that rules out the easy access areas for hunting. While I've done the homework for these scenarios, the situation is less than textbook. By my evaluation, food sources were scattered, there are no amazingly attractive hideouts that I've discovered thus far, and (short of prints on a few heavily used trails) sign seemed rather scarce. I was hoping to find sweet spots in the thick brush where the deer will retreat, but much of it is almost impassible without a machete. The land is amazing flat, with the only terrain features being some large creeks/small rivers and some shallow lakes/swamps. However, the water is certainly deeper in some areas than others (as I found scouting without waders), and the banks are steep along much of the moving water. This led me to what I want to consider my most promising harvest spots - some areas along the water where the banks were gentle and the water was shallow were well-worn crossings. I feel that these may be a good balance in location, in that they are not impossible to reach but will be further than I expect a less-motivated hunter to go for. Further, if I get a decent-sized deer, floating them to a trail rather than dragging through the thick stuff will make a huge difference (although I do question whether that's the best thing for the meat as it's not always fast-flowing water). In any case, I trust I will at least see some younger deer there; but I'm also curious if the bruisers will know better than to use these somewhat optional funnels, or skip them simply because they're big enough to jump the banks and crash the brush if they have anything to move from during daylight.

So trying to sum up the question after one of my usual longwinded explanations: Has anyone ever set up on big creek/small river crossings around the thick stuff; and if so, what result?

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

Sure, get there before daylight (the usual 30-60 minutes), should be a good spot. My recommendation for next year (or even this year) would be to walk the woods when there is a couple inches of snow on the ground and try to jump some deer, then follow them to see where their escape routes are. Next year you'll likely know where to set up when all the city slickers stampede the public land.

 

[zahnzieh]

Yeah, I set up tree-stands routinely along creek/small river - we also use the river to our advantage (i.e. steep sided banks) where there are trails running parallel - use them as pinch-points and set your stand there. Deer actually crossing can be very spooky, especially under hunting pressure - more than once they have changed their crossing point to outsmart us!

 

[hogdogs]

Them real dense areas requiring a machete are both a gift and a curse. First off deer leave trails so that says some thick stuff never sees deer traffic. But once you locate the traffic try not to do much machete work as it invites the slob hunters to use your workmanship to their advantage thus contributing to their future laziness and ruining the otherwise serene private spot.
Brent

 

[SWMAGMAN]

I have bow hunted for years (successfully) at a small river crossing - not much to distinguish it other than it is a shallow, hard-bottomed area that the deer find to be convenient. Although deer can do some amazing things, they also tend towards laziness (you can often create a "crossing" by tying down the top wire of a fence, making the jump easier). Undisturbed deer prefer this spot, though they can easily cross this river at virtually any spot. If spooked or nervous, though, they might avoid this "familiar" crossing totally. I would advise against "floating" a field-dressed deer down a slow moving, agricultural area waterway....