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Across the River
page two 180 acre challenge |
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The next series of pictures are taken from the section of woods north of the road, east of the river, and west of the lowland swamp adjacent to it. We will call it river woodlot for recognition purposes.
Also I am including the bean field. South of the road with a small line of trees in it. Looking east over to the creek line. This area is very active at most any time of the year. Also where I took my six point in 2003.
I am starting with pictures of the river. There are trails that are used by the deer to access the woodlot and the bean field along the banks.
There are also many grouse in this area. More so at the very north section of river woodlot and the river banks. |
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This river gets wider and wider every year. In the background of the top picture about where the trees on the right (east) stop, there is a beaver dam. The river narrows to about sixty feet wide. There is another about half way between that one and the bridge, where I am standing to take the pictures. You can see the white birch trees in the top picture. There is a trail that comes down to the river there and about fifty yards past that area. All along the shore line just inside the wood edge, a trail runs the hole length to the alfalfa field farther north. There is also another beaver dam on the south section of the river. According to the land owners, once the beaver flood the area to much the city will open them to let the water flow. Last years deer season was quite miserable with mosquitoes more then usual because of water pockets near the shoreline. I will say it kept the deer in the wooded areas more and easier to see. The duck hunting is pretty good if you have a dog and a boat. |
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In this picture of the river (south side) the wood line to the left (east) borders a bean field. The wood line to the right (west) is the edge of the dog head wood lot. There is a run off ditch that empties into the river near there. (see topo map) During the winter the deer will cross the river near this point. The grass is so thick that even with thin ice it is very stable for the deer to walk on. Just south of the bean field is a marsh that connects to the river and runs north. Cutting through the property and widening to separate the two wood lots on the north side of the road. Last year the water never dried because of the beaver dam backing it up. |
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The far distance (quarter mile) is the county road and a farm across the other side. As you come this way the open field is talked about on page one. Then the river is where the thickets start. To the right (north) where the oak tree is, the deer trail that runs north to the alfalfa field is right there. Crossing over the road and into the thicket on the left. The thicket is a border of the bean field. To my immediate left is the access to the bean field for the farm equipment. To my immediate right is a wide trail for wood cutting. (see pictures below) |
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Turning around and looking east the opposite direction. The road starts to climb just after the swamp area. Between where I am standing and the swamp there are three trails. All eventually end up at the alfalfa field. Some join together once in the river wood lot. Many times I have seen tracks (Including turkey) walking the road from this point to the end a quarter mile away. Especially during the rut period. |
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These two pictures are of the same area. The very north east corner of the bean field. If you look on the aerial map you can see the corner perfectly. I am not sure why the farmer left a section of trees in the corner (they don`t hunt). But the deer love this area. This is where I took my six point in 2003.
The first picture shows the corner from the inside edge of the road side thicket. The trees to the right in the left picture are the same strip of trees in the second picture to the left.
The second picture shows tracks that crossed the river to get to the corner. At this end of the strip of trees is where I was sitting when I shot the six point. A thirty yard shot across to the wood line where he was standing. |
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Not to hard to tell that the deer are crossing the bean field from the river and up into the east ridge. The top left picture shows where they have been scratching at the ground looking for leftovers. I have seen as many as 25 deer in this field. During a full moon when the light was brighter and the beans were not completely covered with snow. I stayed in the thicket to watch them for a while. The wind was perfect and they walked passed me by ten feet. That was fun |
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These next series of pictures show the trails that are used. Crossing the road from the woodlot to the beans in the morning to bed on the south end. The trail in the upper right picture ends up in the north east corner section of the bean field. That is the area I talked about earlier.
The two pictures below show the trail as it forks. The left trail runs along the west side of an edge blind. I call edge blind because it is along the edge of the swamp.
The right trail also runs along side the edge blind. Except on the east side just along the break line. |
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Entering River Woodlot |
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In the very center of the picture is the edge blind viewed from the trail. This is my last chance window for a thirty five yard quarter away shot. After that I either stalk them down to the beds or swing around for an ambush. |
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| Crossing the road into the bean field. You can see how thick the trees are on the other side. Farther south about one hundred yards are where some deer bed during the day. |
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Hiding is easy when nature provides the perfect cover. This edge blind is particularly good because of the location. The wind is predominantly north and south insuring complete coverage for all sense. |
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This is the usual place that deer are taken from. Even with the sparse saplings and ground cover the edge blind is of perfect cover. The beds are farther back behind me from this viewpoint. They wander in slowly browsing and gathering before crossing the road. |
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Above are pictures of the edge blind from the swamp.
Below are views from the blind as if you were in it. |
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Back into the woods are where the deer are bedding. A slight ridge bottom that holds a lot of deer. Almost every trail in the river wood lot is because of this bedding vicinity. Cover is very thick with foliage and very slow moving to stalk. Usually I like to play the wind at a parallel position. Hoping the deer will typically nose to the wind when they stand to stretch or move on. |
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Well I guess it is obvious what these pictures are. I like coming across signs as easy to read as this. There are several beds spread out in about a forty yard radius. I figured there was no need to trample around taking pictures of all of them and leaving my scent everywhere. I counted twelve from the spot I was standing to take the bottom two pictures. Did you happen to notice the rub on the tree in the bottom right picture. That was also the largest bed in the area. HUMMM. Any thoughts???? |
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Back to page one
The west ridge |
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Page three
Northern Territories |
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Page four
Bedding ground blind |
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Back to the home page |
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