I have what I call the " island" on my land. There is no way to get to it with a ATV. I have one spot where I'm going to put a 5ft wide x 16ft bridge that will have plywood on decking on top. Do you think the deer will use it. It is a decent funnel now, I would hate for them to change their pattern.
Deer bridge?
- Thread starter ruskbucks
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Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
No, deer will avoid artificial surfaces on a bridge. I have had extensive discussion with our NRCS, DNR, etc. trying to do the same thing. The deer need some type of soil covered surface to walk on. They have always stated you need a culvert with 18"-24" of soil on top.
I would love to put a culvert there, but at the best place to cross it is 10 ft across with a wet marsh o both sides. I would probably need a couple culvert and a lot of fill to go over them. It's also about a 1/4 back in the woods.
Bark River
Yearling... With promise
We have a river that cuts the 40 I hunt almost in half and there is an old steel bridge with wood decking on it at the south end of the property. It’s wide enough and strong enough to drive my pickup across and tractors. I watch deer walk across it all the time and tracks in the snow indicate it gets traffic. I think it all depends, you’ll probably have deer that use it and some will avoid it especially at first. Once it’s been there for a generation of your deer herd it will become more widely used but not as much as a natural earth berm would. Our bridge has been there since the 50’s or 60’s. They hauled it from town in winter with a team of horses when they replaced the one in town with concrete.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
If that’s where the deer are traveling I’d avoid changing anyway all costs.
Is there an area where you know the deer don’t use?
Why do you need to get an act there in the first place?
Depending on the size of your island it sounds like the perfect spot for a bedding sanctuary to stay the heck out of.
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Is there an area where you know the deer don’t use?
Why do you need to get an act there in the first place?
Depending on the size of your island it sounds like the perfect spot for a bedding sanctuary to stay the heck out of.
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That's what I was afraid of. I have a good stand about 35 yards from the crossing. Right now I have to balance walking over a couple of felled trees over the creek.not fun in the dark. The water is about 2 1/2 ft deep. The deer don't mind, but it's over the top of my boots. The island is about 5 acres of hardwoods. It would just be nice to get a ATV back there to get a deer or bear out, and doing some tsi out of season.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
Make a lighter weight bridge that you can use to do your habitat work and take out when not being used?
Cable system with pulleys kind of like a dragline?
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Cable system with pulleys kind of like a dragline?
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Natty Bumppo
5 year old buck +
I have the exact same situation, and deer use the bridge year round.
hilltopper
5 year old buck +
Buy a pair of chest waders! Don't spoil the isolation of that spot.
Chainsaw
5 year old buck +
There is an old hunk of used four ft. wide dock across one of our ditches; the deer use it regularly, so much so that there is a defined trail to it from either side of the twelve feet wide ditch. We put the old dock crossing in fifteen years ago though and I don't recall but would guess there was a learning/training period before the deer started using it. Old docking or a bridge built with heavy decking is nice because it doesn't hold water so well. On ours the decking is spaced at a construction size nail of space between boards which reduces puddling and ice formation as compared to plywood.
With that said as Hilltopper stated a pair of waders ensures the integrity of the spot. Great natural spots like that are rare and precious. Combining Peeps idea of a causeway covering culverts for the ten ft. wide deeper section, and then adding Chummer's example of using old fencing in the marshy spot would make it at least a convenient low water crossing and have the least impact to the already great hunting you are having there.
We also have a 100 foot drainage crossing to a stand which sounds similar to yours which we crossed using waders for years; Now we have twenty feet of old dock pieces in place over the flowing section and just walk thru the marshy part with our 18 inch boots. The old docks do not provide vehicle access but it provides a more convenient stealth access to the stand on the other side. The deer do travel it but walk right thru the drainage more. In our case we do have vehicle access to the other side but it is very disruptive to deer activity to use it. Thus it is only used to retrieve deer and to plant the food plot across from the drainage. We get away with it but it is not ideal.
Would love to see pictures of the whole setup if you have any. If you do install any kind of crossing it likely will be disruptive to the deer activity for a likely a few months or more. With that in mind doing the work as close to the end of hunting season as possible would be a good strategy.
With that said as Hilltopper stated a pair of waders ensures the integrity of the spot. Great natural spots like that are rare and precious. Combining Peeps idea of a causeway covering culverts for the ten ft. wide deeper section, and then adding Chummer's example of using old fencing in the marshy spot would make it at least a convenient low water crossing and have the least impact to the already great hunting you are having there.
We also have a 100 foot drainage crossing to a stand which sounds similar to yours which we crossed using waders for years; Now we have twenty feet of old dock pieces in place over the flowing section and just walk thru the marshy part with our 18 inch boots. The old docks do not provide vehicle access but it provides a more convenient stealth access to the stand on the other side. The deer do travel it but walk right thru the drainage more. In our case we do have vehicle access to the other side but it is very disruptive to deer activity to use it. Thus it is only used to retrieve deer and to plant the food plot across from the drainage. We get away with it but it is not ideal.
Would love to see pictures of the whole setup if you have any. If you do install any kind of crossing it likely will be disruptive to the deer activity for a likely a few months or more. With that in mind doing the work as close to the end of hunting season as possible would be a good strategy.
Thanks for all the good ideas, I knew you guys would come up with a bunch. I love hunting the island, but it is a pain in the but to get to over 3/4 mile walk to get to.my woods is so thick with a swampy lowland in the middle that I have to walk the logging road it's the only way I can get back there quiet. I picked up these used concrete forms at work for free that I'm going to use for the bridge. They are a little overkill, but I think they will work good.
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SD51555
5 year old buck +
If it's only 16' across, I'd corduroy it. Lay geotextile down and then stack it full of whatever length logs you need to be wide enough and get up outta the water. I'd spend some time making a pile of logs back there, and then get a mini ex with a thumb to place them when you're ready to build it. Cover with 6" of wood chips, and that outta last forever and rot to a mellow earthen top. If it starts to sag or sink, add more logs and chips. I'd put my money on that funneling the deer vs spooking them.
hilltopper
5 year old buck +
To each their own but please think twice about building any kind of road. I hunt a distant stand on my property during the gun hunt- about a 1/2+ mile walk through alders and muck with an occasional respite on an "oak" island. In the driest summers I can get a UTV out there on a half-ass trail but its been wet the last three years and no such luck. I have to walk slow and carry all my gear in a backpack, or I'll be sweating like crazy when I get there. I see more mid morning bucks than anyone else. In the past I've toyed with making a better trail out there with various solutions but never did it, and every year I'm grateful I didn't. It's a privilege to have the long walk and isolation. I'm 63 and think I'll be able to get out there for quite a few more years, but I'd rather pass the stand on to one of our younger hunters than make it easy to get to. Of course it's a camp rule that you can't shoot a doe from that stand- too much work! This year I got a decent buck. I did the gutless method and with the help of some of the younger hunters we carried out the quarters. Quite an adventure...
We’ve had deer cross our wooden bridge over a ditch. It’s not huge (maybe 20’ long) but I’ve seen their tracks when’s it’s dusted with snow.
roymunson
5 year old buck +
We've had the same.
I don't think they prefer it, but I think they'll use it. Personally, to the OP, I wouldn't risk it. It'd be kinda miserable to put in great access only to lose the deer you're trying to access.
