Favorite Habitat?

[Catscratch]

What is your favorite type of habitat: big woods, monoculture switch, forbs mix, native grass/shrubs, creek bottoms, foodplot, forest edge, etc.??? What habitat gets your heart pumping when you see it?

Post pics if you have them.

 

[wiscwhip]

Tag alder swamp/bottoms bordering mixed aged oak/conifer forest. No pics right now, but maybe after this coming weekend..........

 

[Needmorebrush82]

Old field with lots of young brush, saw 30 deer in 3 hours this weekend in one.

 

[Tap]

SW Iowa is my favorite. Mostly ag, but still plenty of cover and huntable drainages. And big deer! Too bad I can draw only every 4 years.
Haven't hunted big woods in 45 years but it still doesn't interest me that much.
Small, sub-rural patches are frustrating. Too much competition and too many restrictions on access.

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[H20fwler]

I like marsh land along side mixed hardwoods...that gets me going!
Lots of diversity with native grasses and shrubs and all kinds of wildlife seem to love it.
I put a wetland in this summer and have been surprised already at the new species of small birds that have moved in and how it has pulled animals out of the woods. This fall I have had a male northern harrier hanging around and after putting bluebird boxes up in early spring we see them almost daily, coolest thing so far has been a mature bald eagle that has stopped in a couple times.

 

[Bill]

I'd love to own some 20+ year old abandoned pasture in MO. These patches are overgrown with red cedar and shingle oaks like MoBuck posted in one of his videos. There friggin deer bedding magnets. I'll have some in 20 years when I can't hunt :).

 

[j-bird]

Areas with lots of diversity is the best....now I realize that may not answer the question. I prefer the brush and early succession cover - this seems to hold the deer the best in my area. Mix that at a 50/50 ratio in with some good ag corn/soybean ground and I think you got the makings for some great deer habitat. That is why proper management of our hardwoods is SO important with timber harvests in my opinion.

 

[Native Hunter]

This is probably going to sound crazy, but every mature buck I have shot or passed on my farm has been in my low ground food plot. It is surrounded by heavy cover, so I guess that helps them to feel safe. I also stay out of it for at least two weeks before hunting time, and always go to it in the middle of the day otherwise when I'm checking cameras.

The trail cameras show that place has become the pickup place for does during the rut. It's the kind of place that you won't see the exact deer you are hunting every day, but if you put in your time, it will eventually be there (and sometimes at 12 noon or 2 in the afternoon during the rut).

That said - security trumps everything - adding the food just makes it a little better. I also agree with Bill about the overgrown, abandoned pastures.

 

[yoderjac]

I like edges. The more different edges the better!

 

[Jameson]

What is your favorite type of habitat: big woods, monoculture switch, forbs mix, native grass/shrubs, creek bottoms, foodplot, forest edge, etc.??? What habitat gets your heart pumping when you see it?

Post pics if you have them.

Aspen clear cut next to an evergreen bedding area with a creek and swampy area near by.

 

[Someday isle]

Most of my hunting in the past has been in big woods on public land. I tend to look for edges where either there is change in terrain or where a natural edge is created in the forest. This could be a logging trail or where a stand of oaks is bordered by cedars or brushy habitat. That's of course unless it's pre rut and there is a good acorn crop. Then there's no place I'd rather be than 2/3 the way up on a ridge with a bunch of white oaks. My new favorite place to hunt is on my own land though. It's been a dream come true!

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Give me some swamp next to some hardwoods with good evergreen cover mixed in for thick security. Varying stages of hardwood and evergreen growth. Mixed ridges and low ground. I LOVE north country swamps / ridges.

 

[swat1018]

Old field. I have quite a bit. On my farm it gets some cedar and other trees. I also like swamp type ground, although that I don't have.

 

[Catscratch]

Cool. Interesting how most of us really have the same features in mind (in one form or another): edge, terrain, water. I thought that might be the case but since this a national forum you never know.

Keep em coming and pics are great. I can't get enough habitat pics!

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[Tap]

Cool. Interesting how most of us really have the same features in mind (in one form or another): edge, terrain, water. I thought that might be the case but since this a national forum you never know.

Keep em coming and pics are great. I can't get enough habitat pics!

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Edge is what it's all about. Every area has edge of one kind or another. The only thing better than an edge is multiple edges converging.

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[Catscratch]

Edge is what it's all about. Every area has edge of one kind or another. The only thing better than an edge is multiple edges converging.

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Yep. My favorite stands involve: altitude change, vegatation change, and water, all converging together.

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[IkemanTx]

Edges, edges, edges, and edges.


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[bwoods11]

An oak woods, next to crop fields.

 

[wklman]

I'll take a good swamp bottom in farm country over anything. It takes great cover to get some age on bucks in Minnesota and a swamp is the only place hunters are reluctant to go in.

 

[bigeight]

SW Iowa is my favorite. Mostly ag, but still plenty of cover and huntable drainages. And big deer! Too bad I can draw only every 4 years.
Haven't hunted big woods in 45 years but it still doesn't interest me that much.
Small, sub-rural patches are frustrating. Too much competition and too many restrictions on access.

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What could be that good about Southern Iowa? :D