Jon Teater
Buck Fawn
In the area I hunt I want to increase the bedding opportunities. With that said, the area can sometimes be flooded timber (at its max water can rise to about a 1.5 ft but most times its around 5-12 inches, with some thick spots that include river burch and hemlocks with small mounds that possibly can hold a deer or two. I need better entry and exit into these spots for the deer and I just want to increase the chances of a doe group bedding in this area as the current (natural) spots are bit small for several doe. But a recent post on swamp bedding triggered some thinking and I want to gauge others success in creating flooded timber bedding.
my thinking on creating a rise for bedding is to take some logs as a base to get some elevation, on top of the logs place pallets. Id prefer to use plastic pallets (but also have access to compressed wood pallets and your typical wood pallet is an option as well), then on top of the pallets put on some dirt then on top of that apply hay (not sure hay makes sense), but I want something to create some content in combination of dirt. The plastic pallet may need to be drilled or and maybe rocks placed in the legged sections with holes drilled to ensure some drainage.
Anyhow this is my idea and Id like some input or suggestions. Id probably include some overhead branches and back/side cover and consider predominant wind with the setups. I will say I did record a few bucks using these somewhat flooded timber bedding areas around the hemlocks that had flat spots, but the use seem inconsistent and the deer were more on the edge of these areas on higher ground (which makes sense)... I am limited in what I can work with land wise and those edge areas are difficult to hunt near, so I am trying to work with land I can manipulate.
my thinking on creating a rise for bedding is to take some logs as a base to get some elevation, on top of the logs place pallets. Id prefer to use plastic pallets (but also have access to compressed wood pallets and your typical wood pallet is an option as well), then on top of the pallets put on some dirt then on top of that apply hay (not sure hay makes sense), but I want something to create some content in combination of dirt. The plastic pallet may need to be drilled or and maybe rocks placed in the legged sections with holes drilled to ensure some drainage.
Anyhow this is my idea and Id like some input or suggestions. Id probably include some overhead branches and back/side cover and consider predominant wind with the setups. I will say I did record a few bucks using these somewhat flooded timber bedding areas around the hemlocks that had flat spots, but the use seem inconsistent and the deer were more on the edge of these areas on higher ground (which makes sense)... I am limited in what I can work with land wise and those edge areas are difficult to hunt near, so I am trying to work with land I can manipulate.