Like the other' s have said, hard to tell without being there and knowing what' s around for food source and all that, but my guess would be the bucks are bedding in the thick cutover. This provides not only good shelter but a dry bedding area as well. I' ve been hunting a 40 acre cedar swamp here in MI for 20 years and the only time the deer bed in the swamp is when the place is froze over. They prefer the high ground around the edges of the swamp and the thickets coming up to high ground to a hardwoods. They don' t even bed in there when the water level is low and the place is dry. It is a great place to travel to and from bedding/feeding, and certainly a great place to hide come gun season. I' m thinking that the swamp you talk of provides great cover all the way to their food source.

Good luck and nail em. Send us pics of this trophy beast. (You sure you don' t have elk running around down there?)