Brandon Wisconsin

Just got asked to hunt a river bottom, noone has ever hunted it before. Someone is making a bet that I wont be able to take a buck out of there.
The " only" thing I know about this area is that there is an alphalfa field on the top of the hill and only ONLY does are out there. Now this is the summer, your supposed to be seeing bucks out and about. This is just odd . . . anyone hunt Riverbottoms and any tips for me to outsmart this smart @ss

[:-]

stubblejumper

I have killed river bottom bucks under the conditions you describe by waiting for them to come to the alfalfa field.You may not see them there now but come the rut if the does are there the bucks will be too.You will most likely only see them at first and last light though.

SwampTHING

Is there any swamps or cattail marshes near the river?? If so,,, if there is a narrow strip of hard ground dividing the river and the edge of the swamp thats where id be sitting. I prefer not to field hunt, I like finding a bottleneck of some sort to sit on in the thick stuff.

Tazman

Brandon the bucks are there now, they are moving later into the field and leaving earlier, what you need to do is find where they are coming from, start at the field and where you find a well traveled doe trail, go to either side of it and look for a less traveld trail and follow it back, eventually you should wind up in the bucks bedding area/areas. Back out and find a couple of places to set stands to allow for the wind. In the afternoon enter from the direction of the field early to allow you to get in near the bedding area early enough to not spook the doe. In the morning you will need to avoid the field and come in downwind from the field EARLY!

huntnma

quote-Is there any swamps or cattail marshes near the river?? If so,,, if there is a narrow strip of hard ground dividing the river and the edge of the swamp thats where id be sitting.quote-

ME TOO

Who

Make that Me-3. Watch for hogs (at least here you might see them)
Rick

sam 444

BW, the bucks are there.You have half of your work done already. you know were they will be eating and looking for does.All you need now is to find a funnel area between the field and the really thick cover which will probably the bucks bedding area.Pay close attention to your travel route to the stands you pick out.

kevin1

River and creek bottoms can provide some of the best deer hunting I can think of , a buddy of mine hunts practically nowhere else and has some pretty nice heads on his wall . It may be a bit early to pattern the bucks , but that alfalfa field is definitely the key element if the food is still there come Fall . Bucks follow does , and does follow food . Pattern the does instead and find those bedding areas between now and Fall . Doe bedding areas are where those bucks will head for in the rut . There will be more than one , so scout thoroughly . River bottoms also seem to be a magnet for bruiser bucks , so practice low impact scouting and stop at least 2 weeks before hunting the area . Good luck !