Swamp buck

Southern Sportsman

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Sep 18, 2011
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3,388
Location
West TN
This is in a section of river bottom hardwoods. Most of it is leveed and flooded now for duck season. There is one higher section that basically makes a 20 acre island. The water is shallow enough that deer can come and go wading through the woods, but the dry ground is getting pretty heavy traffic. I waded out to it last weekend and put up a camera.

I like this deer a lot. Short tines, but he's wide and has a lot of main beam. More importantly, he's old and secluded deep in the river bottoms. He has to wade through chest deep water to work this scrape. Obviously not easy to get at. I've got a plan, but it will involve a kayak, a climbing stand, and a pair of chest waders.

This is the exact same corner of woods where one particular turkey kicked my @ss every time I tried him this past spring, so I hope that doesn't carry over.
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megalomaniac

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Oct 28, 2005
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14,745
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Mississippi
Don't bump him out, he's prob lived his entire life there avoiding pressure. If he gets displaced from his core area, somebody else is gonna take him out on unfamiliar ground to him.
 

HatchieLuvr

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Nov 28, 2017
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80
OH WOW!!! :oops: For exactly a decade now I have owned a place along the Hatchie River that has a 500 acre swamp on it and I can show you THOUSANDS of pics of swamp daddies that would blow most folks minds (including them swimming, not wading, nightly in rising water) and the heaviest I have killed was weighed by Buford at exit 56 at 270#. But I gotta admit, I've never seen one THAT old nor built like that. WHATTA ANCIENT WARRIOR he is! :cool: His rack isn't the trophy with that crafty old webfooted professor! I killed a 7.5yr old buck in south TX back in 1999 that looked like George Burns but he looked nothing like that old swampasaurus!

GOOD LUCK, go after him ONLY during perfect conditions and PLEASE keep us informed!!! ;)
 

Southern Sportsman

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Sep 18, 2011
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3,388
Location
West TN
I got in there Sunday with the high wind helping cover my noise. Found the perfect setup and hung a stand. I also found a better path in so I do not have to use the kayak and should be able to stay dry with hip boots instead of chest waders - assuming I don't fall in crossing a big creek via a white oak log bridge. Long walk but I can get in there totally undetected with almost no chance of getting winded on any wind from S to W. South wind the next few days will make it really hard to focus at work.

I had a much bigger deer on camera last year, but for some reason I'm more excited about this one than I was about that one. The age and swamp lifestyle makes this one cooler to me. Daylight pictures also help a lot and I'm assuming/hoping his core radius is a lot smaller.
 
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