Bow season is here, and anticipation is high among hunters anxious to put some fresh venison in the freezer. Authors of deer hunting material seem to all have written tales that began with “Walk a mile away from the closest road and you will deer hunt in solitude.” Well, that theory is full of holes. I’ve tried it many times and usually have company. One of the best ways to get away from the crowds is to utilize waterways to access deer hunting lands.
Traveling via a canoe, kayak, or motor powered boat to traverse a river or lake to get to a remote hunting area adds a whole new dimension to deer hunting. Most modern deer hunters drive in close to fancy box blinds or may walk a short distance to a comfortable ground blind, or an equally comfortable deer stand. When utilizing a boat to reach your favorite hunting spot, you have to first have a boat, transport it and pack all your hunting gear, including blinds or stands into the craft. Then you have to negotiate a river or lake in poor light to arrive at your destination before dawn.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there are nearly 4 million miles of streams and rivers that wind through the United States. It's a spider web of water that includes small streams, creeks, rivers and big rivers. They supply water to cities, nourish our crops, and create a habitat zone that whitetails have used for centuries.
In all corners of whitetail country forested riparian zones represent travel routes that deer follow regularly. These riparian zones form the basis of some of the most food-rich areas a whitetail will ever call home.
Meandering rivers and streams, over the eons, carved out fertile grounds that collected and dispersed soils from eroded uplands. Annual flooding dispersed nutrients across the valleys and today many of these waterways comprise America's richest, and most productive farmlands.
You can see this clearly through following the path of any major watercourse in the country. Whitetail densities naturally increase the closer you get to these riparian zones.
Indeed, deer hunts involving boats add a great deal of excitement and adventure to the process. Some of the most memorable deer hunts of my life involved jet-boating wild rivers in the Ozark Mountains.
Scouting an area you intend to hunt by boat is paramount. Setting up trail cams on private hunting lands makes short order of scouting. However, on public lands along lakeshores and riverways, trail cams may not be allowed, and certainly would be vulnerable to theft. And attempting to hunt such an area without thoroughly scouting it is a surefire recipe for failure. Scouting water approaches is best done in broad daylight, even though you may have to negotiate the trip in the dark during an actual hunt. You must know a waterway very well before attempting to travel in the dark. It can be risky business and PFDs (personal flotation devices) should be worn at all times.
As your plan slowly comes into place, it's time to consider tactics for hunting waterways. Rivers, streams and creeks give tree-stand lovers plenty of trees, and pinch points, to set up a buck ambush. Return to your satellite images using programs like DeerCast to scout from above along waterway corridors.
Next, confirm with a closer inspection. Areas where timber necks down, bank-side trails, field edges and crossings all should receive a solid inspection for the best stand placement.
All narrow terrain zones have their merits, but two often get overlooked. Look closely at narrow necks of timber and water crossings. Riparian cover waxes and wanes depending on river bends, changing channels and even farming practices. Any narrow necks of habitat will funnel traveling bucks into areas that increase the percentage for close encounters.
This particularly holds true during the rut when bucks rush between areas of thick cover searching for hot does. If you don’t like tree stands, you can still cut a buck off at the pass by using a ground blind, or by sitting on a bluff overlooking a funnel.
Crossings are another overlooked ambush opportunity. All riparian habitat isn't created equal. Many streams, creeks and rivers have steep slopes making passage from one side of the waterway to the other difficult. Your scouting efforts should focus on locating gentle banks that deer prefer when searching for the path of least resistance.
Beaver slides, caved-in banks, and sandbars provide bucks with the needed stair-step structure for them to easily cross a waterway. It may take a trip or two to discover the perfect location for a stand, but you'll know it when you see it. Crossings also offer an advantage in the form of a standing shot. Be ready and steady when a buck shows up at a crossing, because they often stop and survey the new terrain, before moving on.
One last riparian zone to check isn't necessarily in a funnel setting, but it does attract bucks. Particular browse plants, trees and shrubs can attract whitetails. You should locate any mast sources in a riparian zone you hunt. Acorns, apples, crabapples, and persimmons provide a mast buffet for whitetails for undercover dining.
Whitetails may fill 50 percent or more of their daily diet on mast crops when they mature without ever stepping out of river bottom or lakeshore cover. It's an easy way for them to stay fat in fall.
If sitting around sounds boring, consider the lost art of still-hunting. If the local forecast offers breezy conditions combined with some moisture, any riparian zone can become the perfect setting to slip around and search for a buck.
Big bucks often utilize the cover and food sources found along waterways and lake shores. If you are looking for a new deer hunting adventure, use your boat or canoe this season.
