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Any creek hunters?

brock ratcliff

brock ratcliff

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Mason and I had an awesome hunt yesterday over a creek crossing funnel. We didn't have any deer in range, but we did see 9 antlerless, and one really nice 8 pt. Five of the deer came out of a thicket as I suspected they would, but instead of immediately crossing the creek and heading into the white oaks they actually feed IN the creek for 45 minutes or so. I think what they we browsing on was pickerelweed. The stuff grows along the creeks shallows, and there is a ton of it. Most of it has already had the tops chewed off, but obviously there is still enough to hold the deer's interest. In fact, the buck and the rest of antlerless deer came OUT of white oaks to browse creek-side. It was a food source I hadn't intended to target, but dang they seem to like it. I mentioned it to Mrex earlier today and he said they referred to it as "ice cream'' as the deer really enjoy it along the banks of the Hocking River.

I thought it may be a helpful hint for any of you that have access to hunt along a creek bottom where it grows. The stuff seemed to be magic last night. I plan to get up close and personal later this week.
 
I don't have any upclose pictures, but the vegetation growing in the water along the creek bank is what the deer were feasting on...
 

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Looks a little tall to be pickerel weed but it's possible. Pickerel weed has an arrowhead-shaped leaf and purple flowers.

Interesting tip, nonetheless! I don't have any vegetation like that nearby, that I know of at least, but I do have a creek crossing stand set up. I'm trying not to hunt it much for the first few weeks, though. I think it's going to be dynamite close to the rut.
 
Great observation! Thanks for sharing. I hunt along two creeks. One is pretty dry though, so no growth.
 
I'm seeing lots of huge acorns laying in a couple inches of water all along the creek I've been sneaking up thru. Thanks for the heads up Brock, I'll be looking for it the next time I'm near the creek.
 
I hunted for two years on an really small island in Big Darby Creek, at the only shallow creek crossing for hundreds of yards in either direction, in an area that now is one of the Columbus Darby Metro Parks.

I killed one nice buck from there and had some kind of shot opportunity just about every time I hunted it. It has always been one of my all time favorite places to hunt.

One memory that will always be with me is sitting in that stand many years ago, listening to the OSU Michigan game while watching a 3 legged 7 point fight with a 6 point out in the creek under my stand. The 7 point won and so did OSU

When it became the park I no longer could hunt there. There is a small creek crossing on the land in Athens that I hunt but it is just not the same
 
Jesse said:
Is it the big broadleaf plant that resembles the leaves of a redbud? And the branches/stems have a resemblance to cane?
Click to expand...

Yes it is, and many of the leaves are eaten off! The deer are gobbling this patch up. Strange to see deer in the creek like it's a food plot.
 
JBrown said:
Looks a little tall to be pickerel weed but it's possible. Pickerel weed has an arrowhead-shaped leaf and purple flowers.

Interesting tip, nonetheless! I don't have any vegetation like that nearby, that I know of at least, but I do have a creek crossing stand set up. I'm trying not to hunt it much for the first few weeks, though. I think it's going to be dynamite close to the rut.
Click to expand...

???? It's probably 18" above water level.
 
Can it grow in a creek bottom where the sun rarely hits? I'm assuming not, but there is a creek just below my setups. In fact, Klay's deer dropped in the creek I'm thinkng of. I can get down to it fairly easy, never thought of the vegetation that may be growing out of it.
 
I don't know much about it, Mike. I've only seen it in silty bottom areas of creeks. Good smallmouth habitat? No. But it apparently works for deer!
 
brock ratcliff said:
I don't know much about it, Mike. I've only seen it in silty bottom areas of creeks. Good smallmouth habitat? No. But it apparently works for deer!
Click to expand...

Yeah, it looks more like a marshy type thing rather than something that would thrive in rocky areas. There's a few sandbar type places down there. I will have to take a look, but I would say the lack of sunlight would elimintae that. Interesting though. Look like guys who have access to slow moving rivers or wider streams could benefit though.
 
That's what I thought. I've never given any thought to hunting over it, but I've never seen deer plow into it as I did last night either. I'll try to get better pics next time I'm up there.
 
I'm still going with pickerelweed...but I haven't looked that closely, it could be something else. I've made mistakes with plant ID before, so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm wrong. When I get back up there I'll take some more pics. And it could be that there is more to it than I first thought, could be a mixture of plants. Regardless, they are hammering it!
 
Over 250,000 different plants out there. Easy to get one wrong Brock. Who cares what it is called? You showed us what it looks like so we can look for it to improve our hunted. THat is appreciated.
 
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