swamp work

[YoungBuckTX]

A few years ago while deer hunting, I came across a beaver swamp on the back of our property. I didn't really care much about duck hunting when I first moved here. We hunted it a few times for wood ducks, but it wasn't very productive. The grass was head high, so even if you could get a shot at a bird, finding them wasn't easy. The creek seemed to be a good flyway though, and we would normally see decent amount of ducks.

Summer 2014 I had more time and opened a small pocket. We also had to spend a few days cutting a 4 wheeler trail. This was a big challenge in itself. The woods around the swamp was clearcut many years ago, and grew back natural. Extremely thick scrub and trash trees. I hunted it once, Christmas day, and killed two ducks.

Summer 2015 I got more serious. I realized that cutting trees and grass was much easier when not standing in 3 foot of water. Also, burning dead grass was a lot better than burning green.. My method; trench a gap in beaver dam 2 days earlier to drain, weed-eat a section of grass, spray grass mounds, and finally burn it all a couple weeks later. A week's worth of labor and I had close to an acre cleared, of 9 acres total. I went back early September and broadcasted jap millet. Also added a 6inch PVC pipe to drain the swamp easier.

It's been a learning process for sure. Next season I plan to clear two more sections, 1 for millet, and the other for duck potato. Right now, the ducks seemed to be more interested in loafing in the flood scrub trees than the food, so I will be sure to leave some of that, instead of just clearing out the entire swamp.

2013
2014rabbitslideGrass.jpg

Summer 2014, work begins
2014rabbitslideCutTrees.jpg
2014rabbitslideBurn.jpg

2015
2015rabbitslideDrainWater2.jpg
2015rabbitslideTreeTrim.jpg


2016
20160905_122303.jpg
20160820_100051.jpg