Walking Mud Flats

[Eric Krewson]

I have been hunting a swamp area near the house that consists of corn fields, mud flats and cypress swamps. The place is a public hunting area with bow hunting only for deer. Needless to say there are plenty of bow hunters there every day.

I have found a place the hunters don't go but the deer do when pressured by the hunters, The problem is the place is across the mud flats and a boggy slough.

I have seen the product called "Mudders" for walking soupy mud flats but they are pretty pricey.

Do any of you have a home made solution to keep from bogging down when crossing this type of terrain?

[Mark Maves]

I have used snowshoes for hunting in our "swampy bogs" and that works pretty well, but I bet that living in Alabama you don't have any snowshoes.   I don't know how well it works, but Rancho Safari (cat quiver people) have a product called the muddwalker that I have been wanting to try.  You might look at those, but they are about $80.00 a pair.  Good Luck...Mark

[Jon Paulding]

Get some MSR brand plastic snowshoes- they are bulletproof and not too expensive. You might try ****.

[Apex Predator]

You have to lay on your belly and kinda swim across.  It's also required that you take some photos when you make it to the other side.     I hunt in that stuff!  A buddy of mine made some out of plastic and strapped them to his boots.  they probably extended 2" beyond his boots in all directions.  He says they worked pretty well, except getting hung up in the grass.  If it's pure mud, you will have bunches build up on the edges I would think.  Gonna get real heavy, real quick.  Let us know how they work, and don't forget to include some photos!

[LV2HUNT]

I read a bad review of those "Mudders". I PMed the link to you Eric.

[LV2HUNT]

Eric, check out "mizugumo" on a google search. Apparently the ninjas were working on it  :D . Maybe you can glean something from their work.

[Tradesmen4]

screw some old boots to pieces of plywood, cheap and should work getting across. Greg

[John P]

Eric I 've found that marsh skis work pretty well.I had a pair in my truck all the time back when I did a lot of coon hunting. Them dam things wound take the dogs deep into the mucky swamps. They work more like long thin snowshoes than skis though. John

[Orion]

John, if one isn't from Wisconsin, probably doesn't know what marsh skis are.  I used to have a pair.  For some reason, they went with my older brother when he moved to Colorado.  Plan to build another pair sometime in the future.  Don't know how they would work in mud, though.  May suck themselves in rather than gliding on top as they do over marsh grass.

[John C Keith]

How do you all drag out a deer when you kill one that deep into the mud?  I have a spot similar to that described, but have been hesitant to hunt it because of the hassle of getting there and the dreaded thought of tracking then dragging one out.

Thanks
John

[wapitimike1]

Go to home Depot and get some small trash can lids. They curl up so not to collect to much mud. Put your shoe on it, trace it with a magic marker, drill some holes, put in some rope or velcro, (As Much as I hate that stuff), off you go.

[Jerry Jeffer]

John Keith, use a  plastic toboggan to slide the deer out.

[Ray Hammond]

Wapiti,

I think you have never walked in southern swamp mud.

Rope or Velcro??? That mud will suck laced on boots off your feet in two steps.

It's gonna take bolts and jbweld to keep that on his shoes.

I personally like the idea of big pieces of thin plywood with old shoes bolted to them..carry your regular boots in your backpack.

Getting the deer out? Now that's another problem..I would try a plastic sled like the kids use up north..they kind of roll up...you could put the deer on it, tie him in, and then walk back across skidding the deer on top of the mud. It should work.

[Eastern fisher]

Can someone post a picture of one of these places.  Sounds interesting.

[Talondale]

Stilts  

[Eric Krewson]

The swamp I hunt is a mixture of sloughs, islands in the mudflats and creek channels. Because of the drought in the south some of the sloughs are dry.

   

I got lucky yesterday and found an old beaver dam to cross. By holding a long pole in each hand for balance and support I was able to cross this rickety bridge to the spot I mentioned earlier. I found a shear clift on the bluff side blocked the deer travel so the spot wasn't a great as I had first thought.

This is real tough country to negotiate. A tornado made it much more difficult.

   

[Apex Predator]

This kind of stuff is tough to walk through.  It's actually floating like in the Okeefenokee Swamp.  You can press down on it and see the ripples 20-30 feet out!  If you punch through your crotch will catch you, most of the time.     When the hogs have torn it up, it's especially difficult!

[Smilingg]

I use the Deer Sleigher for quite a bit of deer dragging, but I rely on the one marketed for elk. It holds up better on rough terrain like a recently clear cut area:  http://www.cabelas.com/link-12/product/0005553221989a.shtml

One of the worst dragging experiences I ever had was getting a 90 lb doe across 250 yards of mud flat. By the time I finished that doe must have weighed about 300 lbs from all the mud she'd collected. The Deer Sleigher helps tremendously in a situation like that.

I stepped right out of an ankle fitting  LaCrosse hip boot crossing a mud flat once. Numerous times I have stepped out of knee-high boots. It must be a comical sight to watch a guy balanced on one foot trying to pull free a left-behind boot from that danged mud...

[John C Keith]

Thanks for the tips.  I guess I should make a trip out to my spot while the temps are still in the teens and everything is frozen.  Would hate to find out this spring it is not as good as it looks.

Thanks for the thoughts on dragging out the animal... never thought of the sled.

[beyondmyken]

The more surface area you distribute your weight, the less you will sink in.  How about strapping some trash can lids to your hands and feet and crawl across?  You could drag the sled behind you and carry your bow on it.