Bushwacking

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k2g2j2k2
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Bushwacking

Postby k2g2j2k2 » Sat Mar 20, 2021 6:27 pm

I've found a few potential marshes worth exploring. However what I've noticed from streetview is that it's mostly cattails and water. Any advice on how to best explore these areas? Most locations are in some vicinity of trails and I think that to to find anything secluded some bushwacking is inevitable.

My other concern is ticks (perhaps the most important). This seems unavoidable. What have people's experiences been with them in wetlands? I wouldn't expect to find black-legged ticks (which carry lyme) to be around but you never know.

Unfortunately I don't have suitable rivers nearby or coastal mudflats where this would be easy. Quarries I won't visit due to legal risks.
Last edited by k2g2j2k2 on Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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bogbud
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Re: Bushwacking

Postby bogbud » Sun Mar 21, 2021 12:15 pm

This largely depends what season you try to enter that area. Some tidal areas i have explored are largely inaccessible during summer and fall due to dense and thick reeds. The stuff i have here luckily dies off completely by late fall and the the area is far more accessible till may or so.
You should also keep in mind that you will leave a visible trail behind, when you decide to whack your way through it.

Regarding ticks: Wear appropiate clothes, use lots of repellants and thoroughly search for them when you return.
I'm already chindeep in this mudbog and every desperate attempt to move my stuck legs only drives me deeper in. The thick mud slowly swamps my waders and my arms have nothing to hold onto.
I'm feeling home.

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Duncan Edwards
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Re: Bushwacking

Postby Duncan Edwards » Sun Mar 21, 2021 7:08 pm

k2g2j2k2 wrote:I've found a few potential marshes worth exploring. However what I've noticed from streetview is that it's mostly cattails and water. Any advice on how to best explore these areas? Most locations are in some vicinity of trails and I think that to to find anything secluded some bushwacking is inevitable.


You got to go there. Be ready to get dirty. A boat works best.

My other concern is ticks (perhaps the most important). This seems unavoidable. What have people's experiences been with them in wetlands? I wouldn't expect to find black-legged ticks (which carry lyme) to be around but you never know.


Ticks are there and they will get on you. Get a 20-30% DEET insect repellent and apply it all over. It works very well. If you feel like something is crawling on you and it kind of tickles, it's a tick. Yank it off. I've done it countless times. My record is 32 at once. You'll be okay. If any of this concerns you too much then you don't need to be out there. Stay home and watch a video.
It's a dirty job but I got to do it for over 20 years. Thank you.

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Nessie
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Re: Bushwacking

Postby Nessie » Sun Mar 21, 2021 10:15 pm

I don't know where you are, but here in northern middle of America, the ticks all got me before I even got to the marsh. They are active late spring and early summer. They love dead grassy areas (the "wood" part of "woodtick", far as I can tell, is a lie, they ought to be called "grassticks").

By July, though, they went away. What Duncan said about repellant is good. I used to use "Ticks Off" spray.

I used to do a ton of cattail-and-water wetland exploring. I never bushwhacked my way in. I just walked in. It helps if some critters have made you a path, but pretty much, I just bent the cattails as I went.

It helps a lot if you pick a landmark, like a tall, unique tree, and keep track of that as you go in. If you don't do that, you'll realize suddenly that you are surrounded by cattails and it all looks exactly alike and you aren't sure how to get back.

You can have a lot of fun in those places. After you get out into the marsh, the ground can become bouncy and you can encounter some peaty muck. At my best bog ever, I got a nice surprise when there were clearings of smooth, deep clayish, spring-fed mud.

I used to hang out in the cattails near trails in parks all the time. You have to be a bit insensitive to what people think when you come out not-the-cleanest, but the good news is that true seclusion in cattail marshes actually happens after about 30 feet. You might hear people talking to each other while they walk by on the trail, but average people will NOT be coming in to look for you.

Regular people won't get their shoes wet.

You could just carry in a clean T-shirt, though. And throw it over yourself before you walk out. If you don't submerge, that will cover most of it. You can find some water and splash your legs clean before you leave.

Nessie

k2g2j2k2
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Re: Bushwacking

Postby k2g2j2k2 » Mon Mar 22, 2021 2:08 am

You can have a lot of fun in those places. After you get out into the marsh, the ground can become bouncy and you can encounter some peaty muck. At my best bog ever, I got a nice surprise when there were clearings of smooth, deep clayish, spring-fed mud.


Out of curiosity if you looked at spot like that surrounded by cattails from some satellite map viewer would it be distinguishable up at all? Unfortunately the resolution isn't the greatest so it's hard to tell where exactly it would be in a field of cattails. Or is it more a thing of just walking in and eventually stumbling onto something. It sounds like it shouldn't be too hard to walk through it? I don't know if there will be any paths carved out.

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Nessie
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Re: Bushwacking

Postby Nessie » Mon Mar 22, 2021 4:53 pm

k2g2j2k2 wrote:Out of curiosity if you looked at spot like that surrounded by cattails from some satellite map viewer would it be distinguishable up at all?


Yes, you can see this. I used Google Maps. There's a problem, though, in that they take their pictures at all times of the year and you are right, the resolution is pretty low considering what we are looking for. Also, the pictures can go out of date. Things change every year. I had one marsh that had lots of peaty muck. The next year there was a draught and there was only a little patch in the middle in full view of trails. Later, it rained a lot and covered all my mud and it was no good at all!

I used it to scout out possible places and then I would visit them later. You want to see very messy-looking shorelines with plenty of green (or brown if they took the picture in winter) encroachment on the water.

If there are cattail marshes in your area that you wish you could check out but can't (because you'd be trespassing, maybe) search those out on Maps first so that you know what cattail marshes look like from the satellite.

Or is it more a thing of just walking in and eventually stumbling onto something.


More like, pick the place in advance using Maps. I liked to choose public land such as parks and wildlife refuges. You then walk in and hope you stumble into something. You'll just be meandering in the cattails and you could bump into a clearing, which may (or may not) contain mud.

It sounds like it shouldn't be too hard to walk through it? I don't know if there will be any paths carved out.


Nope, definitely don't expect paths. Go ahead and make one. Eventually you'll learn to navigate. While you're at it, you may as well plan out where you will park and whether you can walk trails at least part of the way.

And do persevere. I think I scored maybe one playplace in ten exploratory missions. It took me about two years to get good at it.

Nessie

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Duncan Edwards
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Re: Bushwacking

Postby Duncan Edwards » Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:26 pm

Nessie wrote:...And do persevere. I think I scored maybe one playplace in ten exploratory missions. It took me about two years to get good at it.

Nessie


That's what I'm talking about. There's just no substitute for it.
It's a dirty job but I got to do it for over 20 years. Thank you.

k2g2j2k2
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Re: Bushwacking

Postby k2g2j2k2 » Mon Mar 22, 2021 7:42 pm

Fair enough Guess I'll see how it goes this summer. I'm guessing it's best to venture after a week or so has passed since last rain?

I guess it's best to wear boots / long sleeves when exploring such areas? I don't have a boat but most are accessible by going off trail. In one case crossing a creek will lead to 2 miles of shoreline along the lake that is all marshes.

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Nessie
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Re: Bushwacking

Postby Nessie » Tue Mar 23, 2021 2:00 pm

k2g2j2k2 wrote:Fair enough Guess I'll see how it goes this summer. I'm guessing it's best to venture after a week or so has passed since last rain?


You can start anytime you like. A little draught can expose new mud and rain can cover it up good mud so it all comes out in the wash. There was no weather I ever waited for except, I like it to be warm.

I guess it's best to wear boots / long sleeves when exploring such areas? I don't have a boat but most are accessible by going off trail. In one case crossing a creek will lead to 2 miles of shoreline along the lake that is all marshes.[/quote]

I was always paranoid about boots getting stuck in mud. That can be a problem. I guess you can remove them before you actually stick your feet in, though, if you want them for the rest of the journey. Sleeves? It's up to you. Totally.

I wore just basic summer clothing (no long pants, no sleeves) and protected my feet with swim shoes/diving booties. I never really felt a need for more footwear than that, especially if it had a sole. You get a better feel for how the ground is under you if you don't wear much on your feet.

I carried plenty of bug repellant. Note, though, the mosquitoes were mostly not in the cattails. They were under trees, in shade. A sunny spot in the marsh probably won't have many.

The two miles of shoreline marsh sounds like a good place to start!

Truth-in-packaging disclaimer: All of this advice is now six years old. But I don't think marshes will have changed a lot.

Nessie

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Duncan Edwards
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Re: Bushwacking

Postby Duncan Edwards » Tue Mar 23, 2021 2:35 pm

Nessie wrote:I was always paranoid about boots getting stuck in mud. That can be a problem. I guess you can remove them before you actually stick your feet in, though, if you want them for the rest of the journey. Sleeves? It's up to you. Totally.

I wore just basic summer clothing (no long pants, no sleeves) and protected my feet with swim shoes/diving booties. I never really felt a need for more footwear than that, especially if it had a sole. You get a better feel for how the ground is under you if you don't wear much on your feet.

I carried plenty of bug repellant...


Do like Nessie says. You're not visiting an alien planet. Travel light because there's nothing worse than being overburdened with a lot of bulky stuff. Old tennis shoes, running shorts, t-shirt, knife, water. You won't be out overnight or anything so bring some dry gear and change when you get back to the vehicle.
It's a dirty job but I got to do it for over 20 years. Thank you.


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