Primary Deer Loafing Habitat in Kansas, Iowa and MissouriWhen it comes to trophy whitetail deer habitat it is the wooded creek bottom that is the most prevalent deer habitat to be found in our three state area. The confluence of the Missouri River and the Upper Mississippi River watershed composed themselves of thousands of tributaries drives this geography. With the prairie being the flat land heavy into agriculture and a lack of rolling hills it it is left to the watersheds to make rough ground not suited to the plow and allowing for ground level brush and tall tree growth, hence deer habitat. Scouting and hunting our lease land within these watersheds produces more trophy whitetail deer than any other type of ground. Several view points of two creek bottom deer habitat hunting lease properties to give the new to the central mid west deer hunter a chance to get a jump start on what to expect.
Right, the same creek bottom looking the other directing. A lot of
concealment cover and a few tree stand trees.
Standing in the center of the same creek bottom shown in the previous picture looking out to the nearest tree line. This stretch of the creek bottom had more than sufficient trees for stand placement. These pictures were taken in Kansas. Missouri and Iowa have similar deer habitat with Iowa having generally less cover and Missouri a lot more. These pictures are a good averaging of what will be found on many of our deer hunting lease land. As is all cases of deer habitat pictures they are limited and pre season scouting is always encouraged. A creek bottom such as this with its main branch covering the 1/2 mile width of this lease provides many stand opportunities allowing for the hunter to maneuver onto any deer pattern he may detect. While many hunters focus on the main tributaries the several branch tributaries that are always present sometimes yield more than the heavier habitat of the main creek channel. While this may seem an obvious statement the frequent practice is the opposite with many a near success story of setting up on the wrong side of the creek bottom. And, that is the crux of creek bottom deer habitat and hunting. Where to set a stand is always an issue regardless of the type of deer habitat. On a creek bottom habitat that more likely canalizes deer movement than a large wood patch the hunter has three basic options. The first is the ideal of setting up in the center of the creek bottom high in a tree with immediate surrounding concealment and shooting lanes out to each field as well as the creek bottom itself, especially within one of the many flat areas to be found on most creeks. This ideal as so often the case with any ideal situation is rare. More likely the hunter must select one side over the other and enjoy a far more limited shooting capability. That is where the many near success stories come from as hunters often see a trophy quality buck just the other side of the creek from where he placed his stand. In the case of creek bottom deer habitat the typical situation is either the hunter is 100% on the right or wrong side of the thick cover having the shot opportunity of a lifetime or left with a pounding heart coming from eyes on the biggest buck he has ever seen - walk by.
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Left.
The wooded creek bottom is the most common Whitetail Deer habitat in the central
mid west (we find ourselves repeating this many time to the new Association
hunter and eventually they come to believe it, that is after scouting it
themselves).
The
same area as the first two pictures down in the creek bottom just above the
water channel looking down stream along one edge showing just a bit of the corn
field in the right far ground..
Right, another tributary of a large watershed standing on one
crop field side looking directly
through to show the thickness of the wooded cover prohibits seeing through to
the other side in spite of the snow back drop.
