Florida whitetails (left) have no reluctance to move and feed in wet areas. Wet conditions encourage hogs (above right) to feed in higher ground. Turkey (below right) have no aversion to swampy terrain.
January 02, 2025
By Tim L. Lewis
One often hears of water holes out west and in the Midwest enticing deer, antelope, and elk, and concurrently, furnishing hunters pinpoint spots to focus their attention. In Africa, too, many hunts are centered on game animals’ need for water. Does water play a role for Florida hunters?
In contrast with the west, the seasons with our greatest heat, summer and early fall, are accompanied by increased, rather than decreased, rain and water levels. For most of the state, the driest months coincide with winter and spring, a time when temperatures are milder. Nonetheless, water levels play a role in dictating patterns employed by wildlife.
Florida’s most highly sought big game species is the whitetail deer. The moisture in vegetation, combined with the attending coat of dew during overnight and early morning hours, furnishes enough water for deer to survive by the process of eating. The thoroughly wetted pants of hunters who have walked through waist-high brush and grasses to reach a stand before dawn, furnish indisputable testimony to the heaviness of our nearly daily dews. That fact, coupled with the wide typical availability of water in Florida, decreases the potential for water sources to serve as predictable draws for deer even in the drier parts of the year. Florida whitetails do drink water at times, and in a dry region of the state, may be patterned by thirst. I have sat near small ponds in Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas and witnessed parades of visiting deer. In the Panacea area of St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, I witnessed one particular family group of does repeatedly visit a sinkhole to drink. However, for most of Florida that is not the case. That is not to say water does not influence deer movement.
Florida whitetails move through creeks and flooded trails at their whim, potentially even favoring some wet areas for foraging. During dry months, much of the new and tender plant life grows around the areas that still harbor moisture. Deer tend to feed in these regions. Seldom do dry times coincide with the fall season but when they do, hunters are well advised to scout such areas for concentrated deer sign.
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While Florida holds plenty of high and dry ground, much of the heavily wooded portions surround creeks. These creeks most often are composed of several to many channels that wend through the swamp woods. Often deer adopt certain channels as travel routes. At times, buck rubs mark the entire course of small, woodland waterways. Deer adhere to their adopted routes when the creeks run full, when they barely trickle, or when they are entirely dry. Creeks hide tracks so discovering preferred waterways is not always easy, but once found, hunters will find they are used year after year. New generations of deer adopt the same routes. When deer are in the swamp, several creek channels where I hunt can be counted on to funnel deer without any need to verify by scouting.
These creeks are interesting for another reason regarding whitetails. When the water oaks that compose much of the swamp wood canopy drop their acorns, deer often feed on those that fall in the water rather than those on land. This seems odd in that those exposed to the air should be more readily discovered by the deer’s keen nose. Two possible explanations are; 1) the currents accumulate the acorns in small pockets so many acorns are clustered together making the search for them more rewarding, or, 2) the water soaks away some of the tannins in the kernels rendering them more palatable. As you may know, for human consumption of acorns, repeated water baths are recommended. Deer may have learned acorns in running water become tastier. In any case, bends in creeks under dropping water oaks can prove attractive to deer. (By the way, without any proof, I have speculated on the possibility that the vomero-nasal organ plays a role in detecting the acorns underwater. The nostrils could not be of use below the surface. If the organ’s use is only restricted to bucks sampling estrous odors, why would it evolve to be equally developed in does?)
Our creeks attract deer at times of exceptional cold. When the cold fronts hit, creeks maintain a bit of heat because the water temperature does not drop nearly as quickly as the air temperature. The flowing creeks impart some of their (relative) warmth to the air in their immediate vicinage. Deer often bed along them during the predawn and early morning hours of frigid days. Places where two or three creek channels are separated by only small humps of higher ground and tree roots are ideal. When still hunting swamps on days when the mercury has dipped, look for such spots to hold bedded deer.
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Even deep spots in most Florida creeks are not terribly deep. I think of creeks reaching my chest or shoulders as deep. For years, I assumed if shallow water, say calf-deep, prevailed on one end of a long stretch of deeper creek, deer would gravitate toward the shallows for travel. Days and days of tree stand time have dissuaded me of that notion. Whitetails cross our creeks wherever their whims dictate. In Kansas, where the creeks are deeper and run faster, I have seen specific fords where deer cross, but in Central Florida it has not been my luck to stumble upon any such places.
Florida lands are fairly flat with very little change in elevation so when water rises a foot or more, an occurrence not at all unusual with fall tropical storms, large acreages of land are submerged. Deer can live in and feed in water. I once happened upon a spike buck that had bedded in a head where the water came up to my thighs. A cypress trunk divided into two boles level with my upper chest. Apparently, after rearing on his hind legs, the spike placed his forelegs through the fork so that his weight rested on his chest and the upper rear portions of his forequarters. His hindquarters drooped from the notch. Perhaps this was far from ordinary, but years later, a friend described seeing the same behavior executed by a doe. A different friend joined me to hunt a few days after a tropical storm flooded our hunting lands. I elected to sit in some scrub above the inundated pastures and swamps and recommended the same for my companion.
He had scouted and set a stand in the swamp two weekends before and wanted to go there. I believe I saw a doe and fawn and later a lone doe in the high and dry sugar scrub. The water ranged from calf to waist deep near my friend’s stand—in fact he had waded to his waist to reach it, yet he described non-stop action in his vicinage. The exact numbers of deer escape my memory but there were many and one was a very large nine-point buck. I have also seen a nice eight-point wade in water up to and over his back while browsing on the vines dangling from the steep bank. These episodes manifest that water is no deterrent to whitetails. However, overall, higher water levels generally encourage deer toward higher ground and hunters can use this tendency to narrow the choices of where to scout and where to hunt.
Hogs drink regularly. Although they can survive short periods with only water gained from vegetation, they usually drink a few times a day. In addition, hogs wallow in mud; a behavior which alleviates the aggravation of insect pests and likely provides cooling. During dry periods, areas offering water or mud are considerably reduced, thus presenting the hunter specific spots where hogs are likely to be found. Scouting these areas as well as food sources in their general vicinity increases the hunter’s odds of connecting with feral pigs.
Also, hogs root for much of their food, and rooting is easier in wet or damp ground. Therefore, as water levels drop, ideal places for rooting recede, resulting in more congregated hogs. Look for heavily rooted areas along the edges of swamps or sloughs. The converse is true as well. As water levels rise, hogs are forced out of flooded lands. New areas are softened and made easier for rooting.
Most of us have heard stories of hogs, particularly boar hogs, being unsuitable table fare. I have never arrowed or eaten a boar over three hundred pounds so I cannot offer firsthand opinion on their taste. I have taken hundreds between 70 and 200 pounds and upwards of 25 that exceeded the 200 mark. All were delicious.
My friends, by and large, have had parallel experiences. I have heard of three hogs that not only proved unpalatable, but odors arising from the cooking meat caused the houses to be vacated and persisted so obnoxiously that hours passed before anyone could re-enter it. Two of these instances occurred in 1979 right after Hurricane David brushed the east coast of Florida and flooded much of our hunting lands. The third was in the early 2000s, once again after water levels reached flood stage. Perhaps the high water caused the hogs to feed on something normally ignored or unattainable, or perhaps, diseases or infections accompanied the elevated water. One can only guess. The three terrible tasting hogs all coming out of times of flooded conditions, compared with more than half a century’s worth of toothsome wild swine, does incline one to consider water may have played a role.
Turkeys also drink daily, usually at least twice a day; before roosting and after fly-down. Therefore, roosts are most often chosen near water. Spring gobbler season coincides with low water levels. Drier years equate to fewer desirable roosts and more congregated turkeys. Because of the birds’ habit of drinking before roosting, finding places still retaining water can steer turkey hunters to likely roosting spots where the hunter can listen the evening before the hunt for the fly-up or for gobblers betraying their location with gobbles. If there is no time to roost the birds, the hunter will have fewer spots to try blind in the morning or to test with a crow call or gobble.
Turkeys are not averse to wading through the water of the swamp woods and flapping (usually with a corresponding cackle) over deeper channels. The most significant effect of high water on turkeys occurs during the spring. As stated, this is most often a dry time, but should the water rise, nests can be drowned. The water cools the eggs to the point they become inviable. Hunters should be aware of this possibility for two reasons. First, likely recruitment to the overall population will decline for the year. It may reduce the numbers of turkeys available the following season or require greater management. Second, hens bereft of their nest typically lay a second batch of eggs. Gobbler activity therefore undergoes a pronounced resurgence.
Florida water levels are seldom static. Understanding the ramifications of falling or rising water levels on the species pursued can offer hunters a decided advantage.
This article was featured in the November 2024 issue of Florida Sportsman magazine. Click to subscribe .