Bibon Swamp
Contributors to this thread:Wisconsin
From: Muskybuck
21-Jul-20
I know a lot of you have experiences with the Bibon Swamp from past threads-many negative! LOL I've started to poke around that area a bit this summer with some scouting and I'm looking for any experiences, observations, or tips for that area. Hunting is not like it was up there during the "glory years" with a lot less deer and more wolves and baiting. It surely is a tough nut to crack and very little access to the areas I think look best, but I like the upside. PM me if you'd rather not post on this thread.
Thanks-MB
From: MjF
21-Jul-20
We have placed bear baits on the edge for years now, we still see some beautiful bucks that venture in & out of that swamp and into the ag fields, but you are right, it's not what it used to be. The biggest advice I can give you, let someone know where and when (each day) you will be hunting in there lol
From: Drop Tine
21-Jul-20
It’s like Lake Gitche Gumee. It never gives up the dead. Let someone know where you’re going to be and when you expect to get back and don’t deviate from the plan for that day. Summer range for deer there will be different than the fall winter range. Scout for old sign like rubs. Fresh sign now won’t mean much come the rut. But then baiting in a area can affect that greatly.
From: Muskybuck
21-Jul-20
Good advice. It’s about 10,000 acres and only a couple ways to access it. I would not even want to imagine getting turned around in there.
From: Muskybuck
21-Jul-20
Drop- Would you say that the perimeter (private) of it was where most of the baiting was or were people also hauling bait into the swamp?
From: Drop Tine
21-Jul-20
I didn’t hunt the swamp wildlife area itself, It was between Drummond and Grand View where we hunted. But there was bait being hauled in there and would expect the Bibon to be much the same as it was just up the road.
From: MjF
21-Jul-20
Musky, the Northside of the swamp on County Rd E (on the right side) is lots of Ag land, not as much baiting and more QDM.
From: Muskybuck
21-Jul-20
That's good to know Mike. The best looking spots on the public portion seemed to be on the north side of the swamp. One really good looking public spot, but it is landlocked. I will probably need to use the river for the promising areas.
From: kylet
22-Jul-20
One less in the block after last year.
From: Muskybuck
22-Jul-20
Kylet-Looks like you got the job done last year.
From: Thunderhawk
22-Jul-20
Float the white river
From: Muskybuck
22-Jul-20
Yes, floating the river for some of the areas I like looks like about the only option.
Have you ever done it?
From: South Farm
24-Jul-20
Never heard of this swamp, but I'm definately going to check it out...Any place that is described as not giving up it's dead, or easy to get lost in, sounds exactly like my kind of spot! I've always like spots that offer up adventure and I'd rather hunt all day and see no deer than hunt all day and see another hunter. Everybody says "go a mile in", problem is there's fewer and fewer places these days where you can go a mile in and not be close to the other side!
From: MjF
24-Jul-20
I believe the Bibon Swamp is the biggest in Wisconsin, it is said while building the railroad through there machinery was sunk and lost. It has a scary reputation
From: Tweed
24-Jul-20
Sounds like a place if I went in I would become a statistic.
Heck....I get lost in the front yard.
From: South Farm
24-Jul-20
If a railroad went through there is there still any remnant of the old rail line? Might be a good spot..
From: Muskybuck
24-Jul-20
What's unique about this swamp/marsh, besides the shear size, is that it is managed carefully to limit access and maintain wilderness. That just adds to the reputation and history of it.
From: South Farm
24-Jul-20
Definately gonna check it out, but maybe NOT this weekend! Gonna be a sticky scorcher, throw in a billion deer flies and I think I'll put off my scouting trip for a while.
From: Muskybuck
24-Jul-20
There is supposed to be a primitive campsite in the middle of the Bibon. Now that's a scary thought. Probably the kind of place you would send marines for basic training!
From: Jeff in MN
25-Jul-20
Jeff in MN's Link
I have never been in the swamp but from what I have heard about it over the years I have never had any desire to set foot in it. That being said I wouldn't mind hunting the perimeter sometime. But... I might need some of those marines to carry my huge buck out. I might not remember this correctly but a dam failed somewhere east of 63 in that area last summer. I wonder if it affected that swamp. I doubt that dam has been fixed yet or if it ever will be so it is possible some previously hard to get to public areas might be easier to access now.
https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/dam-failure-floods-roads-homes-near-hayward-wisconsin/747987
From: MjF
29-Jul-20
I have had bear baits in there in the past, big rain storms hit and bait logs are covered with water, few days later all is good and I resume baiting. Nasty bug infested area because its most always damp.
From: Muskybuck
29-Jul-20
Jeff-That dam is on Hwy. 13 and thank God it did not fail or who knows what would have happened downstream. One of the important functions of a swamp this size is the ability to absorb and hold lots of water and lessen the effects of flooding. The White River that runs through it is an awesome Class 1 trout stream and I wonder how the trout population survived the flooding.
Most of the bridges were totally washed away in that area. I remember MjF posted some really cool pics of the damage back in 2018.
From: Casekiska
01-Aug-20
Don't ever recall hearing about this swamp and have never hunted it. Sure do think though that if I were a younger man I'd be giving it a close look for a hunting spot. From what guys have said above it seems to have a mystic and attraction that would have appealed to me. Size + challenge + remoteness = adventure. What's not to like?
From: blackwolf
01-Aug-20
I think most bucks in Bibon spread out to oak areas in fall using Bibon as mainly a secure bedding area. Find good acorns on perimeter and you are in business. I explored it years ago via canoe and foot and decided it wasn't worth the misadventure. Lol
From: smokey
01-Aug-20
smokey's Link
This link will show some drone photos of the 2018 flood in that area.
From: smokey
01-Aug-20
The area also got hit with a flood in 2016 which I think was even worse. There were some pphotos and ddrone videos of that too but I can't find them now.
From: ground hunter
01-Aug-20
The 2016 flood was incredible, went to work at a camp in Ashland back then, rebuilding bridges. It would not add much to talk about my 18 years in the Bibon, since so much has changed, and walked away from it, in 94....... I know the west side of it pretty good, where it meets the timber.......
From: Huntcell
01-Aug-20
Come on share some of those Bibon escapades. Or is it escapes? Great stories know no time limit.
18 years of experience were lessor men fear to tread , don’t deny us any longer. And photos lots of photos.
From: Hoot
01-Aug-20
The Bibon swamp certainly has a mystic about it. Here's a drone video of Hwy 63 during a flood.
From: smokey
02-Aug-20
Hoot, that is what I was looking for. Thanks for posting the video.
From: Muskybuck
02-Aug-20
There was also a bad flood in June of 2012 in Bayfield Co.
From: blackwolf
02-Sep-20
Got me thinking about a spot I found years ago, one very good looking strip of good buck sign. I still have it marked on gps, may have to walk in and checkit out again, looked like good gun stand. But this time I will mark trail and come out same way I go in. Lol
From: Jeff in MN
05-Sep-20
It is kind of fun driving US 63 through the swamp. Feels like you are driving on a mild roller coaster. Pretty sure it would cost way to much to put a good base under that road.
