Swamp bridge ideas

Looking for ideas to get to High ground through a tag alder swamp.. previous owner has a path with some boards just randomly placed to get to a tree stand.. We made it in but one wet foot lots of deer sign once in..My son even found a shed..

Any design ideas lots of rain in Northern Wisconsin..

I was thinking 5 foot long 15 inches wide pre made and a pair of hip boots..

Also I introduced myself to the land owner to the north of the property I just purchased to show respect for the up coming season and give him my number if he or any of his group of hunters needs help with anything and or stand safety..He just told me they hunt where they want to and go..How do I handle that..Guy would not even take my number... Safety is number one when it comes to my boys I will not let them be put in harm's way...

Yes they did but it helped having snow cover and filling the spacing.. they were walking on the plastic ones also.. heading up next week for scouting and cleaning up a fallen tree.. I will that pictures..

Congrats Huntfish, just curious if the deer walked on your bridges too?

Well done huntfish. Way to get a hunting property put together successfully and a happy family using it. 

Sounds good for lake onalaska. Fish it regularly during the hardwater season. Stay in touch. 

I would like to thank you all so much for the ideas on my bridge project.. it turned out awesome... Easy in and out..Yes some spots were noisy but overall great...we had a great first year on my land.. How hunting we seen 4 nice bucks and alot of does..Gun season my son's shot spikes...we all seen deer every day we hunted .. never thought we would see that many deer in Price county... I have created 2 deer hunting monsters.. They are already planning to expand the food plot and put up a new shooting box for Mom...

Fowler them plastic skids worked out good... Not to crunchy.. Hope you had a good season... Maybe some day I will get a chance to meet you... maybe ice fishing Onalaska.... Be safe out there...

Fowler... Thanks for the input..I did lay them skids and they seem pretty good.. Tossed some swamp water on them and not to slippery..ice and snow might be a problem... Way different hunting from what I have known my whole life.. I hunted your neck of the woods just south of Arcadia... Hope you are on that crappie bite that is going on now... Good luck..

That stuff looks rather breathable. I wouldn't be too concerned of it rupturing or breaking. If it looks strong go for it. Might get a little slickery when wet or icy. 

Here's a picture of the skids I gave and could get... heading up for one last weekend of quite work and then maybe bow hunt in a few week..Have to shut down my boat and mobile home for the season.. Maybe a last few weekends chasing walleye on the Pete or castle rock..

I was walking in hunting last weekend and got to a soft spot in my trail that I sunk down to my knees. Boots came off, wet muddy feet and just generally annoyed. Read someone on here mention putting down chain link fence. I went to Menards on Sunday and bought a 3 x 50 foot piece. Put it over the bad area. Would like to add another piece to it. Seemed to work ok. Looking forward to next year when the grass grows through it. This is a spot I dug up with the wheeler and just stays soupy all the time now.

This is from our back field to what we call the high lands, Have replaced some of the blanks over the years but not any of the 4x4 that are driven in. Pretty wet most of the year unless it is a dry year which we haven't had for a while

The only concern I see with the plastic material is moisture getting trapped/ freezing and rupturing the plastic. 

Your current setup seems the most practical for occasional use. If your looking long term and there's always water in that section. I would consider building a bridge of some sort. May take some elbow grease and small investment but it should last a longer duration with minimal maintenance. 

Gentleman... Let me bounce this idea of you guys....I love the idea of putting in a gravel path but no way can I get heavy equipment into the area I need to get into... It's my western side of my property/ high ground but I have some Tag alder and looks like thick swamp grass...

My wife runs a dog rescue and some companies make donations they ship it on plastic skids.. I was thinking about using all plastic skids for my next pathway.. They have holes for drainage and are 40x48... I can anchor them with metal spikes.. Will never rot no maintenance but trimming around the path..I found a guy selling the same skids for 5.00 each with a minimum of 10... Frame 2x4x8 are 5.00 each.. Do you think this is a good idea and will deer Walk on these?   Thoughts on this idea good or bad. All will be great..

All done with my bridge path to get to my high ground.. I would like to thank everyone for the ideas and information to get supplies cheap.. I think I have about 100.00 in material invested...I needed to buy a few 2x4's and paint to finish up..I think it turned out great but that's my opinion... I know I will have to maintain it over time cause it's wood..

Just awesome ... Thanks for the input...My son and I were up on Thursday and laid 65 feet of bridge..13 section that are ruff 24ish by 60 inches...All used decking from my parents old deck..Why only 60inches ? Reason that it fits in my truck bed no trailer..All pre prefab with cedar 4x4 and 2x4 support...Also teaching my son's cutting with saws and measuring.. turned out pretty good..

We how have a great trail to the high ground... North/south trail cut in and East/west also...

My youngest son also started a mineral pit with camera and a licking branch..

I have enjoyed watching them spread their wings and grow as hunters.. They are learning how to take care of deer/land and not just be Killers...

Cut trailers are showing deer moving..we will see what is moving with camera now..

Heading back up to post and hang stand's over Labor day weekend.. Going to stay off the lake that weekend...

Good luck to all..Be safe...

I have similar land, ag fields up tight to the tag elder swamp that runs about 200 yards and then high ground behind that.  I built a road through it with gravel just wide enough to walk down.  To my surprise that road is the ultimate funnel, every deer now uses it to get to the field.  A lot of work but hunting has improved greatly.  During the rut that road has bucks running back and forth from woods to field all day.  It was a lot of work, took 3+ years to get it decent.  I marked my trail in the fall and went in with a mini skidster in the winter when it was frozen and dumped the gravel.  Then in the spring I walked it and leveled it out the best I could with a shovel and marked the low spots.  Came back the next winter and dumped more in the low spots.  Did that for a couple/few years until it was satisfactory.  I put in some culverts every so often to let the moisture flow through the road and not act like a dam.  The amount of work me and the kids put into this was 100X what you think it would be, it is not easy but this increased the deer usage of the property 10 fold.

Going to get 1 or 2 of these for the creek on the property. Not free, but can't hardly build them for that price. Good luck with everything this weekend..