Joyce Wildlife Management Area is a beautiful stretch of swamp, and Ricky Hano loves it. But he also knows it’s no place to get turned around.
“If you get lost in there, you’re in lots of trouble,” Hano said. “You’re looking at 100 square miles that’s nothing but swamp.”
The problem is that there are no real landmarks because there’s no real land. It’s all water and trees and bushes.
In fact, the only trails to follow are the old logging runs made decades ago when the swamp was timbered — and most of those are overgrown with thick bushes.
Get lost in this morass of swamp, and it could take a long time to be found.
“I’ve spent three nights in there before,” said Hano, who has been hunting the swamp his entire life.
Hano said one hunter was less fortunate.
“About eight years ago, he went in and they never found him,” he explained. “They found his jacket and pirogue, but they never found him.”
So Hano said it’s vital that anyone who hunts Joyce WMA carry a compass.
You could follow one of the many logging runs on the property, which Hano said provide predictable travel routes.
“All of the ditches run east-west or north-south,” he said.
However, there is really only one direction that will provide a way out of the swamp. It’s critical to remember that Highway 51 and Interstate 55 border the public area on the west.
“Just go to the west, and you’ll eventually hit the highway,” Hano said.
