Buzzing in Orange County, Florida

My husband and I are from California and new to Florida. We wanted to explore some Florida forest land. We happened upon the “Rock Springs Run State Reserve”. We drove onto a dirt road, and parked off to the side. We got out and just started walking around. Right away, we saw a lot of vultures and groups of white tail deer. The area was buzzing with wildlife and sounds we didn’t recognize. We wanted to walk deeper into the trees, which would take us down to a lower terrain, but even with our hiking clothes and shoes, it turned out to be too much for us. We’re very healthy and active, but it didn’t seem like a fun idea. There were just too many wet, swampy areas of ground, and it turned out to be almost impossible, and we weren’t sure if we wanted to be struggling through alligator territory. We made our way back up to a dirt path, and that’s when we started hearing the banging sound. At first we thought it was a person out there doing something. But then the same sound started coming from another direction, maybe a quarter mile from the first one. It sounded like a they were hitting trees with a baseball bat, or a big piece of wood. It continued to go back and forth from one spot to another. It was one of those things that didn’t seem weird at first, until you stop to think about it. No animals do that, and why would people go way out there and begin hitting trees in the swamp, and then take turns doing it? We just couldn’t fathom what the purpose would be. We listened then walked back to the car and left.