How many out there try to fill a tag on public land? What are some good tactics for getting away from the crowd and finding good deer?
Its not easy to do in Michigan but it can be done no doubt about it. Just takes a lot of hard work and determination. Spend a lot of time putting your boots to the ground and scouting.
I am from Southern Michigan. Hello to Sound Barrier and coheley. I have a friend here in Tennessee I keep telling about opening day of gun season. Literally like a war zone. Anyway, best thing I can think of is trying to find areas that are hard to get to. Areas where the 'general' weekend hunter won't go. I do like coheley's advice about just "putting your boots to the ground and scout". Has archery picked up somewhat in Mich? When I was there about a decade ago, it was slow during archery. Did not have a lot of hunters out in the woods. Another reason I like the archery season. Good luck to both of you and be safe.
Haven't in many years but since my main area is buck only, I am looking at a couple areas this year to fill my doe tag closer to home. No idea how many people hunt them. I have a couple spots picked out from Sat images, if there are people in them, I will just search around.
thanks mab! I lived in TN for 3 years. I do hunt public land and practice these tactics, just throwing out to get ideas going around. Its all about getting away from the hunters in hard to get to, thick areas, or overlooked areas. Where will the deer go to when pressured? Mab, Michigan is a war zone during gun season, and highly pressured even in bow season. With the legalization of crossbows now all those that didn't bow hunt and only gun hunted are buying crossbows and permeating the woods during bow season. It can get a bit crazy and majoryly challenging. In public land, what looks good today, might not tomorrow and you have to continually find where the deer went to and stay one step ahead of the other hunters. I've just started a company to help hunters, and want to invite you guys to check out my webpage link by my signature. Let me know your thoughts and good luck!
I'm probably not the best example, but I scouted a piece of public ground on a mid October Saturday last season and Setup and Killed my buck the next day. It can be done. Look for areas that look promising using satellite maps. Then go in and scout those areas out and see if you see sign that there are good numbers in the area. If there are, locate a couple stand locations that would work for the common wind directions in the area. Try and find entry route that will let you get in and out without blowing deer out of the area. Look for routes that other hunters wouldn't take. See if there's a long way that takes you to the backside of the area, that way when other hunters enter the woods, they will push deer in your direction. Hunters, just like deer can be pretty predictable. The deer on public land are pretty educated to the human movement in the area and your smart deer are going to steer clear of anything they conceive as remotely threatening.
I have not hunted public land in many years but I plan to give a try this coming season. I have picked a spot that is a pinch point between a small pond and a river. It is very far from any access point and I plan to come into it from the river using a small boat. Look at satellite pics and those spots will jump out at you. Good luck! Blessings..........Pastorjim
I hunt a massive area of public land that all has super easy access. It get a fair amount of bow pressure but a ton of gun pressure. Bear hunters also are hitting it hard with bait and dogs right now. What I have found goes against everything you will read about deer hunting... The farther away I get from roads I see less deer and smaller bucks. Out of my 11 cameras the farthest walk I have to a camera is 270 yards. Again, my area is different. The access is super easy. I don't think you can get farther than 1/2 mile away from logging road. So its possible the deer in the area accept that they cant get away from people and live closer to the roads to avoid all the people trying to get as far away from the roads as they can. Most of the roads I'm talking about are just two track logging roads people can drive on. There is a black top county road that crosses my main hunting area and I have 7 cameras within 400 yards of that road and those 7 cameras have the 5 biggest bucks I have on camera this year on them.
I was out prepping a couple of stand sites on the public land today. The more I walked the more I realized how thick it was and how a deer could stay hidden from virtually anyone if it so chose. That is where scouting comes in to play. The more you scout, at all times of the year, the more successful and efficient you will become on whatever land you choose to hunt. I was happy to see the places I scouted 6-8 months ago still had great deer sign when I stepped foot in the woods today to make final preparations. The trails were still hammered from what I found after a snow storm. Thick cover holds deer year round and it is relatively easy to find. But finding an exact tree to take advantage of a specific wind is much much harder to find. Public land preparations=scout, scout, scout, scout, hunt.
Hunting Public Land Tips: 1. Hunt when no one else is hunting. That means hunting early season when its hot or late season when its bitter cold and nasty. 2. Find alternative ways to access the public ground. Ask land owners for permission or go in by boat. 3. Get in deep. Most land I hunt is only allows foot traffic. Be willing to go further then most other hunters. Typically if I get in over a mile I won't see another hunter. 4. Go early and stay late. 5. Hunt areas that don't look that good on the map.. These often have the least amount of pressure. 6. Hunt the edges that back up to private ground. 7. Hunt weekdays and not weekends.
I know hunting as far away from others is a good tactic, but one of my best spots on the WMA close to my house is within sight of a parking area so that's where the scouting comes into play. I also know funnels between the WMAs and private land are good spots to sit during gun season. The gun hunters on adjacent land will push deer into the WMA off private lands.
DVO good point, it really depends on your area. Looks like there are no hard to get to areas in that piece of state land, so the deer get walked right past. Less pressure = deer location. Next to houses, and yeah sometimes roads get hit less and overlooked.
Good equation lol! the tricky part is not putting extra pressure on it yourself in the process of all the scouting. I've found that hunting/scouting at the same time helps you stay on the hottest sign without adding more pressure. Find sign, hunt right then.
Heckler that's a big rack! what state was that taken in? Good tips, its all about finding the least pressured, highest cover areas.
I would recommend to be mobile. First time in is the best chance. Next hunt go somewhere else. Play the wind where the wind is the in the bucks favor but not quite. Those are my thoughts. Have Fun
Well I would consider myself to be a public hunting land professional. It did come out of my "bible" if that is worth anything. :p Hunting on public land is every much about out hunting the other hunter. If you can do that you are 80% there.
All my life I've hunted public land. The Sylamore National Forest to be exact. Opening day of black powder is absolutely crazy! On the area I hunt you can't have motorized vehicles on one side of the road. Dragging a deer out isn't fun. What I've learned is early and late seasons are best. I do hunt in gun season and I seek out the deepest spot and get to it long before anyone else. Sometimes I get in the stand 2 hours before day light, and all the hunters coming in at light push the deer to me.
