So I read some other posts from guys that put up with the struggle of hunting public land. That's all I have so don't tell me to just hunt private land. For anyone that has been successful, do you have any tips that can get me a step up on the game? I hunt almost every free night I have if the wind is right. I have 2 pieces of land that I try to hunt. I have done plenty of scouting over the past 3 years and I finally have my trees picked out and such, but the one variable left is other people. The one piece of land is bigger and has a lot more deer, but it sees way more pressure. Every night I hunt I can count on seeing about 6-8 deer, mostly does. They tend to move throughout the grass and just browse. I did see a nice buck one night right away about 100 yds away. I do know there are plenty of nice bucks in the area also. I can already tell the deer are more pressured just by how edgy they are and how they have been moving. I know other guys have hunted in there and they aren't very serious or educated. They hunt with the wrong wind blowing into the bedding area and walk out during shooting light scaring any deer in the area and such. On the other hand, the second land that I hunt is smaller and has less deer but I believe that I am the only one trying to hunt it. I know of 3 bucks that are shooters in this land and there is really good buck sign. In fact there is great sign. I hunt right over a big scrape line and have passed on several younger bucks that came in to check the scrapes. The only problem is it is a total tossup if I am even going to see deer. A lot of activity seems to be at night. I usually see deer about 1/2 the times when I hunt here and usually only 1 or 2 at a time. So where do you think I should focus? More deer and more hunters? Or should I just be persistent with the smaller piece and hope that sooner or later I luck out and something nice decides to come past early? Pheasant hunting opened last weekend so there were guys walking all over both pieces of land now, I really don't know how this will impact them. Thoughts and experiences?
Sounds like you have the smaller piece figured out, so I'd be there if you're seeing any daytime deer activity. Also, take a close look at the larger piece via aerial photos, forest maps and topo and figure out where average Joe and his buddy Dumb Azz refuse to go because of a deep creek to cross, or steep climbs, or no trails....and go there.
We have a 60 acre piece of public that is across the lake from our land it has good deer cover and some nice deer it gets pounded hard. Every year my brothers or I manage to take 130+ inch buck out of there and we see a lot of deer but it wasn't always that way. We use to access it the same as everybody else and we would see very few deer and no quality deer. About 5 years ago we started doing every thing different than the rest of the hunters. We parked in different spots we accessed a lot of the same stands we used before but by canoe then we started seeing and shooting big deer. I watched a hunter park in the approach where everybody always parks to hunt that public land he was quite and had the wind in his favor and before he was 50yds into the field a small 6 pt was sneaking out of the public land about 350 yes away that's when I started thinking I wonder what the big ones do. Just don't be predictable at all change things up. When the pressure is on the deer don't leave they just hide better. It takes a lot to run a mature buck off his home turf they are still on their small piece of land they call home but they are a lot smarter too.
What I found best is on bigger properties is to find out the owner of the neighbouring land on the other side and get permission to walk through yo access the government land. Of course this always doesn't work if it does not pack you stuff and hike to to other side. Most of the hunters are lazy and will not go in very far. The deer will just get pushed to the back of that land from that and they will be pushed right to you
I hunt on public land and one of my best sets is on a deer run that goes from a swamp up to a bunch of oak trees. Works great for me, my brother shot a ten pointer there last year!
I would hunt the smaller piece of ground.And as others said use Google Earth heavily to find the overlooked/hard to get to spots.Even a small creek that is two feet deep will often keep most lazy hunters out of that area becauce they ethier forgot rubber boots or are just too lazy.And the deer know that.The deer most often will have the hunters patterned more than you think becauce theyre out there 24/7.And sometimes farther isnt neccisarily better.Around here about 1/4 to 1/2 mile in is where the most pressure is so if you can find a spot before that or after that it is usually good.And as before use Google Earth to look for hidden spots along with different/shorter ways to access.Often if you can come in from the back or come in a different way and then set up so the other hunters push deer to you when they walk in along the normal (hunter road). Then it is usually pretty good and dont forget to hunt until noon or later (and not just during the rut) becauce most hunters will head home at around 930.
Thanks for the help guys. The larger piece of land that sees more pressure is very limited in places to hunt. It's mostly brush and grass and there aren't many trees to choose from. Many of the trees are too big to even hang a portable. I may have to be creative and find a way to hunt these parts because everyone stays near the few huntable trees on the north end. I believe the south half is almost untouched by bow hunters. I could try hunting from the ground. I don't really know how to go about that though.. Any tips?
Ive hunted in a pop up blind in fields and grassy areas. I always try to be near some sort of cover. You can get them pretty inexpensive on sale and they seem to work well for me
private and public got there own up and downs. they both hold quality bucks. depending on its terrain and food there.
Another idea, I used to hunt more public land and I would mount ATV bow mounts on my mountain bike, you can cover a lot of ground without sweating too bad, especially if you need set up a ground blind once you're in there, it should be easy to get deep in, fast and won't leave a scent trail behind.
As for hunting on the ground,just try to keep a decent backdrop and remember to bring a small portable stool along.If you really want to do a lot of hunting from the ground I would give the Ghost Blinds a look,theyre pretty dam cool.
Or on second thought you could get one of those leafy suits,have heard nothing but good things about those.
The way i find mature bucks on public ground is ussually by running game cameras. when i find a deer i want to kill i will note how other people are hunting that particular piece of ground first. Then i try to figure out where they are bedding by moving trail cams till i got day light movement, then it comes to accsess i go the same route as adamc.
