Hey there I am planning a vacation to hunt with my brother in northern Wisconsin while he is up there on a work assignment. What is a good week for seeking/chasing phase for you guys normally? I don't want to go too late and hit them when they are more locked in Thanks
First week of November is pretty universal in the midwest. The Wisconsin gun season does not open till the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
Awesome thanks, that is what I kinda figured. Didn't know if earlier low temperatures compared to where I am in Ohio would matter much. Was planning probably the week of Nov 4
What part of Wisconsin? NW part there is a ton of county land that is essentially public land to hunt.
Sota has it right. As long as it is an area with little pressure. I have good luck until about the 12th of Nov. then most does are in heat. I live in NW Wisconsin, Sawyer county. I am retired from the US Forest Service and spent my career in the area. You can expect to see other hunters but not overly saturated. USFS and most County lands let hunters leave stands up all season so keep an eye out while scouting and youo might see where someone is already hunting.
Thanks for the tips and info guys. My extended family and brother are in Taylor county so we will start there; might have some family land to hunt. But, I am not opposed to bouncing around if better opportunities present themselves.
RedbeardNP, that is more like central Wisconsin. Expect a lot of hunting pressure if you are, on public land there.
Fair enough, you are a good deal north of there so I guess you're right about location. Just always feels so far up from the southern border where I am coming in lol. Crazy to think I would have too much pressure. I live in a county of 500,000 vs Taylor county's 20,000. I suppose it's reasonable to assume though that the hunting participation is higher (I know almost all of my family up there are hunters) Or you mean a lot of out of staters like myself hit central WI? Since I'll be in mostly weekdays I was hoping for a little peace lol
Well, maybe it is relative to me. More pressure in Central and Southern Wisconsin than here in the North. In the early season I see few hunters on public land but as the rut activity picks up, so does the number of hunters in the woods. A lot of guys take their vacation at that time. Check to see if stands can be left upon County lands there. Each County is different. The National Forest District in Taylor County allows that.
Thanks for the info! Yeah that makes sense, I knew Southern was definitely popular. I am sure the farther up you go the more you can spread out. And yeah, hunting the rut on public is always a guarantee to see more hunters. I am hoping to down my Ohio deer before that lol Your state is a little different in finding public land info. In Ohio, I can go to ODNR and pull up a map of every place that allows public hunting. On WI site, I can find the "public lands" but don't see where it specifies what is huntable vs other public pursuits. I followed a link to UW that sells an atlas, is that worth it for finding the information I need to make sure I am legal and not hunting on some non-hunting public preserve?
Cool. Not asking for your honey holes but if you know a few decent tracts of public that I should start looking at to plan that would be great. I can send my brother to do the boot work haha
Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest If you dont mind walking in way back of the beaten path there are some big deer here. I didn't hunt here to often just because it was further from home. In Clark county south of stanley and thorp there is a lot of public land that is where I hunted the most. Same thing have to go in deeper than the avg hunter but you can find some big deer to chase
