BIGGEST WASTE OF TIME OF MY LIFE! They cram way to many hunters into this area and pretty much say go for it. We sat for one morning and one night and said hell with it because we each got walked up on at least twice and there was 4 of us.
This will be our third year hunting at ripley. We have had pretty good luck our party of 4 shot two does the first year and three the next. We each saw 20 plus deer and multiple bucks, some were pretty nice. There is no doubt you will encounter other hunters and alot of them are morons. We just drove around the first year and found spots where there werent many other people and hunted there, its worked well for us.
Yeah this will be my first year and the rest of my crews second. They all said they saw numerous big bucks last year but just weren't close enough. even though there are a lot of hunters there is always a MONSTER that comes out of there every year. Which makes me more interested. I also like that it's completely fair chase and that you are not allowed to scout it before hand. Basically looking at topo maps and google earth months before trying to figure out the best spots to hunt.
How exactly does it work? Are there certain points you can't drive a vehicle anymore and have to walk in from there?
It's 53,000 acres of state owned land. It is a military base that allows bow hunting 2 weekends a year. you have to apply and there will be 2500 guys each weekend. From the maps there are roads that can be driven on throughout the land but you can only drive on the roads (no driving on trails). I think there are 2 entrances to the land that you have to check in at and from there it's all up to you. there are a few "dead zones" and if you are caught in there your bow is taken away and a court appearance is scheduled yada yada. But yeah drive in, park, and walk into the woods and hang a stand.
I'll be there 2nd weekend and not really. This will be my first year up there so it's a bit of a learning curve, but still super excited.
Many years ago i used to hunt it. My advice is if you are after a good buck take the first year and scout what you liked on aerials. Get back in go in a mile you will see WAY fewer people there is a ton of deer movement because of all the pressure. Set up so they work to your advantage. Do not break the rules you will more than likely get busted it was very heavily patrolled.
Yeah i kinda plan on doing quite a bit of scouting. With the rules are we able to film our hunts in there or no?
