Does hunting public land change how you do things? Do you hunt trails instead of bedding? Do you hunt early season instead of late? Do you hunt in any wind since others probation will too? I'm curious to what you guys change and why Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Honestly it really depends on the human pressure of the public land. I have hunted public land that has very low human pressure and you can hunt near the bedding areas, food areas, etc. I've hunted these low pressure areas early and late season and have had success. But with high pressure areas I have found it a lot easier to kill bucks during the early season, because most of the people that go out only hunt the rut. The success you are going to have in the early season is find out where this buck sleeps and which trail/route he takes, so this means a lot of scouting. I personally would set up on one of the trails he takes to go feed and kill him that way. But I also tend to hunt the spots where you think the deer are going to get pushed, I have shot deer this way only 200 yards away from the public land parking lot. Everybody thinks they need to go need to go a mile back in the woods to kill a deer, but that is always not true.
Well in my situation, these two places I am going to hunt are two of the closest WMA's next to the city of about 150k people so do the math there could possibly be a lot of pressure. Would you still hunt the wind and on days with horrible winds stay home? Or would you go out anyway with scent killer because someone is probably going to turn the bucks nocturnal soon anyway?
Yeah right let's just talk about the weather and post bow pictures Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Scent killer is mandatory anytime you hunt, doesn't matter if it has a lot of pressure or not. I always hunt on the windy days, I actually find those the best for a variety of reasons. Reason #1 people tend to stay home because it is too windy. #2 Deer can't hear you, and this allows you too sneak up on bucks when they are on their beds (better play the wind when sneaking up on a buck). There are also downturns when you are hunting windy days. Not as many deer are on their feet when it's a really windy day, and if you are in a tree stand, lets just say I hope you don't get motion sickness! For bucks going nocturnal you have to go to them. To be successful on public land you need to hunt the spots that nobody wants to hunt and hunt the days nobody wants to hunt. That is what I have learned while hunting public land. I hope this helps
Well I will be able to hunt the days that no one else hunts, I am done with class at 12 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I'm really excited about this! I might not get very much morning hunting in but that's ok. I am trying to line up early season places that I will catch the deer going to food plots.
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]Most definitely. hunting public land is too vague however, hunting highly pressured land (typical of most public pieces but not all) will aid you in changing your tactics to accomplish the goal of taking a deer at close range. but this can be misleading too. don't expect big epiphanies.. But rather small details you may have overlooked before. things like entrance and exit.. The right scrape to hunt.. Alternate food sources.. Even which trees hide the hunter best. These little things are fundamental I know.. But a hunter must follow them with more scrutiny on pressured ground versus less pressured ground where one can get away with more. take that knowledge into less pressured ground and suddenly the woods open like a book to you. [/FONT]
Get out there and hunt the properties in the wind unless it is so hard you can't get into a tree or the deer will not be moving. A light rain is even better. The fair-weather hunters will not be out in the rain or windy conditions.
The only thing hunting public ground does is add something else you should be scouting....tendencies of other hunters. It is a part of your overall scouting that good public land hunters track and scout along with their scouting of the deer. Weather, timing, moon, food and everything still affect movement of the deer...public though has more hunting, which adds another part to study: other hunters. Our mind as hunters is our #1 thing as to how successful we can be in capitalizing on mature deer especially...deer are receptive creatures, much like alarm systems (as I touch on in my Deer Alarm article)...we however have the ability to analyze and draw conclusion based on the data studied. Use that ability whether on public or private...factors just change is all from property to property.
Hunting Public land is all I do. Scouting off season is key - learn their patterns, trails, bedding, food source. Keep a log - time, day conditions, temperature, wind direction, and barometric pressure and what you see. I hunt early and often - afternoons are best for movement than mornings. I hunt in all types of weather - they move all the time. I hunt wind directions - I don't worry about other hunters unless they walk up on me and then I just pack it in depending how loud they are and what time of day it is. More pressure the earlier i get out and stay longer. Most hunters give up after 2-3 hours of not seeing anything. i work my plan.
It doesn't change my tactics, it just takes me out of my comfort zone of not knowing the land like I do on the private land I am blessed to hunt.
I have a question probably one that has been answered before but any help is great. I am going to be hunting public land for the first time and was wondering if you guys would recommend a using a ground blind? The only reason I ask is because I have bad knees.
I personally hunt as high as I can but never higher than I need to....but even more so I always say hunt when, where and how one can (PERIOD). I know guys who have success on the ground on public.
Yes sir on the ground blind.Anything that gets the edge on em.I hunt public land as far off the road as my knees will let me travel.Private land, not so far.
Hunting public land is usually harder than hunting private... But not always. I do think hunting private managed lands where decent bucks hit food plots and such in daylight makes some people lazy, and they start shooting "good" deer rather than the best bucks the land has. And the oppisate, hunting public or pressured land gets a guy more in tuned to have quick success when on private managed. The whole scent control statement thing at the begging of this thread made me chuckle... I don't believe there is any way to fool a bucks nose. Scent control to me is all about wind direction and access, and I certainly don't think its hurting my success at all. I took an early season book buck and a rut book buck on pressured land this year and a very mature buck on private managed. I was wearing my work boots from the factory on two of those hunts. Anywho, to me the secret to success is to get close to the bucks bedding area at the right time, That don't vary cause of public or private, Get the job done the 1st time, then move on and let that spot settle down. I rarely hunt the same tree more than 2 times a season and don't let the bucks pattern me... I fully understand that a mature buck is going to smell you have been there and don't let advertising, hype, sponsored TV host trick me into believing I can fool a deers nose, which I think is a huge advantage cause I don't waste my time in spots where deer can smell that I have already been.
