I am planning on hunting public land this year. This is my first time in the state, and first time on public land. My question is this-- how deep do you public land hunters usually travel into the woods? I've read all the studies that say "most hunters only go 300 yards off the beaten path". How true is this? Located in NC if that helps at all.
Every place is different. Some of my best spots are near a mile in and some are only 200 yds from the road. But the biggest thing to look for....hunter pressure. Get away from that and find diverse habitats and you will find deer. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
I find that focusing on difficult terrain is more important than distance. Most people are not willing to climb a hill or cross a river. The harder an area is to access, the less pressure there will be. That can be very near a parking area depending on the individual piece of land. In flatter terrain, getting away pressure will often mean getting farther from roads and trails. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
My best spot last year was maybe 75 yards from the parking lot, I could see my car from the tree. It all depends on how other hunters hunt the land, I’ve found sometimes with public land you almost scout people more than deer and find where they aren’t Adam Matthews Z7 Magnum 29/70 Gold Tip Hunter XT 100g Slick Trick Standard
On one of the public places that I hunt one of my stands is an hour walk from where I park my truck. The shortest is 200 yards. Like these guys said its all about getting away from the people and one other thing that I have found is most of the public land around here is hunted pretty hard the first part of bow season up until gun season starts and then it is a ghost town. And the funny thing is, that is the time when it is the best. One of the best things people have told me about hunting public land is just stay mobile and persistent and it will pay off.
Good advice by all, couldn't agree more. I hunt about a mile in from the nearest parking area, and there's a pretty good hill involved, so I almost never see another hunter. If you can, try to hunt on weekdays when there's much less hunting activity.
I appreciate the advice yall. I have been in the woods as much as possible this pre-season to see how far human signs can be found. So far I have figured out that most people stop around the 2 mile mark.
First and foremost, regardless of distance, I go to a location that I know a mature buck is using. With that said, said location can be pretty deep at times and/or it's oftentimes isolated in some way. And sometimes it's so obvious and easy to get to that it's completely over looked.
As a few have noted I think terrain plays a bigger role. I do a lot of swamp land hunting when it comes to gun hunting. If someone can get in dry, they will go a ways in. If someone needs a pair of knee high lacrosse boots, they will probably go through that. If they need chest/hip waders, not likely they will go that deep. If they need a boat, good luck. It ain't happening. I always try to look for transition points or potential bedding on the other side of water/wet because the average Joe doesn't want to deal with it Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
