Hey guys ill be going to college soon the land ill be hunting is kickapoo state park near champaign IL. i was wondering if you guys could help me out and maybe point out some good areas to look at scout out and then hunt. Im new to this so im not very good with reading maps yet. i have a picture of the area i can hunt its the solid grey colored area (picture below) but im not sure what other types of maps to look at ive tried google earth but to be honest i dont know what im looking for. so i was hoping someone might take some time to look this area up and help me out. If so that would be great! Thanks
I don't know a thing about the area you are hunting but I know a little about hunting public land (or new land for that matter) and the best advice I can give you is to put on your boots and walk the area. But before you do that take a map of the area to the Park Office check station and talk to the personnel that works the area. Talk to the game warden in the area or any service people that work there regularly. They can mark spots on your map where they've seen deer and other game and they are a wealth of information. They can save you a lot of time. Find the mail man in that area and talk to him/her too. Take a GPS and mark points of interest such as creeks, trails, creek crossings, water holes, ridges, food sources, scrapes, rubs, beds. At this time of year I would not walk into the bedding areas but learn the trails on the edges of the property and look for food sources. Make sure you scout the area in January - March as you can see a lot more when the leaves are off the trees and trails are obvious if there is snow on the ground. Carry a hand held GPS and mark points of interest and transfer them to a map on Google Earth. Take a note pad and make notes if necessary to help you recall what you marked on the GPS. You can record notes on your voice recorder on your phone so you can recall why you made a certain mark. A camera or video camera may help in scouting too. Whatever it takes to help you get a visual idea of the area when you are looking at the map on Google. I've walked through a wooded area that I've never been in and marked a spot every hundred yards and then put it on a Google map. Having walked the area and then seeing the overhead view really put things in perspective. Learning a new area can be a blast! Go out early in the morning or evenings and glass the area from the roadway. You can often find deer coming out of the woods to eat and make a note of it. Hope this helps and good luck.
A Topo map would be much better to look at. Like said above walking is the best way to find out how an area is. A Topo will show elevations changes, ridges, saddles, and water sources. "Live Life at Full Draw" Sent from my IPhone
In my experience with public hunting areas, do you see those little round "P" symbols? I'm assuming those are parking areas. Avoid anything within easy walking distance or you will fight with overcrowding. Nothing more frustrating than having someone post up 50 yds. from you, or worse, come walking through at 4:00 P.M. when the sun sets at 4:15. Ive had that happen before, the same guy did it multiple times throughout the season. Who leaves during the final 45 minutes of light? Ill do some checking and see if I can come up with anywhere for you to check out.
Yeah im pretty sure those are the parking areas and i figured i would have to walk a lot to get where its less crowded but thats fine with me. And thanks for checking upon it just let me know if you find anything. and yeah i have no clue why someone would leave with 45 minutes left of light thats just stupid and i would be pissed.
Oly, give me some time and I will mark up a map for you. I will mark up the map, and will also label the spots, 1 through whatever. I will PM you the exact gps coordinates if that will help you as well. There are some really great topo guys on here so hopefully they will mark up a map as well. I will break the online map scouting process down to you in pictures so that you can move forward with some working knowledge.
Sweet. Thank you. and yeah i could use the coordinates too. it wouldnt hurt to have them. Just when ever you have something just let me know thanks again for your help.
See if these help: I use the satellite to look at the vegatation, water and aerial features - with a very zoomed in image, you can often identify more details - conifer/deciduous trees, etc. Topo helps with the lay of the land. Mentally, put these together and you start to 'construct' the lay of the land and build some guesses. After that its boots on the ground time... There are a number of tools out there with GPS and mapping features, but I usually have access to Google maps which offers two key features -- 1) free & 2) already on my phone which means less weight and things to carry into the woods (when I have service).
Thanks guys for the help. i have a couple guys checking out maps and maybe marking some spot to check out so thank you. if anyone else wants to im not going to say no. lol
Parking areas and roads listed. Pay attention them. I tried to put it all together to isolate some spots that might allow you to hunt away from other people and give you some good hunting. Go scout the areas if you are able to do so. If not, hunt the spots that give you the best wind advantage.
Okay im guessing the Letter are the place to check out can you explain your other marks on the map please. and thanks for doing this for me
I found this great book that I have just started going through to do the very same thing: Find good spots on public land. The book is Mapping Trophy Bucks, by Brad Herdon. http://www.amazon.com/Mapping-Trophy-Bucks-Brad-Herndon/dp/0873495039 It is a great read and really looks to improve my hunting of of bucks this season. Sean http://ruggedoutdoors.tv
I just used the letters to mark the boundary lines because it was extremely difficult to match the boundary lines on an aerial map/topo map with the map the DNR provided. The blue is the river that flows through the area. The yellow is just the outer boundary line. The red lines on the topo map are the spots to check. The yellow lines on the aerial map are spots to check. Sometimes you can get a different perspective on an area by looking at both types of maps, and if areas look good aerially and topographically, then you pretty much know you have a winner if your scouting shows you good deer activity.
I like the northwestern most area as it looks good topographically and it appears to be a good mile or more from the nearest parking spot.
Okay gotcha. im heading down tomorrow to move in so hopefully next weekend i can get out and check some of the spots out. now the Spots that you said look good. Are those up towards the top of the park?
Agree with Sean on the book by Brad Herndon. Great info. Also, with all that water if you have a small jon boat and trolling motor you can get away from the crowds pretty quickly. I like to use a boat and hunt lake or river edges. Only hunt with the wind blowing your scent back across the water and don't scent up the area. Deer will travel the downwind edge of timber where it meets a safe border like a lake. Set up where you can get out of your boat and go up your tree. That way you don't ever get scent in the area and you can still guard your boat. Also, a boat is a big plus getting deer out of public land where ATV's aren't allowed. Look for pinch points along the lake or river that concentrate deer movement. Good luck.
