Just scouted some new public land in Ohio around areas I already know. Found a great spot on a bench with a big water hole. There is a thicket to the north and west, white oaks to the East and a good entrance from the south. Here is a pic of the water hole, gonna hang a cam on it this spring and see what’s going on. There isn’t any water around the area, so could be frequently visited. Had good trails to and from with some rubs in the area.
Looking to get back to the back 40 to check on winter travel patterns within the next few weeks. Getting very cold this week so will need to wait until it warms up a bit.
Im going to check this public spot out in Illinois. I’m sure some Illinois public guys on here have hunted it or actively do. It holds some Giant bucks according to a few guys I knows walls. Read the description. Apparently if you get up in between the strip lakes you catch them cruising. I’m gonna scout the hell out of it here soon. Bad thing is it’s highly pressured. Good thing is there is some hard to get to areas that don’t get as much or hardly any at all. Trust me, I’ll get in there. If I have to carry my canoe over my head through dead falls I’ll get in there. Read the description
Heck yeah. Sounds like a place where one of these would be awesome. Never seen anyone use one but man the possibilities look great. Collapsible kayak.
Not the biggest property but holds good deer. All three rivers in the county meet up at one point just outside the property boundary the the north. Going out to scout a couple spots once it warms back up to the above zero digits...
man i am glad to see this thread!! I am working on getting permission on some properties in Northern MD to extend my season, ive been using ONX to put together a list of property owners names and addresses to send letters to. I had some success doing this in NJ, but with the excel file and mail merge function of typing one letter and being able to send it to all of them will make a big difference. So far my list is at 77 properties, I would like to get to 100!
Looks like I won’t be making it back out this season to hunt so I’ll be going through all my gear and prepping to do some serious scouting. Plan on getting a gps cause my onX doesn’t work everywhere I hunt like where I was at last Sunday.
Day 2 Scouting a little more productive. Found what looks like to be two buck beds and some food sources. Interesting the way these to bed set up. The 1st one is only about 80 yd off the road on an old Homestead. I bet this place is completely Overlooked. The 2nd bed is on the low ground in a bunch of grassy swamp area. The bed sets up by facing looking at the far end of the grass strip. And a real highlight of the day was meeting A 94 yr old World War 2 veteran
Nice VS. those look like they are definitely buck beds. That’s awesome meeting a guy like that. Makes you want to get down on one knee. I always think of those guys almost like royalty.
Day 3 was fairly decent. Saw turkey, a coyote, found a buck bed, and a small shed. Also found one rut stand spot where small pines line the side of a thin ridge. Guaranteed something will move through. Love when you see this from a distance.... Went down by the swamp and four a nasty small thicket right by a major creek cross. Investigated and found a buck bed right in the middle...
And finished up by driving around the lake and taking down addresses of the houses that back up to the spots I want to get into...recon
Day 4 was productive. A good amount of buck sign including a lot of active scrapes which means one or more decent bucks made it through the season. Couple with the rub height near them I'd say a decent sized buck. Not massive but even if he is a 2 year old he will be the type of buck I'd arrow next year. Also found a natural horizontal rub which is very rare for me. Like these low ground crossings based on terrain......first cross available they will take it to get to high ground cover.
