I'm from North Central Ohio. I watched a video of a public archery hunt in Southern Ohio. Guy shot a nice 140-150 class deer. Commented on nice buck, nice video. All together well done story. Last comment I made was a question "what park did you hunt in "Southern Ohio"? Actually got some replies sent to me telling me to "mind my own business" "trying to move in?" "Put in the time and find your own place". I've been to Shawnee, Scioto, Hocking Hills, Zaleski. Everyone knows Wayne National. Is it BAD to ask another public land hunter what PARK they hunted? When i was younger, my friend's and i would sign up for 12hr orienteering races in these parks. 7hrs in day, 5hrs in the dark. While doing these races, i "scouted" and marked spots on my map when i saw a ton of deer sign. Just never made it back to hunt all these places. Thought it would just be cool to hear someone say "xxxxx park" and be like yeah been there, know exactly what your talking about. Never thought i would get all the negative feedback from a simple question. Is it bad to ask?
Public land is free for all and only way to get good intel is to get it yourself. All info you do get, take with a grain of salt. I dont share my info with anyone, except a few that hunt the same areas as me. Easier to know whats going on when all the local guys are on the same page. Helps with over hunting spots and locate bucks. Its common for people getting upset with questions asked on open fourms, like youtube. I wouldnt ask any specific questions, nor would i answer those questions. I simply tell people, "Im not going to answer that, its a secret." But you will get the internet heros on there that will go beyond a simple response and put you down. Just a way for little people to be bullies and try to feel big. Also remember alot of these peoplecan be kids and dont know how to properly respect and respond. Sad really.
I actually have alot of questions about public hunting from watching YouTube videos of people's hunt from other states other than Ohio. Is there a place on here that covers public land forum questions? I haven't found it if there is.
Do you turn your location off when you post treestand selfies? If not, then everyone knows your location. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
This thread is perfect to ask those questions. But your first mistake is watching YouTube videos looking for info. They should be taken as pure entertainment only. This is all social media. Hunting is a personal thing and every single person will tell you a different way to do things. Tactics that help you open your mind and look at the sign given, is what you need. Things that relate to the terrain that you will be hunting. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
I only post those here, so very few people would have access to that, if they have the knowledge to get the data.
Do you hang cameras during the season? All season? Off-season only? Have you had cameras stolen? If you find a good scrape or rub or just good sign and there is a camera on the tree over a scrape or trail, do you put your camera in the tree next to theirs? Do you put stands out for the whole season or is everyone mobile? Have sat in other's stands? Is it bad to put something up within view of another setup...across a field or just further down a tree line? Do you hunt public if there is no farm fields nearby(corn, beans..). From what i can see looking at maps of state/national parks (in Ohio), most property lines go right around all the farmland (private) so you have to hunt as close as you can to private if you want to hunt those types of food sources. Seems like most shows i watch, there are farm fields in public. I attached a picture a parcel of forest (3000 acres) with no Farmland or ag fields or anything, just woods. Would this be hard to hunt? Reason im asking is i've lost a few places to hunt to them selling their property. Thought i might just have to start public if i want to keep hunting. Sure some questions are dumb or obvious, just asking for now. Thanks.
good rule of thumb for all public lands is first come, first served .. if some one else is in the area/location/close by I'll move on ... and dont EVER mess with another persons cam/stand/location, it just may start WWIII .. btw, I hang cams from late Aug thru Feb. .. look at the laws/rules for cams and stand use on the property you hunt, it may change from property to property ... I use to pre hang stands, and have now been truly mobile since '13 .. Lone Wolf Alpha II and 4 Skeletor sticks and a two step aider, only in a few instances will I leave it all up for a next AM sit, if the wind agrees. ... when it come to hunting habitat only/woods, no ag. I look for terrain changes, edges, funnels, bottle necks, secluded areas with deer sign and NO people sign (which is hard to do now adays), and natural food sources or areas that lead to those ag sources ... remember, it is normal for deer to travel more than miles, esp at night to find food/water/hot does .... find bedding close to those food sources, set up on trails/funnels/travel corridors leading to and from .. and dont try to fool the wind, you will lose, wind weather dictates much of where I'll set up, if the wind isnt correct, I wont hunt a particular location .. I still have 3 top spots I havnt been into because the wind never agreed with my available hunting days .. right now I have around 40 different locations I can set up in, some get hunted yearly, other spots, not as often, ive already lost 4 newer locations due to weather/storm damage .. addendum : while I'm after season scouting (in season also), I'm also looking for signs of humans .. tree's with climber marks, stick marks, DIY ground blinds, bright eyes/trail markers, boot tracks, cams etc. ... to me a good day tree sitting is when I dont see, hear nor smell another human ... so far this season, that idea has sucked ...
I dont do the camera thing. I put out 2 this year on a piece of private just for a couple months to see what bucks are around. Anything left on public will get stolen at some point. Cameras if used should be placed high out of eye sight. But most likely will get taken. Here in MD all stands have to be removed each day. So im 100 percent mobile. If you want to be successful on public, need to be mobile and bounce around. At any given day someone can hunt the area. Dont become married to one spot. To me cameras have become a real problem. I cant go anywhere with out running into them. I have no problem hunting around other people's stuff. If not, i would never find a place to hunt. I hunt big woods stuff and ag stuff. Its all different. But deer leave sign. Its up to you to determine if its fresh and worth hunting or keep moving. Every hunt i do i walk with my stand on my back, ready to hunt. I head to a area i know. If the sign isnt there, i keep moving til i find it. I try not to settle just to hunt. Im there to kill a deer, so want to be in the best position. Im also not afraid to sit lines. Just got to be prepared if a deer crosses and you need to get permission to retrieve. You may get a no on this, and that sucks when it happens. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
I don't mind asking for general areas - either deer zones/units or parts of the State like "Northwest corner" or "Southern," but I'm certainly not asking about specific pieces of ground. That information is precious and very much protected. Hell, I have buddies with spots on public ground that I don't even ask about, and they don't offer to tell me. When I hunted Iowa a few years back I was pretty careful not to show any parking lots, roads, or maps that could be easily identified. I was literally just a dude walking in the timber and I had guys messaging me that still figured out exactly where I was at. Sneaky bastards.
I'm personally venturing into some public lands as well...one such piece is rather small and I won't be sharing intel or information with anyone just given the size and it being often overlooked by many. The others right now I'm in the gather intel, maps and such stage presently. Some of the best resources I've actually found are the property managers and believe it or not local COs if you can find one....and they're responsive to inquiries.
I understand if hunting city or county public properties that are 100-200-300 acres. I expect some/most people won't say anything. This guy was hunting "big timber" in Southern Ohio, so i'm guessing here he's talking about the 9,000 to 60,000 acre parks down there. I don't know, if I shot a nice/big buck and someone asked which park it was and I was in a 20,000 acre park like Zaleski or something I would let them know which park. I wasn't asking for a screenshot with a drop pin or something. I won a drawing to hunt a state park one year close to my town. I was given a 2 week window to hunt a zone of 100 acres. I hunted the morning the last day and when i finished, a guy was waiting in the parking lot. He had won the drawing for the next 2 weeks after me. We talked about an hour and told him about everything i saw and what i thought of the place. I know the situation is different because it was a lottery, but he shared a few things with me about some public spots in the area. Up until that year and every year after that the most property I've ever hunted was 23 acres do I thought 100 acres was big. I can't imagine trying to navigate 9,000+ acres without asking for some advice or help.
Oh the other thing, which is actually something i love. No bait piles. Especially since Ohio is a baiting state, you wont have that on public. Makes you learn the deer and there feeding patterns. In the long run, you will become a better woodsman. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
