Has anyone had success hunting on public land they have never seen before? I'm thinking about trying to hunt on public land but am new to bow hunting, and the only time i have ever been hunting is land owned by family. Any advice would be greatly appreciated based on the face that i am new and have no clue what i'm doing, i just want to hunt. Also should i take a weekend to scout the land or just get after it? sorry if this is a dumb post, just trying to get all the help i can.
I had success on heavily pressured public land by hunting funnels and very hard to reach places. The farther you get from a parking lot the better. What I try to look for in a narrow strip of trees connecting two larger pieces of woods. One of my favorite public hunting spots is a narrow strip of trees in shallow ravine between a river and a bean field. The strip is only about 25 yards wide, perfect for bow range, and when I get a certain wind it just blows my scent over the river. The strip is also connected to a larger tract of timber that is heavily hunted so at about 9 or 10 am, when all the other hunters are climbing down and walking back to their trucks, they push all the deer to me and they all come within 25 yards. Find a funnel or find the nasty tangly stuff other hunters don't want to get into and you will find deer.
