Forget how early you have to get out to make sure a spot is open. On the ground at a little inside corner of standing beans. Not optimistic at all, but it's my owj fault and I'm at least hunting. A lot of heavy trails cutting through it.
My setup tonight, some buck bedding on this transition with corn behind me, I put a cell camera on 1 bed this summer and had good action the first 2 weeks then it died. Think the camera pushed them off that bed and down the transition. I'll be pulling the camera after this sit.
awsome thread, i hunt public land 75 percent of the time and prefer it over private in my case. will keep checking in but i wont be getting out till 7th of nov. keep me pumped boys
I live in western West Virginia and have hunted private land all my life. This year I will be hunting on a wildlife management area in southern Ohio. Good luck to all.
Back to the top! So for those of you who frequently hunt public land curious about how close it is and how often you scout? The public land I hunt is about a 45 minute to an hour drive to get there and is approx. 15,000 acres. I have a gem of a private land spot, but feel ai hunt it too much so wanting to do more public land sits this year. Heading out Friday to hang a semi-permanent stand using a coworkers intel. I just don't know that I have the means to do constant scouting year round. Anyone else have long commutes to their area? I do het out there in april/May each year mushroom hunting, but anyone who goes knows how focused you can get, almost tunnel visioned.
The public land I hunt most in Ohio is 1hr 45mins to 2hr 30mins from where I live. There is another area I hunt now and again that is 3hr 15mins away. The PA public I hunt is 45 min to an hour drive.
I hit the public land yesterday morning. No luck. Terrible acorn drop this year so even finding one producing red oak would put me on the deer.
The public land I hunt is now about a 40 minute drive away. I used to live a few miles away from it so this is an area I know fairly well and have been hunting it for 18 years. I don't do much scouting on it but my brother does quite a bit, heck he has been bow hunting from the same tree for many years with great luck. Just this year I started to bow hunt in the same area as where I rifle hunt because the deer sign there right now is great! My bow tree is about 60 yards from my rifle tree. You have to do what you have to do when your time and land to hunt is limited. I don't have multiple stand sights and I feel like if I did, with the limited time I get to hunt that I would be missing out anyways.
My favorite areas are 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hour away. I scout a lot by predator calling all through January, February and March. Then do a bit of unobtrusive poking around in August and early September. Tons of mast hitting the ground this year in my woods. The red oaks are having a mega year and the white oaks are very good as well. Food is everywhere and plentiful for acorn crunchers this year. Topography is going to be more important than ever for my success this year. I had an opportunity at a big old doe last weekend but passed on her. It was at very last light and I just didn't want to fool with her in the dark 1/2 mile from the truck. Another day...
I have a lot of small tracts of public, some only a mile away, some 45 min away. I will continue to scout and add spots, trying to scout everything I can within an hour over the next few years and concentrate on the best
going to Shawnee national forest in Illinois . cant wait the rest of the time its public land in florida.
Finally made it here Scott; thanks for the invite. It took so long, because I've been runnin' & gunnin' hard on public land, as usual. I thought I'd whet some appetites and get people in the mood by showing some of my past public-land bucks... And probably my favorite public lands I've hunted....
I hunt two different peices of public land right by my house along with private but my Friday deer ever was on public which was this little 7 pointer during the youth hunt. I've been out on it twice this year and saw one doe on a night hunt then I did a morning hunt and squirrel Hunter came and started shooting squirrels so I was pissed and left
Wow, how did I miss this gem of a thread? I have several private spots that are good to me. But this season I am planning on hunting a public area about 15 minutes from my house. I have hunted it a little over the past 3 seasons, but really want to hit it more this year. There is also 3 or 4 other public areas within 45 - 90 minutes of my home that I would like to start hunting, but finding the time is hard to come by. Love the thread and the pics from public land hunts are awesome!
I hunt Public land almost exclusively. It's funny, it's not just as simple as trying to figure the deer out, you also have to figure how other hunters play into the mix of things. I think this is part of the challenge, which I love! I've been a Public land hunter most of my life.
I'm fairly new to public land hunting, but I'm adding it to my arsenal to help keep the pressure off the private land I hunt. Last year I was fortunate enough to take a quality buck on my first public land hunt ever. Right now I'm targeting two public land spots. One is only about 4 miles away from my house and is about 3500 acres. The other spot is about 25 miles away and is a small, overlooked piece that is only 160 acres. So far this season, I've already experienced some of the negatives involved with public land hunting. Had my safety line stolen and my stand messed with, but it's not going to deter me from hunting that spot.
Just remember, you have to be willing to lose ANYTHING you leave in the woods on Public land, or any land for that matter. It's a sad reality.
Yeah. Normally I'd pack in and out with my Lone Wolf, but I want to be able to hunt this spot in the evenings after work so I need to be able to just get in and hunt quickly. It's a pretty sad reality that there are so many scum bags out there.
The ONLY time I'll leave my LW in the woods is if I KNOW I'll be returning before first light the following morning.
