Has anybody that hunts the northern woodlands in Wi have any luck harvesting nice bucks there? Im not seeing any deer or a nice one out in Polk county. this is my first time hunting the northern woodlands.
I hunt the big timber of Sawyer and Bayfield Counties. Both County and Federal lands. Not much for farm lands around here mostly large tracts of timber. The herd is down from the high of a few years ago mostly due to the two hard winters in a row here. The herd is on the rebound but with the predators I doubt that it will grow fast. I am seeing nice bucks but it takes a lot of scouting and trail camera use. I hunted Polk/Burnett years ago but can't say what it is like anymore. It was good back then.
I hunt the north eastern part of the state, mostly Northern Oconto and Forest County. All National Forest land and although the deer populations are lower than previous years, it was a great year for antler growth. I have to agree with Smokey however, there are some dandy bucks roaming the big woods but it takes a ton of scouting and camera work to have a true chance at them. My family and I have been pretty lucky over the past decade, tagging multiple mature bucks in the national forest but we have put in a crazy amount of miles scouting and shed hunting along with my 7 trail cams and my fathers 10. No feeling better than putting a tag on a public land big woods buck!
I go to deer camp up in Bayfield county, surrounded by county, federal etc all public land and big woods with little to no ag fields. I have not shot one myself but I have looked at plenty of impressive mounts, they tend to have less mass but still. The deer taken tend to be by locals, but if you can scout and succeed in the big woods you can pull it off anywhere.
I would recommend checking out the DNR map on Managed Land. People or corporations who own chunks of land get a tax break by leaving the land open to the public. It isn't technically public land but you don't actually need permission to hunt it. You can sometimes find land that is lower in hunting pressure. I would look up who owns the land and out of courtesy, contract them and ask for permission. You may be able to find a place where you can keep a stand out all season. They cannot by law charge you to hunt but you can sometime make a friendly arrangement with them.
Me and my brother in law has scouted the MFLs in polk county. But not a lot of signs of mature bucks. We also scouted most of the publics in polk county. Its all the same. old old rubs back in September or older. there wasn't anything I saw there on the hunt. Not even a squirrel. I also put out a trail cam in Dunn county, and all I got is a yearling buck. Nothing decent or big.
From what I understand, there has been some logging operations in bayfield and sawyer counties in the past decade. If you can find any area that has been partially clear cut in the past 3-4 years that would be a great start. Logged areas are the "food plots" of the north. Find the edge of the cut that is closest to a swamp, marsh, grassy area, or thick pines and you can bet that there will be deer activity close. As far as mature bucks go, are you mainly gun hunting this area of bowhunting?
Here are some bucks that I am very proud of. The first is a 6 1/2 yr old 10 pointer that we have 4 years of trail cam pics of and his matched set of sheds found the year before I got him. We had tons of history with him and I finally got a chance at him on Halloween of last year, 2014. He dressed out at 224 lbs. This is a beast of an 8 point that we named Ice Pick and he hung around with the 10 point I shot. We also have 4 years worth of trail cam pics and 3 sheds from him as well but never matched them up. My dad was lucky enough to take him with his bow the week after I shot the 10. This is a huge bodied swamp buck that I shot on Nov. 13 2010. He was one of three bucks the followed the trail of a hot doe past my set up that morning. Never had a photo of him before and no idea where he came from, the beauty of the rut. Field dressed 218 lbs, 7 points. Here is a 10 point I shot in a huge cedar swamp on opening day of rifle season 2007. He came strolling through at 10:50. We have one shed for sure that belongs to him, possibly 2 but hard to be certain. We had an unbelievable opening weekend of rifle hunting in 2008. I shot a tall and heavy horned 11 point at 1:30 opening day and my mom shot this dandy 8 point on Sunday morning around 8:30. We had trail cam pics of both bucks and have one shed off my moms buck. None of these bucks were taken over any sort of bait. I don't have a problem with baiting, just not for me. We have had a luck of luck in our area, and this type of buck is not behind every tree but they are around. We have been putting in so much time scouting and walking and it is starting to pay off. I hope those of you that hunt the public big woods can appreciate how tough it is to connect with a mature deer and would love to see some more buck pics.
Im mainly a bow hunter. This is my first experience trying out the northern woodlands like swamps big woods. thanks for the advice.
nice bucks scoutking. tough hunting up in the big woods for sure! I hunt SC WI mainly, but do have some property in Vilas county and a friend that has some in Forest. We hunt it occasionally, but it's not easy hunting at all. you need to put your time in. It's good to see those pictures of big deer up there. keep up the good work.
If you come across a white cedar swamp, scout it and hunt it, next to regen from logged units cedar swamps provide food and shelter.
