Hunting on heavily hunted public land?

[bigbore442001]

Anyone here hunt public land that recieves a lot of pressure?

I have been bowhunting RI on some state land. So far, I have not seen any other hunters in the woods. I have seen other vehicles but not the occupants.

I know that will change come the opening day of muzzleloader season. I suspect that the area will recieve a sort of mini orange invasion.

So.My strategy is to look for some escape runs into the several swamps that dot the landscape and set up a stand on that location. I am not sure how sucessful that strategy will be but I figure it is the best bet.

Anyone else have some ideas?

 

[shootemup]

I think you have the right idea by setting up on an escape route. I would try to set up as far away from the parking areas as possible.

Probably the most important thing will be to GET THERE EARLY. If you can be way back in the woods, set up and settled an hour before those guys even start showing up, they'll drive the deer for you.

Good luck with it, please let us know how it goes -

:hatsoff:
Spot

 

[SunSetter]

I agree with Spot. I've been hunting nothing but state land for 20 years now. I've done alot of scouting as I hunt turkey, coyote & fox, and deer on them. I hunt deer in bow,rifle and ml seasons. I find the thickest nastiest can't get into deer hiding thickets and setup on them. The bigger the thicket the better. If at all possible I will move inside them if they are big enough and setup on crossing trails. I've found out that the deer will move back and forth in the thicket as hunters walk the outer edges. Once in a good thicket the deer hate to come out. This is what I've experienced. Good hunting to all.

 

I spent a good part of my life hunting on public lands. It used to be you could just hike deeper in [most hunters are lazy] and find sparsely hunted areas--but with the advent of 4-wheelers/ATMs the public lands that allow them are ruined. The dangerous part was getting through the areas close to the roads where most of the hunters were...I had many good hunts on public lands--and for those of you that complain about them, consider yourself lucky to have any--in some states public hunting lands are scarce to non-existant, and if you want to hunt you need alot of lease money or your own land--something I could not afford most of my life...

 

[wvbuckbuster]

All the above is good,earlier the better. Also try little patches that others don't bother with. My family and I have good results hunting these areas. Good hunting and be safe.

 

[doulos]

Even though I have acces to private land I still hunt state land sometimes. Here in NY sotherntier ATV's are not allowed on state land so all the hunting pressure is close to the vehicle access areas. Big bucks are shot every year on state land by hunters who are willing to get deep into the woods. The hunting is hard but go with a friend to help you get your deer out.

 

[BrownBear]

All those extra hunters are your FRIENDS! I've had some of my best hunting using them as drivers. Get there early, alright, but let's define early. When I hunted public land all the time I'd head into the woods three or four hours before shooting light, using a flashlight to guide me a mile or so inland into a preselected position.

The really early start lets the woods settle down again after you pass through. Going the mile in is important because the animals are going to start moving well before daylight as the yahoos start heading out. They create quite a commotion, and the animals will start to move out well before legal shooting hours. If you're not far enough in, all the animals will pass you before it gets light enough to see them.

These days all those 4-wheelers are your FRIENDS! Users are convinced that they don't scare game, but save your breath and don't try to tell them the truth. Instead, figure out where the stinking noise makers can't go and be there well before first light.

 

[Deadeye]

Right, BB, in this neck of the woods there are very few HUNTERS but 1000s of wheeler riders who think they are hunting. Find a place they can't ride on their wheelers and you will have it all to your self and that's where most of the deer will be.

 

[rabjr]

I don't anymore but used to. I found a sweet spot that was a small bend in Woodriver near 165 in Arcadia. Shallow and not very wide, you could see a well used deer trail leading into and out of it. One of the best places to be on openning day of muzzleloader or shotgun season was just off this trail on the opposite side of the checking station. Guys would park at the checking station and most didn't go very far from there and by 10:00am many would be back standing at their cars drinking coffee or eating. All their moving around on that side of the river always sent deer across and in my lap. :rotf:

 

[Osprey]

Hunt where others aren't. Don't know what's applicable for your area, but I've bicycles deep into non-ATV zones, used kayaks and jonboats to come in by water into the backside of areas, sat on the ground in the middle of 5 year old clearcuts, sat on a cushion in the middle of a square mile of marsh - just get away from everybody else, that's what the deer want to do.

 

[Runner]

I have several relatives that once took their sleeping bags and slept in their stands so that the opening day crowd would run deer over them!

 

[ratgunner]

Hunt where others aren't. Don't know what's applicable for your area, but I've bicycles deep into non-ATV zones, used kayaks and jonboats to come in by water into the backside of areas, sat on the ground in the middle of 5 year old clearcuts, sat on a cushion in the middle of a square mile of marsh - just get away from everybody else, that's what the deer want to do.

That right there is good advice. :wink:

 

[tg]

As ststed they can be your friend around here Blacjktails like to lay low and circle behind a hunter, I have taken a few nice bucks by letting the other guys go first thru a thick covered canyon and then slowly follow behind, just a step or two a minute, just have to be very carefull of where every one is before taking a shot.Not all areas allow such a hunt but if terrain is suitable it can be a good one...you won't make friends this way I had one guy get upset because I shot a buck that came back to the road before I started in and shot it 20 yds from the guys truck along side the dirt road at a major crossing, I just told him he should have had one of his guys watching the back door and thanked him for his effort.

 

I just spent 3 days hunting on PA Game Lands. I did not see another hunter - and I did not see a single deer either. Moreover - I saw very little deer sign. Maybe a half dozen scrapes, a few tracks and not much activity on trials that were heavily used in the spring and early summer when I scouted. More telling than anything though was the lack of deer droppings. I know I am not much of a deer hunter (varmints are my real focus) but I know what to look for in terms of signs and there weren't any to speak of. Still though, it was great to be out in the woods!

 

[kevthebassman]

I'm too close to St. Louis to bother hunting the public land. There's only a couple of places that allow rifle or muzzleloader hunting, and they're so thick with hunters that it's downright dangerous.

I have access to 265 acres of riverbottom land that I got permission to hunt by being courteous to an old timer in a farm and home store who just happened to be the caretaker. Me and a buddy help him split wood and scrap and keep him in deer meat and he gave us the combination to the gate. The guy who farms the whole riverbottom just wants us to kill deer, and in 3 years I've never run across the actual landowner..... he's some sort of big city lawyer who only comes out to the property about once a year, if that.

We have our stands hung and nobody's ever messed with them, and we've never had any trouble with anybody out there. Just dumb luck that I happened on this place, but I'm gonna hold on to it like grim death.

 

[ratgunner]

I just spent 3 days hunting on PA Game Lands. I did not see another hunter - and I did not see a single deer either. Moreover - I saw very little deer sign. Maybe a half dozen scrapes, a few tracks and not much activity on trials that were heavily used in the spring and early summer when I scouted. More telling than anything though was the lack of deer droppings. I know I am not much of a deer hunter (varmints are my real focus) but I know what to look for in terms of signs and there weren't any to speak of. Still though, it was great to be out in the woods!

Being from PA myself,I can fully understand.

 

[Stumpkiller]

When I have hunted public lands I sit in the thickest stuff I can find. Usually someone is moving the deer and humans seldom work through the thick stuff until late season drives.

 

[shootemup]

I hunt mostly private land. But I realize that, at least part of the time, I use the same tactics I would if hunting public land.
The nieghbors to one side allow some knucklehead nephews (or some other type of relative) to hunt their property. Those guys are the big talker types - describe a deer you saw and they'll speculate on his daddy and tell you all about the 2-acre thicket where he lives - you know the type.

I love those guys. Opening day of ml OR modern gun season is the time to cover escape routes ONTO my property. I even make sure the fences are down. :grin:

I had some minor difficulty with trespassers from over there last year but they were worth all the trouble. :haha:
(not to sound like a land barron or anything, we just have a small place out in the country)

Spot

 

[Slamfire]

My strategy is to look for some escape runs into the several swamps that dot the landscape and set up a stand on that location. I am not sure how sucessful that strategy will be but I figure it is the best bet.

Anyone else have some ideas?

That's the classic method for getting elk out of black timber. Disturb the herd in there and the lead cow will take them into another drainage through her favorite pass. The oldtimers have these routes named, and know NOT to take the lead cow, her successor will have a different opinion. :wink: Deer don't have the same herding instinct, it's usually every buck for himself.