Have any of you other Ohio guys thought about gettin' together for a traditional Ohio hunt? Either deer or rabbits? Heck, they are doing it everywhere else, thought maybe we should get in on the trend.
It might be a good way to get some new guys started or just find a few other trad guys to hunt with.
Let me know...I would be willin' to put in a good bit of leg work on it. We still have Nov, Dec & Jan to get it together if there is enough interest.
-Charlie
Sounds like a good idea, maybe in "Wayne National forest"?
Wayne is a good size. Gun hunted there some time ago. Only killed a doe, but saw a dozen deer at least. Never hunted Tranquility Wildlife Area, but it is supposed to have good numbers of deer with low pressure. I don't know about camping there.
-Charlie
We definitely have to have a place to camp legally. Maybe a state park?
this is a great idea,theres got to be a ton of people that live in the buckeye on here.
That would be awesome. If nothing else, it would be a good opportunity for me to get aquainted with a few of you fellow trad gangers.
sounds like a good idea..........
It's allwasy fun to get together. I would love to come.
I could be convinced! :bigsmyl:
Sounds good to me. Is there somewhere in ohio to do it legally? Would be fun!
Count me in.Sounds great!
Depending on when this happens, my son and I might be interested as well.
Salt Fork State Park has a group camping area and regular camping. It also has a lot of public hunting areas. I checked it out last night.
I know there will be oher guys hunting, but you get that anywhere.
Friday, I thought maybe we could set up. Have a camp fire and generally just get to know each other a bit.
Saturday, buddy up and hunt by two's or threes in various spots. (The state park is huge, you would need to drive to your hunting spot)
Sunday AM, after a 30 min service(for those interested), maybe we could set up some deer drives to get action for those who have not yet seen any deer???
Just some preliminary ideas.
-Charlie
The weekend of Nov 9th - 11th is prime rut and before youth shotgun season. We could also go for late season when everyone else has given up. We would have the place to ourelves in January. Then we could plan for a long weekend with that much time.
-Charlie
Salt Fork gets hit pretty hard but I might come down.
I think January would be the best option.Definitely fewer people in the woods.
AEP land in Cumberland (near the Wilds)offers free camping and Public Hunting. i do some deer drives down there in the late season with friends and we see alot of deer and some nice bucks have been taken there as well.
Just throwing out another idea. If it's close to my house and I can get away I would be interested in attending.
Hocking Hills, Tar Hollow are close in proximity to each other and there should be good opportunities for camping. Good horse trails in Hocking Hills so if someone had a mount they could possibly help haul the deer out.
"Primitive" camping is allowed anywhere in the Nat'l Forest. And there are scattered designated campgrounds, as well. There is an organized archery outing being planned in the Wayne on another hunting website. Too many obligations for me this year to get away overnite, but next year...
i would be very interested. i live in the northwest and i would love to go down south to hunt. i hunt in licking co. on a small farm by myself. it would be great to hunt with guys who share all the same interests as me.
My main interest in Salt Fork is due to having some familiarity with the area. I am not locked in to that idea however.
I figure we may get 10 guys or so interested. I will travel pretty much anywhere. So if anyone has good knowledge of an area (such as AEP land mentioned) that could accomodate that many guys let me know. I'll be happy to check on it.
Keep the ideas coming..(need more info Mcgee) I like to get things put together and planned. That way we have a definite idea of which way we are headed and who is on board.
Would you guys rather go the 9th 10th and 11th of November.
....or...
Wait until it settles down and go in January on the 11th, 12th and 13th. In January we will definitely be the only ones out there regardless of where we go.
Both are weekends, so it shouldn't get in the way of work too much.
Let me know...Jan or Nov
-Charlie
Trapper,
Can you get me more info on Wayne and where you hunt? I have hunted in one section of it, but it would not meet our needs.
Thanks,
Charlie
Please let me know of final dates. We came up there from Alabama first week of season and still have tags to fill. This sounds like a ton of fun to me.
Thanks
John
That sounds really good, depending on the location I will try to swing by. I'm just east of I 70 & I 77 so anywhere in mid Ohio would be fine. I live 5 miles from Salt Fork but would be willing to travel as long as my schedules fit.
Meatman,
There is a primitive only area at Saltfork, do they consider that as compound/crossbow bows too? Also, if you have any knowledge of some real out of the way spots over there it would be helpful.
Guys,
Lets get some votes on Salt Fork vs. Wayne Nat. and Jan vs. Nov
**The only "rule" for this hunt is you have to be shooting Recurve or Longbow.
** Whatever else you bring is up to you. Air mattress, climbers, blinds, calls, scents, camo etc.. is your preference.
**You won't be judged for hunting as you see fit within ODNR regulations as long we are all using longbows and recurves!
Let me know your preference on month and location.
Thanks Guys,
-Charlie
If you can camp anywhere in the nat'l forest I would be in for wayne. I'm up for the Nov
I'm game for any location and any time.
The primitive only area applies to guns only as far as I am aware of. The park encompasses over 17,000 acres and some areas are not all adjoining other state park acres. I find as I drive around more and more in this area that there are pockets of land here and there. I am able to get a map of all of the areas at a local store if you would like one. Just let me know. I drive past the park each morning around 5am and its a virtual slalom course of deer. It does get a lot of hunting in the fall but after it gets cold the "fair weather" hunters disappear.
Whoops, there is also a 3-D range on the park grounds in case some "warm-up" shooting is desired.
I will have to see if the group camping area is available at Salt Fork for the 9th-11th of Nov. and also Jan.
If there are other hunters and we have some difficulty seeing deer on Saturday in Nov. that is okay. We will definitely see deer on Sunday if we set up good, slow (and I mean slow) drives. We might want to do that Saturday evening too, we'll see.
I'm good with either place. I just need more info on Wayne Nat. Forest. The area I'm familiar with over there won't serve our purposes.
Anyone that has info for me on Wayne let me know. If I don't hear anything, I'll call ODNR tomorrow and Salt Fork too.
I think the combination of stationary hunting in two's and setting up drives will put some venison in the freezer for sure! Plus it might move some of those big bucks that like to hide until dark.
-Charlie
Salt fork sounds good. It's only a little over an hour for me. I'm going to Tar Hollow the weekend of the 3rd with Roman, so I may have to work the weekend of the 9th, but I could still hunt on that Sunday.
If we go with Salt Fork, are we going to camp at the campground? I should have some room in my pyramid tent if some one needs a place to sleep.
Tony,
We would hopefully camp in the group camp area, which just happens to be surrounded by public hunting. It is away from the other camping areas. Hmmm.... We could probably stump & practice right in camp.
4runr,
Work extra during the week and come for the whole weekend! LOL
Is that the horseman's camping area?
Hmmmm after futher digging Salt Fork sounds a little better.
Tony,
No it is a different area, there is a seperate group camping area. If you check the map online and enlarge it to full size you will see it. It is a small camping area East by slightly North of the horsemans camp.
It is completely surrounded by public hunting. The overall hunting area is 2 miles deep by about 4&1/2 or so across. It looks like a large area and the group camping site is dead in the middle of the hunting area.
***TAKE A LOOK GUYS, THIS WOULD BE THE PROPOSED SITE IF IT IS AVAILABLE*****
Go to this site to see the map.
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Portals/2/parks/pdf/saltfork304.pdf
I think we could all hunt there comfortably and our gear would be safer in a campground. Take a look and tell me what you think.
-Charlie
Looks good to me.
I have been to Salt Fork many times and never noticed that camp ground. It looks good to me.
Have you thought about Egypt Valley or around Coshocton. Salt Fork has the early muzzloader season that end on October 27. I have found that the deer are still not that settled down after that season. I think they gave out 3000 or 5000 permits for this year but I could be wrong. Egypt valley is around Peidmont Lake and is the largest wildlife area in Ohio and has camping at Piedmont.
My mistake, woodberry aroud coshocton is bigger than egypt valley.
I have taken some nice deer on AEP land,With all the camping available would be a great choice, But I'd be in for Salt Fork Also :campfire: ! Mike
Bomofo,
Do you know of a specific AEP area? I need more info.
Thanks,
Charlie
Steve,
Can you tell me more about Woodbury? Many wildlife areas do not permit camping.
Thanks,
Charlie
If you go to AEP recreation area on the web you can get maps of the camping areas. and a list of regulations for hunting there. I can't remember the address, but I found it by using yahoo.
I am a former Ohio resident and have killed some turkeys at Salt Fork, but never a deer. I have an Ohio license this year and would be interested if this hunt occurs in January. I'm hunting down near Cinci during the November rut.
A bit of bad news...
They are reserving the group camping area at Salt Fork for the Boy scouts only. No other access.
We will have to go with another area. I will post as soon as I figure some other choices. Wayne National, AEP or possibly Woodbury Wildlife area.
I'll post more info soon.
-Charlie
My choice would be AEP, but I believe you need a permit to camp (I have one). There are a lot of campgrounds and a lot of room to roam.
I do not know if there is any public camping at woodbury but there is quite a few campgrounds in Coshocton county. Woodbury is over 19000 acres of reclaimed strip mines, it is loaded with deer, turkey and small game. I have killed 5 or 6 turkeys there over the last 5 years. There is aalso great fishing there in the strip pits and along Wills creek. Last year we were rabbit hunting there and I saw a buck that was @ 140 inchs. There is a good network of roads throughout the wildlife area and plenty of room to roam around.
AEP has a number of properties around the state for which you can get free camping/hunting/fishing/etc. permits. The website has a pdf file you can print and sign and you are set. Some of the camp sites (not sure which ones, tbh) are close during winter, but if you call AEP during business hours, they can hook you up with someone in corporate communications to get the details.
I've hunted (a *long* time ago) a bit on the property they have southeast of Zanesville. It was nice, big and not super crowded - fwiw.
Charlie I usualy camp at campsite N or H not too crouded till gun season and still beareable durring muzzle loader Mike http://www.aep.com/environmental/recreation/recland/activities.htm
Final decision;
We will go with an AEP property in SE Ohio. This AEP area is south of I70 on SR 83.
Go to this site for the map. Look for Campground K off of SR83 & T13. It is surrounded by public hunting with no reservation required.
http://www.aep.com/environmental/recreation/recland/pdf/ReCLandMap.pdf
This means you will need to get your free permit to be legal.
This site to have the free permit sent to you is;
http://www.aep.com/environmental/recreation/recland/requestpermit.htm
The hunt will be the weekend of the 9th - 11th of November. That gives you three weeks to get your permit.
I will take the 9th, or the 8th & 9th, of November off work to scout the area(from long distance) and stake claim to the camp grounds. If anyone would like to come early let me know and we can maybe do some early hunting and scouting.
-Charlie
Guys,
I picked the 9th-11th of Nov. because of the rut. Additionally, with required permits the pressure should be lighter. Also, it is before youth/regular shotgun season and the place should have tons of deer that have not been shot at!
Let me know who is in.
-Charlie
Mike,
I posted before I saw your reply. Hope K is good with you.
Thanks,
Charlie
AEP doesn't have to send you the permit. You just download it and print it off the site listed above. All you are required to do is submit your name and address.
Also, unless we work out other plans, bring a tent and food. I think this will be a good time!
-Charlie
I may come if'n my bonus comes through before then.
Though it might be hard dragging me from my woods during the rut.
Sounds like great fun!
I'm gonna try to make it . :campfire:
At this time count me in.
I'm In! K is nice, and not far from N as the crow fies. I'm looking forward to meeting Everyone. Mike
I'm thinking I might make this one. Time to check the work schedule. Ohio Power has always been my opening day trip and K is where I always camp. Great area with plenty of deer.
Man - I'm thinking about it. Call it a strong maybe for my son and me.