For those of you who hunt public land, you got any advice on outsmarting deer? How to find them when they disappear? or public land hunting tips you have found over the years? :archer2:
Get way off the road, the farther you go in the less chances of running into other hunters.
Don't overlook the small spots. Most people don't bother to check out those little 1/2 acre spots!
2x on getting off road, go as far as you, and hunt on weekdays.
I've got no proof but I've noticed that on public land I see people use alot of the gimicks. Scents, attractancts and such. I have a suspicion that I'm still trying to prove. In my mind it makes sense. I try to be scent free and quiet. I hope that deer either wise up or are spooked and wind up in my lap. That being said, it's been a few years since I've gotten a deer on public land. This year I found a white oak tree though. Can't wait... Good luck.
-Jeremy :coffee:
Scout as much as possible, for human sign as much as deer, then try to figure out the escape routes they use when other guys invade the area. Be there before they start pushing 'em around and get ready for some action. Be there mid-day also if you can, the deer will move when most other hunters are heading out to eat or whatever.
Hunting the weekdays.
I used to hunt public land a lot, and I have found that most people don't get very far from a road at all. I imagine if you go as much as 400-500 yards from the roads, you will see very few hunters. You may have to go bit farther if there are easy trails for 4wheelers. Most people don't hunt the really thick stuff, either, but the ones that do are worth taking note of. They probably know what they are doing.
Along with everything here, look where most guys park. Set up on the other side on escape or travel trails. I started seeing so many more deer when others walking in moved deer towards me.
As said, dont use funky scents, they will be all over and the deer will stray away.
Disappear and wait.
If an area is dead, MOVE!
I see you're from PA.... The best advice I can give is get out there on opening day,because after that, deer quickly adjust and stay on private or posted land until after dark before moving to public lands. That's why you see sign but no deer.
Keep it coming. This will be my first year trying out public land. And any advice specific to Indiana public land would be nice too.
I try to find areas that others don't hunt. It could be a long ways from the beaten path, areas that are real hard to get too..thick, up and down ridges, right up next to a main hwy, right behind a main campsite, etc. Either hard to get to or overlooked.
Then I look for places like the above that have some sort of sanctuary close (closed area, private land not hunted much, big swamps, etc.) by and put those at the top of the list.
Another thing I look for when traveling through big public land areas on the hwy is greasy spots on the road. You see a lot of old stains there's game crossing in that area.
I use to lay in my tent at night on one big public land area and hear the semi's blowing a mile away every night...then when on stand I hear them again during prime time morning and evenings.
Where I live now I hear the horns blow right at prime times in areas I know deer are crossing roads.
Google Earth. Look for alternative access areas. Wear waders,get right into the nastiest stuff you can find. I LOVE to access an areas that are bordered by water on the opposite side of access parking. The further,the better. Also look for any area that is bordered by private lands on more than one side. Make certain you know boundry lines. I love going into areas that have large creeks to cross wearing camo neoprene waders. NOBODY wants to get wet. Hunt Hard.
I used to hunt most of the public land in central and southeast Ohio.
I killed more game within sight of the open trails than anywhere else.
I would set up between parking areas. These areas are usually the deer travel ways, once the hunters show up.
I killed several deer when they would stop and focus their attention on vehicles moving along the gravel roads.
Just another technique to try.
I also found this to work on mule deer in several units in Colorado.
Follow the food sources and learn where other hunters like to hang
the problem with public land is..the public.
You can do everything right and have a non-hunter,squirrel hunter or horseback rider ruin the whole set up (happens to me all the time)
Thats just part of it.
But I agree with above, get to a place where others are not.(or at least where you dont think they will be.
Stay away from man made trails,parking areas etc.
If you don't know, learn to quarter your deer (aka gutless) so you can pack it out. Can't think of the number of times someone has told me, "yeah but I don't want to drag a deer out of there!!"
I put this post up not only for myself but others. cause hunting public land can be tough!! you really have to keep at it. plan on not seeing much and having others mess you up throughout the season. The best advice i can give you is hunt heavy cover and treat open woods as though it were a field. hunt pinch points during the rut and dont call much. i have had mixed success calling. every guy uses the can grunts and rattles. so they wise up real quick but sometimes you catch one in the mood. also be prepared to take first best shot you get and try to make it count may be the only one you get all season.. i dont hunt trails much either as it never seems to pay off. it mite take a week for them to come trough that trail again. i have had luck hunting rub lines for bucks but not scrapes. it seems to me anyway they only hit them at nite. sitting for a week and not seeing a deer is not uncommon, then all a sudden there are deer headed rite at you. good luck and keep the tips coming!
If you find an area that looks too thick to hunt, hunt it. Pressure pushes them into the really nasty stuff.
My wife is a Survivor tv show fan. Their slogan is "Out wit, Out play, Outlast". Change one word and you have my philosophy for hunting any land public or private.
Out wit, Out scout, Outlast.
Adaptability and thinking outside the box are important. People are creatures of habit and more patternable than deer. Some areas walking a looong way helps and sometimes the close spots are overlooked. Deer will eat and poop. Fresh poop is worth its weight in gold. :D
Scouting for the usual deer sign as well as people helps determine the strategy. Checking on parking areas and keeping tabs on certain areas during prime people times helps also. Time in the field is always good but also lets your vehicle be seen by other hunters. Most don't want to hunt next you just as much as you don't want to hunt next to them.
Outlast probably kills more deer than anything else. When everyone is going to get some grub stay! When everyone is in bed becuase its late season and bitter cold hunt! When the heat is almost unbearable put on some shorts, throw a cooler in the truck and hunt!
:archer2: Rob
I have met some guys that get big deer on public land, most believe you need to get way back away from everyone and some travel way farther than anyone else would. I read a book that talked about big deer on public land also being in spots no one would hunt, right where people part ect. I tried that one year and a monster got up and took off like a rocket ship after I stood near it for 10 minutes. 50 yards from where guys parked and camped. Hiding under a fallen tree. They still outsmart me, I have had deer know where I go in and go the other way that day, I had one do this to me 4 times and I would see him when I leave, some stay close so they can hear you and know where you are.
I 2nd using Google maps with the aerial view. Find the most obvious deer funnel near the road or parking access and then go to the next one past it. All the other hunters will hit the most obvious funnel and the deer will quickly start using the next most obvious one to travel. I have seen tons of public land deer this way. I just suck at finishing the final part where I get to take a dead deer home. I always seem to get busted...
Hunt the public land long enough to run into a guy who had access to private land but stopped hunting it because it "was no longer challenging to him," THEN convince him how exciting it might be to pass THAT level of expertise on to "a new guy."
:goldtooth:
Kingsnake
Funnels
Some very good advice guys! Rob W. that is one thing guys overlook. is poop. you see poop around there are deer. bad thing is i usually dont find much poo. probably all over on that posted ground :biglaugh:
Early in the season be ready at the escape routes well before the horde starts stomping into the woods. Almost like cheating.
QuoteOriginally posted by 7 Lakes:
Early in the season be ready at the escape routes well before the horde starts stomping into the woods. Almost like cheating.
i had another guy on the forums helping me with that same advice. tell me what you look for and how you do it?
It seems, well, around here anyway, that there is a 'belt' that hunters use. Usually 100-500 yards from the road/trail/parking lot. I've seen more deer within 50yds of the road than anywhere else on public land.
Also, check your local platt maps. There are lots & lots of areas of public land that will get overlooked because they're either close to a subdivision, "too small to hold deer", "too overgrown" etc....
A good buddy of mine killed his first trad deer last season in a woodlot, no more than 100yds long by 80yds wide. Between the two of us, we saw over 50 deer from the same tree over a period of a couple of months. Our tree is 35yds from a country road & you can hear the residents in the subdivision mowing their lawns. I would've hunted it harder, but the smell of backyard BBQs was constantly forcing me out of my tree!
I'll be in that tree at 6am tomorrow morning though!
Plots like this generally don't hold deer, but a small woodlot like this in an area of open farmland or near houses WILL be used as travel route.
Public land in Canada seems to be the same. Most stick to spots within 500 yards of a road. Knowing this you can organize a great big deer drive. (the other guys don't know you're the stand and they are the push.
I start with a map of the area that you can copy - take 2 or 3 copies. Know the scale of the map and using a highlighter start buffering (follow the road with the map). Depending on the scale the width of the highlighted area should take a few passes to get 500m of the road. These are no go areas. do the same with another color for the next 300 (this is the next area which is less likely to see lots of action but may see some action. What's left over is your hunting area.
If the cover is dense, there is no cover or there are natural barriers such a really steep hill - this also affects how other hunters use the area so you need to account for these variables.
The resulting map is my scouting map. I pick the best 5 locations ad go check them before the season starts for the most likely escape routes and areas that can hold animals.
Tyson,
Buy Brad Herndon's book "Mapping Trophy Bucks". It has some great tacics for public land in general and there are very specific references to Indiana spots. Brad lives near Brownstown on the boundary of the Jackson-Washington SF and knows his stuff. I have a Southern Indiana Bowhunt on Oct 5-8. Brad usually stops by for a chat.
Spend some time patterning the other hunters. You can predict their patterns much easier than the patterns of deer. Use hunters to your advantage and be ready for them to push deer on their way to and from the stand. After all, surely you can think like a hunter easier than you can a deer right? The deer here seem to change their travelling and feeding patterns pretty often, and I suspect it is because a hunter has put pressure on hunting their travelling lanes. Just find a food source and some cover and get between em. And as stated above, try the less hunted spots that others will dismiss as not good enough.
Also, I try to keep a low profile and go unnoticed by both the deer and hunters. I use no scents, no flagging tape, no treestands, and don't let hunters see you hunting the same spot twice; they will tend to gravitate closer to your "honey hole". Good luck this year!
Don't get frustrated! This is one that I still have problems with. Sometime in the season after going a long time without even seeing a deer but seeing people everyday I begin to lose interest. But private hunting land in my area is at such a premium that I either have to deal with the people on public land or quit hunting. Quitting hunting is not an option to me!
Spend at least one day just watching where the deer are moving. Public land deer travel around a little differently IMO. I think they're busy paterning us.
Use other hunter pressure to your advantage.