I have had a great year so far. I have been successful on both of my pork adventures, and got lucky and filled both my turkey tags here in NC. So now what? Cant quit now! On to 3d shoots and dreaming of fall.
And that is what this thread is about! I saw Izzys post on Campgrounds in OH, and figured i would start another one on Ohio. I am really excited about this fall, for many reasons, but this year i hope to really hit the Buckeye state hard. I have been cyberscouting all winter, and i really like the reviews and sound of the Wayne National Forest.
When researching WNF i found a lot of naysayers, but i think they were more jealous of others than anything it seemed like. I haven't been there, but supposedy it is rough, steep, thick country, this would turn away many, but that is what i have grew up hunting here in the mountains of NC, so i feel like i will adapt well in that environment. Myself, as well as a couple of buddies, are planning on multiple trips from oct-december, hopefully maximizing our chances at success. Does anyone have any advise of us? I'm not looking for anyones honey holes, as i don't feel right about getting something and not earning it, i just figured a few of you guys probably are experts, and maybe have been around the area and could give us some helpful tips. We have all wrestled since we were kids, so hard work, persistence, and getting where others won't go is something that is appealing to us.
I am not stuck on hunting WNF, just seemed to be the cheapest route, seeing as how we could camp there and all. I am open to all help!
We also wouldn't mind company if anyone would be interested in joining! (so long they're not whiny, needy, or jealous of other's success.)
What say you? Do we have any hope?
:campfire:
Dalton
I've never hunt Wayne specifically, but I hunt close enough to feel confident that you all will have a good time and will see some good deer. Get away from the crowds and you should do just fine.
I hunt the Wayne a good bit. The terrain is easy compared to where you are coming from. The deer sightings have dropped big time the past few years. The Odnr finally reduced the bag limits for this upcoming season. Hopefully we can get back on track.
Thanks for the help fellas, as well as the few that pm'd! Heading up about may 11th to put some serious boot leather on the ground! Cant wait to see what were up agin. Might even find an overweight chicken :saywhat:
Will you have fun? Absolutely. Wayne is a great place with plenty of land to roam. With that said, and understand I'm not one of the naysayers trying to keep people form coming, the deer numbers are abysmal. Come, and welcome...but were I a non resident looking for a state to visit Ohio wouldn't make the top 10.
My advice as one who lived in Ohio and still hunts public land there (I hunted turkeys there last week): since you are a good turkey hunter, and because their license year starts on March 1, is to get up there with your NR license and a turkey tag in hand, and scout/hunt at the same time. The season ends on 5/17 and after 5/4, you can hunt them all day. I tried The Wayne but prefer the smaller wildlife areas. See me at a CTA shoot and I can suggest a few.
I will for sure take you up on that generous offer jeff! I think we are going to go up there sometime between the 11-15, and do just what you are describing in turkey hunt/scout, camp for a couple of nights and see what all we can find. Like i said, im totally open minded about it, and if were not finding the sign were wanting to see, we wont hesitate to relocate and start over. Thanks for all the great advice guys! Gotta love tradgang.
Dalton
I'd suggest you look closely at 2 additional factors: accessibility and habitat. Traditional and extremely well known public hunting areas will get pounded in gun season. Search hard for the less accessible areas which might require a lot of effort and might not offer easy camping on them. In other words, if it's a pita to hunt...it might be a good one. Habitat: if you can find 5-12 year old clearcuts (fairly common) you'll have exactly what Ohio deer require. Big clearcuts are deer havens and nobody can drive or shoot the deer out of them. I've seen this scenario play out for 40 years here and it is dependable. Big super-thick clearcuts that are almost impossible to walk through will hold lots of deer and almost always some dominant bucks.
Good to know Kevin! Like I said, we are definitely going to have to put in some work (which is half the fun), but from what you experts describe, I feel like we can get on them!
Those cut-overs are exactly what we look for here in NC, and I have hunted that way my whole life. What we will mainly be looking for is those nasty bedding areas, with good terrain, like a funnel, saddle, or bench, with some sort of food whether its White oaks or red oaks close, or a field 500 yards away. Hopefully with some sign from last year. (rubs and scrapes)
We definitely would be excited at a chance at a monster oh bruiser, but honestly, while camping with good friends, on public land, any 2 year old 8 will tickle us to death. Its more the experience for us.
Again, thanks for the help.
Dalton
Deer numbers are way down but WNF in fall is beautiful. check dates of early "doe" gun hunt and youth gun season would be good times to avoid.
There are no early gun seasons this year, thank goodness.
Thanks for the replies guys, really appreciate it. Anyone done much turkey hunting on the wayne? Were heading up next sunday night, figured while season was in wed carry a weapon while scouting. How are the bird numbers?
Should be s bunch of turkeys but probably pretty quiet after being chased the last couple of weeks.
Ehh, even if we cant get on birds, that tag will allow me to stump shoot while scouting :readit:
It used to be that you were not aloud to stump shoot on public land in Ohio. I have not checked the rules in a long time on public land stump shooting, but you should look into the legality. Good luck on your hunt
I live across the river in Ky and have hunted the WNF for 30 yrs. Generally, I don't even run into anyone while I'm bowhunting but some places are more "popular" than others. Most people won't be far from any access road so if you want to put in the effort to go a little deeper you will probably have the area all to yourself. Find large blocks of isolated areas would be my recommendation. Usually has good turkey numbers but the birds have been pretty tight lipped the past few years. Success or not you'll have a good time and see some new country.
Awesome guys! I feel really good about it, wel see what happens! A very generous tradganger is going to meet us up there and show us around some spots, so it seems we may get a good head start.
That is absurd that stumping may be illegal, (i hate bureaucratic bull crap involved game laws.) However i guess il have to keep that in mind, like it or not.
I have a feeling we will have a blast, kill or not, which is really the point anyway. Hopefully i will have the time to make a "hunt along" thread to go with it.
Any luck last season husky?
I wanted to revive this thread because I am interested in taking a trip to hunt and camp in the Wayne this fall.
My main concern when doing some research was that some hunters were saying that there are tracts of private land peppering the Wayne all over and that it is easy to stumble on to them.
Is this exaggerated? And where can I get the best map showing these no-go areas?
Thanks Gang!
Been hunting Wayne for 10 years, all I can say is awesome, just got back from another scouting trip around Nelsonville. Was told by locals to watch my vehicle as far as thefts, but haven't had any problems so far. Check out some of the wildlife management areas also, there is so much ground to hunt that it would take a lifetime to cover it all. Traditional bowhunters paradise.
postman -
That's what has me so interested in it all!
You didn't run into issues with it being pockmarked by private land?
Never had any problems. I try to hunt in center of Wayne, that way I won't have to worry about private land. If you have an ATV you can get permit and really get back in Wayne where the monster bucks are at.
Unfortunately life got in the way last fall and i wasnt able to make any trips up north last fall! Just never did have the time to get away. The short time i got to spend scouting there though last may makes me excited for this fall however!
Is it September yet?
A lot of folks don't know what kind of opportunities really exist on some of Ohio's larger tracts of state and national forest land. There are places large enough and rough enough that few hunters spend any time going in there and seriously hunting. Those areas don't lend themselves to typical whitetail hunting strategies where you drive, park, walk and climb a tree. I'm talking about getting back in a mile or more and through rough terrain in many cases.
There are plenty of opportunities to do a true backpack hunt on larger tracts, or on tracts that present some formidable terrain (acres in parentheses) such as Tar Hollow (16,354), Shawnee (60,000 total, and 8,000 is designated wilderness), Scioto Trail (9600), Vinton Furnace (12,000 and Ohio's largest bobcat population), Brush Creek (13,500), Zaleski (27,000 and has a 23 mile trail loop). The afore-mentioned are all state forest lands with good hunting.
Wayne National Forest offers over a quarter million acres in the state. Most of it is hunted but the kick is that most of the very remote pieces don't get hunted hard and steadily. If you can put on a pack and get back in over a solid mile you're likely to see no other hunters and probably hear nothing but the sounds of the forest.
I would love to do a backpack hunt for deer! Just the experience would be worth it-deer or not.
I try to be as optimistic as possible. So when i lay down that Buckeye state stud, what do you suggest is the best way to get it out? Deer cart maybe? I always have to approach of "crossing that bridge when i get to it" but maybe this would be an example of a time planning needs to be in order?
I would use a frame pack and quarter it and pack it out. From what I've found this is legal to do in Ohio, you have to call in your deer first and have the tag number they give you before cutting up the deer. Once you have the number they supply you with you do not have to leave the sex organ attached to anything like in some other states. The E-mail I read was from an ODNR officer, she said as long as the scraps are left where the deer died and not at a parking lot that you would be fine. Here's the E-mail
Thank you for your e-mail.
This is a new issue for the agency to deal with.
A deer may be quartered once it is permanently checked in. In previous
years a deer had to be taken whole with the head attached to a check
station, but that is no longer the case and deer can be checked over the
telephone. Once checked it, a deer may be handled in whatever way the
hunter wants.
Going from a strict interpretation of the law, it is not illegal to
leave the material from field dressing or quartering a deer at the place
it fell on a wildlife area.
The law states: "No person shall place or dispose of in any manner,...
anything ... of an unsightly or unsanitary nature on any state owned,
controlled, or administered land,..." While it may not be very clear,
the key words are "place or dispose of" mean that you cannot take the
material off-site and then bring it back and dump it. The other words
to look at are unsightly or unsanitary. In the woods, it is a normal
thing to find dead deer or other wild animals occasionally and is not
really thought of as unsightly or unsanitary. At the parking lot, it is
not normal, and could fit the terms unsightly or unsanitary.
If you quarter a deer at the place it fell, and leave the scraps etc. at
the site, it is not a problem under the current law. If it is done at
the parking lot or away from the hunting area and the material is
brought back, it is likely to result in a ticket.
State parks and other public areas not operated by ODNR Division of
Wildlife may have different rules.
If you have further questions or concerns, please contact us at
1-800-WILDLIFE.
Laura Roth
Division of Wildlife
A cart left in your vehicle could be useful, but do keep in mind southeast Ohio is really hilly. Powering a wheeled cart + deer up a hillside is hard work. An alternative strategy depending on how far back you're in is to keep a plastic toboggan/sled at your vehicle. Kill a deer? Hike some gear out to the vehicle and do a mobile check-in. Come back with the sled. You can bring the deer out whole or sectioned and loaded on the sled. They tow nicely in the woods if you tie them off to your climbing harness, leaving your hands free to move limbs. It might take you an hour or more, but that's the price of getting back in and killing one.
I didnt realize i could pack it out, i thought i might get in trouble for the left over carcass. That will be what i do and i dont hunt alone out of state, so with two or three the job shouldnt be bad at all. Thanks for the info!
No problem, Kevin's info is very good also! Sounds like a fun trip, I might have to run down to Wayne and do a long weekend pack in hunt if none of my private ground produces.
Dalton, I bet with those two hillbillies you hunt with in NC and drag to the CTA shoots, after you kill that monster buck, you could fake a back injury and let them do all the work.....I think you are on the right track with a western-style backpack hunt.
Sounds like a good hunt to me. Jeff thanks for letting the cat out of the bag. I will remember that Just in case Dalton tries to pull that card.
Jeff
Ive bow hunted on public land in southern ohio every year for 13 years and have always had a good time. Wayne would be fun to try especially a backpack hunt. Ive been hunting zealski and it just got way to crowed with non residents everywhere even if you went in deep but Wayne you could get away from people I'm sure
QuoteOriginally posted by Jeff D. Holchin:
Dalton, I bet with those two hillbillies you hunt with in NC and drag to the CTA shoots, after you kill that monster buck, you could fake a back injury and let them do all the work.....I think you are on the right track with a western-style backpack hunt.
Genius! I'm guessing it wont work on you on that PBS hunt either huh?
My buddies and I have hunted Zaleski State Forest for at least 35 years and have seen the deer numbers constantly decline. Last fall we decided that we were going to hang it up at Zaleski and look elsewhere. We also tried Vinton Furnace but had no success there last year at even seeing a deer. I began hunting there when I lived in Ohio and have continued to hunt with my buddies from there. This has been a place we have loved and enjoyed for years.
Hello Dalton! Congrats on all your Trad adventures and successes since we last corresponded. :notworthy:
I've been wanting to do a backpack hunt in Wayne for years. Harvesting a Deer would be great, but for me the attraction is the experience of a back country style hunt without going out west. However, putting it together from New Jersey has been impossible for me.
Things have changed though as I'm moving back to Ohio this summer. I'm originally from Cleveland and I'll be moving to the country east of Cleveland where my parents are. So a Wayne hunt is now a lot easier to put together.
Worsening Arthritis in my hip has given me trepredations about backpacking though. The VA has started me on Gel shots that help so it's still a possibility. However, I may have come up with a better plan. I've discovered at least two rivers that go thru Wayne and I'd love to make it a canoe/hunting/fishing/bushcrafting trip. I plan on taking at least a month off between leaving here and getting back to work in Ohio and during that time I want to make a scouting trip down at least one of those rivers. I have a new SOT kayak now and will be picking up a canoe before then. I'm hoping a canoe hunting trip there is viable, but don't know why it couldn't be worked out. I expect it would need to be at least a week long to make it worth it.
I have no exact date for leaving here but expect it will be around July or August at the latest.
So, can you paddle? Can you paddle really fast if the sound of Banjo music is heard? Ha!
Anyway, thought I'd throw out another option for a Wayne hunt I've been considering and you might find interesting.
Oh hi there Jeff W :wavey: maybe that trick will work on Tim?
Dalton, the best think about that wilderness lake where I am having my PBS member hunt, is that everywhere we hunt is UP from the lake. That means all drags are downhill. Longest drag we had last year was 1/4 mile. However, that big buck that PBSer George killed was at least 200 pounds dressed and after about a 200 yard drag, we was whipped! Sure enjoyed that boat ride!
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f182/JeffHolchin/IMG_0798_zpsc0ymcjsv.jpg) (http://s47.photobucket.com/user/JeffHolchin/media/IMG_0798_zpsc0ymcjsv.jpg.html)
I'm planning a back pack hunt on the Wayne for this upcoming season, basically due to Kevin Dill's thread last year about hunting alone. I did some short trips, on some local areas, this year to figure out gear and what exactly I would need and really enjoyed it.
Good Luck!
Just looking at that picture gets me all sorts of pumped, Holchin! Maybe i can get lucky enough to stumble into one of those suckers wi th y'all this fall! Cant wait for that hunt.
Dan! good to hear from you! I had been meaning to shoot you a PM just to catch up! Glad to hear you're going to get to spend some time in the woods this year! Maybe the dates will work out and il come find you while up there and yes, paddle a while. Im from the hills and collars of NC, i know what to do when i hear banjo music lol.
Dalton, here is another, where he fell. Check out that neck - a prime southern Ohio public land buck!
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f182/JeffHolchin/IMG_0795_zpslpoeefy1.jpg) (http://s47.photobucket.com/user/JeffHolchin/media/IMG_0795_zpslpoeefy1.jpg.html)
This will be the year i kill one, mark it down!! Lol i hope it is anyway.
Jeff H. Have you decided on a date for the Ohio P.B.S hunt. Looking like it will be a great hunt. I need to know as soon as possible so I can swing it with my work schedule. Maybe I can talk Dalton into packing one out for me.
Jeff
I live in the Wayne and we get a lot of pressure here too. The last couple of years the population has been down but you can find pockets here and there that still have several deer. You can get on the hiking trails and get back in on a bicycle. Its as good as any way to access the better tracts and you don't have to lug in all the gear, Just camp at the Trailhead. Dalton the spot I showed you last spring is a good example of this. Hope to see you this fall.
Check the pbs thread jeff, you gotta vote on a date. It shouldnt be a problem to make it up there this year John, i still owe you dinner for taking us to that spot! Cant wait to get in there and try it.
For those who don't know about the PBS, one of the membership benefits is invitations to hunt all kinds of animals all over the country. I hunt a lot but even I can't keep up with them, simply too many. I do manage to host two each year and try to attend others. Check out the PBS and see what you are missing!
Hey Jeff I might have to jump into the PBS hunt this year, we'll see what's on my cameras come deer season!
From everything I've read, seen and heard Jeff is organizing one of the best PBS member hunts going. I haven't attended one mainly because I live smack in the middle of superb deer hunting. I actually have thought about trying to locate his camp and stop in some time just to say howdy.
Wayne and state forest lands: All I can say is there is a lot of land waiting to hike and remote camp...then hunt. You'll hear good and not-good reports on the quality of the hunting depending on perceptions. I think there is awesome value in just doing a true backpack hunt and camp in the remote hills. You're there hoping to kill a nice deer, but there is a lot to be said for doing a hunt most guys will never even attempt.
Just a tip if you go with Jeff: Be sure your cell phone is fully charged and DO wear a PFD anytime you're near water!
We'd love to have you Logan but after your monster Buckeye Buck last year, the bucks at my wilderness lake will seem like dinks to you.....
Kevin, come on down and visit us this fall, I bet we'll have some good stories to tell anyway. It is true that a boat captain I ain't, so passengers beware! :help: :help:
Many of us go out west or north, put on a backpack, head into the woods for a few days or a week and think nothing of it. Yet nobody does that in the east or Midwest. I have often wondered why. Or if we have never backpack hunted before, the challenge seems too great, but doing things differently could really be fun. Besides deer, a fall turkey is a real possibility with a bow, and squirrels are fun to hunt too. A backpack hunt in the Wayne would be a real adventure!