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."  

   

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    

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.