I have been hunting private land for deer my entire life. For those of you that hunt public, I have some questions. I hear all the time to find a good spot on public land, prepare to walk a ways. How far do you typically travel and how do you get your animal out if you are a good distance from your vehicle? I assume atvs are not allowed? It's my understanding that you are not allowed to alter trees. So does this mean no cutting branches, limbs, etc? Aren't you guys just a sweaty mess if you are hiking quite a distance? Do you really limit what you take so you can be more mobile or do you pack everything because walking back to the truck is just a pain in the rear? What about when it's really cold? Do you pack your clothes in so you aren't sweating the entire walk in? I give all you public hunters a lot of credit. This seems like a heck of a lot of work. I'm very curious to read your responses. Thanks for your time.
Big Game Hunting
School me on the ways of hunting public land
Yes, prepare to walk a ways. I have about 15 stands. Sometimes I dont use then for several yrs. My avr. distance to my stand is about 1/2 mi. Some are through a lot of water, but ALL of them to get there means I need to get in to some water. Several mean I have to cross a creek. ATV's are almost never allowed so when I do I study a bit on how to get them out without anyone seeing me, so therefore I always have waited till night . As for altering trees, I never do unless the branches are dead . I alomst neve rcut them cause it shows someone it is a stand there. As for a sweaty mess, No, I refuse to sweat. i will take almost all my clothes off before I sweat and I almost always take off a bunch of clothes . It doesnt bother me but if I start to hear bangos , and then I will head for the truck. If I sweat , I get cold real fast. As for packing , yes, I pack my 14 lb Lone Wolf, a backpack and gun or bow. The pack and climber weigh about 30 lbs. I leave nothing in the wood except toilet paper and then I even hide that if it gets used. I even try not to leave a boot track. As for scouting, I scouted 21 mi. last yr., 19 the yr. before and 51.7 mi. the yr before that and about 16-19 miles for several yrs. before that according to the GPS Most was on the same 7000 ac. track of land in about 3 areas. I have 3 core areas I concentrate on. All three are about 400 ac. each inside that 7,000 ac. The rest I dont bother with much cause it is over run with hunters . This is in southern Wis. I also hunt a track of woods on the west side of Price co. and the east side of the Flambeau River State Forest. There are so few deer there it is not worth looking for them. However, it is so vast that I have not seen a hunter across the river that I hunt since 2009. I have at least 1,000 ac. with noone on it, but likely only about 15 deer on that 1,000 ac. . I love public land . It is the true test of a hunter. As for the true test, my grade is about a D-. I dont do very good on public land. I only hunt public land casue I refuse to pay the prices of hunting land.
When I hunted public exclusively I would look for the dead zones where it generally is thick as can be. Crossing water is always a plus because most hunters don't want to deal with crossing or dragging deer out (tough during the years of partial ice). In some cases the hunters all head out back and the front is the best because remember a lot of these guys are your drivers. Just depends on the property. I always cherished large drives coming through and after the drivers pass you by (tree stand a must) the smart deer came back through the drivers and I would get my opportunity. All day hunts are the best. Can't count how many times I filled my tag during the lunch time hours. Some of my finest hunting memories is from public land hunts, it is rewarding.
That is good advice scoutking. I had a spot that was an absolute honey hole for 2 years for the rut. It was a small funnel on a ridge on a large 3500 acre piece of public about 1 mile from the parking area. Lots of bucks cruising through, only seen one other guy in that area for those first two years. Last year I noticed trail cameras in the area and seen more guys hunting there. this year it was so busy the deer pretty much avoid the area now as I hardly see anything there. It's a real bummer but this happens to a bunch of public spots. Over time they may come back, but who knows. Time to go find new areas. Scouting for how much hunting pressure areas get is almost more important than scouting for deer sign.
There can be some excellent hunting on public land, but to be successful year in and year out its takes some very serious dedication. Private land, you find a good spot, it will most likely be good next year, and so on. Public changes constantly, largely due to other hunter pressure. A guy really has to put in a LOT of time scouting and finding as many good locations as possible so you can jump around and keep your good spots "good". Feel free to PM me if you want to chat more. I've been hunting exclusively public land my entire life.
I’ve hunted public land in Vernon County for years. I’m just going to answer yes to all questions for gun season. I’ve both shot deer and not seen any deer 50 yards from the truck to what seemed like 2 miles straight up carrying my climber and full pack dripping in sweat. I think what it boils down to during picking the spot that they will run to when all hell breaks loose on opening day then play wind for the rest of the season.
Bow hunting public is more like what hunting is supposed to be. No food plots or fancy blinds. Funnels, food and bedding areas (and of course wind).
I saw more deer this year bow hunting than gun season so far. I did get a nice doe yesterday but that is the only deer I saw this gun season. Taking the day off to heal the aches and pains of getting older, then back at it. Good luck to all wherever you hunt!
