Public land

[Ruskin]

This year I am thinking of going to a public hunt area close by.  I have hunted in the past on public.  It seems everyone gets up and goes in the woods early in the morning and comes out for lunch then back in at the evening hour.

I was wondering if going in while everyone is coming out should be considered.  I have seen tracks in the midday covering my atv tracks that I left when I went out.  I wonder if the deer start patterning the hunters?

[Graybeard]

With such a pattern smart hunters are in their stand before daylight and don't leave it until dark or they have killed their game. Often there is a lot of movement at midday after the crowd has left. Be there ready for it.

[TribReady]

I agree with GB.  Be in well before light and don't plan to leave until sundown.
We hunt a small private patch surrounded by other hunters.  Really no different than public.  Just stay put all day and you'll see deer.

When we hunted on public land, as long as we got in early, in the "best" spot, we were set.  Natural runways and escape trails are key to public land success.......and a pee bottle   

[merhunts]

Another strategy is to find a thicket. Get in there well before daylight and stay all day so when the other hunters are moving around leaving and coming back the deer will most likely come to the thicket you are setting in.

[.308 Win.]

  I remember once, many years ago, when I was coming out at lunch time and not 35 yards away a gun went off.  Scared the hell out of me, nearly crapped down my leg it was so close and the hunter just said, "Thank you."  So now, especially during the rut, I make sure I stay put for the entire day.   

[merhunts]

I wonder if the deer start patterning the hunters?

I am sure they pattern us way better than we pattern them. How else do we explain that as the season goes on we see less and less deer?

[rihmfire]

Pack a lunch and stay all day...

[beemanbeme]

Carry a lighted flashlight to and from your stand and do not try to be sneaky.  Nothing scares me more than to hear some local talk about getting off a couple of "sound" shots. Be in your stand 20-30+ minutes before first light.  And BE STILL. 

[.308 Win.]

  I've heard some idiots refer to "sound shots" before, too.  Thankfully the last time I heard it was some years back.  People (I won't call them "hunters") like that give the rest of us a bad name.
  There are flashlight bulbs in green that don't spook game (supposedly) that people can see easily.  Until I just read what BeManBeMe wrote about "sound shots," I had given some thought to hunting public land a little bit this year but now I might not! Sometimes private land isn't much better, either.  Last year while hunting in Kentucky, I was up in a stand along the property line when a gun went off in rapid succession many many times more than should have been necessary just over on the adjoining property.  I've also heard people talking about drinking and smoking pot and hunting.  There are some among us who aren't the sharpest pencils in the box.     
 

[LEO]

I agree with others on this topic, I have seen a lot of game during the middle of the day when most hunters are having their lunch.  If I can't be on my stand for some reason until up in the morning, I try to hunt the "crowded" areas because I have had good success with the other hunters moving deer for me and deer feeding during mid day.  Also as 308 Win. pointed out many hunters do not use good judgment.  Ever year, I will arrest several hunters for hunting under the influence of alcohol or drugs and issue many more citations who are drinking but just not yet to the point of intoxication.  I know some will disagree with me but if you want to drink alcohol in a social setting go to a bar not the deer woods, there is no time when it is appropriate to be drinking alcohol and handling firearms.

[K.K]

Here in the Adirondacks of NY, we have millions of acres of public land. This is something hunters in other areas don't enjoy. I think another way to kill bucks in areas like this is get in early and hunt as far back as you can. A lot of hunters don't get more than a few hundred yards off the road. It's steep country here, and it's work, but if you can get up on the ridges, away from the roads, you can score on big bucks.

[merhunts]

A few years back my Dad and I were hunting this one public land, We got a late start, when we got there, everywhere we turned we were running into a hunter in a treestand. Finally we found a trial crossing an ATV trail. It looked like cows had been using it. My Dad said he was going to put his stand right there. He climbed a tree not 20 feet off the ATV trail. He told me latter when the hunters was going out for lunch he could see them laughing as they walked by. They thought he was crazy. During lunch he could see a couple deer in the ticket down the ridge but couldn't get a shot. He didn't get discouraged because they were in the right place so that when the other hunters came back for lunch, they pushed those deer right to him. They came up the trail that he was watching. He killed both of those deer. Now who was laughing. It just goes to show you can find decent spots to hunt even in crowded woods. needless to say I didn't pick a very good spot, I never saw a deer. We knew that trail was used alot. Dad hunted that same stand the rest of the year and got three more deer that year. One deer away from tagging out. All the deer were push to him by other hunters.

[buck460XVR]

I have deer  hunted public land for over 40 years and the biggest piece of advice I can give to you is this. Do what everyone else doesn't. Most public land nowadays gets plenty of pressure from opening day of bow season till the last day of rabbit season. Most hunters park in the same spots and walk into areas along the same trails....usually the ones with easy access and prominent landmarks(so as they won't get lost). Most two year old deer in areas like this have people figured out or they are dead. Opening day pick a spot that's not obvious(ten other hunters will be there otherwise) or easily accessible.......and don't be afraid to move and adjust to find an area that isn't being covered.....watch behind other hunters as they move as many times deer will wait bedded down as a hunter walks by and then gets up and runs back from where the hunter has come from. I have shot many bucks on public land as they snuck away from other hunters just this way. I have also shot them in their beds as they watched or listened to other hunters walking thru or making drives. As the season wanes, seek out spots that have seen little or no pressure.....no matter how small they are. I've shot bucks from patches of blackbrush, not twenty feet across that other hunters have walked by all season. My dad(god bless his soul) always walked into his stand on public land well after daylight. Very seldom did he come away empty handed. It ain't always when you get there, but how quietly and observantly you get there. When deer are used to people thrashing their way straight to their stands noisily and carelessly, a slow and cautious hunter can sometimes catch a buck looking elsewhere. He also shot several bucks waiting by his vehicle as the rest of the opening day crowd crashed in at daylight.............

[Lives2hunt]

Lots of good advice. I admit it I'm a public land hunting junkie.   The deer either wise up fast or die. After they get spooked a time or two you better change strategies. If you do your homework scouting and finding the feeding & bedding areas you can plan your hunt to intercept them. I've seen lots of deer movement on public land around noon time also. Hunt slow, silently and smart.  

[teddy12b]

I live in Indiana and since I don't have land of my own I have always tried to make a trip out of going hunting.  I've always planned it out about a year in advance so there'd be plenty of time to make sure the costs were covered.  This year however, I'm going to be looking into hunting on public land.  I never have before and I'm hoping to save some $$ and hopefully bring something home.  One of the reasons I haven't is because of fear of the idiots out there that I've heard people talk about.

[Tn Jim]

The biggest bucks I have ever seen during hunting season were during the middle of the day. The Bawannas from the big cities stirred them up on the way back to their Excursion for lunch.