The Basic 5 For Big Bucks On Public Land

[DirtTime]

I was never involved with huntings sites in the past. But a question that seems to come up a lot is getting a big buck on public land. you can't put out cams and you can't plant food plots. Just to help new hunters I was looking around for something about the basic 5 rules for public land, and I found this article.

 

http://www.gameandfishmag.com/hunting/hunting_whitetail-deer-hunting_gf_aa116501a/

 

 

Reading this is a great beginner point. It covers the big things you need to do.

 

But, don't take this as anything more then a basis to use to get your basics covered. There are others variables. Other hunters read and do the same things. So deciding to get to your stand at 1AM isn't a good thing to do.

 

When hunting public land, you actually have to hunt smarter, not always harder. Get to know the parameter of the land. What roads boarder the land and where are the places people are parking. Look for the place with no vehicles parked. This will usually be an area that will tough to walk in. Not necessarily an area with no deer, just an area where people don't want to bother with, especially those carrying a tree stand, scout that area, and park a ways away to keep others away from your possible "honey pot'. Don't be so worried about being out of the line if sight. Sit on the ground or a stump, maybe a rock wall ( for bow hunters, practice shooing sitting and on your knees ). Just try to sit where you have something at your back like bushes or shrubs. If you scout, you can make a really nice natural ground blind if you choose too. I have no factual proof, but I bet even setting up a small man made ground blind that you have sprayed with UV killer might even work on a day to day basis.

Learn to still hunt.

You don't need to be two miles in either. It's not a bad thing to get into the deepest nastiest area you can find, but remember, if you make a kill, you now have to drag that carcass out two miles. To test this, get a bag of sand weighing appx, a measly 50 lbs, drag it through the woods for a few hundred yards. See how you feel after. Then remember, a small deer will weigh twice that at minimum.

 

Patterning other hunters. I am sure I will get some flak for this statement, but....... If you are patterning other hunters, you might be a little to close to parking areas or in an area where you have 20 hunters to 1 deer. That will not help your cause. Are you hunting deer or counting flashlights?

 

There are some big deer on a lot of public land. I won't say the deer are smarter, they just get move by pressure. So you have to make those adjustments as well. No one can teach you how to hunt public land, you might be out there day in and day out scouting, and setting up areas where you see the best signs, but come opening day on public land, you never know where the next hunter is. So take your shot. You might not get another. It's public land, and you have no more right to the monster buck then anyone else hunting those woods.

[Paula]

When you say public do you mean State land? Why can't you put cameras on state land?

[DirtTime]

When you say public do you mean State land? Why can't you put cameras on state land?

Well, last I knew on state land you could not leave anything behind, legally. No stands no cams, nothing. Also, the possibility of theft.

[wooly]

I got no sympathy for public land hunters.

All the small parcel PRIVATE land I have permission to hunt gets POUNDED by family and friends of the landowner as well as trespassers.

I don't mind seeing clueless hunters out there moving deer around since I've done my homework.

[grampy]

Some good advice in there rob!

[Red]

You can place a trail cam on state land you just need to leave your name address and phone number attached to the tree with the camera.

[Red]

.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Red

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Not sure about the rest of it but when i hunt state land i make sure i am miles from other hunters- That i already know what their pattern is. Does not take much to cape and pack out. Any deer taken that far in will be more than worth the xtra work it takes. I have seen and taken my biggest bucks hunting on state land where anyone else can go.

 

Funny how i never seen anyone there???

[DirtTime]

Well, this thread was aimed to help new hunters not be so worried about hunting state land. To give them a basic guide to get a good deer. These methods would be good for a big rack or a big doe.

But, as usual, members have ruined it.

As for being able to leave a cam on state land? I would like to see a link for that. 

Then again, it doesn't matter. You post something that might help new hunters, you get blasted. It might be in a raw basic sense, but this thread might have helped someone. Instead you have a need to beat me down, and shit in me. Hope it made you feel good.

 

OH, this is no pity party! It just shows who you are.

Edited August 18, 2015 by ....rob

[wooly]

Well, this thread was aimed to help new hunters not be so worried about hunting state land. To give them a basic guide to get a good deer. These methods would be good for a big rack or a big doe.

But, as usual, members have ruined it.

As for being able to leave a cam on state land? I would like to see a link for that. 

Then again, it doesn't matter. You post something that might help new hunters, you get blasted. It might be in a raw basic sense, but this thread might have helped someone. Instead you have a need to beat me down, and shit in me. Hope it made you feel good.

 

OH, this is no pity party! It just shows who you are.

 

Well, here it is in a nutshell numbnuts....

 

If you're going to make a post like this then just drop the link and be done with it if you got nothing to back it up with.

 

When you sent me that PM, it didn't reinforce my opinion of who you are, or who you want to be.

 

Sure, being helpful and informative is nice to newcomers, but as it's been said before, they need to sort through the crap postings of link droppers with no experience with the message they're trying to convey.

Don't get your feelings hurt partner.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who sees right through you......

[Pygmy]

??????   What brought THAT on  ??   Did your dog die today, or what  ??

[wooly]

......robs, still got a hard-on about the coyote threads,lol

[Pygmy]

I think you could use some sensitivity training...

 

Papist  is conducting a class next week...Email  FSW and he'll sign you up for it...

[wooly]

I think you could use some sensitivity training...

 

Who me...?

I'm very sensitive....trust me!

[Mossberg500Guy]

When hunting state land i tend to sit all day cause enough hunters will move to push the deer to you,so definitely rule 2 on the article is the most important.

[First-light]

Years ago I ran into two hunters from PA that were hunting state land in Roscoe. They had a dandy 10 point and a smaller 5 pt on their truck. We talked for a while and they told me they would set up about two miles in. Actually camp deep in the woods for a few days. Most of the day was glassing ridges looking for the secluded bucks. That is how they shot those two deer. This was also way into gun season, if I remember correctly after Thanksgiving. 

[stevenjackson]

I like these tips, ty

[Black Bellamy]

I only hunt state lands, bigger places like the NJ Newark Watershed or Sterling Forest.   If you're willing to go deep enough, you can pretty much eliminate 95% of the competition.   I have some spots I hunt where I know I'm not going to see any other human that day, hunter density there is maybe one guy per 200 acres.   You have to be willing to hump in through swamps, boulder fields, thick laurels, but if you make the effort you will see the big buck you want.   

[gjs4]

Best state land tip- and it wasn't mentioned- leave the northeast

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[grampy]

25 years ago on public land up here in the hilltowns, seems like there was a hunter behind every other tree. The last few years, except for opening weekend of gun, alot of the parking areas at partridge run and other local state lands are almost empty.And hold some very nice deer.

[nyantler]

The best secret to killing big bucks on public land is to "get in the woods" far from where others are hunting... big bucks tend to hang in the same kind of real estate no matter where they live... hunting those kind of big buck haunts is the secret... most hunters don't venture into those areas because they are nasty places to hunt. Over the years I have found that guys who have never killed a big buck rarely hunt real big buck areas... I have many friends that kill big bucks on a regular basis and knowing those areas is the common denominator. I can tell you that the areas are more than 100 yards off the road.

 

[DirtTime]

Look, I made this post because not everyone has the luxury of hunting private land. Sometimes people take up hunting because they want to, and don't have access to private land yet. I felt it was informative, and a solid basis to getting a good buck on public land. The same methods would get a good doe as well.

 

As for what kind of hunter I am, my integrity and ethics? I have made that very clear in other threads.

 

To anyone new to deer hunting and you have to hunt public land, this really is a good base to start from.

[gfdeputy2]

You can place a trail cam on state land you just need to leave your name address and phone number attached to the tree with the camera.

I believe each parcel of state land has its own set of rules the State land we hunt in 8N we were told by DEC nothing gets left behind that included trail cameras. Though I don't think it gets checked often same nice  tree stands left year to year.

Edited August 19, 2015 by gfdeputy2

[Black Bellamy]

Look, I made this post because not everyone has the luxury of hunting private land. Sometimes people take up hunting because they want to, and don't have access to private land yet. I felt it was informative, and a solid basis to getting a good buck on public land. The same methods would get a good doe as well.

 

As for what kind of hunter I am, my integrity and ethics? I have made that very clear in other threads.

 

To anyone new to deer hunting and you have to hunt public land, this really is a good base to start from.

 

Don't feed the troll, let your information stand on its own.   The people who appreciate it will find it useful, those with an agenda will always try to derail things.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Cams and stands are legal on state land.

 

 

https://govt.westlaw.com/nycrr/Document/I21ee87ebc22211ddb7c8fb397c5bd26b?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=%28sc.Default%29