Hi New here, wanted to know have you ever hunted a new spot on public land and gotten deer with out scouting first .

[Deerstalker]

Hi New here, wanted to know have you ever hunted a new spot on public land  and gotten deer the same day .

Happend to me only very few times 

Just wondering if its like that all over the state or im i just getting unlucky .

 

[First-light]

I did it once in Roscoe. 

[Core]

First day ever hunting I went to public land I had never seen and walked up on a deer. Missed it at 25 yards, hence my avatar.

The deer don't really know whether you've scouted it or not

[diplomat019]

 It's funny that you post this. Last night me and my buddy who have been hunting together since we were teenagers started talking about opening day. Unfortunately this year I won't be able to make it out for opening day due to family obligations so I'll be going away the following weekend. But we've been lucky enough to hunt private property in the Catskills for the last 10 years  or so. I so I asked him if we had ever hunted public land opening day because I just couldn't remember since it's been a long time. And he reminded me a story of me and him walking in the woods late after a long night out LOL   And we passed a couple hunters who were not very happy with us but we had no choice. Long story short we had never been to this land but within 20 minutes of daylight I had bagged two does.  So the hunt was over before it even started LOL good luck to all you guys this weekend!

[Uncle Nicky]

Yes, I did it once years ago, before I got serious about locking up some private land to hunt.I just stopped at a hill that looked promising, sat on a ridge, and a buck ran practically in my lap. It never hurts to ask for clues or look at a topographic map for ideas, but if luck is on your side that day, it can be done,

[Doc]

The question really is whether deer can be taken purely as a result of good luck. The answer is that it happens all the time. A lot of hunters do all kinds of time consuming things and form all kinds of grand plans and buy all kinds of super expensive equipment, and if they were to be honest, the results still turn out to be more good luck than good management ..... lol.

But, in all seriousness, scouting and other proactive planning can really put the odds of good luck more in your favor. Scouting in particular can put you in more concentrated deer numbers which has to help the good luck come your way.

So if you are asking if it a good idea to forgo the time-consuming scouting, I have to advise against it. Put the odds in your favor when you can.

[turkeyfeathers]

Best buck I ever shot was on 70 acres of private land. However I had never been on this property before and no idea what it was like. Found major trails in the snow around apple trees. Plunked myself down and within an hour touched one off with the smoke pole.  Dragging the deer out was fun as I had no idea of the lay of the land especially in the dark. And I ended up 2 hours late to my wife's Christmas party , oops 

[The_Real_TCIII]

I drove up behind Harwood lake years ago, walked in a few hundred yards in the dark with my climber and found a suitable tree. Got settled in and nearly got a shot at one of the biggest bucks I've seen while hunting. Lucky for sure but it was rut, just get in the woods you never know


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[Elmo]

Did so last year.